The previous blog post paid tribute to the extreme high quality of the Airstream. Airstream turned my interests particularly to vintage trailer brands using all-aluminum, aircraft riveted construction. And that led me to my interest in all vintage travel trailers (even the non-all-aluminum brands).
I became interested in travel trailers about 10 years ago when a collegue at work (who was an avid camper) “talked up” how great having a travel trailer (and camping) was. At the time I was a new father and camping was not going to be on the agenda any time soon. But I did step foot on the lot of a few trailer dealers just to whet my appetite for the future.
The most glaring thing I noticed then – and notice now with new travel trailers is the poor quality of the “brand-new” products. Door handles falling off; flimsy construction of cabinets, drawers, dinette, etc.; fixtures made of plastic so thin that a 3D printer could probably make better and on and on. The new travel trailers that I saw seemed like they were a money-pit on wheels. If a trailer is falling apart just from people looking at it then it cannot bode well for what will happen when taking it on a trip.
I am not going to name specific brands (except to say they are NOT Airstream). But the point I do want to make is that when it comes to travel trailers “new” doesn’t necessarily mean trouble free or say anything about quality as it does with automobiles. Although he is discussing RV’s Steve Lehto ,an attorney who specializes in lemon laws, has a good video on YouTube entitled “Don’t Buy and RV .” And in my very limited experience what he says in this video is spot on. Bottom line – new RV’s (and travel trailers) are often extremely poorly built (even expensive one’s).
I started this site to build up my knowledge of travel trailers and to help others in the process. The contrast I want to make in this post is that when it comes to buying a travel trailer – if it is in good shape and it has been in use for awhile and still looks goood then it is likely going to serve the next owner well regardless of whether the trailer is 50 years old or 5 years old (or “brand new”). Airstream trailers have super-high quality but the drawback is the equally high up-front cost needed to buy one (new or used). Whether vintage, new, all-aluminum and aircraft-riveted or not; when it comes to buying a travel trailer it’s important to know that it’s a quality product. At this site we intend to help you do just that. Stay tuned – we are just getting started.