Time for a deposit?

[Robc inWI]

Greetings from Baraboo, WI. I'm 62 and my wife is 60 and for a while we have considered transitioning from tent camping to a camper. Initially I had planned to build a teardrop, wife nixed that, then looked at R Pods and eventually Casitas and Scamps. The stick built campers we looked at were ugly, poorly built and pretty pricey.
Now that we have a tow worthy suv (AWD Honda Pilot) I stumbled across the Escape 17 and am now set on a 19. The real bed and build quality is what attracts me although the 2 year wait and price has me scratching my head a bit.
Any way, before I give Escape sales a call and sound like a moron can someone explain how a credit card is used for a deposit? Is it actually charged the $2k or only charged when you sign the contract? I loathe credit cards and only use store cards (i.e. Best Buy) when I can get 0% interest.
My credit score is in the excellent range but would give them $2k cash if it was an option. Hope to be an Escape owner before retirement age... thanks.

[gbaglo]

You arrived at my choice, if I were replacing my 17B.
My Visa card is also 0% interest because I pay the full balance every month. I expect your Best Buy card is actually either Visa or Mastercard.
You could probably just send them a cheque ( check ). That's what I did. But, a credit card would be more efficient than the post office.

[Doug2000]

Your wife is right nixing the tear drop. They are light but really they don't offer much for what you pay for, a place to sleep at most. I looked at many trailers and found a slightly used 2007 17B, it did us great for 5 years and now we have a 2020 19. What I would suggest is an option to order the 17B with the rear bed option, you have to ask for it.

[brroberts]

They charge the card, but allow a refund before you sign your build sheet minus the $150 credit fee. You can avoid the credit fee by sending a check, but your deposit won’t be in until the check clears. At least that’s what Melissa at ETI told me when we placed our deposit. Our trailer will be 12 months if our current build date does not move anymore, which is likely. So hopefully you will move up. We moved up four months from our original date. You need to check with ETI though, because policies change during this thriving demand.

[Robc inWI]

Originally Posted by Doug2000

Your wife is right nixing the tear drop. They are light but really they don't offer much for what you pay for, a place to sleep at most. I looked at many trailers and found a slightly used 2007 17B, it did us great for 5 years and now we have a 2020 19. What I would suggest is an option to order the 17B with the rear bed option, you have to ask for it.

Interesting. I like the 17A floor plan but we both agreed that if we are going to make this kind of investment it has to have a toilet and I don't want to sleep on a converted table like 17B. I assume you give up the dinette if you choose a 17B with bed.. I do like the dual axel 19 and the base spec list is pretty close to what we want.

[IanC]

Welcome Robc inWI. No matter how you pay I would encourage you to get your deposit in and decide on details later, assuming you know you want an Escape Trailer. My wife and I started this process in March at which time the wait was 2 years. Thankfully ETI has pushed that up by 6 months, although it's still an agonizing wait. In the meantime you should look at any of the trailers you are interested in. The ambassador tours are fantastic and nothing beats actually stepping into a trailer to get a feel for it's size. I really like the layout of the 17A, but after a lot of discussion on this forum and with my wife, we've opted for the 17B (with a bathroom). I toured a 17B last week and plan to have the rear dinette area built as a permanent bed. The front dinette felt roomier than it appeared in photos and we feel it will be adequate for our needs. For what it's worth, there was a lot of discussion about 17A vs 17B when I joined this forum. You may want to take a look: https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...ego-20351.html

[Doug2000]

Originally Posted by Robc inWI

Interesting. I like the 17A floor plan but we both agreed that if we are going to make this kind of investment it has to have a toilet and I don't want to sleep on a converted table like 17B. I assume you give up the dinette if you choose a 17B with bed.. I do like the dual axel 19 and the base spec list is pretty close to what we want.

We were originally looking for a 17A but a used 17B came up for sale locally. Having done a cross country adventure and seeing a lot of really dirty Interstate bathrooms, I would never buy a RV without a bathroom again.

As I suggested, consider the 17B with a permanent bed and add a hatch to access under the passenger side below what would be the bed. The front 2 person dinette works perfect for a couple. If you get the permanent bed in a 17B, it comes with 2 doors like the 19. This is what I did for under bed storage.

In hind sight, I wish we would have kept the 17B and ordered a mattress for the back. I couldn’t sleep on cushions. The 17B fit in a double parking spot at the grocery store and with the single axle and short length I could spin around in a small parking lot no problem, much more maneuverable than the 19.

[Robc inWI]

Thanks Doug I appreciate your thoughts. I just tried calling Escape but forgot that today is a national holiday. Will look at the 17B floor plan more closely, an actual bed would be a game changer. I don't know if there are any Escapes to tour but will check into it. I will also look more closely at what options are available in the 17B vs 19. The several thousand dollars saved on the 17B could go a long way towards solar or other options especially as the trailer prices creep up in the next 2 years.

[Robc inWI]

And now the wait begins. My wife says she is for getting solar (without really knowing the details), I don't really think we will do much boondocking until we retire. Might make sense to have it wired for solar and add it later? Spoke for a while today with the fellow from the videos (German accent) and he was very helpful. Price increase coming for 2022, hoping that our build date can get moved into 2022 instead of May 2023 to avoid additional price increases.

We are excited!

[UncleTim]

Originally Posted by Robc inWI

And now the wait begins. My wife says she is for getting solar (without really knowing the details), I don't really think we will do much boondocking until we retire. Might make sense to have it wired for solar and add it later? Spoke for a while today with the fellow from the videos (German accent) and he was very helpful. Price increase coming for 2022, hoping that our build date can get moved into 2022 instead of May 2023 to avoid additional price increases.

We are excited!

This is just my opinion. Go big with Solar NOW! Don't wait. It will cost more later, be more difficult to install and you might as well enjoy it now. It is a lot more useful everywhere than you might think. Boondocking or not.

For us this is a mandatory YES! Just sayin.

Congrats!

[davidmurphy02]

I would highly recommend getting the solar panel. Much easier to have installed during the build, and even if you don't expect to camp without hookups much at first it will do a better job of charging and maintaining your batteries than the standard converter. We did not have solar on our previous trailer and have been very pleasantly surprised by the added capabilities that the solar panel gives us.

[GregColdewey]

Originally Posted by Robc inWI

And now the wait begins. My wife says she is for getting solar (without really knowing the details), I don't really think we will do much boondocking until we retire. Might make sense to have it wired for solar and add it later? Spoke for a while today with the fellow from the videos (German accent) and he was very helpful. Price increase coming for 2022, hoping that our build date can get moved into 2022 instead of May 2023 to avoid additional price increases.

We are excited!

We’ve only had our trailer a few months and have boondocked a few nights. Would not have needed the solar as the batteries could have handled the load, but that may not always been the case, so I’m glad to have it. Right now the best part about solar is I keep a couple of windows open during this hot Texas summer and the fan running 24/7. It keeps the interior from getting too hot. With the solar the battery stays at 100% even with the fan running all night.

[ritacasita]

Yes, get solar now with new purchase. Also upgrade batteries now to at least AGM if not lithium. Just MHO.

[Jimrules]

Originally Posted by Robc inWI

Thanks Doug I appreciate your thoughts. I just tried calling Escape but forgot that today is a national holiday. Will look at the 17B floor plan more closely, an actual bed would be a game changer. I don't know if there are any Escapes to tour but will check into it. I will also look more closely at what options are available in the 17B vs 19. The several thousand dollars saved on the 17B could go a long way towards solar or other options especially as the trailer prices creep up in the next 2 years.

Hi Rob,
We have an 19 on the east side of Madison (Monona).
We're part of the Escape Ambassador Program.
Here's a link to the program from the Escape page.
https://escapetrailer.com/view-an-escape-trailer/
You might be able to find other trailers in the area as well.

[Robc inWI]

Hi Jim, thank you for the link. I have already taken a look, only a handful of 19s in Wisconsin and no 17s. I will make an appointment asap,