Crossroads Cameo 5th wheel

[Martin]

So I am a 62 year old super experienced boater, but an RV newbie.

We have done a lot of shopping around for a 5th wheel to pull behind a new F-250 SD diesel. We are retiring in California and migrating east.

What we found that we like the best - that is the best mix of amenities, weight, price,and storage is the Crossroads Cameo 3201 RL. 11,078 lbs dry which means I would would be pulling around 13,000lb.

We will need to live in this for around a year and tow it around 6000 miles.

It seems like you can read horror stories on every brand out there, but this one seems good to me. Although this brand is not that common it seems.

Do any of you experienced people know any compelling reason that I should avoid this brand or model?

Any advice is appreciated.

http://www.crossroadsrv.com/products/fifth-wheels/cameo/floorplans/ce3201rl/

[Kirk W]

I have known several couples who were fulltime in a Cameo fivers and were very happy with them. 

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

17 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

I have known several couples who were fulltime in a Cameo fivers and were very happy with them. 

Kirk, The Crossroad Cameo is not the same as the Carriage Cameo was before Carriage closed.  The parent of Crossroad bought the name at auction.

[Martin]

I know they are owned by Thor now. Does that mean they are junk?

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, Alie&Jim's Carrilite said:

The parent of Crossroad bought the name at auction.

Thor Ind. division Redwood RV bought the brand names and intellectual property of Carriage in 2012.  At least 1 of the Cameo RVs that I referred to was built by them. 

24 minutes ago, Martin said:

I know they are owned by Thor now. Does that mean they are junk?

Not necessarily. Thor also makes and sells Airstream travel trailers, the most expensive travel trailers made. The Montana fifth wheel is built by Keystone RV, also owned by Thor. The fact is that Thor has had a very checkered history and reputation, but not everything that they build is bad. 

[dblr]

For what it's worth the Cameo and the Redwood line are built in the same factory in Topeka In. We looked at the Carriage line when they were making both the Carriage and Cameo but decided against a purchase, then they dropped the Carriage and only kept the Cameo, why I don't know. I always thought it seemed strange they built the Redwood and Carriage Cameo line in the same factory, to me it seemed they were competing against each other. Good luck on your choice.

[Martin]

Thank you so much for the replies.

 

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

1 hour ago, Martin said:

Thank you so much for the replies.

 

Considering 90% of all brands are an assembly of Lippert based components, looking at what care has been taken to make sure everything is correctly assembled is what sets the manufactures apart.  Thor also owns DRV, which you would think means excellent quality, but we are disappointed in our DRV Mobile Suites due to defects in the assembly process that were not corrected.

Do your homework, join an owners Forum or 2 and see what complaints are the most common.  A Furrion microwave failure is the microwave's fault, not the guy that screwed it into place.  Find what most owners complain about.