My new E23

BobCS

Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2020
Messages
26
Location
Lancaster
I'm not totally new here but have not posted much. This is my first since taking possession of my first Escape after owning a Casita for 21 years.

Our new E23 was delivered right to our address as promised. Delivery guy was great and even stayed to make sure I was able to hitch up and get it backed in next to the garage (where the Casita used to be). But the drawback is not getting an in person guided walk through.

In the week that we have had it, I have been testing everything and figuring out what is the same as my old trailer and what is not. The good news is that everything works as it should. The bad news is there is no one place to go for the missing details. Some of it is in the printed Escape and component manuals, some is in the orientation videos, much can be found by searching this forum and others, and some comes from just staring at it for a while until it makes sense. The videos and Escape manual are very outdated, and I am missing at least a handful of the component manuals. I can find them online but that's yet another place to go.

Bottom line, I am happy with the trailer build quality and components, and everything works, but I am disappointed with the documentation. I have expressed this and asked for the missing manuals from Aftersales Support, but so far have received only an automated response.

Some have wondered about the Houghton A/C, and I wondered about the solar/lithium/inverter system. I'm pleased to report that I can run the electric water heater and A/C at the same time with the 3KW inverter, no shore power. Not saying how long the batteries would last, and I may never do it again, but it works. The Houghton does seem to have a soft start built in, as the power draw starts low and builds.

There is a small ShurFlo 182-100 accumulator right after the water pump, it only looks a bit larger than the pump. It won't keep the pump from running constantly with a tap wide open, but it does eliminate the rapid pulsing we would sometimes get with the Casita.

Pennsylvania is not friendly to brand new foreign built trailers. All the Escape export/import docs were fine. We still have to wait several weeks for title and registration. So, any questions I can answer by looking and experimenting, I'm happy to do so. We're not going anywhere just yet!
 
Congratulations on your new 23! Which model did you get? We are ready to pull the trigger on a 23 F1 shortly. Love to hear about how things are going with yours!
 
As I just mentioned in the thread on 'Escape Quality', it would be nice if there were a network of Escape Authorized Service Centers, where we owners could go for advice and service (warranty or not), but this is probably beyond the scope of a small niche manufacturer.

Welcome to the small community of East-Coast Escape owners (and former Casita owners!). We're north of you, but often travel through PA on our way to daughter's family in VA, staying overnight in state parks (e.g. Promised Land, Locust Lake, Hickory Run), so maybe we'll meet at some point. Next trip I hope to take in the East Broad Top Railroad.
 
Congrats on that beautiful E23, we just bought a new 21c in April and have yet to get our title either,I have been to the town office 4 times and I think we may finally have it straightened out, we even had to have the local police come here to verify the VIN number, the wheels move slowly but they are moving.
Happy Trails
 
Congratulations on your new E23.
You certainly live in a beautiful part of Pennsylvania.

Our trailer title took about 6 weeks to arrive but the trailer name was incorrect on the title. We had to submit a correction form and wait another 6 weeks for the corrected title. Also had a hard time getting DOT to acknowledge that we had paid sales tax.
Be sure to keep copies of all the documents and payments that you submit. They may come in handy.

Good luck and enjoy your new Escape.
 
Thanks for the welcomes. Genebuilder, we have the queen bed, and replaced the cooktop and microwave with the Suburban flush mount oven, which has 3 burners and spark igniters for everything. MrLynn, we have been in all of those PA parks and many others.

We go all over the USA (all year) and sometimes Canada (summer only!), and we say hello to Casita and Escape owners when we see them, so we might see any of you somewhere down the road.

Here's the picture our delivery guy took. Say hi if you see us, we're friendly!
Bob and Klaudia
 

Attachments

  • Escape delivery.jpg
    Escape delivery.jpg
    405.5 KB · Views: 104
Congratulations Bob and Klaudia on your beautiful E23 and for becoming an Escapee in the the Escape family. You are going to love it here and your new Escape E23.


I read that you guys travel a lot, so make more memories with your new E23 and for any bumps in the road that life tends to throw at us.......We're here for you.


Cheers to ya......... and Happy Trails.......... Jack
 
Congrats on the new 23. I'm sure you will enjoy it and have it all figured out after your first good outing. I would suggest your first mod should be the drawer under the bed. It is great use of the space w/o lifting the bed for often used items.
 
We retire this Halloween. Our first 3 week trip with many more to come is to the Florida panhandle down through Mississippi and back home thru Alabama

You have a nice looking Escape. We'll see you down the road!
 
Congrats on your E23 purchase. We also converted from a Casita to an Escape 19. I no longer have to worry about hitting my head on the low ceiling of the Casita. The overall quality of the Escape if far superior to the Casita. Once you learn how to use all the new features you should be very pleased. Great to see another Escape in the Northeast!
 
Nice looking trailer. I feel your pain with PennDot. Even privately selling vehicles is 100x worse then any other state it seems. We've been thinking about a 19 but then this 23 came out and I'm intrigued. I just wish it had a dry bath setup.
 
Updates

Now that everything is resolved, at least verbally...

As we were deciding where to put dishes and such, I noticed a problem. The only inside AC outlets are at the dinette bench and both sides of the bed. That's the very front and back of the trailer, with nothing in between. Where do we plug in the coffee maker and toaster?

Good news: Escape Aftersales Support confirmed today that there is supposed to be a pop-up outlet on the kitchen counter, they will send me the outlet and pay for installation under warranty. They are also sending additional component user manuals as I requested.

Bad news: My initial inquiries (aka "complaints") about both issues were closed out after a quick reply, further questions from me, and no responses to those. I waited a week, then phoned. I've seen similar reports from others here, Escape will do the right thing if prompted, but sometimes they just drop the ball.

I'm still waiting for PA title and registration, and no one can tell me how long that will take. Stay cool everyone, it's hot out there.
 
I'm not sure how ETI usually wires in the countertop outlet. But typically some interior outlets are downstream to the exterior GFCI and that has been a bit of a nuisance in some cases.

My preferred way of installing the new outlet would be to run the wire to a dedicated breaker. But that's something that I'd do myself, maybe the installer won't do an installation not protected with a GFCI. Wouldn't hurt to ask.

Enjoy the new trailer.

Ron
 
We too have an E23 and have the pop-up on the counter. You’ll like it when you get it. We’ve had a couple of build problems too, and have been very pleased with ETI’s responsiveness and interest in solving these problems. Overall, we’re SOOO happy with our 23 and with ETI’s availability and responsiveness.
 
Final update. I'll answer any questions, but otherwise let this thread go quietly into the darkness now that "My new 23" is in active use.

We had to scrap our trial run to a local state park due to the delay in getting state registration, but it came through just in time for our first "real" trip to Acadia National Park. We spent a week at Blackwoods, a week at Seawall, and a few nights in Vermont, all with no hookups. Blackwoods site was completely shaded and we ran the truck generator (F-150 hybrid) for several hours one day. Seawall site was partly sunny and the solar panels kept everything going. No showers at either campground so we used our own. Only problem was a bent hinge on an overhead cupboard, and a phone call to Aftersales Support produced a replacement and two spares. A fine maiden voyage!

Since returning home I got the missing kitchen outlet installed, PA safety inspection done, ordered a CalMark cover (pricey, but so is the trailer), and showed the trailer to two prospective customers referred by Escape Sales. We have several shorter trips planned for the fall and longer trips next year. Bon voyage everyone!
 

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top Bottom