Hey y'all!
I purchased a brand new 17'
Casita Spirit Deluxe trailer direct from the factory this past January and figured I'd offer up my review after living in it full time for 9 months.
Overall I do think it's a fine trailer! I pulled mine over 50,000 miles with a 1999 Tacoma 3.4L averaging 14mpg. In the end I can't recommend someone paying a new price for the trailer. The craftsmanship and value just isn't there for me. If you're buying a used one, maybe 1-3 years old, I'd guess the price is closer to on point.
Issues/concerns:
- The wood on the cabinets and the quality of the hinges + latches is cheap and easy to break. Seems like they could use a higher quality wood? For an $18,000 trailer it feels like
Casita is cutting corners here.
- The seat cushions are pretty bad. Before I bought the trailer I did read a lot about folks switching out for a better foam, makes sense. I guess I don't understand why
Casita doesn't simply use a better quality foam right from the start.
- There's a fatal design flaw where the front door meets the metal trim around the outside edge. After 9 months of exiting your trailer in the morning it's pretty easy for the wind to catch the door one morning and smash the
fiberglass. This issue is not fixed under warranty.
- The heat strip on the A/C unit is pretty useless. My trailer did have the
furnace and I would without a doubt recommend everyone to get it. Even if you're staying clear of most cold weather, it was nice to cut the chill out of the air with the
furnace.
- And a few rivets around the metal edge of the trailer popped out. This was fixed under warranty.
I guess those little bits in the grand scheme of owning a trailer for years are small but again this is from the perspective of buying new. Those sort of details matter when you're spending a lot of money on a home.
When I visited the factory in Texas what bummed me about Casita is that their workers said they couldn't afford the trailer themselves. A lot of them told me even after 20+ years of working there they still didn't have one. I loved the idea that each worker for Henry Ford could actually afford to buy what they created.
But! In the end I do think you should buy Casita if an
Escape is out of your budget. I just feel the Casita is overpriced and they aren't paying attention to the right details. There is a lot I love about the trailer! Just figured I'd offer my insights.