Possible purchase - Market Direct Extreme Off Road

[frahmbell]

So, this is what i am looking at buying. 

Extreme Off Road Step-Thru Camper Trailer
 http://www.marketdirectcampertrailers.com.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=94&Itemid=203

wide front compartment for easy walk through access to bed area
Double tread slide out steps for easy bed access
Unique removable shelf that converts into a table
12 volt pump & tap in kitchen
SMEV two burner stove with regulator, gas bottle and quick release fittings
Kitchen slide out cutlery drawer
4 x drop down stabiliser legs
Dual rated safety chains & shackles
10 inch heavy duty solid rubber jockey wheel
Polyblock off road hitch
New 16’’ rims & tyres including spare
50mm solid square axle rated to 2000kg
10 inch electric brakes and manual handbrake
2000kg seven leaf greasable eye to eye leaf springs
1900kg GVM
Tare Weight: 1050kg
Triple drawbar made from 2 x 100mmx 50mm x 3mm and 1 x 50mm x 50mm x 3mm RHS Steel
The complete camper is etch-primed, the main body is sealed, zinc-rich primed then powdercoated
Powder coated kitchen with stainless steel sink, gas strut operated drop-down shelf door, fold out bench and slide out cutlery drawer
85L water tank
Tailgate mounted spare wheel
Heavy duty 650gsm PVC travel cover with zip and velcro
Internal access panels into trailer base
Integrated aluminium storage compartments with lockable doors both sides
Front Boot / Storage Box - Hi-Top lid With lockable pole holder
1 x 4kg gas bottle holder
2 x jerry can holders
Pinchweld rubber seal (not foam tape) around bed frame, all toolboxes and tailgate for a dust and waterproof seal
Towbar receiver for rear recovery or bicycle carrier
Heavy duty hinged bed top with gas struts and greaseable hinges
Heavy duty 16.5ft x 16.5ft tent with 18 ounce Quad Wax rip-stop canvas roof and 15 ounce rip-stop canvas walls
Fully sewn in heavy duty PVC floor in bedroom
Full set of annex walls, annexe roof and annexe floor included
Tent poles, ropes and pegs required for setup included
Internal and external canvas window flaps in the main tent
Gas strut assisted tent bows for easy set up
Triangular gusseted tent bows for extra strength in high winds
Tropical roof (Option)

Has anyone seen one yet or know what they are like?

[outback jack]

the link to the site is no good

[outback jack]

now its ok

[Bird]

In all honesty, I'd never buy sight unseen again
If your serious about it, take a road trip, and you can see if you are happy with everything

[BigJules]

Wow, I reckon Lifestyle would be talking to their lawyers, it looks like a rip off of their design, good and bad.

The price is appealiong and on the surface it seemed like a great deal. The storage space is terrific and on paper the running gear is right. Extreme Off Road, I don't think so, but off road sure.

I am not a fan of tents with that many poles, I think this would be a PITA to erect. Also, looking at the virtual tour, the canvas, particularly the roof, seemed too light weight to me. My old camper was impervious to light, that one looked like it could be see through, shadows at least. Good for the exhibitionist, not so good for the family looking for a camper that will last the test of time, wind and weather.

Also, I reckon the ground sheet in the anex would be aweful, and you'd be constantly cleaning it. You don't want a solid sheet under where you cook and at the entry point, IMHO. A mesh ground sheet is far superior.

So, without wishing to rubbish this trailer, it looks like you're getting a lot, and you are, but a $15K genuine Lifestyle would be a better buy, or a $12K 2nd hand unit of several other brands.

If you do decide you're keen, go and put it up and down, with your wife before you put any cash down. And of course, check out the quality of the canvas and the welds on the trailer.  Don't get me wrong, I understand completely that we all have a budget, but this is not a $3K chinese camper, it is four times that price.

[LJs GU]

Wow, I reckon Lifestyle would be talking to their lawyers, it looks like a rip off of their design, good and bad.

Nah, they're too busy still working on Bruce's case 

I'd never buy sight unseen
If your serious about it, take a road trip, and you can see if you are happy with everything

x2

[johnyd]

I looked at their trailers yesterday.  I must say I was impressed with the quality of the build and the canvas.

I looked at Camptime, Toptrail, GIC, and Market Direct.  I intended on looking at Leisure Matters, but drove to the address and found a sign that said Leisure Matters on it but couldn't find a showroom.  I've also looked at Bluetongue and Johnno's Campers (all Aussie and happened to have a store in my home town, out of the budget though just looked to get an idea of All-Aus quality).

The Market Direct was the best of the trailers and canvas I looked at on the day, followed by the Toptrail.  The trailers for both Market Direct and Toptrail appeared almost as well put together as the Johnno's trailer I looked at, very little in it visually with the quality of the welds and material used.  Stress testing may well prove different though.

The canvas on top is where the differences come.  The Market Direct was the best of the Chinese tents I looked at, the walls weren't letting any light in, but the roof was slightly brighter where there was more light on it.  The stitching and such seemed well done.   The Johnno's canvas was better, but I don't think the Market Direct would be leaking.

One thing I didn't like about the walk-in was the rear mounted spare and numberplate mounting.  When the kitchen is locked into place the tire and numberplate holder push against the edge of the tent fairly heavily, probably around 5cm pushed out from neutral.

The seals (like the ones on car doors) and latches on the side boxes look good and solid.  The only flaw in the sealing for the box was a piece of metal welded on the inside for running the optional electronics through.  Where it leaves the box at the front you can see daylight around it, not welded around the cut out at all.  A bit of silicone would fix it easily.

Just my opinion on the display models they had in Sydney.  Of course they might have put more effort into polishing their display models than the ones you end up with.

[frahmbell]

I am going to have a look it at the sunshine coast show at the end of the month, any tips on what i should be looking out for?

[Flighty (WA)]

Ordered a deluxe V2 last month ex Perth caravan & camping show.
Had to crawl around a bit to satisfy myself on build quality but am satisfied it will suit my needs after a few minor mods.
 

[Nomad]

I paid $4650 for our MDC Extreme offroad version 1 ( I think).  The one your looking at looks heaps more refined, and obviously the chinese are getting better at production and copying others designs.

When I bought mine it was during middle of the GFC. I had inspected them and then went a bought one of ebay in the middle of winter.
I had bid on the same camper earlier in the year that went for 8K.

That said I have no idea if they still sell on ebay.

My canvas is good. No leaks and the zips have been good also.

I have two young kids and bought the 18ft tent. It works well for us. The kids sleep in a double bed on the smaller side and that leaves the larger side for our living area. As such I do not have to enclose the awning....which is a heap less canvas to carry and velcro up to the awning.

I have also had the awning cut down. It was 6 metres long and 3 metres wide and i a tapered end off it so that at the front of it it is now 4.5 metres long. It has allowed me to cut down on four upright poles and two roof support poles.......massive time saving in setting up and not a great loss from the usable awning area.

Lets face it your camping so you want to be outside and amongst nature. No point going somewhere and spending a day setting up a 36 square metre tent, and then spending all day sitting in it.

I am going to replace the ground sheet in the awning as my next mod. Not going C Gear just probably some heavier shade sail type material.

If you want to come up to my place for a visit and have a look at mine you are more than welcome to do so.

Good luck

 

Nomad.

[BigJules]

It's terrific to hear some positives. I made my comments without having seen one in the flesh.

[johnyd]

I paid $4650 for our MDC Extreme offroad version 1 ( I think).  The one your looking at looks heaps more refined, and obviously the Chinese are getting better at production and copying others designs.

To paraphrase the salesman.

The trailers are designed in Australia, and have a couple of locally sourced parts, but the bulk of it is ordered from China.  The tent is fully Chinese.

Can't remember if I mentioned but he said the roof is 18oz and the walls 15oz.  There appeared to be a small difference in the thickness and it was heavier than the 14oz used for Toptrail, about the same as the 15oz from GIC.  I'd back it to be fairly light proof, the walls didn't appear to have a difference looking into the shed (darker) or lining it up with the large shed door (quite bright).  The shed was well lit, but wouldn't compare to the sun on a clear day.

If they offered the Extreme ($6500) for the price you paid, we'd have driven away with it on the spot, that's cheaper than the Deluxe version, great deal if it was the same thing I looked at.  Not sure if they've changed since you got yours but some outward differences are that the Deluxe has two clamps on the bed base and a rail, where the "Extreme" has 3 clamps, the Extreme has automotive dust seals on the bed-base and tail gate, the Deluxe has about 3mm of soft flat foam.  The bed-base has two layers of metal, one thin rectangle layer then a heavier square welded to that.  It can be seen in the main web pic for each.  Also no Electric Brakes on the Deluxe.  The Extreme also looked about 2 inches higher than the Deluxe in person, the website shows them as the same though, but that won't help you figure out which, if you care.

Also anyone looking at buying one, be aware that it DOESN'T come with a mattress.  They offer a fairly comfortable inner spring queen for $299 extra, anything up to 20cm thick can be used according to the salesman.

[Nomad]

Mine is the extreme, but before they got better with the dust seals.

Capt Smooze sell a better mattress for less money. They have a 15cm thick one for about $200 queen size. I only got thicker double because I wanted some room around the outside of it to store stuff in the tent. And my Mrs is used to my sprawling out 
We only just bought that mattress, previously I was using a blow up queen and just left it laid out on the floor and could pack tonnes of stuff on top and  then just had basic food and clothes in the trailer body.

As mentioned I bought mine in the middle of the GFC, at that time they were doing multiple daily auctions on ebay. Obviously just churning them to keep going. I think the ask on mine was $6999 in the showroom at the time and the delux was about 5k. The cheapest I saw an extreme go for on ebay was $4600. So I based my purchase on that, though I did see some go in the mid and higher 5's. As is typical on ebay you should finish an auction on a sunday night, cos thats when most people are sitting at home looking, but if you can buy on a monday night you usually can buy better.

Cheers

[Bugsy]

Hi, I would not touch a Market Direct Camper trailer. I purchased a new Gal Extreme model about 12 months ago and had nothing but trouble with it. Just about everything is sub standard.  Ask MDC how much warranty they give on the tent.  None!!!!!  The stitching on the tent had to be re sewn twice in the short time I owned it. Took the torneau to be repaired and the upholsterer said you can't weld the chinese vinyl .  The stainless kitchen is razor sharp,  had to grind all the sharp edges off. Have a look how they attach the toolbox, tek screws? We didn't do any offroad stuff and still had the shackel mounts on the springs tear out on both sides.  Two of my friends who have MDC models have had the same problem.   Do yourself a favour and buy something aussie made.  I bought a 2nd hand Campomatic Hardfloor and it is awesome .  I hope you find something that suites your budget and needs. 

[frahmbell]

I have printed off the exhibitor list for the sunshine coast camping show at the end of the month and have highlighted a few companies to look at.  Austrack campers, camel campers, getaway campers, jimboomba campers, lifestyle campers, market direct campers and poly campers.  I have my budget max and ideas of what I want.  Hopefully I can make a decision.  Any one offer up some ideas

[Sawed-Off]

I have printed off the exhibitor list for the sunshine coast camping show at the end of the month and have highlighted a few companies to look at.  Austrack campers, camel campers, getaway campers, jimboomba campers, lifestyle campers, market direct campers and poly campers.  I have my budget max and ideas of what I want.  Hopefully I can make a decision.  Any one offer up some ideas

Go look at all those. Read heaps here. Work out what is important to you. Learn about it. Go buy something decent second hand. There's an old jungle saying "Buy once. Cry once." 

[heath74]

Looks like a lot of camper for the money. But for that kind of coin I'd want to eyeball it for sure.

[UR-50-LO]

I have an early offroad deluxe from MDC which has been great.
Recently I have been wanting to upgrade and decided to stick with a MDC. I went out and viewed their range on the weekend and absolutely love this camper. However as we are still young and not necessarily needing a walk through trailer I have chosen the T-box model instead due to the cost difference. If money wasn't an issue though the walk through would deffinately be my choice. Trailer & tent both looked fantastic but this way we can spend more money on other things (want a seajay 3.7m tinny lol)...

[JCAT]

Market Direct actually poached one of the blokes who used to work for Lifestyle.

He was working at the Caulfield Camping Show and I had a decent chat with him, he remembered me from when I went up to Queensland and collected my trailer.

They don't appear to have the same refinements as the Lifestyle but IMO you get what you pay for, he basically said as much.

[jatt]

Ok check to see if there is any fabric covering external wall zips, we dont want water coming in.

In annex looks like there is a join in the floor.  appears to be welded which is definetely better than having a big sewn in join in the floor.

Yeah go along with the roof is letting in a lotta lite in, may well be too lite for the job.

just my 2 bobs worth

[JethroT]

Hi,
We had one of their cheaper campers, and for the money they are great, not as good a quality as some but it certainly did the job for us without any issues.  I would recommend that you have a look first though.
Regards
Geoff

[crashman]

Hi,
    we did the walk around the sunshine coast show and checked out all the campers. finally we decided for value for money they MDC camper was enough for us. The salesman at the show wasnt too keen to budge on the price so we ended up buying the Gal Extreme off ebay saving us $1000 which we turned around and spent on extras. All we have done is wired in our own 12v system, water pump and sockets on for leds. I have also run some pinchweld around the kitchen door to avoid injury's and away she went. No dramas with the camper at all we had torrential rain and wind at Rainbow beach at christmas and it survived no worries ... cheers