How many would buy a second TM

[Reldma]

We are looking for a used TM and have been reading the forum and started to wonder how many current owners would buy a second TM. There seem to be more TM's that are for sale that are just a few years old and could not see why they were selling them. Are they buying a new TM or moving to 5th wheels or maybe they just can't or don't want to camp anymore.
Just trying to get a feel from others if they would do it again I guess is my question. Probably being a nervous first time TM buyer. We had a popup 20 years ago and the life cycle is turning us back into wanting to camp with the grands. We started off thinking of just buying a popup, but then discovered the TM's on Ebay.

 

[Virginia Deacon]

Would, without hesitation

We bought our TrailManor, after many years of tent camping and two popup campers. Our TrailManor has completely met our expectations. We've had a few problems, but nothing that we couldn't fix ourselves. Have been able to camp in the heaviest rain we have ever experienced and been secure and comfortable. Have been able to extend our camping season, because of the insulation and heater in our TrailManor.

Also, we have been very pleased with the Customer Service provided by Ed at TrailManor.

We wouldn't go back to popup camping, because of all the quality features provided by our TrailManor - and, it tows like our popups did! And, set up is a breeze!

For us, the question isn't, "Would you buy another Trailmanor?" It's "Why did you wait so long to buy your TrailManor?"

Happy Camping!

 

[Freedom]

I agree with Virginia Deacon. We had pop-ups, Travel trailers, even an Apache which had rigid sides, but was basically a tent trailer. Now the TM is what we have and enjoy it. There are some things I would change if I were the manufacturer, but I'm not so will live with them. (Well, maybe I'll change some of them.) I think for us it is the best trailer and would buy another in a minute - except NOT the same model. We have a 2619 and would get a 2720 (Not SD or SL) if we had it to do over again. We will probably eventually do that if we stay healthy and live long enough!

 

[evans27292]

we are on our 2nd TM, 1st one 2005-3023. 2nd TM 3326 2007 king ,we love them both.

 

[2bcs1jrt]

I have a 2518 that is 11 years old. I bought it 2 years ago.
I think that the former Pop Up folks (I am one of them) are the easiest to sell on the TM concept. We are used to some labor involved with set up and tear down but we also like the ease of towing the low profile TT. And the TM is such a step up in comfort!
I continually look for other low profile options and have not found one that has the interior space, light weight, and ease of towing of the TM.

Having said that, I think a lot of folks get tired of the set up and tear down aspect and are willing to drive the big TVs that are required to tow the big TTs for the sake of convienence and ease of arrival and departure rituals.

I can understand their line of thinking and there may come a day when I will no longer want the "hassle" of laboring over the TM (and our stuff) prior to heading out or settling in to our destinations. I think that will be 10 or 15 years down the road for me. (at least I hope so) So for now, I'll stick with the TM as it really is the best of both worlds between a pop up and a hard sided TT.

And yes I hope to own a newer larger one some day.

My 2 cents

Cheri

 

[Joseph]

For a bigger TM, you bet!

We purchased our TM in January of this year. All of my camping has been tent, then pop-up. The only other experience I have to compare it to is a 33 foot travel trailer my parents owed once upon a time. The TM is nothing like it. Almost the same amount of room and a heck of a lot easier to tow. Other than that I have nothing else to compare it to. So far so good. No problems. With the help of this forum I even installed a lift kit on it! The TM appears to fill a unique “niche” in the camper / RV market place. And since I still find myself in that niche I would purchase another TM. One of the bigger ones!

 

[wbmiller3]

Moved up from a pop-up and if my TM vanished today, I would buy another for all the same reasons I bought this one. For the easy towing and storability, plus hard sides and comfort features, I know of nothing else that fits the bill. It has quirks but the plusses outweigh the minuses.

 

[baker75]

We have had our TM for a short time. I am about as mechanically inclined as a brick, but I seem to be able to handle the TM just fine. Plus I don't need any advice from the inlaws since they don't know about my TM.

We are planning a week long trip to the black hills this weekend a short 6 hour jaunt.

From the short amount of time I've had it. And only minor frustration with the hitch. ( user error) I would definately purchase another one when this one is done.

 

[jellis]

We actually had the opportunity(?) to purchase another type of camper last year after our 3124KB was stolen. After studying everything on the market, we ended up buying a TM exactly like our original. If you're willing to put up with the limitations, and every form of camping has its limitations, the TM has a great combination of features.

Our one hesitation was the hassle of setting up and taking down the unit when on the road for several days in succession. This can get to be a chore that you don't look forward to. It also limits the hours you spend on the road if you don't want to do it in the dark. We've decided that when this gets to be too much, we'll just check into a hotel.

Though we found the quality control to have slipped a little between the 06 and 07 models, there's still nothing quite like it and it fits us.

Good luck in your search.
Jon and Rita

 

[baker75]

Oh, a little more. We've had quite a few campers in the last few years. My last and still for sale is a 1988 class A winnebago. I find the trail manor just as comfortable as the 27" class A. I had a 19' pull behind. It wasn't comfortable and it seemed like more work to set up than the trail manor is. It may have been my inexperience though I think the trail manor is fun to setup. My neighbors where all standing out in the street watching me put up my TM. And there is always a camper that wants to see it. . the 19' pulled horribly compared to my tm. pulled horribly compared to my TM.

 

[commodor47]

We bought our unit in 2004 from a private party in NC. The original owners weren't sure if they'd like camping and were impressed with the TM concept. They ended up traveling the stock car race circuit (one long trip) in the Carolina area. During that brief outing they met so many nice campers and had such a good time that they decided to down size their home, purchase a Class A and go on the road nearly full time.

Would we buy another TM? Absolutely! We've spent two winters in AZ, FL, GA, SC and have reservations for AZ this winter.

Dick

 

[Doug W.]

I will definately buy another TM when it is time to replace my TM, The only thing I might do different is get a 3326 King instead of the 3124KS if I could find a good deal on the 3326 King. I really do not need the larger trailer, but I think the dinette would be nice to have in addition to the living room I have on the 3124KS. Here are some reasons I would choose to buy another one.

1. I actually stumbled onto the TM after looking at Hi-Lo trailers. A friend had one when I was young and I thought it was a nice design. I could only tow the Hi-Lo trailers where the dinette made into a bed and not the one with the permanent bed with my present tow vehicle. I do not want to have to make the bed every night. I also normally go to sleep after my wife and I am up before her. By the time she gets out of bed, I normally have breakfast ready or at least her coffee.

2. To tow a trailer in the size range of the TM, I would need a larger tow vehicle with the corresponding drop in gas milage. You also take a bigger hit on gas milage pulling a normal travel trailer or 5th wheel.

3. Take a look at the other travel trailers. Many of them use MDF, particle board or plywood. I have seen more than one travel trailer with wood rot problems. That is what impressed me about TM and part of the reason they cost more. It is mainly aluminum with insulation between in the newer ones. Aluminum does not rot.

4. I have had tent trailers. We are getting older and will be retiring in the next 5 to 8 years. We wanted a hard sided trailer with a full bath. My dad had a travel trailer when I was young. There is not that much of a difference in setup and take down time.

5. The TM always generates interest. I have met a number of people who wanted to see the inside. I have also had a couple people offer to help set it up. One of the people had seen ran across the website and just want to see how hard it was and what it was like inside. He was impressed.

6. I would have to check my drive to see if the 3326 King will make it past the transision in my lower driveway. I think it will be okay, since it has the dual axle. I have to put a 2x10 in the transision, so my 3124KS will not scrap. A normal 31 foot trailer might not make it without scrapping. I have about 2 - 3 feet to spare for the 3124KS in length. I could do the 3326 King, but it is actually less that 30 feet long when opened. A doubt a trailer longer than about 31 to maybe 32 feet would fit.

I guess I could buy a new house and a new tow vehicle, but then I could not afford the new travel trailer or the gas to tow it.

 

[B_and_D]

For us, if our TM vanished, I'd buy the exact same one, although after the kids are gone I would be tempted to go back to a cabover camper with a hydraulic lift. They are so easy to park, and you can go places that you can't go with a TT. It would be easier to find/get campsites, too, because the sites that are bigger tend to fill up faster and the less-popular boondocking sites are more suited to a cabover camper. You can also park more "incognito" if you want to just pull over and camp somewhere for the night. But we do love our TM, and I'd probably still keep it, if we still had the room to park things like we do now.

 

[Bill-TMO]

We're on our second one. First was a 2002 2720SL, and it was perfect for us. Moved "up" to a 2006 2720SL. If we had a need to buy another, or had the opportunity to buy another, it would be a brand new 2720SL.

We have friends with a new 3326, and it is gorgeous. And we envy them the extra space. But it is too big for our tow vehicle, and too big for our garage. The 2720SL meets all of our needs, and meets them very well. We'll not change.

Bill

 

[Paul Moulton]

We just came back from two weeks camping on the Oregon coast. For the first time we towed our 2000 2720 SL with our Toyota Highlander Hybrid and it was fantastic. A little slower through the mountains but great to tow a low profile unit with all of the amenities of the TM. We are already talking about when we will be able to upgrade to a new TM and wouldn't consider anything else.

One fun aspect of the TM is we never cease to draw a crowd at any campground when we set up. Everyone (especially those using tent trailers) are amazed and inquisitive about the TM. I suspect we have already in our three years of using the TM been responsible for a number of purchases by others.

 

[grakin]

I am a new owner, but I have over 8000 miles on mine already.

I drove through Iowa in the middle of quite bad wind and rain (and tornados and floods) in the 2619 I own just two weeks ago. Let me put it this way: In that weather, I was very glad I was towing what I was towing. I watched a semi's wheels start to leave the ground in front of me, as I crawled down I-80 at 15 MPH. Some stretches of the Penn Turnpike, under construction, kept my hands tight on the steering wheel too, as the lanes were quite narrow and I didn't want to ding my TM! But it would have been much worse with a bigger unit.

But buy what you really want. Don't buy a TM if you don't want to set it up. But even a regular trailer will have setup - you still have to store your stuff, etc. I can expand and contract the TM in about 10 minutes or less. The time consuming part is backing into the site, leveling things, unhitching (although not always necessary - on a level site, my trailer hitch is exactly at the right level for a quick stay), hooking up utilities, and setting things on the counter and by the fire pit or picnic table. Putting things back always takes longer because you don't pull everything out right away! These things would still be an issue even in the largest Class A motor home. You might save time extending the leveling jacks (the Class A might have auto-leveling automatic jacks) and unhitching, but that's it. About 10 minutes I think, when I do it solo. But take this with a grain of salt - I've only owned a TM.

Would I buy another one? Right now, absolutely. But you really need to know if you want one. There are threads on the things wrong with TMs, and you might read that thread and make sure none of them are "show stoppers" for you.

Whatever you do, happy camping!

 

[grakin]

I drive a diesel, but I was getting about 16.5 mpg. For comparison I get 15.5 when not towing.

(I drive a bit slower with the trailer which is why my mileage actually improves when I have the trailer behind me)

 

[mtnguy]

We are looking for a used TM and have been reading the forum and started to wonder how many current owners would buy a second TM.

Yes, Maybe.

Even though we own a great TM, the missus and I have been looking at conventional TTs, but we haven’t found anything that lives up to the TM…..yet. I think owning the TM has set our standards really high.

1st of all, we still want a liteweight trailer. Even though our TV is a full size pickup with a big engine, I just don’t want to be pulling around a 6000 lb. behemoth behind me, especially in the hilly country of western VA. I know people that bought a big trailer, then wouldn’t go anywhere with it, or rented a full time campsite and just parked it…….all because it was a pain to tow. We want to see different places, by towing a liteweight trailer to maximize the gas mileage and minimize the driving fatigue.

That leaves our search to trailers under ~20’ or so. We haven’t found 1 yet that has the counter space of our TM. Some don’t even have a permanent bed…..and our TM has 2, plus a dinette that will make a bed to sleep a total of 6 adults. We have our own bed, the dog gets his own big bed …..and all of that without breaking down the dinette table.

We can’t find a conventional TT with a lot of windows. Our TM has 11 windows, all that open. With the awning and gravel guards up, you can open 5 windows when it is raining…..some trailers we have looked at don’t even have 5 windows total.

And it is hard to find all of the little extras in just 1 conventional TT……dual gas bottles with automatic switch-over, a place for a 2nd battery, an oven, a 3 way fridge, heavy duty stabilizer jacks, and many other pluses.

Of course, the TM has some downsides. High beds, low & small fridge, a little bit of additional set-up and take-down time, low cabinets, and things that can go wrong with the lift system. But so far, these small minuses are greatly outweighed by all of the many positive aspects of the TM. We will continue our search for the “perfect” TT because it is fun to look, and maybe we are confirming that our TM is as close to perfect as it gets for us.

Chap

 

[mike-rm-cd]

We bought a 2001 2720SD last Oct - we've loved it. Have camped for 45 days +, driven 5000 miles +, and have recently ordered a 3326K. New owners of our 2720SD will have a heckuva trailer.

New one is more spacious, and should be as easy to tow and set up. We'll report back.

 

[Factor]

Our 3023 TM was totalled, so we purchased a Hi-Lo. I can't speak for all models, but, we found the 3023 too narrow, it's only 91" wide versus the Hi-Lo Classic which is 100" plus a tip out. Each too his own. The TM is lighter and tows easier. If it were not for gas prices, I'd have a full size TT.
John