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Old 10-31-2015, 10:17 PM   #21
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Trailer: Escape 19' sold, 21' August 2015
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And while there is no question that Escape builds a quality product, I would suggest that the current currency exchange differential, making about a 25% effective reduction in price to American buyers, had more to do with them selling out for the next year than just the quality issue. An examination of where those rigs are going would be very telling.

Escape started a little over a dozen years ago with one trailer and made very small numbers for a while. Now they are at about 1300, making over 350 a year. So in the last years, people have been able to see one within some reasonable distance. There were probably none at most rallies until more recently, so the increase in numbers produced has no doubt helped them. I would think that almost any rally now is likely to have an Escape. By the way, they have built seven models in a few short years (and stopped some).

They are also known for their customer service. Tammy or Reace may be talking to a customer on the phone or by e-mail late at night and on weekends.

They always sold 90% of their trailers to Americans, due to population, if that is what you are asking about, so there is no change in that. But since the dollar is in Americans' favor, buyers pay up earlier now!
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Old 10-31-2015, 11:56 PM   #22
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Name: Lynn
Trailer: Casita Spirit 16'
Indiana
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I just bought a 16 ft. 1999 Casita Spirit Standard with front and side gouchos and I love the roomy-ness. (email me at LynnG@remax.net and I will send you photos.) I didn't want a bath on board either, Ed. (Just a porto-potty that slides under the goucho.) There is only cabinetey on the starboard side around the kitchenette. I suppose that is part of what keeps the weight down to 1600 lbs dry (I have a receipt from a weigh station.) I saw photos on here from a guy who converted a goucho to have an optional dinette set-up and plan to do that on one of the gouchos someday when it's mostly just me camping (so I can have a bed, dinette, and couch available all the time.) Right now me and the 3 girls are gonna sleep on the 4 bunks so we can leave the big rear dinette set up all the time. I feel the quality of this FGRV is high. The first night I slept in it was windy and cold and I didnt hear a whistle or feel a draft all night. It rained 3 straight days bringing it home and it is totally dry inside. The rubber seal around the door opening is loose in one corner. Other than that, this Casita seems to have held up near perfectly with high use over the last 16 years. I plan to put 16 more on her, maybe more.
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Old 11-01-2015, 01:23 AM   #23
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Gold stars for you on your new addition
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Old 11-01-2015, 04:26 AM   #24
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Hi Dave,

I'm trying to picture white vinyl tubing caps. Would you share what they are or where you found them?


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV
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Old 11-01-2015, 04:49 AM   #25
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Smile Try These

Plastic Caps - End Caps - Round Vinyl Caps - Stock Cap - Round Cap - Rubber Cap

Admittedly, this picture is of a red cap, but with searching, white ones should be available. Or go kinky and use the red!

(For some reason, pictures don't insert into the text like they used to. What am I doing wrong?)
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Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.
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Old 11-01-2015, 07:22 AM   #26
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I would just call Scamp and ask them for the name of a local RV dealer that will do the repairs under warranty and let Scamp pay. You did say that it was a new trailer didn't you?
Thats why I am not posting about it yet.. because that is part of the plan and I don't want to go into a long explanation until the information I can share will be of the most help to others, including what help I asked for and what help I got from Eveland's.

The short and incomplete story is that its a slight leak that only shows up after a day-long steady rain, so finding the source is 99.99 percent of the fix and will take a while, and maybe a heck of a lot of water from a sprinkler. Besides, if I take it to an RV place that means the camper is unavailable to me for an extended time, and I am planning a short trip next week as well as doing other work on it.
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Old 11-01-2015, 08:20 AM   #27
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Colorado
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Gordon's 99.99 % comment is so right!

My Scamp had a tiny leak around the 3-speed fan above the "dining room" table. After some rain there would be a few drops of water on the table. It was just enough to mess up the particle board. I did not like it anyway and replaced it with 1/2 inch plywood - much nicer and lighter. But back to the leak. There are only a few areas where the Scamps can leak, so it is actually not that hard to go after them. I discovered mine by climbing up a step ladder leaning against the side and massaging the caulked area around the vent frame. I found one spot, near a corner, where the caulk could be pulled away a little bit. Bingo! The .01% of the effort was pushing a little bit of sealer in there. I like the clear Lexel, it sticks to anything like the proverbial ... The fix is still good after two years, although I only test it when away from home, since I park it under my Scamport to keep it dry. Just wanted to make the point that a "surgical" repair of leaks is possible.
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Old 11-01-2015, 08:48 AM   #28
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Thats why I am not posting about it yet.. because that is part of the plan and I don't want to go into a long explanation until the information I can share will be of the most help to others, including what help I asked for and what help I got from Eveland's.

The short and incomplete story is that its a slight leak that only shows up after a day-long steady rain, so finding the source is 99.99 percent of the fix and will take a while, and maybe a heck of a lot of water from a sprinkler. Besides, if I take it to an RV place that means the camper is unavailable to me for an extended time, and I am planning a short trip next week as well as doing other work on it.
In part because it was a sticky, and also because there was a defective part involved, we had to take a new "Coleman" 17' sticky back to the dealer 3 times to fix several leaks.

BUT, they were able to locate the original source of the leak(s) in a matter of minutes by placing a signal generator of some sort inside the trailer and then going around the area where the leak was located until a hand held sensor lit up RED..... Dealers use a similar device to find air/water leaks in cars. Needless to say, sticky dealers are good at finding leaks, because they get a lot more practice ..... ! You can always ask if they have a leak locating device.

I don't know anything about your local dealership(s), but we usually just scheduled an appointment, dropped it off one day, and picked it up two days later.

But, then again, right now we can't afford to waste water looking for leaks... LOL



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Old 11-01-2015, 09:21 AM   #29
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Originally Posted by Lyn w Autistic kid View Post
I just bought a 16 ft. 1999 Casita Spirit Standard with front and side gouchos and I love the roomy-ness. (email me at LynnG@remax.net and I will send you photos.) I didn't want a bath on board either, Ed. (Just a porto-potty that slides under the goucho.) There is only cabinetey on the starboard side around the kitchenette. I suppose that is part of what keeps the weight down to 1600 lbs dry (I have a receipt from a weigh station.) I saw photos on here from a guy who converted a goucho to have an optional dinette set-up and plan to do that on one of the gouchos someday when it's mostly just me camping (so I can have a bed, dinette, and couch available all the time.) Right now me and the 3 girls are gonna sleep on the 4 bunks so we can leave the big rear dinette set up all the time. I feel the quality of this FGRV is high. The first night I slept in it was windy and cold and I didnt hear a whistle or feel a draft all night. It rained 3 straight days bringing it home and it is totally dry inside. The rubber seal around the door opening is loose in one corner. Other than that, this Casita seems to have held up near perfectly with high use over the last 16 years. I plan to put 16 more on her, maybe more.
If you replace the door gasket on your 16 Casita, you should order the new gasket from Scamp , Take a look when you get a chance to see one.
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Old 11-01-2015, 10:10 AM   #30
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Name: Gordon
Trailer: 2015 Scamp (16 Std Layout 4) with '15 Toyota Sienna LE Tug
North Carolina
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... by placing a signal generator of some sort inside the trailer and then going around the area where the leak was located until a hand held sensor l...
Wow just as one thinks he knows it all , one learns something new.
That might be a big help and I will be sure to look into it if I cannot get the leak fixed soon.

EDIT: After thought.. would not every trailer manufacturer employ such a leak detecting device as part of their quality assurance?
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Old 11-01-2015, 10:40 AM   #31
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Wow just as one thinks he knows it all , one learns something new.
That might be a big help and I will be sure to look into it if I cannot get the leak fixed soon.

EDIT: After thought.. would not every trailer manufacturer employ such a leak detecting device as part of their quality assurance?
Obviously not , and that's a good thing. Some of these trailers are already out of reach for anybody who ever had a real job. The companies must take their costs, add a profit margin and price the product accordingly.
So every so called improvement adds the cost of it plus the margin.
Taking every unwarranted precaution merely adds cost to what will in fact be an imperfect product which needs customization anyway.

At $50,000.oo expectations go up much faster than results.
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Old 11-01-2015, 01:51 PM   #32
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Name: Gordon
Trailer: 2015 Scamp (16 Std Layout 4) with '15 Toyota Sienna LE Tug
North Carolina
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I don't know how much the test equipment would cost but farming the repairs out to other companies, with Eveland's Inc footing the bill, is not helping to keep the cost down either; and they have paid outside shops for their services a number of times just this year I hear. I just don't think that having a brand new trailer that does not leak in multiple locations (as mine did) is an unwarranted precaution. A non-leaking trailer is not a customization either

But again, I am reserving judgement until this plays out and hope everyone does the same, at least as it concerns my issues.
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Old 11-01-2015, 03:25 PM   #33
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Minnesota
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Really Floyd? I wouldn't call assuring your product doesn't leak an "unwarranted precaution" and it shouldn't be terribly expensive to do so.

When we picked up our Casita last year I specifically asked them if they tested their trailers for leaks. I was told they did. The exterior is sprayed with water while someone in the interior looked for leakage.

I doubt this precaution added much, if anything, to the cost of the trailer.
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Old 11-01-2015, 07:01 PM   #34
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Warranty costs are, basically, playing the odds. If they do not do a leak check procedure it might save $100 per trailer, if 1 in 50 has a warranty leak problem they saved $5,000 and spend,say, $500 in warranty costs. Simple business math!!!



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Old 11-01-2015, 08:38 PM   #35
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Really Floyd? I wouldn't call assuring your product doesn't leak an "unwarranted precaution" and it shouldn't be terribly expensive to do so.

When we picked up our Casita last year I specifically asked them if they tested their trailers for leaks. I was told they did. The exterior is sprayed with water while someone in the interior looked for leakage.
Really Randy?The test you describe might detect a leak marginally better than drawing the curtains outside in the daylight and have someone in the interior looking for light.
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Old 11-02-2015, 06:26 AM   #36
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an electronic leak finder? that's a new one for me...did you see it work?

p@
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Old 11-02-2015, 06:40 AM   #37
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Trailer: 1996 Casita 17 Spirit Deluxe; 1946 Modernistic teardrop
New York
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There are electronic leak detectors for A/C so it shouldn't be too hard to make one for detecting leaks in a camper shell by generating some type of gas inside for it to sense. At the truck shop I worked in we used what was basically a smoke bomb in freight trailers and box trucks to check for leaks. Set it off inside, look for smoke to come out.
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Old 11-02-2015, 06:55 AM   #38
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an electronic leak finder? that's a new one for me...did you see it work?

p@
Snake Oil?

Well the only thing I can find along these lines is a test using positive air pressure inside the camper, wetting down the outside, and looking for bubbles.
RV LEAK FINDERS - About Us

Sounds like a lot of work since you have to do so much prep.. seal everything, create the positive pressure, keep it at safe levels, etc.

Scamp could park the new units outdoors for a few weeks and check them close after a long steady rain (I hear it rains a lot there when it is not snowing). But with their production timeline I don't think that mine ever went out of the factory until I hitched up and took it out. And of course they don't want to sit on inventory, losing money, but it would help to find leaky trailers before they get sold. I did see a lot of 13 footers in the yard when I was there (many used or for repairs but some new also). Maybe they check these after a rain. (Well I can think positively can't I?)
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Old 11-02-2015, 08:16 AM   #39
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an electronic leak finder? that's a new one for me...did you see it work?

p@
I didn't see them use the one at the RV dealership, but I did see one used at a GMC dealership when I had a annoying door seal air leak. As I recall it used ultra sound.



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Old 11-02-2015, 11:09 AM   #40
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Really Randy?The test you describe might detect a leak marginally better than drawing the curtains outside in the daylight and have someone in the interior looking for light.
I disagree.

That wasn't meant as a definitive explanation of their procedure. I gave only a cursory description but even this simple test can easily reveal a leak. Heck, that's exactly what we tell people on this very forum to do all the time for leak detection. If a moisture meter is employed even better.

The point being, Casita does test their trailers for leaks and maybe if Scamp did likewise they could avoid the kind of issues we've been discussing.
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