Camper shortages?

[Grandpa Don]

I thought I read somewhere on this forum about an RV and camper shortage. Well, if you can't find what you want, just come out to California and look again. I just got back from a campsite scouting trip in the Sierra Mountains. I drove up California Highway 99 from Bakersfield to Merced. I counted more than 8 RV dealerships along the way. All of them were overflowing with stock. The biggest dealership I saw was just south of Fresno. There must have been hundreds of new travel trailers and Motor-homes on their lot right along the freeway. Camping World is also along the Freeway south of Fresno, and they seemed to have plenty of stock as well.

 

[xxxapache]

I have also driven by several dealers including a few CWs on the East coast lately. The lots were full of campers.

There certainly is a shortage of new pickup trucks due to the chip problem, though.

 

[tzmartin]

I've heard that many of those on the lot are models and you order your unit in the sales room. I don't know for sure since i've never bought one on the lot.

 

[Grandpa Don]

I have also driven by several dealers including a few CWs on the East coast lately. The lots were full of campers.

There certainly is a shortage of new pickup trucks due to the chip problem, though.

I haven't heard that. What is that all about? What brand and model?

 

[xxxapache]

I haven't heard that. What is that all about? What brand and model?

It's on most brands and many models. It's due to a chip plant burning a few weeks ago.

Ford has several thousand F series trucks parked at a speedway in Kentucky waiting for chips so they can be completed.

 

[firepit]

I had 4 dealers looking for me a new or slightly used A frame.
They can't find or order me one with a guaranteed ship date and
want mine before the new on shows up.
So now they won't leave me alone and call or email all the time with other options
to try to sell me.
I told them I have given up on a new camper this yr due to high prices.
I told them I was only interested in one camper and nothing else.
I have had to resort to rudeness and tell them.....
"Look a A frame without a front storage box and no dormers is all I want"
And yet they still call and email me.
I never figured with the Covid craze they would give 2 cents about me.
Boy was I wrong.

 

[SteveP]

A couple of months ago we went up to Corsicana to look at new Casitas. Debi was definitely against it, too cramped, and she was right. But I talked to the salesman anyway. He said the units packed into their 2 to 3 acre lot were all sold and waiting on delivery. He said that earliest delivery on a new sale was a year out. May have just been sales bs, I don't know.

 

[Grandpa Don]

A couple of months ago we went up to Corsicana to look at new Casitas. Debi was definitely against it, too cramped, and she was right. But I talked to the salesman anyway. He said the units packed into their 2 to 3 acre lot were all sold and waiting on delivery. He said that earliest delivery on a new sale was a year out. May have just been sales bs, I don't know.

That sounds a little fishy to me. I can see one or two waiting to be delivered. But a lot full? I know that if I bought a new camper I'd be out there picking that sucker up the day they said I could have it.

 

[kitphantom]

Our dealer's lot is looking pretty bare these days. They sell everything from the Sylvan Go campers on up to the big RVs, as well as boats. The other dealers along the street have stock, but they too don't look as full as usual.
I know some of the folks on the FB pages for Retros that have been waiting since sometime last year to earlier this year, for units they've ordered. Some got notified a couple of weeks ago that their units were pretty well done, except the pipeline problems during the winter has not caused a shortage of foam for cushions. Other pieces/parts have been in short supply too on and off.

 

[Turfit]

A couple of months ago we went up to Corsicana to look at new Casitas. Debi was definitely against it, too cramped, and she was right. But I talked to the salesman anyway. He said the units packed into their 2 to 3 acre lot were all sold and waiting on delivery. He said that earliest delivery on a new sale was a year out. May have just been sales bs, I don't know.

I used my Dad's Casitas back during Easter, it was tighter than cramp!!! If only two people in the camper it's okay but cramped, 3..... not good. We decided to go back to pop-up after that trip. I heard that the dealership was 6 months out on new units but that was back in March.

 

[RonDad]

You guys might want to check out this video. Stuff like “waiting on a microwave” sounds like it could be a reason a new camper siting on a lot before delivery/pickup.



Talked to 2 dealerships in the past 2-3 months and they both said they are running 95%+ new inventory on the lots. They can’t keep a used one on the lot long enough to take pictures before they sell.

 

[Arruba]

I had 4 dealers looking for me a new or slightly used A frame.
They can't find or order me one with a guaranteed ship date.

You could give these people a call. I heard they are now doing factory direct sales:

https://chaletinc.com/

Might have to drive to Oregon to pick up and camp your way home. Maybe go to the coast for a shake down before leaving. It’s an hour +/- from the factory. Oh darn

 

[firepit]

You could give these people a call. I heard they are now doing factory direct sales:

https://chaletinc.com/

Might have to drive to Oregon to pick up and camp your way home. Maybe go to the coast for a shake down before leaving. It’s an hour +/- from the factory. Oh darn

I'm done looking...Maybe after this season things will settle down.
I cant justify the money or the waiting.

 

[cindy_k]

I just bought a used Jayco A-Frame from a very large dealer in Tampa. There is a few other large dealers in the area. Their lots look full of RV's but when talking to the sales guys, they are having trouble keeping stock. They are down 60% of normal inventory, and the RV's that are on order are being sold as fast as they come in.

Even used inventory is moving quickly. 3 weekends ago, my husband and I visited this dealer to look at the 4 used A-Frames they had, to see if they would work for us. As it was a research trip, we didn't try to buy any of them. Within 5 days of us doing that, all 4 had sales pending on the listing. Luckily for us, the one my husband really liked, the deal fell thru and that is the one we wound up buying 2 weeks later.

Lots of people have decided to avoid hotels this year, and try their hand at RV Camping.

 

[MyAuntFanny]

Sounds like a really great opportunity for some enterprising company to fill that void! All I want is something ultra old fashioned, with minimal electronics and motors to break down.

 

[Old_Geezer]

Talking with new 1st time owners over the last few days I have come to the conclusion folks are out of their minds.

One guy had a new 2022 Kodiak TT, single axle, 177RB. Paid over $25K.

Another a single axle Coachmen 17 FQS, 7' wide, paid over $24K. First trip out. Poor guy has been chasing a leak into his front pass through with every rain shower. Floor is already soft and was probably that way before he bought it.

A young couple with the longest Coachmen Leprechaun class C I have ever seen, a 319 something. Paid $140K. Utter financial stupidity.

In comparison in 2016 we paid less than $20K out the door for a 2017 Roo 23ws loaded that the MSRP was over $31K.

Blame it on Covid I guess.

I will not be buying another anytime soon if ever at these prices, and the slapped together construction I am seeing at campgrounds, shows and dealer lots. Talk about junk. I did not think they could get any worse having owned 3 new hybrids since 2010 but the RV Industry apparently always comes through.

 

[silvermickey2002]

We plan on going to the Hershey RV Show in September. As of today that's what we are planning. We were looking at RVs and almost bought one and we decided a few days later to cancel. The price wasn't right! So we will wait. We will see what the RV show has and then decide from there.

 

[jmkay1]

Talked to a new RV owner last year they bought a brand smaking new unit right during Covid and they straight up and said it’s going to be sold the second things open back up. Thought they were out of their mind. Now I’m seeing lots of year old units now on Facebook market and other places being sold for way more than what they owe on it. They bought these units for $$$ and now they are trying to sell it for $$$. These prices are out of this world crazy. No way are these units worth the insanity they are selling for. I was told the RV repair shops are way way way behind. Units are sitting for months waiting for repair yet they just can’t get to them. More and more are going in sitting around waiting for someone to eventually squeeze it in. On another camping forum someone needed to bring their unit it in for warranty work however the shop quoted 3+month wait by then the warranty will be up and they will lose out on a full season of camping.

 

[Grandpa Don]

Talking with new 1st time owners over the last few days I have come to the conclusion folks are out of their minds.

One guy had a new 2022 Kodiak TT, single axle, 177RB. Paid over $25K.

Another a single axle Coachmen 17 FQS, 7' wide, paid over $24K. First trip out. Poor guy has been chasing a leak into his front pass through with every rain shower. Floor is already soft and was probably that way before he bought it.

A young couple with the longest Coachmen Leprechaun class C I have ever seen, a 319 something. Paid $140K. Utter financial stupidity.

In comparison in 2016 we paid less than $20K out the door for a 2017 Roo 23ws loaded that the MSRP was over $31K.

Blame it on Covid I guess.

I will not be buying another anytime soon if ever at these prices, and the slapped together construction I am seeing at campgrounds, shows and dealer lots. Talk about junk. I did not think they could get any worse having owned 3 new hybrids since 2010 but the RV Industry apparently always comes through.

Everything going wrong these days is blamed on Covid. And in many cases it really is the blame. I called a popular Solar supply company a couple of weeks ago to talk with Tech Support. The recorded message said that I was number 19 in the Que due to Covid 19. The inline connectors I ordered from them had been on order for 30 days and still had not been shipped. I was talking with my son last night who is a Diesel mechanic for a large Peterbilt truck dealership. He said that their lot had over 30 trucks just sitting there waiting for parts. Some had been waiting for more than 30 days. The company I work part-time for is a copier dealership. Our sales are way up, but delivery is way down. One customer in my territory has been waiting for their new machine for over 45 days. We just can't get re-supplied. They say it is due to Covid 19

Part of the reason for all of the delays is the fact that many of the younger people are making more money on unemployment than they would going back to work. Everywhere I go I see signs saying, "Help wanted". Businesses are hiring, but can't find workers. There is a new Loves Truck stop that just opened on Highway 58 about 30 miles east of me that has been advertising for help for weeks now. Practically every business in my small town has a sign out saying "Help Wanted".

When this unemployment benefit perk ends, if it ever ends, and folks decide they need a job we will be able to get parts and supplies for everything again. It's going to take a while to get this all sorted out.

 

[Grandpa Don]

If anyone is interested, I just listed a Coleman Westlake for sale in Northern California. You can see and read about it here:

2002 Coleman Westlake for sale | PopUpPortal