Re: Maybe I will consider a tent trailer? Longevity and Quality??
We owned two pop-up (or tent/trailers) as we got into the RV lifestyle. For a family, I consider them to be the very best of choices. We used the one that we bought new for nine years and sold it for 60% of what we had paid for it. We used ours a great deal but we also took very good care of it. If you purchase a quality built pop-up it will last as long or longer than any other RV.
There are some care items that are unique to a pop-up. One thing is that anytime that you put it away with the canvas sides wet, as soon as possible you should set it up to allow everything to dry. The other thing to consider is that the lift system also requires maintenance. Those have changed over the years since we had ours so check the owner's manual to know just what should be done. Basically it will be a matter of keeping it clean, lubricated and adjusted. Beyond that, maintenance will be pretty much the same as for any other RV.
As to which one is best, the brand which we had is no longer built, so I can't really tell you much there. Checking things for quality of construction will be very little different with the pop-up than for any other RV. If you know how to judge an RV, the only additional thing would be the canvass and the fasteners for that canvass.
In my opinion, there is no better choice for a family than today's pop-up. It has most of the amenities of any RV, it is more easily towed and stored and they cost much less. In addition, with the canvass sides and large windows they have you get a great deal of the tent camping experience but with most of the amenities of an RV. If you shop carefully it will be hard to go wrong with such an RV.
