What Travel Trailer Brands To Avoid 2024

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Last Updated on August 24, 2024 by Paul Clayton

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What Travel Trailer Brands to Avoid

Our daily life has grown more and more busy with development in each sector of work. Hardly anyone can find time to get out and go on a road trip and do something recreational. Sometimes when we finally find ourselves with some time, we plan and save for months to prepare for a trip in an RV with our families, and the excitement for the trip keeps on building.

Recreation Vehicle Review Sites

Whether it is just a trip with your kids or a romantic vacation when it’s time to get ready and head out of town, a Recreational Vehicle, or what we commonly call an RV is surely the first option. Putting your money together to buy an RV can be one of the costliest purchases that you will ever make in your life, and it is not easy to save for it. Once you do save a good sum, you need to make sure that the RV is worth the money.

However, to know which brand is the right choice, you must be aware of what you are actually trying to spend your money on. You should have certain expectations and values that you want in return for the cost. Here are a few things that you must consider before choosing a trailer.

Camping location

You must know about your travel habits and destinations well. Having a small trailer will not provide all the amenities that you may require, but having a big vehicle will cause a lot of problems while finding space for parking. You should understand that the trailer must fit with the location that you have selected.

Truck compatibility

This is a very common problem and also very important to avoid. The trailer should fit well with the truck you have and you should take care of the sizes of the two while considering which trailer to buy from a particular brand.

Reviews

Reviews from critics and different people who have some experience with RVs should be well analyzed so that you understand your needs better. Once you do choose a particular brand, you must have a look at what the brand’s existing users have to say about it. Many companies claim different things, but there are small and big drawbacks to almost every one of them.

Going through reviews will give you a better idea of what brand features are more valuable to you than the others.

There are so many people who find themselves dissatisfied even after spending a whole fortune on their RV. Therefore, one needs to be very careful with such spending, and to help you with that, here are the travel trailer brands to avoid.

1. Keystone

Although Keystone claims to manufacture the best-of-class RVs having an unmatched fuel economy, there are thousands of complaints from users. The endorsements do not fit with the actual experiences of the Keystone customers. Even their customer service has a bad reputation and according to most people, it is unreliable for any kind of help.

Not only are there complaints about the bad quality of cabinet doors and many other technical problems in the RV, like the poor functioning and quality of control boards, but even the website Keystone is not user-friendly, giving an overall bad user experience. The company has failed to provide users with what they expect the most, which is quality. Companies that have not even been in the market for as long as a decade and have not created a name for themselves in the public must try to gain trust and market, both of which Keystone has failed to do.

2. Coachmen

A brand that started in 1964 and has created many vehicles is supposed to be an expert in their field, but unfortunately, this is one of the worst manufacturers of recreational vehicles. The Coachmen RVs do come with a lot of unique features, but it still dropped down to fifth place in RV brands and there are many reasons for that.

Many of their vehicles satisfy the basic needs of the customers, but several customers have also complained about the lousy quality and on-road technical difficulties that make the vehicles dangerous and make the consumer’s experience stressful. Many users have had a great experience with this brand and a lot of people are still buying Coachmen, but the negative situations exist quite prominently, which makes this brand, not something that you can trust with your eyes closed.

3. Gulfstream

The most commonly reported problem of Gulfstream vehicles is that there are several leaks in the vehicle, which leads to rusting and several technical issues. The reason why this has remained a problem for a long with Gulfstream is that they have a fundamental design and manufacturing process and not a premium one. There can be damage to refrigerators and heaters over time which can completely take the fun away from a trip. There are much better quality RVs available for similar prices, which should be considered for buying an RV.

4. Winnebago

This is one brand that has a huge directory of mixed reviews. While many users feel that a Winnebago RV was their best choice and was very satisfying, an equal number of users have said that this is nothing more than a waste of your long-saved income. This brand has gained traction very fast with respect to its competitors and has many devoted customers, but some of its drawbacks have led to its failure among a large number of customers.

Most complaints question the quality of the manufacturing of Winnebago. There are several people who have found the inner walls of the RV to be bent and not properly installed. This obviously leads to doubt about how safe the equipment of the vehicle is. Another important feature of any company to maintain its reputation is its customer care services, which also has faced a lot of bad reviews because of their failure to perform according to their own warranty policy.

Winnebago has also stated that they are not responsible for not providing the features to customers that they don’t have, which is itself a statement that could harm any business. This is unprofessional, and observing the complaints it has received continuously, it is very difficult for anyone to trust their products.

5. Hurricane

This is one of the most criticized RV brands out there. It is considered to be one of Thor Motor Coach’s best creations, but the issues that it faces are numerically a lot and really unexpected. It cannot be denied that it has a very good build quality on the insides, and it would have even made it to the number 1 spot if people only saw what was inside.

The auto stabilizer jacks in the hydraulic lines are of poor quality and they ooze hydraulic fluids, which no customer wants out of a vehicle. There are also several complaints against customer services, and that they do not accept one’s warranty, forcing the customers to get repairs out of their own pockets. There are also reports that people have found out that many pieces of equipment provided in a new vehicle are not actually new. This would really discourage anyone from trusting this brand.

6. Jayco

This too is one of the many brands about which different users have different opinions. However, the RVs belonging to this brand challenge you with real problems. As soon as you buy an RV from Jayco, you will realize that you have invested your money in the wrong vehicle. The Jayco RVs come with a lot of equipment and are supposed to make the brand rise above its competitors, but unfortunately, most of the equipment fails to work. There are problems with the oven hood and the toilet seats as well. All of this, plus the fact that their RVs are also not very good-looking or attractive can discourage any buyer from going for this RV.

It is clear that Jayco RVs are filled with problems, making it one of the least reliable brands in the market. Looking at the huge number of customer complaints and bad reviews, it’s obvious that this is surely not a good option for a recreational place.

7. Fleetwood

This might be a surprising name to the readers as it is one of the most prominent brands in the market and is heavily used. It has been in the market for several decades now and has gained quite a good reputation. Most people take this brand to be one of the finest RV manufacturers and they are in a lot of demand in the market. Fleetwood themselves have never left any stone unturned to give their customers a vehicle when they needed it.

However, in recent times, many complaints and poor reviews have risen against the company. Contrasting to their previous model of business where they invested more in the quality of RVs, now they are more concerned about the quantity of RVs. The quality of seats and the problems with charging and discharging of the battery are some of the major sources of complaint. Even the customer service has not helped much, and hence, customers are now facing an almost different type of brand than they were a decade ago.

8. Forest River

There are some really big problems with the Forest River RVs and the brand does not seem to care about them. The two major problems with Forest River is that there are several leaks found in the vehicles by most of their customers and the problem of sinking floor is rather worrying.

This brand had once been one of the most influential ones and has manufactured RVs that were on the top of the list, but the company has slowly gone down the ranks because of its carelessness. The customer service has not worked up to the mark, and always ignores their users’ problems which has led to the loss of trust. There have been several more issues and they seem to keep rising for this company, which can lead to complete business failure very soon. People still have some hope in this brand but with the increasing number of complaints and bad reviews, it is better to not take this brand as a valid choice for buying a recreational vehicle.

Choose Wisely!

The few major problems with all the above-mentioned brands are common which include bad quality and poor support, which are also the two most valuable assets to present to a customer. Many companies that had once ruled the market with their products are failing in the same market, not because of changes in the market but mostly because the new directions they have taken have turned out to be the wrong choices.

New brands are replacing these companies, and there are many options for buying an RV today. When you are spending your hard-earned money, you should surely consider going through all the reviews before choosing a brand. Buying an RV is a one-time investment, and you must choose your brand wisely.

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