For context, i'm not a complete camper newbie and have some experience vacationing in a camper parked permanently at a campsite with my family (my parents own it, and we'd take short trips there on occasion). However, this is our first experience with our OWN travel trailer that will not be parked permanently, and will travel. Also, going into this, I had to purchase a vehicle that could tow the camper, and while im also not a newbie to towing things (used to drive trucks that would tow a single car behind it for work), i was new to towing a larger item, and knew little about it.
When we arrived, we walked the lot a bit and were greeted by Gary, one of the sales people. He was very nice and accommodating ensuring we understood the various camper types and features, and was very up front with us. He did inform us that due to the pandemic, many people are buying campers so their inventory was very slim and he had no idea when they were going to get new inventory in (we knew this going in).
He showed us multiple units, and was very up front about estimated pricing on each. I was originally looking for a smaller camper, but he suggested we go slightly bigger having 2 young kids that are going to get bigger at one point and also since we planned on traveling with it we should have space to spread out, so he suggested us look at a 26' instead of an 18' or 20' I had originally considered. The 26' wasnt that much more money, had many more features we liked, and "fit" my family much better, but he didn't realize they had no inventory on the style he was showing us, he had thought he had 1 left to sell.
After some discussion, he asked if we were interested in the "display" model, which we liked. We figured the display would be in better condition than non display models, because it was the "show" piece, and fully loaded, and that WAS the case. After all, these campers are all the same put together with glue, screws, and nails.
It was a very low pressure sale, he was very nice. Every detail was discussed from service, to warranty, to pricing and financing. I let Gary know that I did not have a tow hitch for my truck yet, and was unsure what I needed, but wanted one that would distribute the weight & sway better. He went through the various options and made recommendations, and we purchased the one he recommended.
The ONLY thing I didnt like was that when you put a deposit down and they run financing, that if you decide you dont like the interest rate that they find (they don't guarantee a rate), that you lose your deposit. However, if they cannot approve you for financing, you get your deposit back. We were approved, but if for whatever reason I didnt like the rate, i'd have lost my money. So thats a -1 star for me. Most dealerships (car, etc), I know going in what their financing rates are and finance deals.
Once we finished our paperwork, Gary said he would reach out when the financing work was done and they would schedule a pickup & orientation date. Within a week Gary had reached out and said they need about 2-3 weeks to prep the camper, clean it, tighten screws, etc. I had noticed a few flaws on the camper that I kept to myself to see if they picked up on it or not such as cracked signal lenses, some loose debris in drawers, loose hinges, etc. Just normal wear and tear items.
A month later, we went back to pick up our camper, got a 2 hour VERY detailed orientation from a nice guy named Gage. He went through EVERY fine detail and made sure we understood what we had to do to say empty the gray & black water tanks, turn on/off the water heater, etc. I checked all of the items I found on my quiet walkaround prior to making our purchasing decision, and they had fixed every single thing, and also nicely greased all the joints and hitch pieces. They also walked through my hitch setup, as well as hookup/unhooking.
The paperwork at pickup was also very quick and nice, I can't remember the finance guys' name, but he was great. Very nice to my kids, and very patient with our questions. We also were given a 1 year membership to Thousand Trails which is sort of like a camping timeshare, he helped us get a head start on that so we could start booking trips that same day.
Overall, it was a great experience. We have had our camper for 2 months now, have gone on one weeklong trip about 2.5 hours away, have traveled around the area (NJ/PA/DE/MD) on highways and back roads (camper friendly), and have had no issues. The ONLY maintenance item that i think they cheaped out on was one of the latches for our outdoor storage was cracked, and instead of replacing it they glued the piece back on....all things considered, thats VERY minor and not a huge deal, I probably would have done the same thing hoping it would hold.
Great experience, would recommend them again. read more