New Laminated Lite Trailers not holding up?

[bristolview]

Question for you all. I was at a dealership today looking at ultralite trailers, and the hybrid like hard side/tent trailers. The dealer said that these lite trailers won't hold up over time as well as the ones with a more traditional framing construction. He said the laminated frame/wall trailers just don't hold up as long, saying that he sees 20 year old trade-ins all the time, but in 20 years, you'd probably have just the undercarriage left on one of these. He also said that after about 5-7 years of good use, I'd be lucky if the cabinets were still on the walls, and not on the floor. Is this for real or was he just blowing smoke to sell me to a higher priced unit? Any help??? I'd want to keep it for some time, my old coachman lasted about 25 years, and then I gave it away to friends who are still using it. It's still going, somewhere in Kentucky now I think. Please help. Cheers.

 

[Cliff]

New Laminated Lite Trailers not holding up?

It sounds to me like he's going to make a much bigger profit selling you the more expensive trailer! Seems to me, if they were that bad, they wouldn't be selling them! I'd find another dealer, this one sounds like he's full of something...

*C*

Chaos reigns within. Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.

www.gonecamping.net

 

[jerry fuhrman]

New Laminated Lite Trailers not holding up?

SOME OF THIS DEALERS POINTS ARE ACCURATE, THERE ARE VERY FEW 10
YEAR OLD FOLD DOWN CAMPERS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION, GLUED OR BONDED WALL CONSTRUCTION STILL SEEMS TO BE A PROBLEM TO MANY RV BUILDERS. yOUR COACHMEN TRAILER WAS A WOOD FRAME UNIT WITH ALUMINUM SKIN, AND TAKEN CARE OF WILL BE AROUND ANOTHER 25 YEARS. LUCK

 

[phillyg]

New Laminated Lite Trailers not holding up?

Had recent experience with a lightweight TT military rental from Mountain Home, ID to Yellowstone for a week. There's a reason they're lightweight, and that's because there's not much to them, but that's what some buyers are looking for in order not to have to buy a stronger towing vehicle. Having previously owned a couple of popup campers, I think that this particular lightweight TT was poorly constructed by comparison. It was only a year old, and it was literally falling apart, including floor/wall separation and water leaks. My 10-year old Coleman was in better shape before selling it. So, while the salesman was probably speaking the truth about the construction, he was probably planting the seed for selling you a pricier unit.

 

[sessy]

New Laminated Lite Trailers not holding up?

We have a Keystone Cabana (hard sides--pop out ends)that we just love. We did a lot of looking around before we decided to buy. It is very shocking to see the differences in quality amoung different manuf. and the level of honesty amoung salesman! Hybrids haven't been out that long so I'm not sure what he is bases his assumptions on. We go camping with our 3 teenage boys and only have had one thing happen---the wood holding the table for the bed broke a tiny amount but fixed easily. ( I chalked it up to my 14 year old 6ft 210lb son sitting up on it!!!!) Good luck in your shopping, sessy

 

[FreddyK]

New Laminated Lite Trailers not holding up?

I was in a similar situation and just went to different dealers to see how much crap they would talk about each other. I started looking at the craftsmanship on the inside and the outside of the trailers especially where the joints meet. Are they flush?? What did they use to cut it? Does it look like they actually cared about the job? Look for major differences like frame composition and walls between trailers. When we did this our answer was staring right at us!

2001 Nash 22H Loaded!