Post-COVID Fifth Wheel Toyhauler prices?

Just went through this. Bought a bumper pull toyhauler sight unseen from huge nationwide dealer. Once they got my deposit and shipping was arranged their service went to shit. Trailer arrived on time but I have found at least a dozen things wrong with it and they didn't even return my messages. Had to replace a 12v outlet because the one that was in there was blowing fuses constantly. Dealer was clearly aware of it cause they just happened to leave a new one in the box in the trailer but never mentioned it to me. TV cable outlets were wired backwards so they did not work (had the same thing in my last trailer). This is a brand new '21 model and the hardware used in assembly on the underside is all rusted like it's 20 years old. I can't even remember what all else but thankfully it's little stuff I can fix myself. Probably was assembled on New Years eve at 4:00 in the afternoon

 

Plenty of stories like yours that really build a case for the argument of buying a trailer one or two years old and let the first owner first all the shit wrong with it...sad the situation of chronically having issues on new equipment is even a thing.

I bought my '15 Work n Play in 2016 and had a couple of very very minor things with it, just wonder if it was made on a Wednesday or like you said...New Years eve at 4PM and the first owner had to fix all the shit with it.

 

It's amazing to me, how sloppy American industry is!!

Just like cars used to really suck until the Japanese manufacturers came in and kicked their butts. Too bad these huge boxes are so expensive to ship, otherwise we would be buying higher quality units out of Asia and the Americans would have been forced to step up their game.

 

I got lucky on my first unit, but to be fair, it's a lot simpler than these units with multiple slides and a lot more going on. My fresh water tank had something cross-threaded and persistently leaked a tiny bit, and that got covered under warranty. Otherwise, it's pretty much been flawless. All of the little repairs have been done immediately, and it's always covered when not in use. I also use it a lot, so it never sits and rots.

This one caught my attention last night: https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2021-Forest-River-XLR-NITRO-321-5016265545

Being sold as used, but it basically new. Couple red flags (e.g. been sitting on RV Trader for nearly 2 months). It's ~ 40 miles away from me, so might be worth a call to the guy to chat about it.

 

They are all the same no matter what day of the week they are made. Early May we walked away from a Keytstone we ordered in October to have delivered in March. Took 6 weeks after trailer arrived for them to schedule the delivery date/walk through. There was so much wrong with the trailer we walked away from the deal and ended up driving 300 miles to get the Adrenaline. Of course I hade to trade the 1/2 ton in for a 3/4 ton when we realized we weren't gonna be happy with a 1/2 ton towable toyhauler. I've noticed issues with The Adrenaline I just picked up. It has a solar panel to keep the battery charged, but it rained here Monday and I used the battery for quite a few things. Turns out even through I was connected to shore power the battery was only charging from the solar panel and not shore power. So I had to spend time trouble shooting and fixing that. They also didn't install the towel holders and toilet paper holders for the bathrooms. They were just thrown in the bag with all the component manuals and paperwork. Sad that when spending enough $ to buy a small house that you just have to expect that you are going to have fix a ton of stuff.

 

I really love the openness that a double sided slide gives, but it makes the awning all but useless since the slide out engulfs half of the coverage the awning provides.

 

Yeah. Put the slideouts on the other side.

It's clear the people designing these toy haulers miss the whole point of a toy hauler. It's like they have no consideration for their purpose when designing/marketing them.
In their advertising, I've seen little focus from the manufacturers zeroing in on the fact that the garage is the whole point of a toy hauler. They mention all the talking points about living and fuckall about actual utility. Worst case is putting a 1/2 bath in the garage space, or an outdoor kitchen, and calling it a 14' garage when, in reality, it's 10' or less - with a nook space. You ain't fittin' a SxS in there and the nook space becomes a short, fat hallway. WTF?

ATC? That's a car hauler that happens to have living quarters. I'm sure car guys are crying about the fact that the trailer is 35'-40' long but they can only fit one car.

 

In our case, the garage will only be a garage for the period of time where the bikes are hauled from the home to the track / campground. Once we're parked, the garage becomes Toddler Terrorville (trademark pending on name). My son and his army of young cousins can get out of the heat when needed and do toddler shenanigans together while the adults imbibe alcohol and discuss why we ever thought having kids was a good idea.

Having that separate room makes the garage floorplan more appealing than the 'open' floorplan we have in the bumper pull now.

 

I guess it takes all types. I must be in the minority. If they're gonna make a toy hauler, I just think they should put more effort into marketing the garage aspect. It can be used for whatever but, at least, can't they talk about it more than just saying it has a garage? I mean, really, no shit it has a garage, it's a toy hauler. What size is it, what insulated qualities does it have, what's the load rating of the floor? How many outlets and type of lighting? Tell me about the garage!
Otherwise, I'm looking for a car hauler with living quarters. But they're not as comfortable. Used to be, that's what I looked at when trying to find something I could live in and work out of for recreational purposes. CampMaster's fifth wheel was the first one I considered...not available for the longest timer, like work-n-play's fivers. I'm guessing the utility was too much for the market of people that wanted more luxurious creature comforts.

A nook is that odd space left when they cut a corner out of the garage and leave, basically, a near unusable space as far as garages go. Folding wall bathrooms still impede on total garage space cuz the toilet/sink is still in the way.

 

This does bring up an interesting thing I noted a few months ago. I did a track day on a Friday; the following Saturday and Sunday was a car day. I've never been to a track day with cars, so I didn't know what to expect. I stayed in my trailer Friday night after riding with plans to leave Saturday morning. Since I was packing up on Saturday morning, I got to see what a car track day entails. It was interesting.

Very few toyhaulers of any kind (bumper pulls or fifth wheel). In fact, very few campers of any kind. I did see a fifth wheel toyhauler with a very elaborate ramp setup to get a McLaren out without scraping bodywork. Lots of guys just showed up in their car with the trunks packed, and a few had open flatbed trailers. I did see a few enclosed car trailers, and those were mostly pretty high-dollar setups. A dude rolled up in his Porsche and parked across from me; he had enough space for a cooler and a chair in his trunk. No EZ-up or other infrastructure whatsoever. When it was his session to drive, his pit was wholly comprised of a single cooler and chair; it was kinda funny to see. Made me realize how lucky us motorcycle guys have it. Cheap toyhaulers and small enclosed trailers are a dime-a-dozen. I'm guessing most of the car guys were tent camping, staying in a hotel, or not staying overnight at all...?

 

Garage insulation is not a given, particularly, the floor. Sure, you can expect it in higher end units, but it's not necessarily equal to that of the living space.
As for load rating of the garage, the cargo carrying capacity is for the whole trailer...they rarely make a distinction.

I only know about the ones I've been looking at, but they all seem to be quite similar in almost all aspects of construction. You have to really dig into their websites to ascertain particular info, if they even provide it! To assume is not a mistake I'm willing to make for $80K.
So, again, tell me about the garage.

 

Sundowner's are where it's at for people like us. All the usual creature comforts packed into a living area that's just sufficient enough, with the rest of the trailer dedicated to the garage.

https://ocalatrailer.com/inventory/1037859/view/JA0701/Ocala-FL/2020-Sundowner-1686GM "Race Look"

 

That thing is sweet! It would be a strong contender if not for the fact that I need it to pull double-duty for family camping.

It's amazing that as much Googling as I have done on different RVs, there's still stuff out there I haven't seen or heard of.

 

Sundowner is one of the 3 'top tier' toy hauler makers I'd consider, along with ATC and Intech. They're well known in the horse trailer industry (think toy hauler, only except hauling horses)

 

That's pretty sweet but would never fly with my wife. She wants an RV that she can basically live, make actual meals and feed a decent amount of people out of that happens to have the capability to haul the race bikes, rather than a race bike hauler that you can happen to sleep in and make coffee!.

 

http://www.showhauler.com/envira/unit-1628-2510-garage-unit-gqtmsl-freightliner-cascadia-chassis/

 

My first 5th was a work and play. Very minimal camper setup. Just the basics, no TV, built like the proverbial brick SH. Next I went with a 42 ft Voltage...4 TV's (3 hardly ever get used), 2 AC's, 4 fantastic fans (again, only one gets used). Bottom line...happy wife = happy life.