New Fifth Wheel not sure what to buy

pdaw1541 · 06-13-2017, 05:24 PM

Hello all,

First time poster here, so be gentle....lol. My wife and I have decided to buy our first travel trailer and have pretty much much made up our mind that we want to buy a fifth wheel. We have a 2017 Ford F350 that will be in (we had to order it) by the end of the month. We have a 6 year old and a 3 year old and we are strongly looking at the middle bunk layouts. I know Forest river has a few, Open Range, Cougar, Coachmen...many others have very similar layouts. We like the idea of the kids having their own bedroom w/ TV and we get a dedicated living room area with plenty of seating for everyone if/when its movie night during rainy days. We are new to travel trailers/fifth wheels and I am looking to pick your guys minds on what to look for/stay away from when purchasing one of these?

We really like the sandpiper 372LOK and other similar models. Must haves are a bunk room (preferably middle bunk layout), outside kitchen and at least a half tub for showering (for my 3 year old). Any suggestions? thanks in advance!!

Stripit · 06-13-2017, 06:36 PM

Since your new at this have you considered buying used? The big hit of deprecation happens with any new trailer and since your probably going to make a mistake in your first purchase ( almost all of have) your going to be much further ahead when the time comes to move to the next (perfect) trailer. Not trying to get you to not buy new, but go in with your eyes wide open. Don't know anything about the Sandpiper units, sorry.

pdaw1541 · 06-13-2017, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stripit

Since your new at this have you considered buying used? The big hit of deprecation happens with any new trailer and since your probably going to make a mistake in your first purchase ( almost all of have) your going to be much further ahead when the time comes to move to the next (perfect) trailer. Not trying to get you to not buy new, but go in with your eyes wide open. Don't know anything about the Sandpiper units, sorry.

Yes, I would be OK buying used. I don't want to buy anything super heavily used, but if I can find a good three or four-year-old unit with minimal wear and tear, I would be OK with that. My wife is somewhat of a clean freak and it's borderline OCD, so buying with the thought of used, it would have to be the right unit. She is also new to camping, and I want to at least try to make the first couple of experiences of camping a good one for her otherwise she will not want to go.

Stripit · 06-13-2017, 08:31 PM

Here in Arizona if you buy used from an individual there is no sales tax, any dealer you pay tax, don't know where your located. Check Craig's list, go to rv and type in under the search, Bunk and see what pops up. Spend time looking and you will start to see the good, bad and really ugly. If the trailer is at someones home, you can also see how clean that is too. It normally all goes hand in hand.

**wingnut60** · 06-14-2017, 06:55 AM

RVtrader.com also

CoMaddMax · 01-30-2018, 12:49 PM

We started out looking for a used toy hauler and ended up buying a new 2016 model in 2017 for 5K more. For the money I couldn't see buying someone else's mess... Even though they were up for sale the stuff they still had in the trailer was amazing. Our's has 2 queen sized bed's in the garage with a TV and a 1/2 bath. The lower bunk turns into 2 benches with a table in the middle. Ours is a Spartan 300 @ 43 ft. but they have a shorter version with the same setup just a smaller living room and it's 38 ft. Great master bath and kitchen.

dblr · 02-06-2018, 09:03 AM

If you decide on new and seeing you asked about a Forest River I would like to suggest the Cedar Creek Silverback with the mid bunk. We had a Cedar creek were very pleased with it and any issues were well taken care of by either our dealer or the factory.

GreenCvSpgs · 08-14-2018, 12:04 AM

I commend your choice of 5er for your family situation. We have a Coachmen Chaparral 360IBL, a 40' mid bunk, which works for us as the 'bunkie' will be turned into a craft/computer room by removing the bunks. The Sandpiper you have your eyes on is a better choice as a tv room, as it has a couch.

The other thing I notice is that the living room tv is opposite the cooking area, not on the same side. The 'chef' can watch the 6:00 news while preparing dinner, something we never thought of when we bought the Chaparral.

I did a LOT of research on pricing. For Sandpipers, be sure to check out Holman RV (Click here for Holman) in the Cincinnati area and RV Wholesalers (Click here -RVW) near Dayton, Ohio. Many from far and wide have said best prices and worth the trip.

Best of luck and enjoy!!

Terry Weier · 08-15-2018, 08:09 PM

I own a 2013 DRV Elite Suite when purchased it had an MSRP of $160,000 with trade of a 2006 Koutry Air (that I wish I still owned) I financed $110,000 in other words I got my trade stole from me. I was informed last week that high trade value was $40,000. I would like to know how I've lost $120,000 in 5 years. Invest your money wisely and $120,000....loss in 5 years is not wisely!!!! If I could do everything all over again I would have saved my money and I would have bought a used diesel pusher 5+ years old (((look around at the high end low mile flagship pushers on the net great deals for about the same price of a new 5th wheel))) so most of its depreciation has happened they are built 10000 times better than any fifth wheel on the road and I'm talking low quality beginner entry level diesel pushers. If I took the time and got into the level of detail of issues I've had with my Elite Suite you would get sick and tired of reading. It would read like a very boring novel all I can tell you is I've had issues from day one (I have the receipts to back it up). I will never own another DRV product as long as I live. If you must stay with fifth wheels I would sure check out probably New Horizons, Spacecraft, or possibly a Lux I've heard good things. New Horizon and Spacecraft are one-off in other words they're not built on some assembly line where they're being paid piece work.