New Fun Finder owner has questions?????

[wrfwhite]

Hello fellow campers, My wife and I live in Canada are semi retired and have recently sold our class c motor home and bought a 2014 Fun Finder 265 RBSS. We decided to get a travel trailer because it gives us the freedom to use our tow vehicle to tour around. Our new Fun Finder is being built at Cruiser RV as I write this and we will be picking it up in about a month from a dealer in Michigan about 1100 miles from where we live. We have yet to see any Fun Finder or Cruiser RV travel trailers in real life as there is none sold in our area. We picked this model as it has all the options and the perfect layout for us. Now the panic mode has set in because I have lots of time to read blogs and reviews and horror stories keep poping up about Cruiser RV and their workmanship or QC. Here are a few things I have read that make me a bit nervous, tire problems,weak axle problems,roof panels lifting under the rubber roof,leaking slides and slides that won,t go in or out, bad wiring,bad plumbing leaks in the inclosed under belly, bad caulking, I can go on ,there is even the odd video on utube showing the bad workmanship of some of Cruiser RV,s travel trailers. I,m not talking old travel trailers the complaints are on 2010,2011,2012 and 2013 models. Please tell me I have no need to lose sleep over this and the complaints are from whiny people who do not know how to look after their travel trailers. I am a handy person and can deal with small problems but when you read some of the reviews on the lack of quality of Cruiser RV travel trailers I,m wondering if I have made a huge mistake. Any and all coments are welcome----------THANKS :?

 

[LJAZ]

Welcome to the world of travel trailer ownership. The problems you describe can (and are) attributed to all of the manufacturers, not just CruiserRV. And of course you only hear about those who have problems. Not too many people post "Hey I didn't have problems with my trailer today!" And they are most likely the vast majority.

I can say that my FF has been pretty trouble free. A few minor issues, but nothing I couldn't easily fix myself and certainly nothing to lose sleep over.

A trailer trailer also comes with a certain amount of maintence required. A lot of problems can be attributed to lack of maintainence. Particularly leaks. Seams should be checked at least annually and there's likely going to be some caulking required.

I think the other big complaint factor really resides with the dealer. Some dealers don't do an adequate job of prepping the trailer before it's sold and then don't want to take care of the problems after the sale. That makes for very unhappy customers, and lots of post about poor quality.

Also keep in mind that most trailers are 'assembled' with components from the same manufacturers: Atwood, Suburban, Lippert, Dexter, Thetford, etc. So whatever model you buy you're getting the same 'stuff'.

Having said that, there is some due diligence required of the buyer. Make sure everything is as it should be before you drive it off the lot. Have the dealer go everything and demonstrate how it works (as well as verify that it works properly). Expect to spend a couple of hours for this. If something doesn't work - have it fixed to your satisfaction before you accept delivery. And use a checklist. Here's a link to one:

http://rvbasics.com/techtips/Checklist-for-buying-a-RV.html

It's somewhat generic so you should modify for your specific situation but it's a good start.

Congrats on your new trailer. I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

[M&M3]

New camper

I can relate to your concerns as we also bought a camper a long distance from home in order to get the model we wanted. I too wondered what we had done. Although our camper was not new, we thought that Cruiser could have done a better job on quality control. However, we think our camper was very well thought out, which confirms why we wanted it. After the initial “debugging”, we have had little trouble with our camper.
I basically agreed with what LJAZ said. You may to confirm the dealer has thoroughly gone through it before you make an appointment to pick it up. I would plan to spend a lot of time at the dealer to the point of making a motel reservation in advance. I recommend spending time on your own checking closely after you and the dealer have the walk through. You may not find all the potential “bugs”, but hopefully you can find most of them. You mentioned you are “handy”, which is a great help in this hobby no matter what brand camper you buy.
Congratulations on your purchase!

 

[Rip5]

Curious what dealer in Michigan did you purchase your TT through? As we just bought a 214WSD from our local (Michigan) dealer who ships Cruiser RV products all over the world, and wondered if it was the same dealer.

 

[profdant139]

Not to worry

Fun Finders are fairly well made -- not perfect, but ok. We recently bought our second one and are very happy with it. If you want more info on modifications and maintenance and repairs, check out my blog -- not sure if this link will post properly -- if it does not, just cut it and paste it into your browser:

http://lookmomimcamping.blogspot.com/

 

[Dakota 1120]

Agree with what others said.

I bought my first camper spring 2012, XT276. No major issues to speak of although I did 'tweak' a few things. Dealer was excellent about going over the entire unit upon pickup some 300 miles from home.

Overall, it has been a great buy for the money spent and am very pleased.

Remember, if a person is unhappy with something they will tell 50 people....and when they are pleased with something, they MAY tell one or two.

:wink:

Enjoy and best to you.

 

[drstvk]

We have a 2009 model FF X210. It has some little issues, but nothing major. I am sort of handy, so I tend to do a lot of my own fixes. We love ours and have taken it all over the western US.
Do check everything out before you take it from the dealer, keep up all the maintenance above and beyond what the manufacturer recommends, and don't hesitate to change things that look like they may cause an issue in the future.
Best of luck in your travels.

Steve

 

[Russ-FUN]

First off....Welcome to our little band of merry travelers.
I am one of the people that has been very open not only about the problems I had with my New 2012 unit, but also with the dealer support I recieved.
Yes, we had the issue with the axles and some other stuff but, as noted by one of the others, the dealer can make or break your success with the unit you decided to go with.
One thing i did learn is that it is indeed the same with ALL manufacturers. You can buy a million dollar rig and still have problems.
Like you, I too am very handy and resolved some of the smaller issues myself.
Overall they are a pretty well built unit and once we worked all the bugs out we have not had another lick of trouble.
If you are in Alberta i can reccomend a dealer if you want to PM me.

Good luck and welcome to the site.


Russ

 

[rewindgy]

I think that they are one of the better assemblers! We had a 2004 Funfinder and it was a good little trailer and now have 2013 Radiance and I have had to do small tweeks but nothing a handy kinda guy can't fix easily! They are made from the same parts so it all boils down to how they assemble and how it was planned out. Have fun when you get your new trailer! And remember, it's made by people and people make mistakes no matter how many quality checks are in place!

 

[Guybmoto]

I've done about four laps around the U.S. with mine (14-17,000 miles annually).

After four years I've worn out the shackles, but have tried to keep everything well-lubed and maintained.

I'm probably due for another set of batteries, and the fan on my inverter occasionally makes funny noises. There are some trim pieces on the interior that could use some touch-up with a staple gun.

Other than that, it's served me really well.

After picking mine up in So. Cal., its first trip was to Morgantown, WV.

 

[wrfwhite]

New Fun Finder Owner Feels Better

I just want to thank everyone for your input on my concerns. I do feel better after hearing all you had to say and felt great after I had a chance to see a brand new fun finder at a dealer while my wife and I were away on a bit of a holiday this pass weekend. In general it looked pretty well built and the few little things I came across that weren,t quite right I would fix myself. I,m more handy than most people (plumber by trade but really a jack of all trades) My biggist concern after reading some of the bad things people had posted about Cruiser RV was if I had bought a piece of junk that was going to fall apart in a couple of years.
THANKS to all and happy travels

 

[kccamping]

Hi, my husband and I are new to rv camping and just bought our first travel trailer this past august, we bought a 2012 shawdow cruiser 285rls. We have taken it for out on weekends, trying to learn about it and so far we love it! Our only problem is the bedroom, it appears that the heat isn't getting to the room although the dealer told us it was fine. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do, besides bringing it back to the dealer? Thank you in advance.