Alto Trailer-Not a FGRV, but Wow!

[Lora]

We first saw the Alto on a "How It's Made" rerun. Looks pretty cool.
For one of you who has seen it in person, perhaps you can answer a question.
It looks like the shower stall has a fixed enclosure at the bottom and a curtain at the top (similar to what I have seen in pop-up trailers)?
Also, on the website, there was reference to a storage shelf in the wc stall? or did I misread that?

[Filbert V.]

I don't know, it looks like a teardrop on steroids, and lacks the cuteness factor, not to mention how much fun we have by personalizing our little "eggs'. It would fit in better at a yacht club than a national park campground. Buying a trailer that's shiny, new, and perfect just kinda takes the fun out of it! The rest of us love to have something to scrape, patch, repair, paint, or shop for. Oh, and without any problems we'd have nothing to post about on these forums where we all help each other so much.

[Gilda]

Ha, Ha Filbert!
I'm partially with you there. While I LOVE to personalize our cute Scamp with decor I do not want to get into mechanical or heavy-duty kinds of tinkering or repairs. Since we could not find a suitable used Scamp we purchased ours new and never looked back (except for my pining for a king-size bed!)

[Filbert V.]

You're forgiven Gilda! I can understand the not breaking part of owning a new one, but at least the new ones look like the old ones, so they're still cute. And I'm sure you customized yours with your own special touch such as pillows and bedding so it looks more homey and less sterile. The rest of us are okay with drilling holes in the wrong places and lying on our backs scraping rust off the frame or worse! And of course there's the satisfaction when something actually goes right for a change. I was thrilled when we finally got our tail lights to work properly which called for many pats on the backs and a glass of fermented grape juice. Filbert

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I believe they are now importing into the US.

Yup they are, a couple of years ago though they didn't have the correct compliance stickers on them in order to allow for an easy import to the USA. Now they do. No duty on it!

[BeckyIO]

Huh, I had a blog reader send me an e-mail a couple weeks ago asking what I thought of the Alto compared to an egg and I'd never even heard of it before. I did a little research at the time and agreed that it looked nifty, but being so new it's hard to say how it'll hold up. I'm a bit skeptical of that pretty slide on the top and think that's asking for leaks later in life, but I could be wrong and told the person who e-mailed me the same. Guess we'll wait and see what owners say once they've aged a bit.

[Donna D.]

I'm wondering how it handles blowing wind and rain with that roof portion up?

[Hazel in Sk]

My take is - it looks kinda neat but..........
there seem to be places where it could be prone to leaks
it seems a bit pricey
it hasn't been proven to last and last like eggs do

Even if I could afford one it wouldn't be my choice. I guess I'm a FG person!

[Carol H]

While Safari the company that makes the Alto isn't all that new - they have been building small trailers for 16 years (since 1998). The Alto model was introduced 6 years ago in 2008.

I agree though that having a retractable roof or anything retractable on a trailer would scare me - actually had a service manager at a large RV shop tell me he would never own a trailer with retractable sides. LOL But the Alto does come in a model with a fixed roof.

[Raz]

We had a Chalet A frame. The sides fold in and the roof clam shells down so the trailer looks like a pop up going down the road. The sides lock into the roof and survived the wind of the outer banks many seasons. That said setting up in the wind could get exciting. Until locked, not much holds the roof panel together. Leaks were not an issue as long as you maintained the foam seals which for the most part were closed cell foam you can buy at any hardware store. The issue for us was setting up. Anytime you wish to go in you have to set up. Maggie found pushing the roof up difficult so a quick pee break wasn't quick. There is also a lot of hardware that could fail. I suspect the Alto, Trailmor, Hi Lo, and anything with a slide all come with set up and increased maintenance issues. Raz

[Bobbie Mayer]

I really like it. One big plus would be garaging which would minimize some possible issues like leaks and probably also mechanisms.

[MC1]

It is difficult to compare glass eggs with the Alto.

If you check out the images on their web page you can see how big and roomy they are on the inside. The upper windows bring in light and airiness not found in the eggs.

[Carol H]

The fixed roof Alto (less likely to leak version) also seems to have a lot of windows for letting light in.

[dbailey]

I really liked the Alto when I started shopping. But, felt it was too expensive for what it provided. And it was smaller than we wanted -- we didn't want to have to take down the bed to set up the seating area.

But I love the bright and open interior. I wonder how hot it would be in sunny weather, though.

[dbailey]

Hmmm.... I'm very suspicious of that last photo... I think either there was some photoshoppery going on, or the woman holding the coffee mug is tiny.

[Bob Miller]

Considering where they were designed and built, one would think (hope) that severe weather possibilities and outside storage were considered and implemented in the design.

As they have been building them for about 6 years, maybe there are some longer term owners out there that could answer those questions.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by dbailey

Hmmm.... I'm very suspicious of that last photo... I think either there was some photoshoppery going on, or the woman holding the coffee mug is tiny.

LOL I would suggest there was a little Photoshop happening in regards to the window view along with perhaps a little distortion generated by the use of a wide angle lens!

Here is another of the same front window without the view pasted in which looking at the outside photo of the trailer may not be all that out of wack in regards to the actual size.

[Carol H]

[QUOTE=dbailey;450310 And it was smaller than we wanted -- we didn't want to have to take down the bed to set up the seating area.
[/QUOTE]

I would suggest you purchased the nicer of the two trailers but I am wondering about your comment above. Didn't the Alto have the layout in the photos with the front seating area table separate from the large bed in the rear when you looked? or have they made changes to the layout since you looked at it.

[dbailey]

Hmmm... now you've got me questioning my memory...

Fortunately I don't need my memory, being a digital packrat... I still have the 2010 brochure buried in my hard drive, and it seems you are correct -- even then they had a front dinette. So I guess that wasn't part of the original reason I ruled them out...

I agree that the Escape 19 wins out over the Alto, but then it's also a lot more trailer and a lot more money. The Escape trailer that competes with the Alto would be the 15A. If I was considering a smaller trailer like the 15A, the Alto would be a serious contender.

[rabbit]

I'd risk the Chalet or an Aliner before I'd get involved with this generic hi-lo. One thing to have to set up for nothing more than a pit stop in one's own facility and quite another to not be able to because of an aging, unserviceable, or just plain inadequate mechanism. Which two of the above three apply to this high concept teardrop or will in a very few yrs. of operation?

jack