At least when it comes to campers. At least when it comes to my camper. It’s a brand new 2025 model, purchased in September. Disclaimer: the manufacturer does specifically say this camper is not meant to be lived in full time. I give them that. But It’s January, and I bought it at the very end of September. So just over three months. That hardly seems reasonable even if it were used as a weekender, given the list of shit already wrong or going wrong.
I have seam tape sagging from the ceiling, the dining table leg is broken, the sensor for the black water tank has never worked, one of the booth seats just separated itself from its backing. There were only finishing nails keeping the two pieces together. No glue, nothing. I’m replacing the faucet tomorrow, because it’s suddenly developed a drip. It is plastic, so…there’s that.
The kitchen drawers don’t have magnetic closures, even though every other cabinet in the whole camper does. I found out the hard way. The fridge was actually the same way. Oh and the texture. There’s not a single surface inside this camper that’s smooth. EVERYTHING has texture; the walls, the ceiling, countertops, the shower…so trying to use adhesive based wall mounts is practically useless. But I also don’t want a bunch of screw holes in the walls either.
I can’t extend my awning all the way while I’m here in the middle of windy lane, because any decent gust swoops underneath the awning and catches it, causing the whole thing to nearly paraglide, with me still inside. I think I’ve finally found the perfect middle for the awning, enough to cover the doorway and seating, but not so much that I literally fly away. Also, the crawl space, which extends across all eight feet of the front of the camper, is roughly 35 inches wide by about 20 inches tall. But the openings from the outside are only 12 inches wide by 11 inches tall. Riddle me that one, huh? Trying to reach in the center can often be nerve wracking, because I’m apparently bigger than the opening but with T-Rex arms lol.
I know it seems like this is a list of complaints. That’s because it is. But the reason I’m writing them down here is as a warning to the future camper buyers out there. These are all things I hadn’t considered when I bought mine. I considered the price tag. That’s pretty much it. Reasonably so, but I really should have done more research. I wish I’d found a blog like this.
I have two options. Keep fixing things on this one and hope it stays patched together for the year I’d hoped to get out of it is one. Trading this bitch in for something with a little higher quality is the other. That option means considering the price tag again. And finding out the resale value on this. Something else I probably should have looked into before purchasing. To be fair, I had just been through an enormous life change and probably shouldn’t have been making big purchase decisions, but time wasn’t on my side, and I didn’t get to pick the time.
So, to recap, pay attention to the materials. If they’re cheap, believe it. Pay attention to the layout. Pay attention to the fact that you might only have one sink, which is fine, but weird, especially when you didn’t notice until you, you know, lived in it. I’m off to do the research I should’ve done about 4-5 months ago and didn’t. I’ll smash out an update when I have one. Here’s to hoping I don’t fuck up the plumbing tomorrow.
Be well,
Ali
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