Help for new RV purchaser

[whaycock]

I am a new member who is seeking some advice on the purchase of a Trail-Lite RV. I have a few questions that are probably very common among new purchasers – I hope some of you can give me some help using the experiences you might have had. Here are some general questions:

Engine Size: Should I consider moving up from the standard size to a larger engine?

Bed: Are the dinette beds easy enough to take down and fold up and are they comfortable compared to a bed that might be permanently installed. The permanent beds seem to take up a lot of room!

Pricing: What is the “norm” for asking off the MSRP price? Similar to a car? Maybe 10% off list?

Are there some well known and good wholesale dealers that will give a good price?

Thanks - Bill

 

[Kirk]

Help for new RV purchaser

I'm not an owner of a class C, but since you have had not answers I'll try and help.

If you plan to tow a car or to travel in mountains, you might want to spend the money for a larger engine.

The difference in the bed is a biggie if you are not quite young. I would not want to sleep for long on the 4" foam pad that is on the dinette. A permenant bed has a mattress more like you have at home.

The (www.rv.org) RV Consumer Group says to never pay any more than 80% of MSRP. In some cases you can get a price of 70%, but that would be on the higher priced models. Some dealers will not go the 20% discount, but if you insist and travel some to different dealers, it can be done.

 

[ejhearn]

Help for new RV purchaser

Hi -

We just traded in our 91 Roadtrek on a 2005 Trail Lite 251. We pick it up tomorrow. It has the Chev 6.0 L and a permanent bed. The dealer listed the MSRP and the "selling price" which was about 30% off. At that price we got a very low trade in for the Roadtrek. I think many Trail Lite dealers will give good discounts - perhaps the MSRP are inflated to allow this. We chose the 251 because we did not want to convert the beds everyday - also it had more external storage and was on the lot - ready to go. We slept fine in the Roadtrek - which had the 4 inch foam beds in the back - so we left it as a bed and used the small table up front to eat. I am not sure - but I think the permanent bed in the 251 is also a foam pad.

Which Trail Lite are you considering? Which engine? Etc

I can give more info if you are interested.

Ed

 

[tommy151]

Help for new RV purchaser

just wonder how you are doing with your new Trail Lite 251.
We have had ours for a month now and are going out today for our first overnight. Just to a local state park.
I solved the problem of checking the air in the duals by purchasing a set of metal valve stems from this web site
http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~tire-man/products.html

Chuck Carrito owns the shop; the web site has a toll free number. Good guy to talk with.
The kit was made just for our Chevy wheels and really make tire servicing a breeze. Just be sure that the tire installer follows the directions in the kit and use the thread lock on the inner rear stems and to balance.
The kit includes metal stems for the front wheels also.
Have found a couple of problems. The coach battery installation really sucks. I will eventually replace the battery with a sealed unit, deep cycle. Right now I have to remove one cable to get to the caps, use a mirror and flash light to check the water, and use a small rubber bulf to service the water.
My awning bolts on the left bottom appear to be lag bolts. They are both loose and can not be tightened. Also on the awning the rivit at the top of the right tension bar has pulled loose. Found these things the first time I practiced lowering the awning under the supervision of one of my expert rv friends.
Instead of making up the corner bed each time we are using Travasaks from our last Class B motorhome. They have removable sheets.
The small sofa will be the bed for our shephard. We covered it with beach towels for now. He can also ride there and see out.

Tom Whitlock camelot2@cox.net

 

[hertig]

Help for new RV purchaser

Tom, what do you do with the sheep while you and the shephard are on the road?