G'day all.
Never thought I would get the missus out camping again, it was all we could afford for years and we loved it but as you get older roughing it gets harder. Then a few weeks ago we came across a set up camper trailer in an outdoor shop and my wife's eyes lit up. She said she would be more than happy travelling around in one of those.
We had previously looked at camper vans but weren't impressed with the quality and value they offered and a caravan is out of the question due to car and storage requirements plus they really aren't our style.
I set out to find a suitable trailer and like everyone else was shocked with the options available. The hard floor models looked the neatest but their lack of storage and small main tent put us off them so we decided it was going to be a soft floor.
Things then became very interesting, the range of options started at about $4000 and climbed into the stratosphere. I read every review I could find on just about every model and opinions varied depending on expectations of the buyer. Some people paid $5000 for their camper and expected a $30,000 outfit, others paid $30,000 and were quite happy even though they had a few problems. I set my budget at $10,000 and went from there.
When I buy anything I look at the quality first and the value second. When I looked at what was available in my price range I found that 90 percent of Aussie made trailers were out of contention before I even started. Then I looked at the remaining Aussie trailers and compared them to the imported, locally assembled trailers. I found that for my budget the quality of the Aussie trailers, while solid, were very basic. Some even came with five leaf slipper springs and offered brakes as an option. They also only included basic painting. I then looked at the imports.
I found that the cheapest of these were very basic and not of the best quality. Most had plenty of options available to bring the specs up to a high level but the basic trailer remained the same. The tent quality was the same, not really bad but could be better. Looking at the various brands it is obvious that many are sourced from the same Chinese manufacturers.
As I looked further I found that some companies are looking at some of the negative feedback they are receiving and raising the standard of their trailers and tents. Galvanizing is much better on some imports than others and some are even offering powder coated finishes over the top of the galvanizing. The standard of tent material has also been raised on some trailers and is no longer that over rated ripstop canvas.
I eventually ordered my camper and on paper it looks very impressive. When I pick it up in a couple of weeks I will post some pictures and give my impressions on whether I have chosen well. My standards are very high and the camper appears to be great value but only time will tell.
