[chuckster57]

Okay, pop the corn, fill your glass and sit back....

As a technition that PDI's, repairs and does walk throughs let me give you my thoughts. Why buy a Raptor? Why buy a Ford Focus vs. a Chevy Cruze or Toyota Prius?

Personal choice. If you set a price point and then go looking, all the available units will be about the same, with maybe one having a few more staples or screws than another. In an effort to please everybody, ALL the manufacturers of RV's are trying to lose weight, increase carrying capacity, and add amenities while holding to an affordable price. I've worked on $15,000 toyaulers and $125,000 toy haulers. Was the 100K a "better" unit? It was bigger, more fresh water 3 A/C's bigger gen and refer. The walls were the same material and I didn't notice any extra staples. Does that make it better? You decide.

Pretty much EVERY unit I have PDI'd has had some issues. Some minor, like trim falling off, others major like screws run into tanks when the floor was installed. Trick is finding them at PDI. Some dealerships don't do a proper PDI and even don't do any warranty work on the unit they just sold you. There isn't any money to be made on warranty work and NO, PDI IS NOT PAID BY THE FACTORY. If the tech works in a flat rate shop, he/she is under the gun to finish in allotted time.

Then we have customer expectations. Many want to pay for a Pinto but own a Town Car. True, depending on where you live and earn your money, $20,000 can be a drop in the bucket or a significant portion of your yearly income. When you test drive that Pinto, you had expectations and the same applied when you drove that Town Car.

Where is the Raptor in the large scale? We don't carry them so I'm not aware of their price range, but I will say, if you take the average price of the Raptor YOU LIKE, and then using that criteria, go looking at other brands you'll find them all to be about the same in quality, crafmanship and amenities.

Like I said before they all have issues and if the dealership does their due diligence, the $15,000 toy hauler can be just as "nice" as the $40,000 one in respect to quality and craftsmanship.

Hopefully I haven't bored or confused you, go shopping and find the toy hauler that grabs YOU! Then make sure the dealer will service your unit. Don't take delivery until YOUR happy, and don't DEMAND service when something breaks, because something WILL break, calm respectful dialog goes a LONG way.

If I left anything out, I apologize, feel free to PM me and we can discuss any particular point.