Question:
I would be remiss if I didn't mention all of the nightmare stories
about Dutchman, both here and on the RV NG.
You know, what I find interesting is that I bought a 1991 30' Dutchmen travel
trailer new in 1991 and it was great. Never had to take it back to the dealer.
Nicely appointed, well made and easy to tow. My sister, remembering how good
our Dutchmen was, bought a Dutchmen Pop-up. She has had lots of problems and
it was cheaply made. I wonder if the new Dutchmen travel trailers are made
cheaply now too?
Answer:
it seems that everything has its lemons. A lot of people on this
group just love their Colemans, but IMHO, after reading about the
troubles that a lot of people are having with them, I personally would
think long and hard about buying one.
My 2001 Dutchmen Voyager 1006D, bought new, has been used for 7 trips
already this year, for a total of around 700 kilometers. So far, three
things have gone wrong with it. Two I have fixed by myself in the
driveway, with a total of about two bucks in spare parts I had lying
around, and the other one I just haven't gotten around to fixing yet.
Total repair time: about 30 minutes. It's worth my time and money to fix
these minor things myself than it is to take it back to the dealer for a
warranty repair. But things like this are just normal wear and tear on
the unit, fairly minor stuff. Does this make my camper better than
others? Not necessarily. But my Dutchmen does feel solidly built with
decent quality parts, even if the finishes aren't as fancy as others. I
don't care; I'm camping to see the great outdoors, not the inside of a
camper!
But when a major repair is needed on a new unit, then something needs to
be looked at even closer. After reading this newsgroup for a few months,
I have noticed that a lot of the complaints and problems are with
Coleman units. I'm putting this down to simply that there are far more
Coleman units out there than others (Starcraft, Jayco, Rockwood,
Dutchmen, etc. But the problems with Coleman seem to be, in my opinion,
far more serious than something like a cabinet handle coming off, or
canvas stitching unraveling, or some other 5 minute DIY repair. Not to
pick on Coleman; I'm just making observations here. Everyone has their
brand loyalties, and sometimes it doesn't even make sense. I know a guy
at work who refuses to own anything made by Chevrolet, and yet he drives
a Pontiac Grand Am.
My unit is new, and although it's basically a low-end camper with a few
options (awning, furnace, 3-way fridge), I'll probably think about
upgrading to something fancier in the future. When that times comes, and
after reading about the problems with Coleman campers in this newsgroup,
I would seriously think twice about buying one, and instead look a
little more closely at the other manufacturers, probably a Starcraft.
