Dilemma

[lukehornstra]

I have a dilemma, My wife and 2 kids under 3 are setting off on our big lap in a month and a half. When we first decided to go we only had one child and one on the way. We decided to buy a MDC T-Box which has been out a couple of times and we enjoy it and think it will do the job of going around Australia to all the places we want to go which is a bit off road and to places like cape York, the Kimberly, Flinders Rangers, The red Center etc.

When we brought the trailer part of the reason was $$$$, we were on a budget with a kid on the way and our other option was an Outback Jayco Dove(Second Hand) wasn't affordable at the time. Well here we are a month or so from going and our situations changed and all of a sudden we feel the jayco might be a better option

The Questions I have are 1) do people think that a Jayco dove would do all the the places we want to go.
                                     2) would it be easier with kids then a camper trailer
                                     3) Having not sold a camper before would it be easy enough to sell in a month or so

[Mace]

1.  Probably, but the ct will survive really rough stuff better.
2.  Set up times will be a bit quicker if constantly on the move, but once you get into the hang of it probably not much longer in the ct.
3.   Opportunity cost, probably a big ask in a month.

Plenty have done it either way.

4. I would love to have your dilemma!

[edz]

Realisticaly just on a month out from the off wont give you a lot of time to find / fix any defects in even a good camper [ theres always something needs attention ].
No:1 = Alot of if buts and maybe's, anything is possible so long as its maintauined and dragged according to conditions at the time
No:2 = As a rule personaly I would say yes much so, though there isnt a lot of area that they can play crawl on under cover in bad weather unless you put up the annex on the jayco .
No: 3 = You can sell most anything quickly if the price is right [ depends how much it owes and what you want to make on the sale ].

[Bird]

1) do people think that a Jayco dove would do all the the places we want to go.
2) would it be easier with kids then a camper trailer
3) Having not sold a camper before would it be easy enough to sell in a month or so

1 - not the cape, but I'd say better than the MDC. - Remember Jayco's are not offroad trailers, infact offroading them voids warranty
2 - possibly.. how well tuned are you with the camper?
3 - quick sale for couple of 3-4k? Maybe - if theres a buyer looking for it.. coming up to Xmas - Not a chance in Shit... if you want what you *think* its worth, no.

Then you have to rush out find a Dove, then you have to hope its as good as you thought, take it out a few times to get used to it, find where **** gets stored 2-3 times, fix things to your liking etc... add extras etc etc...

Postpone the trip by a month, and take your time.

[lukehornstra]

thanks guys some good tips, we have seen a 2005 jayco dove offroad that is half an hour from home and were just gonna have a look on Monday and decide then and there, we cant afford to keep thinking about it for a couple of weeks. we are happy with our mdc and know it will do the trip its just that were going to be living in it full time so that's where the jayco wins hands down

[tourin n fishin]

In my experience a rushed decision is a bad decision, you may end up paying in the long term. Just my 2 cents worth

[lilstookie]

Seeing as you decided a while ago to do the trip with what you have, I'd imagine you've spent some time and money getting the CT the way you want it. I would stick with the CT. Many people have said the Jaycos take at least as long to set up. We have the bed and kitchen area set up on our soft floor CT down to less than 15 mins. Annexe adds time, but you'll find you don't always use that anyway. We have a 3yo, 2yo and waiting on number three to arrive atm before we keep going with our trip.

HTH

Lil

[Market Direct Campers]

I have a dilemma, My wife and 2 kids under 3 are setting off on our big lap in a month and a half. When we first decided to go we only had one child and one on the way. We decided to buy a MDC T-Box which has been out a couple of times and we enjoy it and think it will do the job of going around Australia to all the places we want to go which is a bit off road and to places like cape York, the Kimberly, Flinders Rangers, The red Center etc.

When we brought the trailer part of the reason was $$$$, we were on a budget with a kid on the way and our other option was an Outback Jayco Dove(Second Hand) wasn't affordable at the time. Well here we are a month or so from going and our situations changed and all of a sudden we feel the jayco might be a better option

The Questions I have are 1) do people think that a Jayco dove would do all the the places we want to go.
                                     2) would it be easier with kids then a camper trailer
                                     3) Having not sold a camper before would it be easy enough to sell in a month or so

Hi lukehornstra,

I work for MDC, Which version do you have V1, V2 or V3?
We have made some serious advances in our product lines since we started doing our research and development trips about 2 years ago.
If you let me know which model you have, I can run through the improvements, so you can upgrade to the latest spec if necessary.

Did you buy the Independent suspension upgrade?
It doesn't really matter if you did or not, just dictates how quickly you can go through the corrugations.
This model should take you all the places you need to go, providing it is serviced every 10,000km or so.
We have 1000's of customers that have taken our camper trailer to the locations you have mentioned.

It is a good idea to have your trailer serviced prior to heading out.
We can do that for you at anyone of our warehouses in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth.
Also, if you have any problems with your Market Direct Camper Trailer we are only the next capital city away, and can assist you at anytime.

Be sure to do predaily checks on all the components of the trailer, as should be done with any trailer you are towing for that matter.

Answers to your questions:
The Questions I have are 1) do people think that a Jayco dove would do all the the places we want to go.
I don't have an answer for this one.

2) would it be easier with kids then a camper trailer
I don't have an answer for this one.

3) Having not sold a camper before would it be easy enough to sell in a month or so
This time of year it would fly out the door.
We're delivering about 80 of these before Christmas, so the model is quite popular at present.
List it on Gumtree, and in your local paper, I reckon.

I'll ask the boss if we can put something up on our facebook page, to help you out, if your keen on selling.
We have more than 11,000 followers, so maybe someone on their would be interested.

Anyway, if I can help you out, please PM me.

Happy Camping
MDC Insider

[Tractor88]

That's a really nice offer by MDC Insider and good customer service. I personally would stick with the MDC as in poor weather the kids will definitely have more room inside to play. Also if you encounter rough terrain the MDC will cope far better that the Jayco. As mentioned by others you soon get the set-up down pat and improve set-up time by a lot. With 1 month to go it would be far easier to add any extras to the camper than selling and starting again. Enjoy your trip and let us all know how you are going from time to time.
Cheers. (lucky bugger )

[chester ver2.0]

A month out my reccomendation would be better the devil you know

[lukehornstra]

Thank you very much MDC insider for that reply, let me first say that I love the Trailer I have which is a T-Box V3, it doesn't have the independent suspension and that's not a big issue for us. the only reason we are looking to sell is simply we feel that because we are going to be living on the road that some of the creature comforts that a jayco or similar pop tops give us compared to camper trailers might make it easier for us to keep travelling longer

We are now of the opinion that we are going to take the trailer to start with as I will come home for work in march, we will know by then if we can cope with the trailer or need something with some more comforts.

[Kit_e_kat9]

My parents took us around Australia in the back of a Toyota Shortie and we slept in tents.  We did Cape York the same way.  We did the East Coast the same way.  We saw what we wanted, did what we wanted ... and we didn't need "all the stuff" that most people say "you need" ... so I guess it depends on what you want.

People usually take too much with them, but you can never have enough emergency recovery gear, water and food.  The rest is incidental depending on how you were raised in regards to camping.

You tell me what you want and that's how you'll get your answer. 

Kit_e