Why No RV Shows/Dealers?

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

I debated whether to latinize all the classifications, but decided not to be a snob…

Why not. Carl von Linne, or just Carl Linne seemed too short and pedestrian to me. And I remember that we are sometimes asked to keep the level of discourse on a higher level here.

[Vtec]

I say thank god there are no dealers for FGRV's, and for good reasons above and beyond what was already said. The structure and makeup of fiberglass shell is pretty solid state. The problems we tend to deal with are the off the shelf components like AC, furnaces, ranges, water systems, etc, not the RV itself. We can either fix ourselves or go to most any RV place to get stuff done. Most of our trailers are on the small end with low profit margins to begin with and maybe even tend towards customers with shallow pockets. Dealers would just kill our ability to get into affordable price ranges with markups.

There are few changes I would want to see in FGRV's and marketing is not one of them. Maybe one or two more manufacturers for a little more choice. Owning both a Scamp and Casita I personally think Scamp needs to revamp their design. Great trailers but the beds are too small and the floor should be a full mold like the Casita, plus, the axle is a bit too centered, tire size too small. The one foot longer in the Casita 17 Makes all the difference in my opinion. And if not a longer trailer, just a bigger main bed somehow but where in that size, the Scamp 16, and keeping the weight down for smaller tow vehicles, likely impossible? For better choices I hope Scamp wakes up and engineers a new design, I think it's long past time for a updated change to make them a viable choice. I had zero complaints about owning a Scamp except in the design.

Outside of FGRV's, the RV dealers are selling what appear to be large cardboard boxes with lots of problems that last only a dozen years or so. We may need dealers for standard RV's or illegal drugs, but please, not for fiberglass campers.

[minke]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Kingdom: Land vehicle
Phylum: Highway vehicle
Class: Recreational vehicle
Order: Towable recreational vehicle
Family: Travel trailer
Genus: Molded fiberglass travel trailer
Species: Scamp 13
Sub-species: Standard Layout 1
Common name: Camper

A rare bird indeed!

I started to warn you that taxonomists can be confused with taxmen. While checking my spelling I found https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/t...RCH_KO0,10.htm

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by minke

I started to warn you that taxonomists can be confused with taxmen. While checking my spelling I found https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/t...RCH_KO0,10.htm

Clearly I am underpaid…

On the other hand if I get the raise I deserve, the tax man will take most of it.

[WaltP]

More choice is always welcome of course, but consider in recent years
Escape
Oliver
Parkliner
Li'l Snoozy
Happier Camper
Eggcamper
Pretty good record I'd say, and quite a bit of variety and quality there.

Walt

[Chitown Naomi]

Walt, I didn't know that! I will add those to my list to look at. Thanks for the tip!

Originally Posted by WaltP

Glenn and Raz have pegged it, but Bigfoot and Trillium do have a small number of dealers.

Walt

[Chitown Naomi]

All the things I'm learning from this thread! I didn't know you could take it back to the manufacturer and have the specs brought up to current standards. That's fantastic!

Originally Posted by WaltP

Glenn and Raz have pegged it, but Bigfoot and Trillium do have a small number of dealers.

Walt

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Actually that's one of the cool things I've seen happen with direct sales model. If you want you can take your, say, ten year old Scamp back to the factory for an overhaul and upgrades to factory standards. From the reports I've read, the cost (travel aside) compares very favorably with having work done at a shop.

Ten years... that's about the time most conventional RVs are falling apart and a dealer will be happy to take it on trade for a new one... for pennies on the dollar. The conventional RV industry is essentially selling a throw-away product.

[Chitown Naomi]

Ha. I've always meant to travel to Japan.

Originally Posted by librarianocnj

Actually Casita does have a dealer. They just happens to be in Japan. They also do RV shows over there.

Save

[Chitown Naomi]

I'm still learning how to use these boards. I would have "liked" all your posts if I could. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your insights and opinions. It's been fantastic reading through everything.

I'm going camping (tent) this weekend and am excited to see if there are any FG campers/trailers/eggs at the campground I could perhaps approach.

[John Linck]

Scamp actually does one show each year. Its the Minnesota state fair in St. Paul. Thousands of folks get to see the trailers up close.

Still, doing shows is horribly expensive and your employees hate them (long, hot, days on your feet).

I used to sell my toys at Art Fairs which were much more fun than RV shows, but I was happy with the creation of the internet. Each fair cost me about $2000. So much easier to stay home out of the rain and sun and let the customer call me. I used the savings to help send my kids to college. Perhaps FGRV manufacturers feel the same.

John

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi All,

I am supposed to be working from home today, but I am behind due to slowly drinking my coffee and reading this particularly informative and sometime humorous thread! Jon, love your Scamp classifcation system!

This is our first year to own/travel/camp/RV with our new to us Casita. I am a huge fan of FG trailers. It will be interesting to see if Laura and I keep our Casita until retirement (or beyond). I can't imagine owning any towable other than a FG trailer. At some point grandkids and/or retirement may have us looking at an Escape 19 or 21 or a Bigfoot 21 or 25. If grand kids are not an issue, we only live 2.5 hours from the Oliver plant. I might spell retirement: O-L-I-V-E-R.

Until then, lovin' the Casita, this forum, and this thread. Hmm, maybe one more cup of coffee, a little more forum reading, then I will work from home!

Good day to all!

Dean

P.S. - Gonna take a 4 day weekend to Casita camp. Going to be brutally hot. This will be our first trip in truly HOT weather. Everything is an experiment this first year!

[Bluetang99]

Simple answer is it's a small family owned business comprised of older people that have been there for years and the people who run it have been doing it for years and are stuck in their ways.

Sure they could build a bigger facility, automate alot of production, put out 5x the amount of trailers at a lower cost but that's the new age business model. And the fact that it would take alot of money they don't have to do something like that.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by Bluetang99

Simple answer is it's a small family owned business comprised of older people that have been there for years and the people who run it have been doing it for years and are stuck in their ways...

Wonder who "it" is... sounds like my kind of business!

I will say this though... please don't make it about age. Innovative or time-tested, large corporation or small family business, it's about design philosophy and business values, not how many candles are on your cake!

[WaltP]

I think Rob was talking about Scamp, but it's a good description of Casita as well.
And let's face it: both have a record of success for well over 30 years.

Walt

[Johnny M]

I kind of like the way things are with FBRV with respect to it being a very small percentage of the rv market, keeps our rv in the unusual and unique category and also helps resale values, maybe not so good for the buyers looking for a deal though...most of them also probably share the philosophy if it aint broke don't fix it...

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by WaltP

More choice is always welcome of course, but consider in recent years
Escape
Oliver
Parkliner
Li'l Snoozy
Happier Camper
Eggcamper
Pretty good record I'd say, and quite a bit of variety and quality there.

Walt

I think you can add Armadillo Trailer Manufacturing in BC to that list.

And, please don't tell our Casita that I've been looking at other trailers. (Someone once said that men don't really ever stop looking until they die.)

[Mr Lynn]

Originally Posted by Civilguy

I think you can add Armadillo Trailer Manufacturing in BC to that list.

And, please don't tell our Casita that I've been looking at other trailers. (Someone once said that men don't really ever stop looking until they die.)

A new one! Looks like just a 13' model for now. Here's their website:

armadillo trailer manufacturing

And how about this?

The Armadillo recreational trailer is made from the same molds that produced the legendary Boler and L'il Bigfoot trailers. These molds have been out of production in Canada for many years but have now been rescued, repaired, altered and improved. . .

There must be a story here. If it's been discussed here before, any links? Maybe a topic for a new thread?

/Mr Lynn

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by Mr Lynn

...There must be a story here. If it's been discussed here before, any links?

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...llo-67441.html

Semi-custom, very limited production, expensive.

No one, apparently, wants to go toe-to-toe against Scamp.

[monB]

Don't forget the Relic! Would have to buy new though, most likely.

Mon

Relic Custom Trailers | Build Your Dream VIntage Trailer

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by monB

Don't forget the Relic! Would have to buy new though...

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Semi-custom, very limited production, expensive.

...