New 16fsb Owners

[Crashogre]

Hello,
We just bought a new 2015 Coleman 16FBS. We will be picking it up on Saturday and taking it on a maiden voyage in November. It seemed to be perfect for us as it is just my wife and I and our Great Pyrenees dog, Teddy. We at one time had a 99 Coleman Taos but had to get rid of it when we moved several states. We have since been tent camping but decided we are too old for that and got the trailer.
I have been combing the forums and look forward to the knowledge I can glean from everyone when I run it to a problem.

John

[Redtail cruiser]

Hi John, Welcome and congrats on your new Coleman. I've only been on this forum a short time, but everyone has been very helpful, so you don't have to be shy with your questions.

Enjoy your new trailer & safe travels,

[DesertRat]

Welcome ......John
We also started out with a tent trailer back in 85.
This is a great site with lots of RV knowledge so feel free to ask questions. Wife & I both grew up RVing with our folks. Our kids have done the same.

I don't have any pictures but I added a flush toilet to our tent trailer back in 85. Got tired of dumping the potra-potti. It had a 10 gal black tank.

[wahoonc]

Hi John,
Welcome to the forums! We small trailer owners are in the minority here But it has it's advantages: Less crap to break and mods are cheaper!

I have a Coleman 16 and done a few mods already with several more underway.

FWIW I had a Coleman Niagara for 5-6 years, along with quite a few other RV's.

Aaron

[nctrailboss]

Welcome to the forum!My wife and I are sporting a fb16 as well.Love it.0 problems after 1 year.Mods include LED bulbs,cable hook-up,fiberglass shower walls,axle flip with larger tires and wheels,and a hook-up to "suck" antifreeze and push it trough the system.Makes winter-izing a 15 minute deal.

[Crashogre]

First lesson learned. If salesman says there is no manuals for anything because its a used trailer and to just download them, send in the inquisitive grandson. We were showing the grandkids the new trailer after we got it. He opened a lower door and asked what does this do, reaches way in the back and pulled out the pouch with all the documentation for everything. We had checked every other nook an cranny before delivery but not there.

[wahoonc]

Well now that you have the all but useless Dutchmen manual you can start asking questions.

The appliance manuals do come in handy, those are the ones with the real information in them.

Aaron

[DC8Captain]

Originally Posted by Crashogre

First lesson learned. If salesman says there is no manuals for anything because its a used trailer and to just download them, send in the inquisitive grandson. We were showing the grandkids the new trailer after we got it. He opened a lower door and asked what does this do, reaches way in the back and pulled out the pouch with all the documentation for everything. We had checked every other nook an cranny before delivery but not there.

Welcome to the forum - While we get a good dose of humor here I thought this was exceptionally funny. Well done to your grand-kids.

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by Crashogre

First lesson learned. If salesman says there is no manuals for anything because its a used trailer and to just download them, send in the inquisitive grandson. We were showing the grandkids the new trailer after we got it. He opened a lower door and asked what does this do, reaches way in the back and pulled out the pouch with all the documentation for everything. We had checked every other nook an cranny before delivery but not there.

Grandkids, they make you laugh.

I love it when the sales staff really know the products on the lot.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by hddecker

Grandkids, they make you laugh.

I love it when the sales staff really know the products on the lot.

Which I find to be pretty pathetic here lately. Only dealer I have been to that had a salesperson worth a crap was a Lance dealer. It is a fairly small operation, we talked to the sales guy a bit, real low key, he pointed out a couple of things that were new to newest model year compared to some of the early year stuff, then asked if we had any questions. I always do my research prior to going in anyway. Funny thing is my wife sold a camper to another couple for them while we were there looking. Owner bought us dinner at a nice restaurant that night. We are still looking, but the Lance is on the very short list.

Aaron

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

Which I find to be pretty pathetic here lately. Only dealer I have been to that had a salesperson worth a crap was a Lance dealer. It is a fairly small operation, we talked to the sales guy a bit, real low key, he pointed out a couple of things that were new to newest model year compared to some of the early year stuff, then asked if we had any questions. I always do my research prior to going in anyway. Funny thing is my wife sold a camper to another couple for them while we were there looking. Owner bought us dinner at a nice restaurant that night. We are still looking, but the Lance is on the very short list.

Aaron

I am pretty sure that Lance has a better dealer support network than Dutchmen.

Still kicking my butt for not just accepting a Lance floor plan and buying a Thor product just because of they had the exact floor plan we wanted.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by hddecker

I am pretty sure that Lance has a better dealer support network than Dutchmen.

Still kicking my butt for not just accepting a Lance floor plan and buying a Thor product just because of they had the exact floor plan we wanted.

Depends. There are several dealers that get griped about on a regular basis, pretty large volume ones.

Then there are the three I have visited. The one I will buy from when the time comes is very low key and only sells TT's. He is a very small operation, but appears to be honest and will work with you to get what you want. He told me if I wanted to special order a unit that he could give me a better discount because he would not have any carrying fees. His typical discount on the Lance is ~20% off MSRP.

The one I didn't like was basically stupid. They are a multi line higher volume dealer and if don't think you are buying today they insult you and walk away. Their stock is beat up and they have no clue what they are talking about.

The second one that I liked is a smaller dealer and Lance is probably about 1/4 of his total sales, small family owned and no pressure. He will tell you up front that he discounts so far and that is the price. That one is a bit far from me and I am not impressed with his service department.

We are still shopping and discussing what we really want. I am hoping to make this the last RV purchase... or maybe the next to last.

Aaron

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

Depends. There are several dealers that get griped about on a regular basis, pretty large volume ones.

Then there are the three I have visited. The one I will buy from when the time comes is very low key and only sells TT's. He is a very small operation, but appears to be honest and will work with you to get what you want. He told me if I wanted to special order a unit that he could give me a better discount because he would not have any carrying fees. His typical discount on the Lance is ~20% off MSRP.

The one I didn't like was basically stupid. They are a multi line higher volume dealer and if don't think you are buying today they insult you and walk away. Their stock is beat up and they have no clue what they are talking about.

The second one that I liked is a smaller dealer and Lance is probably about 1/4 of his total sales, small family owned and no pressure. He will tell you up front that he discounts so far and that is the price. That one is a bit far from me and I am not impressed with his service department.

We are still shopping and discussing what we really want. I am hoping to make this the last RV purchase... or maybe the next to last.

Aaron

All of the Lance Dealers I've been to up here have been small mom and pop kinda place.

The reason I say a better dealer support from what I saw at one dealer. They had sold a TT to a middle aged couple, they had only been retired about six months. They took it home, parked it in the driveway, ran the slide, out loaded up, ran the slide back in and drove to the campground. Ran the slide out and oh dear, look the slide ripped the flooring.

They take it back to the dealer, dealer asks them if they leveled up before they ran the slide out?

The dealer calls Lance explains. Lance asks if they have another camper the same model, yes exchange it. Lance tells dealer they will ship new flooring and a new slide, call when it gets there and they will send a tech up to do the repair.

Seems Lance felt that just because the owner hadn't leveled up the 3" the slide side of the camper, their campers should be able to handle that without damage. Since this was the first slide failure and the tech was sent to verify that Lances workmanship was up to their QC standards.

I know a foriegn concept when we think of Dutchmen and QC.

Just thought it was a refreshing approach.

[wahoonc]

I agree that Lance service is head and shoulders above much of the industry, not to mention QC. Another company that is the same way is Born Free out of Iowa. They build solid Class C motor homes. Buddy of mine bought his second one, used, called the plant to ask about a specific system. They put the guy on the phone that had done the installation and he was able to trouble shoot it. Then BF called the supplier to have the replacement parts shipped directly to my buddy. This unit is several years old and not under warranty. It is a shame that the larger a company gets and the more profit driven they become the worse their customer service and quality seem to get. IMHO the privately held companies seem to be better in tune with QC and Customer Service than the publicly held ones.

Aaron

[Redtail cruiser]

Since the Lance is built here in Southern California and I've been having trouble finding an Aerolite that hasn't been damaged by storms and floods, I think I will check out a 2295 at a local dealership. We really wanted the king size bed, but maybe a queen in a potentially better built trailer might be worth a look.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by Redtail cruiser

Since the Lance is built here in Southern California and I've been having trouble finding an Aerolite that hasn't been damaged by storms and floods, I think I will check out a 2295 at a local dealership. We really wanted the king size bed, but maybe a queen in a potentially better built trailer might be worth a look.

I would. You will spend a bit more, but IMHO well worth it. Just a heads up on the 2295, they are notoriously tongue heavy. You will have to shift cargo to the rear areas and partially fill the water tank. I am at about 99.9995% that our next TT will be a Lance. The queen bed is all we need, we sleep on a double at home.

Aaron

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

I agree that Lance service is head and shoulders above much of the industry, not to mention QC. Another company that is the same way is Born Free out of Iowa. They build solid Class C motor homes. Buddy of mine bought his second one, used, called the plant to ask about a specific system. They put the guy on the phone that had done the installation and he was able to trouble shoot it. Then BF called the supplier to have the replacement parts shipped directly to my buddy. This unit is several years old and not under warranty. It is a shame that the larger a company gets and the more profit driven they become the worse their customer service and quality seem to get. IMHO the privately held companies seem to be better in tune with QC and Customer Service than the publicly held ones.

Aaron

All this got me to thinking I haven't looked at the Lances for a few years.

They have come along way with their offerings from when we first looked at them.

They have some floor plans that would have met with DWs requirements and some very nice options that they didn't have back in '11/12?, when we first looked.

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by Redtail cruiser

Since the Lance is built here in Southern California and I've been having trouble finding an Aerolite that hasn't been damaged by storms and floods, I think I will check out a 2295 at a local dealership. We really wanted the king size bed, but maybe a queen in a potentially better built trailer might be worth a look.

Failing buying something from the left coast, I would take a list of every storm that caused flooding, then verify build dates and delivery dates.

I just don't trust these venture capital megas to do the right thing and write off the units that have suffered rain/water damage. If they did write them off, I don't trust them to crush them. I can just see all the rebuilders rubbing their hands together.

I feel bad for people that are going to be sucked in.