P.J

Anyone fimiliar with "Alfa" brand 5'ers?

ptgarcia

I've been in a couple and they are very nice, however, one evening at the campground I was talking to an RV Tech and he said that Alfa's are junk. My uncle, who got me into RV'ing, has a buddy at work who had an Alfa motorhome and hated it. According to him he had nothing but problems with it. He ended up trading it for a National RV, a Dolphin I think it was, within a year.

Its a shame, because there was one next to me one weekend and it sure looked nice, both inside and out.

T398

We are currently constructing a new building and lot for an existing dealership now. I asked one of the owners about the alfa trailers his comment was that they used to carry them but due too warranty and customer satisfaction they choose to drop the line. They have a few used ones they are storing out back now and from the outside they look like a nice trailer but looks must be deceiving in this case. From what he told me was that the Holiday Ramblers, Jayco and Thor fifth wheels were the ones they had the best luck with.

T398

P.J

Cool, this is what I like! I toss out a name, you guys handle the rest.

T398: I have been inside a few Thors, they seemed nice. That was back at a show I went to when it was all just overwhelming. (everything looked nice)

P.J

Found a Gem. This thing is a real cream puff, let me know what you think.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Chinook-30ft-5th...QQcmdZViewItem

ptgarcia

I have a 2005 Thor Jazz 2510FL travel trailer and the wife and I love it. It's been a great coach for the year we've owned it with only a couple minor issues that needed to be addressed immediately after delivery (typical post delivery issues - loose wire connection was the biggest). Since then everything has been perfect, and we use it as often as possible, mostly weekend trips with the occasional day trip to the beach and a couple 7-day vacations. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

T398

PTGarcia, Glad to here your enjoying your rig. I'm with ya I would recommend any of the jazz trailers, we choose the bunk house so we could give the kids there own beds and closet space vs our last trailer which was a Thor tahoe 28' fifth wheel plus we usually pull the atv's behind the fver.

PJ, That's definetly a gem, if you can get your wife to call that home on the weekends your a better man than I.

T398

Lee S

Personally, I would shop for a dealership first and a trailer second. My experience is that a good RV dealer is a rare find.

We bought our Mobile Scout from a dealer nearly 150 miles from home. I've never regretted bypassing the local criminals to do so. The local RV guys sell some brands with great reps--Teton Homes, Airstream, Holiday Rambler and others--but their reputations for service is so bad I wouldn't consider using them. It can be a nightmare. How about four months wait for the service department to start work on your RV and they only put it on the waiting list if it's left with them during that time? How about service so shoddy, it requires several trips to the dealer and each trip means several weeks wait? This is common practice from all the local dealers.

The dealer we bought from first impressed us when the owner stayed late on the eve of an early holiday closing to show us the trailers because we were from out-of-town. His service manager impressed us when he took nearly 1 1/2 hours to explain the systems of the trailer to us because we hadn't owned a fully self-contained RV before. We have been further impressed every time we've needed repairs or service and they make an appointment for us to bring it over and stay with it while it's fixed.

Look for a good dealer first and decide which of his brands to buy. While there are some brands with bad reputations for build quality, most companies that have been in the business more than a couple of years know how to build decent trailers. Make sure there's a good service department to keep them decent.

P.J

Very good advice Lee, all duly noted.

I have two dealers very local to me, but don't have the luxury of knowing anyone that has had experience either way with them.
I am very personable, and have a few years of sales experience. I am quick to walk directly off of a lot if I feel like I am not getting a salespersons undivided attention.

I too am "green" to larger campers, I will need to have my hand held through ALL of the basics to get me started.
I am also not afraid to travel for this purchase, heck I've driven 450 miles for a fourwheel, then drove right back to the same state to buy an equipment hauler within the same year.

P.J

Okay folks, I have left a deposit on one. We narrowed it down to three:

1) 2005 Sportsman 30 Bunk house, excellent shape.
2) 2001 Thor Dutchmen 35 Bunk House with 1/2 bath
3) 1999 Cardinal 34, Rear Lounge, slide out kitchen, all fiberglass ext.(enclosed underbelly, artic pack)

We worked numbers on 1 & 2, the third one had a deposit put on it before we could really talk about it. I was a little concerned about the slide out kitchen, seemed like it would be tough to service, but the all fiberglass exterior was very cool and seemed like it would be easy to clean and last a long time. (plus I liked the enclosed underside, seemed neat, although I doubt highly that we will do any camping after the fall.

#1 is very clean, it has pretty much everything we could ever need or want, but is more than we want to spend (cause it is so new). They had it listed for $18,900, we offered them $14,200, they countered at $16,162, absolute final on that one.

#2 is also pretty nice, the outside needs cleaned bad, and there are some areas that could be re-caulked. No glaring defects though, just some elbow grease. It has hydraulic front jacks, #1 didn't. It has the extra toilet and sink in the back, but has two bunks VS. the four bunks #1 has. I got up on the roof, everything looks good there, no repairs or other obvious defects there.
The wanted $16,284, I offered them $12,200 and they told me they could do that if I left a deposit (which I did, in my State they have no legal right to hold it from you in the event you don't buy) so that is just a formality so I can't come back and cry when they sell it to someone else.

The Cardinal was pretty nice too, we just didn't like the rear lounge idea, two dingy recliners that we would probably never use v.s some bunks that we probably would? Plus, it really only slept 4, it seemed to be more geared for the retired couple. It was listed at $14,000.


Anyway, I'd love some input. The trailer is metal sided, so it is not as cool looking as all the new ones, but it seems to be in good shape and is in our price range.

Let me have it, is this thing a POS, is Thor a decent name back in 2000/2001?
The pictures are crap, really can't even see what they are. It looks like they took the pictures with the slides in.
http://www.chesacorv.com/detail.asp?...F40S221G503971

P.J

Low NADA appears to be $14,700 (high of $17K)unless there is something I am missing here?

tmoore

I would imagine when that camper was new it was top of the line. That would have been what some 30 years ago. I'm sure that a microwave oven wasn't something found in just any ol camper in those days. It would have to have been heavy as well. What did the tow those with when they were new?

P.J

TTT
I'm taking the out-laws to get a third opinion on it today. My father in-law has done some camping, never a 5th wheel, but certianly more than me anyhow.


Some thoughts guys?

FiverBob

For the money, Cardinal makes a good unit. Don't be afraid of the slideout kitchen - - they seem to have that pretty well whipped. Can you still use the trailer (eat, use the potty and sleep in it) if the slides are in? And, after many different models, I love the rear lounge. Don't forget fifth wheels are backed into your camp site - - which many times is overlooking a nice river or lake. We turn our lounges around facing the window, turn on the music, sit back with a good book and cup of coffee and enjoy. If the lounges are not good ones, they are easily replaced. The biggest complaints on the Thors and Cardinals seems to be delamination of the sides. Look at them really close down the sides - - look for bulges. No really good way to fix a delamed side.

Bob

P.J

We are pretty much set to go now, just have to buy my hitch & controller.

I am having Line X sprayed in this week (hopefully) and will be taking delivery on or before August 4th.

Any horror stories about a 35 Dutchmen BH can be kept to yourself now.
I spent over an hour going over it this afternoon, climbed up on the roof and snooped around up there, all looks to be in decent shape.
They are detailing it for me, so it should be good to go by the time I get the truck set up.

I'll post pics when I get it hooked up at the RV place. It was kind of a compromise, we ended up with a non-modern looking unit from the outside, but one that fits our needs to a "T" both in interior layout and PRICE!

Thanks for all the help.