Lifestyle campers, who's got one?

[jenont]

Fellow bush lovers,

Hi all, I'm a longtime listener first time caller!  I have been thinking seriously about getting a camper for about the last 2 years and after much much much research and pondering have pretty much narrowed my selection down to about 4 main manufacturers.  I'm looking at Trackabout, Camel, Lifestyle and vacation campers and Jimboomba as a new trailer and anything that is of good value 2nd hand.

My question is who has a Lifestyle camper?  They sure look the goods on the web site but I would be interested to hear how they hold up in the flesh so to speak.

Would love any feedback you could provide,

Regards, Jeno from Darwin.

[Bird]

have a search around.

plenty of owners of every brand in here.

You wont go wrong with Trackabout.

[spargo]

I've got a Lifestyle Extenda with a few factory extras. Purchased new 10 months ago. Have taken it out for >4000kms, over 23 nights away. We absolutely love it.

But your list of Trackabout, Camel, Lifestyle, Vacation, and Jimboomba would be my short list too. Especially Trackabout, and Jimboomba.

Happy shopping, it's most fun!!

[JCAT]

We have an 11 month old Lifestyle Extenda Elite and have spent around 60 nights in it.

We have just returned from a month and covered the Flinders Ranges, Oodnadatta Track, Dalhousie Springs, Old Ghan Heritage Trail, Alice, Merinee Loop Road and home again. Over 7000 k's and it didn't miss a beat.

It is a great trailer for overnighters and extended stays.

Trackabout were the other manufacturer on my short list.

Happy shopping.

[Dion]

Yep Lifestyle owner here too.

All the brands you listed are good though.

Main reason I chose lifestyle as back when I was shopping they were the only local (Brisbane) manufacturer making extenda type trailers (well Jimboomba was too, but they were much more expensive).

[Matto]

Especially Trackabout, and Jimboomba.

+1. That was our shortlist. I initially thought the Jimboomba's were much more expensive than they actually are.

have a search around.

plenty of owners of every brand in here.

+1 on what Lost has said as well. Check out the My Camper subforum, and do a search for Lifestyle - you'll find a bunch of them.

We ended up with a Trackabout Safari Extenda, and love it to death. When we sat down and mapped out what our requirements were, and matched that to the various manufacturers, no one could come close to JT.

Do up a big spreadhseet of "must haves" and "wants", and map each manufacturer/model into that. You might find that some ones you initially thought were too expensive, actually work out being cheaper once you get the options you want added in. Plus it gives you something to go to each manufacturer with and say "I like XXX, but I need YYY and don't want ZZZ - can you do that?". Speaking for JT, he was only too happy to change around the config on our camper to make sure we ended up with exactly what we wanted.

Good luck, as Spargo says, it's a lot of fun!
Matto

[jenont]

Thanks everyone for your replies!

I will definately do the spreadsheet and take it from there!  I will be in the Gold Coast Brisbane area at Xmas time and hope to catch up with a few manufacturers when I am there.

[chunk]

We have the Lifestyle 360 which is 12 months old, the reason we went with the Lifestyle because of build quality and price. We could have spent 30-40 thousand or more for one of the other campers but we couldn't justify that sort of money for what is nothing more than a tent on wheels. I would recommend an extender type camper as they are family friendly and give you a bit more storage.

[FZJ]

Gday,

Pretty much the same as our short list,we ended up with a camel.Seems like you are doing the right research....As long as it suits you.
It actually came down to a few small things at one of the shows really.Wife didnt like the canvas colours on all the others...I wasnt keen on the amount of poles in one of the annexes, one of the leading manufacturers was clearly hungover and smelt like a xxxx factory (that put the wife off).Check what warrenty you get.We just liked the look of ours on the day.
Im sure you would have fun in any of them.....
p

[noel_w]

Hi
I couldn't afford a new one though I went & drooled over what could be at Lifestyle, Trackabout & Camel. It may have been my thoughts but the Trackie's seemed to be very heavily engineered compared to the others. No matter as I couldn't afford a new one anyway. Low & behold a 2nd hand Trackie Safari came up a couple of weeks later & now mine & a very happy camper.
What ever you get you will be pleased with from the list you have there, all top choices. Comes down to what you can afford and what you want in it. Probably also where you are gonna take it. I'd have no problems dragging mine anywhere as long as the tug will take it (& get back out again).

[BigJules]

Realistically, what is the setup time, including the annex?

[Matto]

Realistically, what is the setup time, including the annex?

That's a great question to ask as well. Good call BigJules. Hard to get a good answer, even doing it yourself you need a few practice runs before things will fall into place. And even then, you can still learn - I was talking to JT last week, and he told me I should be doing it a slightly different way to make it easier on myself. So obvious in retrospect. 

To give you an idea for a Trackabout Extenda with the 10ft tent, for me by myself, it's around half an hour. If J and I both do it together, we can have the whole thing set up in about 20 mins, inc Annex up and one of the window awnings pegged out. Obviously an overnighter is pretty quick, no pegs required, just throw the tent over and swing the kitchen out. I'm pretty pedantic about getting everything set up straight though, I've no doubt others could get it up a lot quicker.

This was one of the big drawcards with the Trackabout for us, we've been with friends who have other styles/brands/designs, and they just seem to be a lot more work/lot more poles/lot more pegging. I think this is one of the main areas where the established manufacturers with a long history and a good investment in their product have the upper hand.

On a different topic, one thing that has been bothering me...

...down to about 4 main manufacturers.  I'm looking at Trackabout, Camel, Lifestyle and vacation campers and Jimboomba ...

I know Darwin has it's own set of rules, but you have your own maths as well? That's impressive... 

Thanks!
Matto

[camncass]

We was lucky enough to pick up a 2008 lifestyle 360 earlier this year.
Previous owners used it quite regularly for extended periods, but it was still in great condition.

For us it was a matter of waiting for a good camper @ the right price. All of those above were in the running.

Almost got setup time to around 40min, but that's bunks for the kids, pantry, table ....

Good luck with the search, if you buy a good quality camper you be happy no matter what you go with

Cam

[Campa]

Have you considered Customline Campers? there in the same sort of price range.

http://www.customline.com.au


 

bnk

[jenont]

On a different topic, one thing that has been bothering me...I know Darwin has it's own set of rules, but you have your own maths as well? That's impressive... 

Thanks!
Matto
[/quote]

 Ahhh, thanks Matto for picking up my indescretion Can't blame the NT for that one, I am actually a product of the QLD education system.  Anyway good to see we have a forum  on here to keep the punters honest.

  Jeno

[chrisroche]

g'day Jeno,

Being an ex Territorian I thought I would send you and answer;

we have a lifestyle that we bought second hand.  12 ft tent as 4 kids.  All good for us except the stitching where the floor meets the walls leaks as the water runs down the wall and hits the join.  Otherwise all good.  Takes us a solid hour + to set up with annexe and all.  The tropical roof does help keep the temp down.

We saw Vacation in the flesh and a very good trailer.

We also had Camel on the list, but when we saw in the flesh and the Vic dealer that got scrubbed.

Hear good things about track about.

Chris

[Crookedpete]

Hi jeno,

Your shortlist is very similar to mine. From the research I did, I would have been happy with any of them. However, my budget didn't stretch to a new trailer. After 8 months wait and a couple of false starts I ended up buying the first trailer that met my spec's and budget - a late 2007 lifestyle explorer, with a 12 ft tent and some other extras.

Trailer itself is very well built. Some wear and tear on the tent now (broken zipper pulls, small holes in the tropical roof), but nothing that I wouldn't expect in a 4 year old rig that has been all over the place. The lugs that locate the kitchen bench extension into the side of the kitchen box after it is folded out are also damaged. only things I don't like are the previous owners dodgy modifications.

Agree with Chris about the tropical roof cooling things down.

I crawled all over the vacation at the last show here - very well built. I really like their chasis design. The attention to detail on the tent was good also. I only ever saw one for sale second hand the whole time I was looking and it was out of my price range.

Good luck with the purchase

Pete

[mcbadger2]

Hi,

I am a previuos owner of a lifestyle camper. The only reason I got rid of it was due to the time taken to put up. Single person job - at least 1 1/2 hours to do; as the other half was looking after the kids (6 & 4).
When all set up and done I loved it. We had the extenda model. So much space in the tent. It was basically 10 x 10 foot inside. Yes, the tropical roof made a huge difference to temp and protecting the canvas. The only time it ever had water come in was the upright poles sitting on the stiching on the floor, this was mainly me not putting up properly.
If my kids were older and more capable of helping I would still have it. We changed to a Jayco Swan and there is no getting the other half out og that thinkg now.
As for lifestyle I always found Bill and John a pleasure to deal with. Attention to detail was high and everything just worked well. I would recommend getting the gas struts for erecting the tent.

Good Luck.

[Dion]

Realistically, what is the setup time, including the annex?

The annex is a pain on the Lifestyles as with the tropical roof you can't throw it back over the tent.  So you spend time zipping and unzipping (although having said that, the time it takes to neatly fold an annex roof back is probably about the same time as that).

I'd say that when setup by myself its about 45mins from whoa to go with the annex up.  But that includes setting up the stuff for under the annex, such as the table and chairs etc as I get them out before I set the annex up (can't lift the bed base up with the annex attached, obviously).

It comes down to your approach to setups.  Without the annex its a very quick setup.

[Matto]

Anyway good to see we have a forum  on here to keep the punters honest.

Nah - that's speewa. He's the spelling and punctuation  as well.

Thanks!
Matto

[earle]

The annex is a pain on the Lifestyles as with the tropical roof you can't throw it back over the tent.  So you spend time zipping and unzipping (although having said that, the time it takes to neatly fold an annex roof back is probably about the same time as that).

I'd say that when setup by myself its about 45mins from whoa to go with the annex up.  But that includes setting up the stuff for under the annex, such as the table and chairs etc as I get them out before I set the annex up (can't lift the bed base up with the annex attached, obviously).

It comes down to your approach to setups.  Without the annex its a very quick setup.

What you say about the tropical roof and annex on lifestyles is interesting. On our customline it is possible to fold the annex roof back over the tropical roof for folding up. Just had another look at the lifestyle website and the tropical roofs seem similar in design.

[Bird]

The annex is a pain on the Lifestyles as with the tropical roof you can't throw it back over the tent.  So you spend time zipping and unzipping (although having said that, the time it takes to neatly fold an annex roof back is probably about the same time as that).

I do. My annexe stays on between trips unless its just an overnighter.

[Dion]

Interesting, maybe its just an extenda thing. 

[Bird]

Interesting, maybe its just an extenda thing. 

Its was a mission to do first few times until DDR showed me to leave the outside poles on, and walk it over the trailer. it fits perfectly over the tent - it might have been designed that way, but more likely just luck.

[Dion]

Its was a mission to do first few times until DDR showed me to leave the outside poles on, and walk it over the trailer. it fits perfectly over the tent - it might have been designed that way, but more likely just luck.

Our friends have a Lifestyle CT without the tropical roof and theirs fits snugly over - I think its designed like that.

However what do you do with the fibreglass poles that are inside the tropical roof?