# Newbie About To Buy His 1st Outback



## ramartina (Feb 16, 2008)

Wish I would have found this place sooner. Outstanding resource.

Anyways, wife and I are hooked on the Outbacks. Looking at the 2008 23RS and the 21RS (leaning towards the 21 because of weight and price). Planning to pull the trigger this weekend. Any reviews?

I am going to be a first time TT owner. We own property 40 miles from home....so that's where we plan on using it mostly with our 2 kids. Maybe one or two trips to state parks a year to change things up.

Might be the wrong forum for this but:

Any reviews on either model?

Also, going to have to tow with my 2000 GMC Suburban 1500 4x4. Is this enough truck for these models?

Thanks for helping a newbie. I'm sure I'll be around a bunch with silly questions. Thanks in advance!


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Welcome...Welcome...Welcome.

Glad you found us.









Where are you from? Reason I ask, is to see if you'll be driving in flat land or mountains.

Both of those are smaller Outbacks, so you should be "ok" with either one, as long as you educate yourself on proper hitching techniques...and get a great hitch. I recommend the Equalizer. Great hitch...easy to install and very easy to use.

Because you said you would be camping on your personal property, I'm guessing you will be "dry" camping. Meaning no electric..water...sewer connections.

Do you happen to know the axle ratio of your TV (tow vechicle)?


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Welcome! and there are no silly questions here... be sure to ask away!

Use the search tool here there is tons of info from the past.

I think either would be fine for your sub.. But honestly about 23 foot is about max for a 1/2 ton sub.. The payload is low on those rigs.

Be sure and have the dealer throw in a genuine Equalizer or Reese cam sway hitch.

Dont let em throw in a friction sway.. Youll be throwing it in the trash soon..

You might look into having them throw in a second battery. If you have no power at your property youll need it. many of us run two 6 volts tied in series, but 2 12 volts will be pretty good too.

Good Luck!

Carey


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Colorado~DirtBikers said:


> You might look into having them throw in a second battery. If you have no power at your property youll need it. many of us run two 6 volts tied in series, but 2 12 volts will be pretty good too.


Heck...depending on how much property he has...he could run a HUGE genertor all day long and not bug a sole!


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## ramartina (Feb 16, 2008)

Oregon_Camper said:


> Welcome...Welcome...Welcome.
> 
> Glad you found us.
> 
> ...


I'm in Cincinnati OH and our property is in KY. Mostly flat drives a couple of hours all around us.

Yep. We are going to be dry (so I'm also about to go look at threads dealing with generators...expensive hobby on the front end). Also, we won't be taking it home very often. We have a large unused tobacco barn on the property that it will be parked in most of the time unless I need to take it about 20 minutes away to drain the tanks at the nearest dump station or fill up on water. This is sort of going to be our little weekend home in the woods without actually having a home there (camped all last year....wife declared she needs a couch, a kitchen and a lady's room for 2008).

No idea on the axle ratio. Just to be prepared I'm working under the assumption that its the smaller of the two standard ratios. Planning on adding a transmission cooler this month just to be safe and I've been looking at WD hitches as well.


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Welcome to Outbackers









Searching here can be interesting sometimes to locate things. One of the things that also works is go to the section you think the info is in and read all the topic headers, usually that will lead to a thread with an answer. If that fails, we have no issues with any subject being asked again, other members will sometimes give you a link to a previous discussion for help, most times we will fully discuss it again because new members might have new perspectives on any subject and old members like to post a lot.









John


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## Frank's n beans (Aug 20, 2007)

You should be fine with the 23 foot model, just remember to keep the RPM's up (No Overdrive) and the speed down.
If you are not moving from campground to campground I recommend a 3000 watt inverter/generator. Your AC will run without a problem. Just remember to those generators will sprout legs and leave if you don't lock it up.


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## Scrib (Jun 28, 2005)

Welcome and good luck on the purchase


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## Piecemaker (Nov 15, 2007)

Fat Tony








Welcome to Outbackers.







Truely a great place to be.

We chose the 23rs for the reason of the queen bed on the bottom. Little bit more storage and overall room.

Wish you the best in your decision.

Brian


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## kyoutback (Jul 12, 2004)

Welcome to Outbackers!!
We've had our 23rs for 3 years now and really have no intentions of changing to something else anytime soon. We will wear this sucker out!! When we first got ours we towed it with an Isuzu Ascender. It was the big model. 8 cyl. long wheelbase etc. and did a fine job locally. (Same local area you are in). We just felt for longer trips we would feel better with a little stronger vehicle.

On a side note we have some local outbacker rallys planned. Check out the rally section of the site if you are interested.


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

Fat tony,

Welcome to the group!









Enjoy your new toy!

FAT MARK (mswalt)


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## Lady Di (Oct 28, 2005)

Welcome Tony !









Hope you and your family have a GREAT time shopping and camping.

Feel free to ask away any questions.


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## hpapa4 (Apr 11, 2007)

First let me say welcome to Outbackers. I have a 1500 Chevy crew cab pickup with a twoing package. It handles my 25FBS very well. I have the 4.8 V8 so it is not the big engine. I have had it in the Smoky Mountains and it did fine. The next size engine would be helpful, but it did alright. Most of my driving is on flatlands and it does great there. I also like the smaller size due to fuel consumption. I would rather pay for another night camping instead of fuel to pull my Outback to the location. My Outback has been a good rig to pull and I have had no real problems. Make sure you check out the equalizing hitchs and anti sway bars. I feel they are worth there price. Enjoy your new Outback when you make up your mind.


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## daslobo777 (Mar 24, 2007)

Fat Tony -

Welcome to the best TT website on the net .... and full of great, friendly, and knowledgeable people.

On the TT choice - everyone always says to go as big as you can - then go one size larger - and you will not regret it later on.

We have the 23RS and love it. We pull it with a Nissan Armada - solid HP/Torque for this TT size - and it pulls like a charm with good power for long grades here in AZ.

We also have the Equal-I-Zer WDH/Anti-Sway hitch and like it very much. There are lots of different thoughts on WDHs here and everyone has their favorite. I suggest surfing, studying, and picking what works best for you.

Welcome again and happy camping!!


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## ramartina (Feb 16, 2008)

Well, not part of the club yet. Literally about one minute before finalizing the deal for the 23RS yesterday, the salesperson threw me a curveball that rubbed me the wrong way enough that I asked for my financing application back and left the dealership. Talking to another Outback dealer out of state again on Tuesday. Might be more of a hassle, but its going to save me $15 a month for the next dozen years. That is worth the drive. Too bad, cause I was ready to give this guy my business.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Fat Tony said:


> Well, not part of the club yet. Literally about one minute before finalizing the deal for the 23RS yesterday, the salesperson threw me a curveball that rubbed me the wrong way enough that I asked for my financing application back and left the dealership. Talking to another Outback dealer out of state again on Tuesday. Might be more of a hassle, but its going to save me $15 a month for the next dozen years. That is worth the drive. Too bad, cause I was ready to give this guy my business.


Sorry to hear that. If you're willing to share the story and Outback dealers name, we might be able to help someone in the future avoid the same problem you just went through.


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

He does, see post 13

http://www.outbackers.com/forums/index.php...mp;#entry274036


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

tdvffjohn said:


> He does, see post 13
> 
> http://www.outbackers.com/forums/index.php...mp;#entry274036


Saw that later...thanks!

Still wish we could delete our posts. Would help at certain times. Not sure why we lost that ability.


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## Dan L (Jan 24, 2008)

Hang in there Fat Tony,

You will find the deal that is right for you. As I stated before, we bought our Outback from Holman RV last August. We had paid cash for the unit, so we did not have to deal with the financing end of the purchase. That is the reason we bought from Holman. They certainly had the best deal going at the time. Our local dealer would not budge and Holman made it easy to make the 1600 mile round trip because they were $12,000.00 cheaper and they threw in the tow gear because they could not budge on the price of the unit.

Again, I'm sorry that has happened to you. I wish you luck in your search and I hope that you end up with your Outback. We have only had ours for 7 months, but have already made great memories.

Best of luck,
Dan


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Sorry to hear that Tony. We've had more than our fill of 'bait & switch' credit cr** with car dealers so we do our financing through our bank or credit union. You've still got to watch the numbers VERY closely as, since they're not lining their pockets with the added $$$ from the financing, they are VERY likely to switch around some other numbers. If you don't catch it and you sign the papers....you've spent the money. The first time - it cost the dealer the sale - the second time I REALLY wanted to vehicle and I guess the dealer REALLY wanted the sale 'cuz it was pretty easy to get a quick fix (and whatever the excuse was) from the dealer.

Good luck in the hunt!


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## ramartina (Feb 16, 2008)

wolfwood said:


> Sorry to hear that Tony. We've had more than our fill of 'bait & switch' credit cr** with car dealers so we do our financing through our bank or credit union. You've still got to watch the numbers VERY closely as, since they're not lining their pockets with the added $$$ from the financing, they are VERY likely to switch around some other numbers. If you don't catch it and you sign the papers....you've spent the money. The first time - it cost the dealer the sale - the second time I REALLY wanted to vehicle and I guess the dealer REALLY wanted the sale 'cuz it was pretty easy to get a quick fix (and whatever the excuse was) from the dealer.
> 
> Good luck in the hunt!


In addition with being rubbed the wrong way with the interest rate, the other thing I discovered today when looking at the calculation for loan payment using the accepted amortization tables - the amount financed at the rate and terms they quoted does not jibe with the monthly payment they said it would have coresponded to. About $7 bucks higher/month than it should have been at all the numbers. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that the only thing I can come up with is that their financing must apply an even higher % of monthly payment towards interest on the front end than usual. If so, that was not disclosed. I need to check the O.R.C. to see if the Consumer Sales Practices Act has anything to say on this particular issue.

Double check the #'s folks to ensure they all add up. Mine didn't.


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Hi Fat Tony
















to Outbackers! 

Sorry to hear that you had trouble with financing at Holman's. Have you tried talking with Rocky??
He is a really nice man and who knows...he might be able to do something about the price to offset the extra cost.
Could you do a credit union loan or maybe an equity loan on your home with a really good rate??

In any case, I hope you get things sorted out and become an Outback owner very soon,


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## ramartina (Feb 16, 2008)

skippershe said:


> Hi Fat Tony
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I may just say the heck with financing through the dealers. Talking to my credit union on Tuesday. Problem is, looking at the web site it says they finance up to 60 months on new RV purchases less than 20K. Might be the way I decide to go, though. Would cost me a lot more a month but a few grand less in the long run.


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## RizFam (Feb 25, 2006)

OOPS I just posted your welcome in another Thread ..... duh








I'm still in vacation mode I think.









Tami


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

Welcome to the group Tony, I pull a 23RS with a Tahoe in the mountains all the time have the worst gear ratio 3.46 I think and have no problems at all. We love having 2 Queen beds and the Equal-i-zer hitch allows it to tow like a dream.

I too have had dealers try to get me into bad loans but I don't use their loan service. I use my credit union and get better rates than they can give you. When I bought my car a few years back I got a E-loan voucher, it is like buying a car with cash just make your deal and fill out the voucher like a check and the car is yours. Well I made my deal on the car and when they made out the papers I told them I was paying with a voucher from e-loan, you would think I was going to take his first born, he had a a cow said it would be to much work for him and even said he would not take it. He said he could get me a the same rate using his loan...well he couldn't. Well I told him if you want to sell me this car you will take the voucher or I will buy from someone else, well he took it. Dealers make a lot of money on loans they sell.


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## ramartina (Feb 16, 2008)

N7OQ said:


> Welcome to the group Tony, I pull a 23RS with a Tahoe in the mountains all the time have the worst gear ratio 3.46 I think and have no problems at all. We love having 2 Queen beds and the Equal-i-zer hitch allows it to tow like a dream.


I pick it up next Saturday when I get the brake controller and equalizer installed. This weekend will be spent getting the ol' Suburban ready to tow. Playing with new shocks and a tranny cooler tomorrow.


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## Collinsfam_WY (Nov 9, 2006)

Welcome aboard Tony! We too have a 23RS and love it =)

-CC


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