# How Often You Trade In Your Camper?



## Tangooutback (Apr 16, 2010)

The OB I have is the second camper. The first one was a Coleman popup and I kept it for four years. A dealer I spoke with said most of his customers traded in their first one within two years.


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## CrazyAboutOrchids (Aug 10, 2009)

Had an 03 Coleman Niagara pop up for 7 years that we purchased new. Traded it in this year for an 03 26RS. No plans on replacing it any time soon; it's the perfect fit for the 5 of us. Don't think I'd ever buy new again.


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## johnp (Mar 15, 2004)

I'm good for about two seasons. Funny you should bring this up.

3-Outbacks

1- pop up

2-class C motorhomes

1-class A

Lets not get into vehicles that gets complicated

Now I'm going to do it again but for other reasons.

John


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Let's see, the popup lasted 3 years. The Outback, just under 2 years. The 5'er, 18 months.








We're hoping for longer on the Minilite....


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## my3chis (Sep 2, 2010)

We started camping in a tent in '98. Bought our pop-up in '03. Just bought our 250RS 3 weeks ago.


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## TexanThompsons (Apr 21, 2009)

We're targeting 8 years. So that means 1.5 down and 6.5 more to go.


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

I am on my thirf and they have been 2-3 years........... but i think i can see myself in this for 4-5 years or so.... but who knows?

So far i haven't seen anything i would want to trade for................ time will tell if we stay in the cycle.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

Our hybrid was just under two years. Plan to keep the Outback for a long time; 10 years?


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## Ace (Aug 22, 2010)

Started backpacking at age 18 for about 5 years, tent camping (periodically) for 10, bought a brand new 2008 Jayco a little over a year ago and upgraded to the Outback a few weeks ago...

Just went tent/motorcycle camping for 3 days last weekend so I guess I still enjoy roughing it a little bit.

Hopefully we keep the Outback for at least a few years.


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## pintoplumber (Nov 4, 2007)

I'm a keeper, our first camper was a '73 Shasta. Bought it for $1000. in 1986 sold it for $1000. in 2005. Used it 19 years. We keep the camper in the garage so they last long. I'd still have the Shasta if it wasn't for mom, she wanted a new camper. But that's a whole 'nuther story. Dennis


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

We are into our 19th year with the Coleman Shenandoah pop-up which the children use now. We will probably have the 250RS for a while too....I go to the Hershey show every year and haven’t seen anything new in the OB line that I would like to trade up to...As far as fivers, yes, they are nice, but, I like the 28’ towing length and 35’ open length of our Outback the best.


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## Dave_CDN (Sep 13, 2007)

Our line up 
1996 Coleman Santa-Fe
2002 Coleman Utah
2010 210R (purchased in 2009)

So for us approximatively every 6 -7 years. I would think that was an wishful thinking on the part of the sales guy. Maybe the state of the state of the economy in his area is such that a person can trade-up more often.

We did Mucho research on what product matched our needs, wants and desires and settled on our choice with intention for the longer term. Perhaps if apurchase decision is more whimsical then you tend to trade more often to match the desire and want side of the equation rather than economical choice.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Dave_CDN said:


> ..... I would think that was an wishful thinking on the part of the sales guy. Maybe the state of the state of the economy in his area is such that a person can trade-up more often.
> 
> We did Mucho research on what product matched our needs, wants and desires and settled on our choice with intention for the longer term. Perhaps if apurchase decision is more whimsical then you tend to trade more often to match the desire and want side of the equation rather than economical choice.


Let's see, about 1/2 of respondants to date seemed to be aligned on the 2 year number.... I'm really not sure the salesman is that far off.








Sure, we can all claim to do research on what we want, but then it can easily fall apart once we get out there camping.... The trailer might be too small, it might be too big, setup might be more difficult than expected, towing might be more work than was hoped for.... The list goes on and on, but I'll bet you find that a lot of the people who trade found something they hadn't foreseen that caused them to make a change rather than just seeing a new model.

We've been particularly bad at this, but we didn't go into it thinking we'd just throw money away.... rather we've been investing in finding what we want.









BTW, I do think it's great that the other 1/2 of respondants found what they wanted on the first try!


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## CdnOutback (Apr 16, 2010)

We had a Jayco Popup for about 8 years
A Terry 17 ft Hybrid for 3 years
A Kodiak 24 ft Hybrid for 2 years
Now have Outback 325FRE....

We have always said.. "What more do we need!"

Len


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## matty1 (Mar 7, 2005)

Our salesman had said an average of 26 months for turn around on campers...since it was my first camper I couldnt believe that, but reading all of the turnaround on this site and friends and neighbors, I completely agree with that number.


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## brian j (Nov 24, 2009)

matty1 said:


> Our salesman had said an average of 26 months for turn around on campers...since it was my first camper I couldnt believe that, but reading all of the turnaround on this site and friends and neighbors, I completely agree with that number.


yea, i must say i'm surprised at the turnover. granted we've only owned our outback for 9 months, and we have gotten a tiny bit of trailer envy once or twice, but we have no plans on replacing it for awhile.


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## SLO Outbacker (Jan 30, 2009)

We are not "normal". We have a 1992 Starcraft Tent trailer we bought new and that I still have. It has been garaged its whole life and is still in great condition. At this point I plan to hold on to it for a few years to see if our son might use it.

Bought our Outback last year thinking it was time to add a level of comfort and convenience to our travel. So far, so good. Tough part is that I have not used the Outback as much as I would like, and have only dry camped once. I need to camp more!!

Time will tell, but I predict I will have the OB for a lot more than 2 years!


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## rsm7 (Aug 8, 2009)

I could see two years. Especially if it's the first TT. You don't know until you've tried something. There are things about ours we wish were different. It doesn't bother me enough to take a beating but I could see trading if the right deal comes along.


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## Joe/GA (Aug 14, 2009)

Hmmm...We've only had our camper for a little over a year and I hate to think we would be getting rid of it in just another year. For one reason, I've done a lot of work and mods to make it work for us. The only thing we don't like about our camper is that it is difficult to make the bed. If there was a slide in the bedroom and the bed was turned sideways, it would be the perfect camper.


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## beth323 (Jul 28, 2010)

We plan on having the camper long past the length of our payment book. (Of coarse we plan on an early pay off) Hopefully with that outlook we can enjoy retirement when the time comes and really get in some traveling


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## go6car (Jan 19, 2004)

We had:

2000 Coleman Westlake. 2 short years where it rained just about every time we went out, which led us to a.....

2002 Outback by Liteway 28BHS. Had it ~7 yrs. One of the first Outbacks and nothing else on the market looked like that pretty interior at the time! But the roof warrantee was just about up (hey I needed an excuse!), so we ended up getting a...

2009 Outback Sydney 29RLS (3 years so far). But we couldn't pull it with our '00 Ford 150, which led us to a.....

2008 Ford F150 FX4 with too many bells and whistles. But, I've been intently researching our next move which will be a........

20?? Big Old Class A Something!! (Sometime in the next two years!)

And then, I HAVE to be done. At least for a while at those prices, LOL!!!


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

brian j said:


> Our salesman had said an average of 26 months for turn around on campers...since it was my first camper I couldnt believe that, but reading all of the turnaround on this site and friends and neighbors, I completely agree with that number.


yea, i must say i'm surprised at the turnover. granted we've only owned our outback for 9 months, and we have gotten a tiny bit of trailer envy once or twice, but we have no plans on replacing it for awhile.
[/quote]

You have to remember that most people start with something smaller and more affordable............. thus higher turnover. Most dont go from nothing right to a 5th Wheel......... actually is a very good strategy for a salesman to use.......give great service and show them all the nice campers they realy want, then show them something a little smaller or not so nice that is more affordable........... that way in two years they are back buying again


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## 708 (Mar 29, 2010)

We bought our first camper in 2007, a 25' 1995 Coachman Catalina Lite to see if we would actually go camping much. Turns out we did! Having that one made us realize what we wanted in our next one. We sold that one for nearly what we paid for it and bought the Outback in March of this year. We have no plans on ever trading it in. There is nothing we would change about it at all. I researched daily for a good 2-3 months deciding on floor plan, manufacturer, etc and we got exactly what we were looking for.

Andrea


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## New England Camper (Jun 25, 2010)

We bought our first camper in the spring of 2007, it was a Jayco hybrid 26L. In June 2010 we decided to actively look for a new camper. I got tired of worrying about the tent end leaking, not being able to camp when it got cold. We traded ours in for a Outback 300BH with the same dealer we bought our Jayco from. They gave us a great deal on our trade in.

If I knew back then that I was going to trade in vehicles I would have bought a completely different camper the first time around and probably would have it still but we bought what we thought at the time of what my vehicle could tow. Didn't know my DH would have traded his truck in 2 weeks after we bought the camper.

I learned from my first camper and seeing our friends floor plan what I wanted in our second camper. So I know that I will be happy with ours for many years.


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## jasonrebecca (Oct 30, 2007)

Frist TT for us and 3 years as of next month. We compramised to get the Outback, DW wanted a motorhome & I wanted a tent trailer.

Will eventually get a Class C now that we have a boat, can't tow the OB and the boat.


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## my3chis (Sep 2, 2010)

jasonrebecca said:


> Will eventually get a Class C now that we have a boat, can't tow the OB and the boat.


I would check with your state. In ND you can pull a "bumper pull" and a boat/trailer. Don't know all the laws in all the states but I know that we can pull our 250RS and a trailer behind w/ our 4 wheelers on it here.


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## ZHB (Mar 17, 2009)

We've had the OB 18 months now...... I don't trading it in at least that much longer. Frankly, I don't see trading until my kids head off to college (in 6 years).....and then we'll need an updated RV for tailgating! ;-)


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