Rookie Questions

[Kingfish58]

Greetings All, I have decided to purchase my first RV, and after initially being bewildered with the choices, and narrowed my best choice down to a Sunset Trail 270bh. The problem I'm having is that there are not many dealers in my area (within 200 miles) and the inventory is non-existent with no new units available.

Is the lack of inventory due to the time of the year? If I wait can good deals be found with the new models? When is the best time of the year to buy?

I have found a used 2014 that I like, but it is missing a few items I would like (no outdoor kitchen, no tri-fold sofa). The dealer says these cannot be added, which I find hard to believe, especially with the sofa. The dealer also says that the manufacturers one year warranty does not transfer-is that true? He of course wants to sell me an extended warranty. I've read the pros and cons of this on these forums, but as this is my first RV, a little reassurance with a warranty would be good.

Units can be found out of state-good or bad idea?

[anaro]

The original factory warranty is only good for the original owner and does not typically transfer to second owners. If the unit is missing g so he items you really want, pass as you will quickly find yourself looking to upgrade for these items. That said, sofas can be changed if you can find one that fits through your units door. Adding the outside kitchen may not be doable or at least will probably require major work that could void any extended warranty you may purchase.

Dealing with a local dealership is best but not a requirement. Many dealerships will service customers who bought from them before those who didn't. Balance that against finding units cheaper at places like rv wholesalers and make your own call. Some say for the 1 yr of warranty work, just take it to any servicing provider. Others will tell you the service after the sale is more important. I have to say, I have become a member of the service after the sale crowd having had major issues taken care of. You could go drive to check a unit or wait for the show season. The hershey show is coming up next month. As large as that show is, it might be worth the long trip for you to just go look at trailers. You could then order a trailer through a local dealership later or buy at the show.

Time of year for purchase can vary. I got a really good deal on my tt in Jan during.g show season, just before the high season. I got another really good deal on my 5er in June mid camping season, this was on a 2014 leftover so no ordering.

[sleepyT]

King
If you buy new I would advise you to take delivery in early spring. That way you could camp all season, identify warranty issues and have those issues fixed during the fall and winter before the factory warranty expires.

If you buy used I am pretty sure whatever the dealer quotes you for their warranty is what you are going to get. Personally I do not like extended warranties. I think they promise more than they deliver.

I think the MOST IMPORTANT thing is to know what floorplan is best for you, and you family. I was not happy with the sleeper sofa, and recliner chairs, that came with our 5er, so I bought a La-Z-Boy sleeper sofa and two recliners and installed them in our camper. I think there will always be some things you will like and not like with every camper.

As you live in Louisiana I would think there were plenty of RV shows in your state and the neighboring state of Texas for you to attend. Google RV shows.

Last thing. Our first camper was a 2 year left-over. It was made 2007, we bought it in 2009. We got the whole Factory Warranty because it was new, even though it sat on the lot for 2 years, PLUS a great price...

[Loneoak]

Welcome to the forum! I agree with Rosie & Tommy regarding floor plan. This is the reason we chose the unit we have, and we love the floor plan. It is perfect for us.

Like them, we also bought a leftover unit. It was a 2012 and we bought it early in 2013. Also got a great price and full warranty.

It is true that most dealers service the units they sell first, so good luck getting service. We bought ours in Michigan, a ten hour drive away. That was the best price. We had some warranty issues (which is normal) and we went back there for service when we could not get it done locally. They fixed some items, but not all. Their service department is not great. So when we were in Florida we took it to a dealer there for the rest. They ordered parts, the wrong parts came in, some parts did not come in, so only part of the stuff got done. Then we got it into a local dealer who again did part of the work, but not all. This was starting to become a trend!

We went to the factory rally last month and made an appointment with the factory for the rest of the work. What a difference! ALL the work was done, we were more than satisfied, and it was all done in one day! These people cannot do enough for you!

So my suggestion is to buy based on floor plan and quality reviews, and if you can save up all your warranty issues, go to the rally and get all the work done at the factory. The rally is in Shipshewana, Indiana.

Our daughter got a really good price on her trailer at the same dealer we went to, and then she found out later that the unit she purchased was not one sitting on the lot - they ordered it new! She bought in February, took delivery in April, and it turned out to be a 2015 model.

One thing to keep in mind. If you are planning to do some camping where you are not hooked up to sewer for a number of days, take note of the size of the holding tanks. Having to move every time you need to dump is a pain. Most State or National Parks would not have sewer connections at the sites. Our trailer (Crossroads Cruiser) and our daughter's trailer (Crossroads Sunset Trail) have two 40 gallon grey water tanks. That's pretty good.

[Kingfish58]

Thank you for all the helpful replies.
The more I read, the more I feel like warranty work is a real crap shoot with these things, new or not.

I can fix a lot of things, and the pre-inspection seems critical. Good advice on the holding tanks as I plan to spend most of my time in state parks. Is there a rule of thumb as to how quickly tanks will fill given 2, 3, 4 people?

Seems like most would recommend selection as follows: floor plan, features, quality, pricing. The quality equation is what led me to Sunset Trail-build and amenities seems just a little better against comparable units.

[socoguy]

Welcome all good advice you have recieved. Don't settle get what you want initially.
Yes invariably there will be some issues hopefully minor. We also had the greatest success at the factory.
No rule of thumb on how fast tanks fill. Experience is the best teacher. Be conscious and conservative, number of people obviously matters.
Two people can easily go 6-7 days or more with conservative measures.
Best of luck and happy camping.

[OhioMark]

Kingfish58,

Great advice here, but wanted to add to Loneoak's comment and give you perspective on our experience.

We have a local dealer that will remain unnamed per forum rules. Our shopping experience was a bit shady there. Big volume dealer, high pressure sales tactics. We ended up buying the same model with more amenities (at least $1,000 worth) for a $3,000 thousand less by driving 4 hours away to small family dealership. By my calculation that's a $4,000 savings less the cost of gas to roadtrip down there.

We have had minor issues at first (LED awning lights burned out, missing parts). Crossroads customer service sent me all the parts direct overnight free under warranty I took care of those issues.

Fast forward 14 months. We were taking on water in the rear slide as well as water damage to our front cap and the roof had torn in 5 places that I patched myself to keep the trailer somewhat dry.

We found another dealer about an hour away that said Crossroads wouldn't cover the damages since we didn't have our 6 month inspection. They also had very disparaging remarks about Crossroads and said they no longer sell and only service existing trailers.

We had a trailer out for 4 months for our trip out west and a couple weekend gigs and it went immediately into locked indoor storage until spring, thus no inspection happened when I got the reminder from the dealer. We did not have in/out privileges from storage.

We technically were 6 weeks out of warranty when we brought our trailer home from indoor storage. Of course our extended warranty did not cover structural issues from water damage.

We thought we were sunk. I called Crossroads. They confirmed from the photos I sent there was water damage which most likely occur. Bad slide seal, lack of adequate sealant around the marker lights, roof attached improperly..etc. Turns out Topeka IN is 4 hours west of me. I offered to bring it in their facility if they'd honor the warranty. They covered everthing and even fixed things we botched up (carpet stain, broken shelves from too much weight, etc). They even found water damage in the front side internally and replaced two walls.

We are happy campers again.

So the question is, was it worth $4,000 to not buy local. I would have been out of luck either way in my opinion. Besides, who wants a local dealer tearing off the cap and roof making those types of repairs anyways.


You could always finish out this year by renting a trailer or cabin to finish out the season and grab a previous year model next December at a great price.

[Loneoak]

Here is what we found with our holding tanks. The black takes a long time to fill up, so it is not a concern. We live in our trailer for three months in Florida and with indiscriminate use we can go three days easy. The fourth day things start to back up. I have long hair and wash it in the shower every other day. I therefore dump the grey tanks every three days and the black every nine days.

When we are at a music festival with no sewer hookup (only electric and water) we can go a whole week with very careful use. This includes washing my hair into a basin in the shower and dumping it somewhere discretely outside and washing dishes only once a day, using minimal water, and dumping some of that outside as well. The basin fits into the sink as well as the shower. I do occasionally dump some of the extra water into the toilet.

Here's a little water saving tip in the shower: when mixing the water, rather than have it go down the drain, put it into a small bucket and dump that down the toilet. All that extra water will help drain the black tank as well. Ladies take note: use that water in the bucket for swishing your razor when shaving your legs in the shower.

[anaro]

You can also get a portable tote to drain the grey tank into and then haul to the dump station in the park. Many who frequent w/e hook ups use these totes. As others have said water conservation is key. My family doesn't do so well. My family of 3 could barely go a weekend on a 40 gal tank in my old tt. We have not tried in the new fiver but suspect 4-5 days on our dual 40 gal tanks. Familiarize your family with navy showers. Baby wipes are good for freshening up without a shower.

[Loneoak]

Here's a navy shower:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4Te9pS4FF0

This is Chuck Woodbury of RVTravel. They publish a newsletter once a week and RV Tips every Mon - Fri. It's all free. Just go to RVTravel.com.

I forgot to mention that there are two of us camping in our trailer when I talked about water use.

[johnboytoo]

As discussed on most rv sites ...
if you have two grey tanks - double the use by getting one of the Valterra valves on the end of your dump connection.

Close the end valve and the black tank valve then open both of the grey tank valves to allow them to flow to the end valve and since water seeks it's own level, the level in the tanks should equalize...

Then when time to dump,
hook up your hose,
close grey valves,
open end valve,
open black tank and flush,
close black tank,
open grey tank valves to rinse out stinky slinky ...
(in that order )

[OhioMark]

Originally Posted by johnboytoo

As discussed on most rv sites ...
if you have two grey tanks - double the use by getting one of the Valterra valves on the end of your dump connection.

Close the end valve and the black tank valve then open both of the grey tank valves to allow them to flow to the end valve and since water seeks it's own level, the level in the tanks should equalize...

Then when time to dump,
hook up your hose,
close grey valves,
open end valve,
open black tank and flush,
close black tank,
open grey tank valves to rinse out stinky slinky ...
(in that order )

stinky slinky,....like the hokey pokey

You put your black valve in..you put you gray valve out...That's what's its all about...

[4kids2dogs&RV]

Kingfish... First let me say welcome to the forum.
I can't say much about warranty work, as I just bought my first TT in May.
What I can say is Don't settle for something you really don't want.
If you want the outdoor kitchen and the trifold sofa, stick to them. But remember this, Crossroads offers many different models with similar layouts with different options. Think about what makes the 270BH the one you decided on?
When we were researching different models and even manufacturers, we had 3 priorities, first we wanted a second room where the kids could go and relax without taking over the couch and dinette or our bed and the adults could hangout and relax. 2nd, I had to have a shower that didn't have a shower curtain... (I hate it when that thing sticks to me while in the shower). 3rd it had to have 50amp service and be at least prepped for 2nd AC, we live in TX.
After attending an RV show and months of researching online and reading numerous forums, we decided on the Crossroads Longhorn 33BH (only available in TX) it's similar to the Sunset trail but with a TX decor.

Then I started shopping around. Used in this model were hard to find and the price of new were high, but then I read about buying in Spring when the new models come out and the prices come down on previous model years.... And did they, they came down about $10-12K, they also moved. quick, I missed out on the only 2 that we're left with the options I wanted....back to the drawing board. When I started comparing the floor plans of the Hill Country line ( also on avail in TX) I found the HCT32FR. Wasn't exactly the 33BH, didn't have the outdoor kitchen, but I went back to my 2 main priorities, 2nd room & no shower curtain.
Found 7 of them and they were all approximate priced to sell at almost $13k off MSRP. The kicker... Sides were fiberglass vs aluminum, 2nd AC unit included, electric stabilizers and tongue jack, larger fridge, and a few other things. That was about $7k in options for a less total out the door price because of the sale. The only thing I missed on this were the tank sizes, they Longhorn 33BH had a larger fresh tank (54 vs 40 gal.)and larger grey tank (80 vs 40 gal). But so far, camping at RV parks, that hasn't been a problem.

Needless to say, we bought it, have had it out 4 times since our May 14 delivery and we love it!

Don't settle, you pay way too much for these things, pick the things that mean the most to you and you family, but don't get stuck on 1 model over the other, compare floor plans and see if there is something else that would work...even in another state.

To close, this got a little out of hand...I didn't buy an extended warranty.... yet. Still researching and feeling things out.
Happy researching and good luck!

[Kingfish58]

Many thanks for the help. I think I'll cool my jets and wait for the right unit, as difficult as it may be.

I think the whole warranty/dealer/manufacturer relationship is crazy. The bad dealers give the good ones a bad name, and to have to go to the end of the line for warranty work at a dealer you didn't purchase from doesn't make any sense in a mobile society. Getting great service at the manufacturers site during a rally is fine if you live reasonably close and could purchase directly from the manufacturer.

John Boy, the 270bh doesn't have two grey tanks, am I missing something?

[Loneoak]

Too many people buy RVs on impulse. John and Cheryl did the right thing. First you do your research in order to find the best model for your needs, then you look for the best deal on it.

We met the new president of Crossroads and we are confident this company is moving in the right direction. We would not hesitate to buy another Crossroads product in the future.

[Tim D]

You have gotten some very good advise. I would not "settle". I would find the floor plan that "fits" you and your needs. There is one local dealer right now advertising they have sold 300+ TT so far this year and due to volume buying now is the best time to buy a TT as they want to break 400. I bought from another dealer who is in fact cheaper. Don't know how many they sell but they always advertise how they love to do warranty work and stock "most parts" and can get "most parts" not in stock within 5 to 7 days. I have been waiting since Mar to get a replacement cabinet door that is warped. Bottom line is find what you want first at the best price. Do a thorough PDI. Have all issues dealt with before money exchanges hands. After that I think it is a crap shoot as far as service. I do have my cabinet door and my front cap needs painting in writing. Neither have been a big enough deal to warrant being without my TT during the camping season. They had my TT for over two weeks just to replace the awning lights even when I made an appointment. I could have done that myself in less than an hour. I guess what I am trying to say is you just can't trust all dealers so make sure you are happy when the deal is done.

[anaro]

One thing with the mobile society thought.... there are dealerships that work as a network meaning you buy from one dealership in that network, another in the same network is supposed to treat you like you bought it there. The two networks I know of are route 66 and rv warranty forever. The dealerships are individuals so their name doesn't say it but look at their webpage, it will show it. Sometimes camping world will do the same, sometimes not.

[Kingfish58]

Tim D, can you tell me what rack system you are using for your kayaks and if they would work with a Bakflip tonneu? I have two 15 foot kayaks and a rhino rack for my Tundra but I'd really like to get more support under them by adding a single stakehole rack. The problem I've had is finding a system that doesn't interfere with the tonneu.

[socoguy]

Originally Posted by Kingfish58

Many thanks for the help. I think I'll cool my jets and wait for the right unit, as difficult as it may be.

I think the whole warranty/dealer/manufacturer relationship is crazy. The bad dealers give the good ones a bad name, and to have to go to the end of the line for warranty work at a dealer you didn't purchase from doesn't make any sense in a mobile society. Getting great service at the manufacturers site during a rally is fine if you live reasonably close and could purchase directly from the manufacturer.

John Boy, the 270bh doesn't have two grey tanks, am I missing something?

You certainly are correct however that is the unfortunate reality of RV ownership.
Your are one step ahead if you are handy and can help yourself. That is not always the case somethings require a service center.

[OhioMark]

I had the opportunity to talk honestly with one of the owners of a small, family RV dealership. She basically said that RV sales is like everything else these days, you have the high volume dealers (CampingWorld) teaming up with the parent companies (Thor) and are pushing the little guys out of the marketplace. Plus, she admitted quality has become a problem regardless of brand.