grinder

The RV manufactuerers that are publicly held, make a living creating a product that appears to give their customers more than they are really getting. 

CEO's of those companies, answer to their shareholders who demand that, and they create rewards when they achieve that success.

Look at what happened to airlines when they were deregulated. 

They created a new product to match what we still want today.  We pick the cheapest flights and accept less service.

Same for the large RV companies.

Same for most publicly held companies in all business segments.

Quality products and services come from niche companies who's business model is opposite most larger companies.

But they have to have higher prices for the better components, labor and higher cost of doing business because of lower volumes.

We all have to decide, can we spend for that level of quality and if not, how close can we get to that level with the least amount of money spent.

Would be nice to not have to make that decision..walk in and say, "Just sell me the best, you got!"

Individually it is hard to outsmart folks who know more than us....but, we do have fourms, internet and the wise folks on these forums to help us!

This setup is more common in off road campgrounds than most realize.   

Difficult part of buying used truck campers is finding one to fit your pickup bed. 

This way any truck camper will work and even put storage boxes, generator, etc. in fender wells. 

Put a wooden or steel frame over back off road rig and when camping hang a tarp over the frame to shed sun and rain.

Northwood looks good....high rated, small company, builds their own frame, not sure about the slides.

Try to avoid major components and procedures used by the big guys with the bad reputations.

Factory service usually better than the dealerships, if possible.

Location, Location....sounds like you are buying a house without knowing where you will build the house yet....places to park your rig, may not be desirable because of the neighborhood by your school and nice spots are too far away...

In my opinion, buy used from an individual and judge the individual as much as the rig..cannot do that buying used from a dealer.  New rigs suffer from build problems that dealers lose money repairing...so they are not in a hurry for warranty work and plus, you take the biggest depreciation loss.

Class C's enjoy better engineering, higher reliability, more service locations, quicker service on the chassis than Class A's.

Regarding buying from a private seller, notice how they keep up their other property and remember most folks prefer to sell their problems to a dealer to insulate themselves from buyer issues later.  If they feel good about their rig, they might prefer to sell themselves more.  They get more money and can be honest with the buyer.

Look for somone who is selling because of life changes such as health or finanical.

If you have a rig to pull, trailers are the most common and best bang for the buck.  More trailers on the road than any other RV.

Look for rigs that are not built by publicly held companies that rely on advertising, marketing and unreponsive dealer networks to grow...look for companies and dealerships that grow on quality products and after sale support. 

Showhauler and Renegade are considered the best by some....including me..

JC.....where did you put the Volvo at Boyd's...rent a second spot?