Portland RV Show

[Donna D.]

Dave&Kathie and I went to the Portland RV Show yesterday. I wasn't impressed.

I probably went inside 20-25 different RVs. From a T@B (NO storage) to the 2017 RV of the Year (giant moho).

The thing I noticed after a while is everything started looking the same. Same colors, same layouts, same cheesy builds. You'd better like brown. Other than the two Retro Classics that were red and white, shades of tan, beige, brown... all dark colors were prominent.

I had to laugh at one point. There was a Mercedes Class B with four leather captains chairs, a couch that turned into a bed, no kitchen, a small bathroom... toilet and a sink (no shower). The refrigerator was in the bathroom! Sit on pot and grab a beer. Good heavens. And this could be had for a mere $183,699.

There was one that was kind fun, the "Party Barge." A HUGE 5th wheel with TWO patios. It was a toy hauler too. You'd need a commercial tractor to pull it. I didn't look at the price. I would imagine there were plenty of digits before the period.

I left the show even more happy I've got what I've got. Is Ten Forward perfect? No. But boy it's a FAR better value for the money than anything I saw. And I can truly say, there wasn't one thing I saw that I would want over what I've got... even if price wasn't a consideration.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Dave&Kathie and I went to the Portland RV Show yesterday. I wasn't impressed.

Lisa and I went last spring, and our outtake was pretty much the same.

Sure you could buy twice the trailer (size wise) for the money compared to an Escape, but the quality was abysmal in most cases. Some of the woodwork looks like they hired day help off the street. The whole idea is to buy as much volume for the price as possible. This is not the way I work for sure.

It was not until you got well over $100k did you start to see quality built in, and there was in fact some really nice features when you start to get up to $600k, but we most certainly do not want to spend that kind of money, nor do we want something that huge.

One of the funniest things to us was the second toilet in some trailers, usually accessible from an outside door. It kind of reminded me of sitting in an outhouse looking over the view it affords, except in this case the view would be a crowded RV campground.

While we enjoyed the show, and bought a couple items, it certainly gave us an appreciation for what Escape offers, and confidence that our choice was the right one.

[Donna D.]

I went to the show with an open mind, truly. I'm looking to start full-timing in 17 months. Since I don't have a spouse or a dog or a child to take along, I can go anywhere I want for as long as I wish. I thought I might find some different that might work better for what I want to do. I was really disappointed.

Several years back, somewhere out here on the WWW, I saw a DIY modification done on a fairly small toy hauler. THAT layout is what I was looking for. None to be found at this show. Basically it was a front bed, Dry bath (each side), narrow walkway between the two, kitchen on one side, small dinette on the other side. That was the "trailer." THEN, they turned the garage into a living room. Two recliners, end tables, big screen TV, two bicycles hanging off one wall and a nice rug on the floor. The owners had the big rear door sealed up and a very large window put in the "door." Man was it nice. At the time I wasn't looking for anything else so I didn't capture the brand manufacturer name or the hyperlink. All I have is the memory of what I saw. DANG.

[The Quilting Lady]

Dear Donna, thank you for your lovely article. Walter and I haven't been to an RV show and sometimes I wonder if we should have before we made a commitment. Your article really helped.

Yesterday I visited a dear friend to see her new gigantic 5th wheel. It was truly like a home not something to camp in. It was beautiful, but they had to build a huge barn for it.

About 5 years ago we came too close to purchasing a 49 foot used diesal RV from a dealer. We had even signed a contract and put down a good sized downpayment. It had everything even a washer and dryer. The day we went in to pay the final payment we insisted that they go over the trailer thoroughly before we paid. They really wanted us to pay first but we insisted. The man who showed us spent nearly a whole day going over the trailer telling us all the maintenance and replacement costs if things broke. Replace a tire, 500$ each. Replace the refrig you have to take it out the front windshield, a thousand just to get it out. Then you have to climb on top and retar the roof... charge the generator every month while in storage.... the list went on and on all day. And there were all the products that were added for every maintenance... And then there was learning to drive this huge thing through traffic and under over passes and getting it into trailer parks.... And then some places didn't accept such long things. We decided to think about it over night. We had raised 5 kids and paid for college... We felt like we were giving birth to a life of more work and responsibilities. My husband didn't get much sleep. By morning we decided we had made a Huge mistake. We backed out of the deal and decided we would not mind losing our deposit, just to get out of it. The local dealership said we couldn't. We talked with a lawyer who wrote a letter to the CEO of the national dealership and he said no problem. We were so relieved to get out of it.

A couple of years later we bought a Casita... What a difference. It was so nice and simple I loved it until we went to a Rally and saw the Escape. Then I really liked the fact that it was tall enough that I didn't bump my head or have to crawl over my husband to get out of bed and I could choose some colors. I was smitten.

Thanks again, Donna, for reminding me that simple is better. My friend loves her new 5th wheel except she complains that there is just too much brown.

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Dave&Kathie and I went to the Portland RV Show yesterday. I wasn't impressed.

I probably went inside 20-25 different RVs. From a T@B (NO storage) to the 2017 RV of the Year (giant moho).

The thing I noticed after a while is everything started looking the same. Same colors, same layouts, same cheesy builds. You'd better like brown. Other than the two Retro Classics that were red and white, shades of tan, beige, brown... all dark colors were prominent.

I had to laugh at one point. There was a Mercedes Class B with four leather captains chairs, a couch that turned into a bed, no kitchen, a small bathroom... toilet and a sink (no shower). The refrigerator was in the bathroom! Sit on pot and grab a beer. Good heavens. And this could be had for a mere $183,699.

There was one that was kind fun, the "Party Barge." A HUGE 5th wheel with TWO patios. It was a toy hauler too. You'd need a commercial tractor to pull it. I didn't look at the price. I would imagine there were plenty of digits before the period.

I left the show even more happy I've got what I've got. Is Ten Forward perfect? No. But boy it's a FAR better value for the money than anything I saw. And I can truly say, there wasn't one thing I saw that I would want over what I've got... even if price wasn't a consideration.

[Donna D.]

I think everyone should attend an RV show if they can. Go with an open mind, but take along all the knowledge you've gained about build quality, maintenance, etc.

The show yesterday was indoors, three huge buildings. Everything packed in bumper to hitch. All slides out. THAT is something to pay attention to. Is the RV usable with the slides in? A good 98% would NOT be. No opening the refrigerator door, no opening the bathroom door. Would I really want to spend $100,000 on something then when I'm traveling, I'd be back to stopping at restaurants and service stations because I couldn't fix a sandwich or use the toilet? Nope, not this kid.

[paulk]

I'm amazed too at the lack of smaller high quality trailers. Small is maneuverable on the road, fits into all kinds of campsites, requires less space for storage, and can be towed with an SUV. Apparently though the average consumer doesn't buy based on these considerations. I don't think I saw a single fiberglass trailer at my local dealership or at the last RV show here in Seattle. There were a few teardrops, but they were not well represented.

I'm just really glad we found ETI. I hope they grown and displace more of the crappy stuff. For the moment they are microscopic compared to the big trailer manufacturers. Nobody at my dealership knew about them, and we're just a few hundred miles away.

If money were no object, the only other products on the market that I'd be interested in are the smaller RoadTreks, Advanced RV, or Sportsmobile. Those are all in the 200k range though!

[flatlandreader]

DH and I visited RV shows after he bought the Trillium and every now and again after that. There were some smaller ones and this year seemed to be more. Also we found that there is a high end RV maker in our small city! Wonder if that was the company Donna saw?

Mostly reaffirming that Escape is a good fit for us. Feel lucky that DH spotted their advertising and stopped on a road trip in 2015.

[The Quilting Lady]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I think everyone should attend an RV show if they can. Go with an open mind, but take along all the knowledge you've gained about build quality, maintenance, etc.

The show yesterday was indoors, three huge buildings. Everything packed in bumper to hitch. All slides out. THAT is something to pay attention to. Is the RV usable with the slides in? A good 98% would NOT be. No opening the refrigerator door, no opening the bathroom door. Would I really want to spend $100,000 on something then when I'm traveling, I'd be back to stopping at restaurants and service stations because I couldn't fix a sandwich or use the toilet? Nope, not this kid.

Very good point about the slides.... in our Casita we loved our quick stops at rest stops for a simple sandwich and fruit.... and I LOVED using my own bathroom instead of gas stations or a bush on a long deserted highway.

[NW Cat Owner]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

(snip) Is the RV usable with the slides in? A good 98% would NOT be. No opening the refrigerator door, no opening the bathroom door. Would I really want to spend $100,000 on something then when I'm traveling, I'd be back to stopping at restaurants and service stations because I couldn't fix a sandwich or use the toilet? Nope, not this kid.

Nor this one. That was our main requirement when we were looking at RVs oh-so-long-ago. With all my food restrictions, stopping at a fast food joint or most other types of restaurants is out of the picture. I need to be able to get inside to fix a snack or meal, especially while traveling.

Yep, most didn't fit the bill so we kept on looking. And looking. And looking. But not any longer!

And yeah, don't get me started again on all the brown. ICK!!!

But, yeah, it was kind of fun to look at all the different types. Be amazed (appalled?) over the huge rigs. Thinking about driving those monsters down the road. Parking 'em. Deploying the slides. Having problems with 'em. Writing to Trailer Life when you can't get it resolved with the dealer/mfg. Come on - I can't be the only one that snickers over all those problems with leaks, slides, roofs, floors, etc, etc.

[NW Cat Owner]

Originally Posted by paulk

I don't think I saw a single fiberglass trailer at my local dealership or at the last RV show here in Seattle. There were a few teardrops, but they were not well represented.

I'm just really glad we found ETI. I hope they grown and displace more of the crappy stuff. For the moment they are microscopic compared to the big trailer manufacturers. Nobody at my dealership knew about them, and we're just a few hundred miles away.

Nope, I've not seen any at the Seattle RV show either. I wasn't even aware of fiberglass trailers until after my motorhome rental and someone asked if I had considered them as he had taken the Scamp factory tour. At that point I had been through a bunch of the R-Pods at a dealer in Coos Bay OR, which got my mind to thinking "smaller is lots better". I don't know if those were at the RV show - too long ago to remember.

Oh, I'm sure quite a few of the dealers are aware of ETI, especially in the Seattle area since there are so many owners of them in this area. They just don't want you thinking that way as their product is "better".

[freespirit]

after attending several rv shows and lots of dealers there seems to be many trailers today that have a fiberglass exterior, perhaps a distinction needs to made for MOLDED fiberglass trailers when referring to them.
Everyone would differ when referring to "quality construction" as everyone has a different reference point.
doesn't seem to matter if you spend 15k to 100k..every trailer has some "oops"..and many of them when looking "under the hood" get real ugly real fast in construction techniques and materials....however some tend to "innovate" and actually design and fabricate the special items their trailer design needs and with a real attention to detail..and some trailers seem to be merely an "integrator".