Hi,
I am finding used Casita prices to be as high as new, especially with the current bonuses. Decided on Liberty deluxe.
I am debating on what options to purchase. It will come with the awning and propane kit. I think the 5 yr warranty sounds like a good idea.
What options did you get and love or wish you got?
Do I need the tv kit?
P.s. it’s our first rv.
Thanks!
Hi,
I am finding used Casita prices to be as high as new, especially with the current bonuses. Decided on Liberty deluxe.
I am debating on what options to purchase. It will come with the awning and propane kit. I think the 5 yr warranty sounds like a good idea.
What options did you get and love or wish you got?
Do I need the tv kit?
P.s. it’s our first rv.
Thanks!
My take was that if I thought I would want it at some point get it.
If you ever think about towing with a smaller vehicle, get the Anderson WDH.
I did the tv more so because I didn't want to do the tv mount, but seeing how it was done, it would be easy enough to do myself. Guessing that they do put some type of antenna in there, but can't see it.
A lot depends on what kind of travel and camping you plan to do. To keep your options open (and for future resale), I'd recommend all the climate control options- air conditioning with heat strip and gas furnace. If there's a choice, I'd go for a 2-way (gas and electric) water heater.
The awning is also popular and convenient, but be warned that it's susceptible to wind damage. You'll need to reef it in or stow it completely when the breeze picks up.
For backcountry use or primitive campsites without hookups, options such as larger holding tanks, solar, and lithium batteries are more useful. They don't help as much with resale as the more popular options above, though.
A TV might be nice if your viewing preferences include live news and sports. For shorter trips and mostly primitive campsites, we just bring a tablet for occasional chilly or wet evenings when we don't want to be outside. We use our preferred streaming service and download some content in advance in case there's no internet.
I've no use for a microwave when camping, either, but if you'll mostly camp with power and your cooking style leans to "heat and eat" it might come in handy. Ask Casita if the 120V outlet is included even if you don't order the factory microwave.
If you're not sure about a particular option, consider how difficult it would be to add the feature later. Adding a TV, microwave, or solar panels is fairly easy, but adding a furnace or other gas appliance is not.
I do not know if Casita offers an outdoor shower option or if it is standard. I would highly recommend ordering this add on if not standard equipment.
Nice to be able to shower without steaming up your trailer (probably not an issue in the southwest).
Also convenient for a quick rinse-off on hot days. Especially when boondocking or camping in a clothing optional campground.
I do not know if Casita offers an outdoor shower option or if it is standard. I would highly recommend ordering this add on if not standard equipment.
Nice to be able to shower without steaming up your trailer (probably not an issue in the southwest).
Also convenient for a quick rinse-off on hot days. Especially when boondocking or camping in a clothing optional campground.
I’m personally not a fan of outdoor showers. Another thing to require maintenance, and it makes a muddy spot next to your camper. If you use soap, you’re discharging gray water on the ground, which is restricted in many places.
I could see it being useful if you travel with dogs. You could accomplish the same thing with a splitter and a short hose and sprayer directly off the city water connection.
Just my perspective, of course. I’m sure those who enjoy camping in a state of nature view many things differently…
As an aside, I learned a trick in Korea recently. Compressed air works better than water to get sand off your feet at the beach. Our hotel had a compressed air station at the door. I recommend carrying a 12V compressor anyway to top off tires (vehicle, trailer, or bicycle) on the fly.
I do not know if Casita offers an outdoor shower option or if it is standard. I would highly recommend ordering this add on if not standard equipment.
Nice to be able to shower without steaming up your trailer (probably not an issue in the southwest).
Also convenient for a quick rinse-off on hot days. Especially when boondocking or camping in a clothing optional campground.
Yes, Casita does offer an outside shower option. But I didn't like the way they crammed the shower hose inside it behind the outside access door. It put a lot of pressure on the door panel itself, and several people have commented on having their shower hatch pop open while traveling, and many of them running over it going down the road. I replaced the OEM 4" shower mixing valve with one that has a quick release hook-up. Now my shower hose does "double duty." It works inside in my new bathroom upgrade configuration as well as in the outside shower mixing valve. The hose/nozzle lives coiled up in the front closet when not in use.
It took about 5 minutes to change the outside shower mixing valve under the front side dinette bench seat.
Yes, Casita does offer an outside shower option. But I didn't like the way they crammed the shower hose inside it behind the outside access door. It put a lot of pressure on the door panel itself, and several people have commented on having their shower hatch pop open while traveling, and many of them running over it going down the road. I replaced the OEM 4" shower mixing valve with one that has a quick release hook-up. Now my shower hose does "double duty." It works inside in my new bathroom upgrade configuration as well as in the outside shower mixing valve. The hose/nozzle lives coiled up in the front closet when not in use.
It took about 5 minutes to change the outside shower mixing valve under the front side dinette bench seat.
The outside shower is now a quick disconnect, so you stow the hose and handle elsewhere when not in use.
Late thought... I'm not so sure about the extended warranty. If there are build defects, you should be able to get them corrected within the basic warranty period. Once past the initial debugging, the likelihood of major problems is minimal. Casitas are generally well-made and the design is time-tested.
Is this a Casita factory warranty extension or a third-party RV warranty? Read the fine print about what's covered and what's not, deductibles, and how and where you can obtain service.
Extended warranties are profit-makers, and the average cost of claims is much less than the premium. Peace of mind is an intangible you'll have to factor in., but most people would be better off putting the premium in an interest-bearing account.
I have a 2016 Liberty Deluxe. Forget the cooktop. 9 years never used it. The trailer is too small an enclosure, buy a Blackstone griddle for the picnic table and something for the microwave if the weather is bad.
Forget the gas furnace unless you are planning to boondock . The heat strip in AC will do you well. Even better buy one of the little plug in heaters it’s quieter. Mine is a 800/1000 watt. Worked fine at 20 degrees.
Instead of the Flamma crank awning, research getting a stainless steel track installed where you can buy a sunshade and thread it through the track. The advantage being when the shade gets moldy and dirty you just toss it.
Lots of nice developed campgrounds- local, state, and national parks and national forests- don't have power hookups, so I would personally recommend the propane furnace as a back-up. We don't use ours often, but when you need it, it's a trip-saver.
I would recommend that you NOT get the microwave. If you don't, Casita finishes off the cabinet, includes the wiring outlet in the cabinet and provides a drop down door for the cabinet which gives you additional set up space for cooking or doing dishes. You can always set a microwave of your choice in the cabinet.
I had to do maintenance on the installed microwave TWICE and finally had to replace it which required drilling out the pop rivets and getting a similar sized replacement unit at Walmart.
If your plans include boondocking/dry-camping in the winter, the furnace will come in handy.
My Casita has the TV package which is close to worthless. Get the TV shelf and you can DIY an outside connector for the TV for campgrounds that provide cable hook-up.
We bought a Spirit deluxe in 2017, and have pulled it from one coast to the other with many different camping options. We added a tv at one time, but seldom used it, it’s now in a closet somewhere. Most of our camping near home in Oregon is off-grid, no need for microwave or other appliances. What I’m always in need of is more storage and work space. Wish we had gone with twin beds. Think about having to climb over another person to use the bathroom at night. Wish we had an outdoor shower. I can use the indoor shower, but my husband struggles with the confined space, and a quick wash down before bed is welcome (think sandy beaches). Wish we had a good bicycle rack on the trailer. Glad we added the propane heater. We use it far more frequently than the air cooler, which is loud and right over the bed. We seldom use the awning, usually too windy. Glad we ordered vinyl flooring, a faulty water pump can flood the trailer in the middle of your vacation. With that being said, I love my Casita and prefer taking it over staying in a hotel. With regular maintenance we’ve had no major issues (except with water pump), I’ve replaced all the hinge screws to cabinet doors when they kept falling out, replaced vinyl window coverings and still trying to figure out a workable configuration for clothing and shoes in the closet.
Everyone is different. We have a 2019 Liberty. We bought all of the options except the Microwave, which we purchased from Walmart. We seldom use the TV unless the campground has cable, and we have never used the awning.
But it is better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. We had shocks installed, but we do not know if it improved the bounce.
Casita told us we only needed the sway bar. We have a 2015 Chevy Colorado.
We would love to get the Fiberglass 21-foot Bogfoot one day. They have a full bathroom.
__________________
Been with my sweetheart since 1969
2015 Chevy Colorado & 2019 Casita owner
If I won the award for laziness, I would send somebody to pick it up for me.
I'll second what Larry said about the factory installed microwave, it takes up too much space, we enjoy all the additional storage around a smaller microwave.
We converted our Liberty to twin beds and a Lagun table and it's been great, our previous trailer had the "crawl over" bed.
A Spirit with a twin bed mod seems to work very well for many owners.
The gas furnace is nice for boondocking but a little loud, if I was ordering a new trailer I would leave it out and install a propex gas heater myself.
We typically use a small portable ceramic electric heater when camping with electricity.
I installed a Jensen 12v powered TV and an amplified King Omni antenna on the roof, we don't watch it much but it's nice for occasional use.
We use the awning on almost every trip, we use a Fiamma awning tie down system and additional large iron stakes through the legs to secure it while deployed. It really is nice on hot sunny days and rainy situations.
A faulty water pump or fitting will only flood your trailer if you leave the switch on and leave the trailer unattended, the pump makes noise while running and you will catch it quickly, leaving the trailer unattended with the city water connected can be a bigger problem if a fitting leaks since the supply would be unlimited versus a pump with a 16 or 23 gallon tank.
There are several options for storing shoes, etc. you can install simple shelves in the closet or install a Katy's Closet's kit.
We also each have a bin that slides under the rear shelf.
It will take a few camping trips do develop your camping style and determine what's really needed or not.
It took us three previous trailers before we settled on a Casita.
Here is my list.
Electric tongue jack,
High lift axle
Rear reciever hitch
Andersen WDH
Awning
Furnace
23 gal fresh water
keyless door entry
folding kitchen shelf
outside shower/wash station
propane package
deep sink if available for you model
Stove
Is the a 3 way? gas/120v/ 12v DC?
Small Micrwave you can buy at walmart for $50. Big enough if you need it. Can store it in car/truck when you don't need it.
Katie's closet - definitely
I use thumb screws on all the outside access doors water, batery etc
I added shocks to mine . Very happy with them.
Enjoy
I don't know what options are available now. When we bought our 2011 SD, we opted for the refrigerator fan, but no where in the brochures was it listed. I'm not sure how we learned of it but we use it often.
We got the outdoor shower and in 13 years of camping used it once.
We did NOT get the microwave. The cabinet serves us very well as a pantry, as there is no real place in the SD to put
things like food if the microwave is hogging all that precious space.
we got the shelf and wiring for the TV, have never even considered taking one, so, the only use we have found for the plug in is to check the battery level. My cat loved the shelf, but she's gone now and so there's no need for the shelf.
Some options taht aren't that apparent: go for more electrical outlets. The 2011 originally came with TWO. Get at least two more installed in places that make sense.
I know a lot of folks don't care for the Famma awning, but I like it, it serves as a sunshade. It's not meant for being able to sit out in a rainstorm and high winds will damage it.
We definitely wanted the propane furnace. Yes, it's loud but boy is it nice to have a nice warm camper when one is crawling out of the rack for the day. We got the heat strip and seldom use it. Maybe that's because one, we seldom camp in states where the AC is needed, and two, it is designed poorly..one end blows air towards the back of the camper, right into the cabinet over the bed, only the other end blows air into the cabin itself. It's noisy and inefficient, IMHO. If we camp where there's electricity, I heat the camper with a small oil heater. IT's silent and small enough that one can walk around it on those midnight trips to the bathroom.
Don't get the carpet. I really don't understand the mindset of a carpet in a camper. You're going to come in with wet boots, or wet dogs, or mud on your boots, all sorts of things that carpets absorb and then turn into mold/mildew. What we do is use a long throw rug, it islong enough to go from the edge of the bed all the way to the bathroom. That floor gets cold at night, you know? In the day, i roll it up and stash it under the bed. Vinyl flooring is so much easier to clean and is far more forgiving.
The day after we brought the SD home, I stashed the cushions in the garage and ordered a Southern Mattress, keeping it as a bed. Instead of the cushion 'seats' at the table, my engineer husband repurposed two oak kitchen chairs (aka Goodwill purchases), added boat chair swivels to the bottoms, and installed them at the table. Allows for stashing stuff behind the chairs and able to turn in at least two directions.
Change out every interior light from 12v automobile lightbulbs to LEDs. THey draw far less power and are much brighter for the nights when you're playing Scrabble or using your laptop.
I wish wish wish Casita had made a deeper sink. And the original faucets leak, And the galley faucet isn't high enough to allow one to actually do things in the sink. So we put in a higher arched galley sing faucet. Despite that, it still leaks at the base, I think it's due to the way the hole was cut in the fiberglass.
I wouldn't bother with an extended warranty. As one poster said, it's merely a way of extracting more money from your wallet.
Not only that, most RV shops have no idea how to work on our teeny little FG campers. They're use to big RV's.
One thing I advise you do is, when you get your new Casita, go through ALL the paperwork, manuals, etc that you get. Especially the Dometic Refrigerator. In the teeny tiny lawyerese font, it says..well,it said, as this was 2011, you had TEN days..not working days, ten calendar days to submit a copy of the sales receipt/invoice to Dometic in order for them to honor any warranty!
And I did have to use the warranty when the Dometic stopped working within a few weeks of our purchase.
The lesson being, fill out out those warranty cards: for the fridge, especially but for everything else.
Scampy
2012 Lil Snoozy 
2008 Casita Spirit Deluxe
Tweaker's Casita
Ms Kelley
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