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[Sid]

Originally Posted by floyd

The Parkliner is a very nice and impressive trailer. I only know a couple of people who have bought them and they said they really liked them a lot, then they sold them!

We love ours and have no plans to sell.
We are currently in ours on Cobscook Bay state park in Maine! We have taken ours from Minnesota to Maine, Utah, Texas, Canada, New York State, and everywhere in between without issue. We are truly happy campers. By the way, Vicki is five foot nuthin and has no problem accessing the upper cabinets without a step stool.
I should also mention that we do a lot of dry camping but we did not include the flush toilet in our build (we do love the shower though).
The open layout, queen bed, and 6' 5" headroom were big factors in our decision to go with a Parkliner.
Sid

[Mike Magee]

I think the Parkliner at one time may not have had propane installed. The new owner is including propane, apparently, and that's great. So it would work well for no-hookups camping.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by floyd

...they said they really liked them a lot, then they sold them!...

LOL… The same could be said of any trailer brand, from Scamp to Oliver (and from Jayco to Airstream). Needs change- more people, different style of travel. In some cases it was never the right trailer from the start but shortcomings were overlooked during the honeymoon phase. There is the seduction of "just a little bigger," of course, and some people simply like to change things up.

Margaret, you should know that Parkliner just restarted (Jan. 2016) under new ownership. The old company had some well-documented issues with customer service and handling of some design bugs. The engineering problems have been resolved (we think) and the new owner appears to be putting a priority on customer service (we hope).

[steve dunham]

PLEASE Let's not go down the Parkliner road again , it leads to nowhere just like it did in the past.

[WaltP]

The Parkliner has always had propane.
Why did I sell? Partly because I had the opportunity to buy my Bigfoot at a very attractive price and there were too many things I didn't like about the Parkliners at that time.
I've already mentioned I don't like the choice of toilet and the waste water configuration.
The optional bathroom sink is pretty useless and takes up too much of the closet space.
The AC and batteries were inside and left no floor level storage space.
I understand they currently offer a ceiling AC and the battery is on the tongue. Those represent huge improvements.
Then there's the upper cabinets.
The inside surfaces are rough, uncovered fiberglass.
The cabinets are open the whole length of the trailer with no partitions and things like dishes are free to slide all over the place.
The lips at the cabinet openings are about two inches deep. Because they are also quite high off the floor, small things get hidden behind the lips and you are left to just feel around for them. There's no need for more than 1/2" or even 1/4" lip.

The cabinet issues could and should be easily resolved.

All that said, I still think it's a great trailer that easily could be even better.

Walt

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

But all the cabinetry, carpet, fabrics, adhesives and sealants used to complete the interior do, so the advantage may be minimal.

Beat me to it Jon. Many stickies use so many coverings, finishes and adhesives with offensive chemicals that you can't even tour a new one without your eyes or nose burning. I've never encounter that on a molded fiberglass trailer.


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Beat me to it Jon. Many stickies use so many coverings, finishes and adhesives with offensive chemicals that you can't even tour a new one without your eyes or nose burning. I've never encounter that on a molded fiberglass trailer.
..

Sounds like you have never been in one that was very recently finished at the factory.
When I picked up my new Scamp the VOCs were so bad that I never would have been able to live in it except that the weather was perfect and I was able to keep the windows open and have good ventilation. I expect the spray adhesive holding the rat fur to the body is especially bad when fresh.

That being said, after a few weeks or months, I can detect absolutely no noxious odors (as long as I have a daily shower that is )

[Denece]

I can second the statement "be ready to move fast".
We got cash at the bank in the morning to buy a FGRV, drove two hours to see it, that one didn't work out. Drove home. But an hour later one popped up on here that was just a few blocks away from the first one we looked at and because we were able to get there first with cash...

Vigilance pays off!


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[MyronL]

Picked up my egg at the factory a week after it was finished. Smelled just fine in there to me. Seems a non-issue perhaps except for the truly exceptionally sensitive nose. Since every campsite likely has at the very least a pit toilet available dry campers probably need to be more concerned with their battery power and propane than with gray/black water tank capacity.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Denece

I can second the statement "be ready to move fast".

Yup - move fast!

Posted my Scamp on Craigslist after 9:30pm on a Saturday night.... by 11PM I had received 5 requested to view it the next day. First party to see it on Sunday purchased..... with a second party scheduled to view it a half hour after the first giving a solid back up offer should the first party fail to complete the sale.

[WaltP]

Originally Posted by Myron Leski

Since every campsite likely has at the very least a pit toilet available dry campers probably need to be more concerned with their battery power and propane than with gray/black water tank capacity.

Again a "different strokes" issue. When I need a toilet in the middle of the night, a pit toilet several hundred feet away, if I can remember where it is, is not my ideal solution, especially if it's cold and rainy, or worse.
Not to mention boondocking where there's no facility at all.
Also, there have been several times when I've been very glad I upgraded from the original 20-25 gal grey tank.

Walt

[Jon Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Myron Leski

Picked up my egg at the factory a week after it was finished. Smelled just fine in there to me. Seems a non-issue perhaps except for the truly exceptionally sensitive nose. Since every campsite likely has at the very least a pit toilet available dry campers probably need to be more concerned with their battery power and propane than with gray/black water tank capacity.

It took about 3-4 months for the "new fiberglass" smell to go away with my new Escape 17. Once in the trailer it never bothered me, but on entering, particularly if it had been tightly closed, it was noticeable.

As to nearby toilets when dry camping, if you stay at La Posa West (one of the LTVA BLM campgrounds at Quartzsite, AZ), the nearest pit toilet is about 3 miles away - a bit of a hike in the middle of the night! While it is possible to set up closer to pit toilets even at the LTVAs in both California & Arizona, you have a lot more choices if you have a decent black tank capacity. I do agree that good battery capacity & solar can make long term dry camping more enjoyable.

[Mr Lynn]

Margaret: I spent a fair amount of time looking for reviews of molded fiberglass (MFG) and traditional 'stick-built' trailers, to no avail. There are articles in magazines like Trailer Life, and websites devoted to RVs, but they are all either positive or reduced to describing features. Rarely are they critical.

I spend $50 for a book purporting to contain reviews of lightweight travel trailers, here:

http://rvreviews.net/lightweight-tra...parison-guide/

While it provided informative capsule histories of the companies, it basically summarized user surveys about dealer and warranty service, and not much about anything else. What I wanted was information about the pluses and minuses of specific trailer models, much as WaltP has done for his ParkLiner, and others have done on this site. It wasn't there, and I thought it a waste of $50. Keep reading this forum, and the forums devoted to specific manufacturers (Casitas and Escapes, for instance), and you'll get a much better idea of the strengths and weaknesses of each camper.

We were just lucky enough to score a used, late-model Casita from the original owners; for about the same money we could have bought a new small stickie, like the AR-ONE or R-Pod. I am happy we did so, as I think MFG is a much better way to build a trailer. You do sacrifice some features that new stickies offer (like no battery disconnect in our Casita)—because the small MFG companies are not keeping up with the industry?

But, as others say, it is hard to find used MFG trailers, and the prices are high, because they aren't making enough. I have seen a few pop up in classified ads in VA, NC, and SC, so they do exist.

If you have ample funds, go to the Oliver factory and order a new one; it's the Cadillac of MFG campers, and I'm sure they'd be delighted to talk to you.

/Mr Lynn

[MyronL]

Regarding toilet usage and dry camping I guess the key to happiness is how much daily volume/pounds one or two persons will produce before a dump station search must be done. I'm 250 pounds myself, so think I'd be good for at least a week.

[WaltP]

LHC makes a battery bypass kit for Casitas with very simple instructions.

Home | Little House Customs

Walt

[Jack L]

Originally Posted by Mr Lynn

Margaret: I spent a fair amount of time looking for reviews of molded fiberglass (MFG) and traditional 'stick-built' trailers, to no avail. There are articles in magazines like Trailer Life, and websites devoted to RVs, but they are all either positive or reduced to describing features. Rarely are they critical.

/Mr Lynn

I do not think I have ever seen a magazine review that was ever even close to critical. Trailers, fishing gear, and many other hobbies all are reviewed by "professional" writers who are paid for writing articles by the manufacturer of that item. In the spirit of continued paychecks, these writers accentuate the positive, and that's all. With all the internet reviews, you get some solid information, but some of the product reviews seem to be written by someone who has a financial interest in the product. I've noticed that a glowing positive review of a product in a magazine is often accompanied by a full page, or even 2 page advertisement from the same manufacturer of that product. <_<

[Lonely Road]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

I think the Parkliner at one time may not have had propane installed. The new owner is including propane, apparently, and that's great. So it would work well for no-hookups camping.

Mike Magee, that's a great point. I wonder if I should hurry up and get my order in!! What about fumes though?

Margaret

[Lonely Road]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Beat me to it Jon. Many stickies use so many coverings, finishes and adhesives with offensive chemicals that you can't even tour a new one without your eyes or nose burning. I've never encounter that on a molded fiberglass trailer.


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

rbryan,

That's interesting. No fumes in a Fiberglass?

Margaret

[Lonely Road]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

LOL… The same could be said of any trailer brand, from Scamp to Oliver (and from Jayco to Airstream). Needs change- more people, different style of travel. In some cases it was never the right trailer from the start but shortcomings were overlooked during the honeymoon phase. There is the seduction of "just a little bigger," of course, and some people simply like to change things up.

Margaret, you should know that Parkliner just restarted (Jan. 2016) under new ownership. The old company had some well-documented issues with customer service and handling of some design bugs. The engineering problems have been resolved (we think) and the new owner appears to be putting a priority on customer service (we hope).

Hi Jon in AZ,

I wouldn't have the money to buy a bigger camper.

Also, yes, I just found that out, about the new ownership, from a post below.

Thanks, Margaret

[Lonely Road]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

PLEASE Let's not go down the Parkliner road again , it leads to nowhere just like it did in the past.

Steve Dunham,

Can you explain? Are you unhappy with the Parkliner camper and company, or just with the topic? I would love to know, since I'm thinking of buying one.

Margaret