What you wish you knew before you bought your first pop-up?

[CampRock]

We always pop-up a day or 2 before leaving.  Allows us to put our clothes in the built-in dresser drawers, make sure everything works, charge the battery (stores inside), fill the porta-potti with water and magic blue elixir, and on the stock the fridge after it's been running on LP overnight.  We switch the fridge to 12v during towing.  When we get back, we pop-up again, and clean the inside of the camper, empty & clean the inside of the fridge, and dump/clean the potti. 

I like this way of doing business, and it's not a chore at all.

Not a "chore"?! ... different strokes for different folks I guess but it sure used to be for me when we had a popup.   When we get home all I want to do is park the trailer and grab a ... and that's just what I do now with our travel trailer.

      I have to agree w/ Oz, FOR US it was a chore...I hated having to break the entire inside to pop down and then to do it in the rain, wet beds/canvas....double ugh. its nice to just leave everything "as it is" and drive away.

[ngatel]

After tent camping for 30 years, we're ready to buy a used pop-up camper. As a former  [htt-g]pop-up virgin, what do you now know to ask about or inspect for that you didn't before you bought? Is there something about a high side or a push out that you never thought of before you towed it away? Nothing too stupid to mention please, because we don't know enough to think of it.

Thanks

I bought my first PU after years of tenting. It was basically a tent on wheels, with few accessories. It was great for 10 years. You will think a simple PU is heaven after tenting. You don't need all the extra goodies. My only comment which is probably contrary to most is to purchase a new camper unless you want to deal with someone else's problems and you are good at fixing pop ups. We bought new and I was thrilled with it!! You really are not going to know what you really want until after you buy one. But read all the posts to filter things.

[Geodude]

I have to agree with Mr. Gatel.  Our first camper, a 2002 Coleman Sun Valley, was bought new simply to get the features we wanted, the layout we wanted and not worry about how clean (or not) a used one was.

Oh, and yes we carried a cooler (thermoelectric) and had top-down fridge access.  The bestest of both worlds.

These days our fridgeness looms large; we have two fridges with a large freezer in one of them, and I just stowed a Coleman Xtreme cooler in the trailer, ready for some dry camping in a week or so.  Beer may be involved.

[ngatel]

I have to agree with Mr. Gatel.  Our first camper, a 2002 Coleman Sun Valley, was bought new simply to get the features we wanted, the layout we wanted and not worry about how clean (or not) a used one was.

Oh, and yes we carried a cooler (thermoelectric) and had top-down fridge access.  The bestest of both worlds.

These days our fridgeness looms large; we have two fridges with a large freezer in one of them, and I just stowed a Coleman Xtreme cooler in the trailer, ready for some dry camping in a week or so.  Beer may be involved.

I have camped with Paul. What he neglected to mention about the cooler is that there is more beer onsite than there is storage capacity in the fridge :) or at least that was the case at FYBO.

[AprilTwoCats]

You folks are fabulous--thank you! These are the kind of things I wouldn't have thought of, for sure. I appreciate everyone's opinions and experiences.

I've seen a few used campers (because of budget can't buy new) at a dealership so far and am learning quick, like I really like the highsides, because I like the counter space height and the larger refrigerator. I like having a potty and my husband could care less about a shower. Even the people I've spoken to about the potty/shower admit that they only use it for their kids. Adults do not shower in them, period. Having a king size bed is important because in a queen size my feet are right up against the canvas, but you gotta take off your sneakers and hop up to figure that out. Also, who is going to climb over whom to get out of bed. 

I make the salesmen unlock every nook and cranny and plug in an extension cord to run the air conditioning unit. They won't put a full propane tank in so I could see how the hot water or stove worked, and they seemed genuinely surprised that I asked to show me as much as I did.

It freaks me out that dealers' standard operating procedure is not to show that every system works, 100%, until AFTER you've laid down your money. It's nice that there are warranties and all, but I don't by a used car unless I have my mechanic check it out first. Why can't I crank the top up and down before I sign the check? Weird.

Please don't stop with all of your comments and suggestions.

[Spirit Deer]

Interesting about your view of showers.  One of the BIG compromises we had to make with our newest camper was not getting a shower.  (The other was not getting a double sink.  )  But we already are halfway to getting ourselves a portable shower set up to use inside, and I'm also hoping to build a custom shower tent to set up outside for certain trips.  We do plan to use our shower both inside and out.  But of course different people have different priorities.

[Oz and Us]

It freaks me out that dealers' standard operating procedure is not to show that every system works, 100%, until AFTER you've laid down your money. It's nice that there are warranties and all, but I don't by a used car unless I have my mechanic check it out first. Why can't I crank the top up and down before I sign the check? Weird.

No, not weird at all ... time is money and the reality is that popups are a loss leader in the industry, with dealers making so little on each sale that many just won't sell them.  For those that do there's just one reason for doing so - it's a sale that though not profitable in itself does in many cases create a link to a future sale on some form of hard side recreational vehicle that will generate a reasonable profit for the dealer.  No salesman, no dealership tech can afford to spend endless amounts of time showing you little details about a popup when someone else may well be walking their lot right at that very moment, serious about buying a travel trailer or 5th or MH ... you may not like it, you may not find it reasonable from your perspective, but it is the reality of the situation.

[Fiddich]

I have one piece of advice and I would challenge anyone here to contradict me on this.

DO NOT BOOK YOUR FITS CAMPING WEEKEND THE WEEK YOU ARE TO PICK UP YOUR TRAILER.

You should not finish the deal by signing anything until you are satisfied that everything is in good shape and working. When the dealership says "Go ahead and take it, we`ll fix that under warranty when you get back." They actually mean "It's yours. We'll get to fixing it as soon as we can. Sorry but we've been really busy and can't get to it this week."

You are paying for PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection) and fixing all that stuff is part of that. The minute you sign for delivery, they are in no real hurry to get your unit fixed up for you.

[Lindz]

In retrospect, we did a really smart thing by buying the most basic, affordable pup we could find on Craigslist in order to "try out" camping with our two wee kiddos last summer.  For $2200 we got a 1997 Palomino Pony in great working condition, nothing fancy, and the previous owner threw in all the camping gear with it... air mattresses, sleeping bags, pots and pans, porta potti, etc.  Heck, there was even toothpaste in it!  (haha!  we threw that out)  That relatively small investment gave us an invaluable chance at doing our own R&D about what kind of stuff/setup we "needed" to camp successfully and have fun doing it.

What we quickly discovered was that the Pony's floorplan SUCKED for camping with 2 kids.  It had the dinette parallel to the bigger bed, which meant we were constantly sliding in and out, in and out to let kids in and out, in and out of the only seating in the camper.  Cold and/or inclement weather was miserable... no where to sit except that tiny table or the bunks.  And to a 3 year old and 18 month old, shepherd's poles look a lot like monkey bars when you are bored and stuck inside a camper... yeah, we spent a lot of time "training" them to "sit down!  be quiet!" with the lack of seating in the rest of the pup.

So when we decided that we LOVED camping but didn't love our camper, it was an easy decision to go for an upgrade.  We sold that camper in 6 HOURS for MORE than we paid for it (we had added an unit a/c to it) by listing it on a local Facebook yard sale page just before the next spring (so, we owned it for a total of about 8 months).  Within a month we had had a chance to really research other used options out there and settled on a slightly newer Rockwood 1980 with a u-shaped gaucho on the small bunk side and a dinette placed perpendicular to the queen bunk... SO MUCH BETTER.  (And only paid $300 more than what we sold the first one for, so the deal was awesome!) Our decision was reinforced when the first trip out in the Rockwood it rained on us for two days... we spent a lot of time playing Go Fish on that gaucho... and no shepherd's pole gymnastics resulted.   

So... my point here is that you may *think* you know what you want... and you may find that once you have the pop up in a campground and reality hits, the choices you made back then now seem kinda "off."  Now my advice to everyone who can afford it is to do their research and go buy an older pup in good condition and try it out... the worst that could happen is that you decide you hate camping and you sell it to another hapless camper wannabe next season... 

I suppose renting one would be another option if you are gun-shy about purchasing a "starter" camper, but in our experience in researching, the rental fee was dang near the purchase fee if you consider an older camper is quite affordable.

HTH!

[pkb starcraft orion 2002]

I am very glad our pop up layout allows you to get in and out of both beds without clambering over a dinette.  I wish our front door step had the option of a second pull out step because that step is often a doozy if you camp in hilly places.  Ours has a slide out dining area  and a tilt out kitchen, which feels very spacious.  Good luck choosing a pup!

[AprilTwoCats]

I had no idea that you could add an air conditioning unit after-maket, so that's another thing I've learned here.

Our learning experience has included renting a used Jayco PU from a dealer. The Jay 1007 had the climb-over-the-couch-to-get-into-bed layout and we absolutely hated it. It did not have a slide out and by the third day of rain, we were finding it a bit claustrophobic (although we were much happier than if we had been tent camping). We couldn't comfortably pass each other in the trailer, which is why I think the slide-out will be important.

I was just able to cook on the 2-burner stove so we didn't have to spend the $$ going out for meals, but the tiny bathroom-sized sink was really hard to wash pots and large plates in. The 2 ft frig barely contained a bottle of milk, a head of lettuce, butter and some eggs. There wasn't really room on the floor for our cooler for the rest of our food. There weren't any real counters so prepping on the table and using it as staging area while cooking made it difficult to set the table ahead of time.

We didn't realize we didn't have any place to hang clothes inside to dry until we got soaked--there was no handy-dandy pull down bar for hanging clothes. There wasn't a lot of storage space so we basically threw everything on the other bed, but had to climb over the table to get to it, also not our favorite feature. I'm really glad we learned that.

When we brought the camper back to the dealer, they had a Coleman of some kind with a tip out kitchen wall and a slide out dinette. What a revelation! We didn't know such things existed. We probably should have grabbed it, but the dealer already had a buyer and we weren't at that point.

On (shameful secret passion) "Say Yes to the Dress," they always say don't try on a wedding dress that's outside your budget because anything in your budget will not match up. I may have made the mistake at looking at high side models with toilets, big frigs, microwaves and air conditioning when the advice here seems to be to start with a basic model, then trade up. 

[happycamper05]

We our on our first pop-up. It is a 2005 Rockwood.  We really got a great deal for it by a great person who listed it on Craig's list. We really do like it, but have talked about what we would like in an upgrade when we get to that point.  We do have the u shape couch which is nice.  We wish the dinning table was arranged so that there is stepping room coming off the queen bed. We put the table down into a bed every trip so, not to have to step on the table to get out of bed.  The shower/bathroom is on our upgrade list. For many reasons, one we have been to many a dirty nasty CG bathroom that I would not even bath a dog in and have been in one where they were bathing dogs! Also, when having a few cocktails at night it is nicer to be able to go to your camper vs going to the CS every hour or even during the night, cause every knows the minute u hit the bed and u have had a few cocktails u will have to go again, and again!  Yes, the refrig sucks!  Never enough room and never stays cold enough for meat or milk so, we always have a big cooler which takes alot of ice every 24hrs. So, a full size refrig is on the list of upgrades. But, this beats my husband putting up the tent in a storm and yes everytime we go camping it storms or rains! So, far we are 3 for 3 camping in the rain, but yet can not get any rain at home! Go figure! 
Happy Camping!

[Edsland]

For me next to ice in the beer cooler is a great working ac unit. Just my 2 cents :)

[Squall Line]

I had no idea that you could add an air conditioning unit after-maket, so that's another thing I've learned here.

Our learning experience has included renting a used Jayco PU from a dealer. The Jay 1007 had the climb-over-the-couch-to-get-into-bed layout and we absolutely hated it. It did not have a slide out and by the third day of rain, we were finding it a bit claustrophobic (although we were much happier than if we had been tent camping). We couldn't comfortably pass each other in the trailer, which is why I think the slide-out will be important.

I was just able to cook on the 2-burner stove so we didn't have to spend the $$ going out for meals, but the tiny bathroom-sized sink was really hard to wash pots and large plates in. The 2 ft frig barely contained a bottle of milk, a head of lettuce, butter and some eggs. There wasn't really room on the floor for our cooler for the rest of our food. There weren't any real counters so prepping on the table and using it as staging area while cooking made it difficult to set the table ahead of time.

We didn't realize we didn't have any place to hang clothes inside to dry until we got soaked--there was no handy-dandy pull down bar for hanging clothes. There wasn't a lot of storage space so we basically threw everything on the other bed, but had to climb over the table to get to it, also not our favorite feature. I'm really glad we learned that.

When we brought the camper back to the dealer, they had a Coleman of some kind with a tip out kitchen wall and a slide out dinette. What a revelation! We didn't know such things existed. We probably should have grabbed it, but the dealer already had a buyer and we weren't at that point.

On (shameful secret passion) "Say Yes to the Dress," they always say don't try on a wedding dress that's outside your budget because anything in your budget will not match up. I may have made the mistake at looking at high side models with toilets, big frigs, microwaves and air conditioning when the advice here seems to be to start with a basic model, then trade up. 

Well not exactly, here are a few-only a few thoughts.
 Talk to other popup owners at campgrounds
 Know your basic needs
 Decide what options you actually NEED Vs that would be nice to have
 Check out dealers on the internet and call them 2-3 times, soon you’ll get a feel for it. You’ll know if they are full or crap or if they actually think your calls and questions are important or a pester to a ticked off sales person.
NEVER EVER buy from anyone who dose not openly and willing, satisfy your needs as best they can.
 Stay away from any from any roof or lift problems. LOOK and LOOK hard if buying used. A slight leak today will become expensive later.
 AND MUCH MUCH MORE
 

[Icanoe2fish]

1) I wish I knew that all the places I want to go to are a minimum of 3.5 hours away and that I wouldn't bother with anything local - nothing nearby is as pristine or rugged enough
2) I wish I knew we would enjoy it and done it sooner while the kids were younger - its getting difficult to co-ordinate everyones schedules together
3) I wish I wouldnt go out of my mind waiting for summer vacation every year - wasting countless of number of hours surfing this site...wishing I was camping up north

Maybe the answer is...to just move there