Quote:
Originally Posted by ihbond
So, buy your floor plan first..Didn't listen to my own advice..and now it will cost us..
SORRY TO START OFF MY FIRST THREAD THIS WAY..Just trying to play a quick catch up .
Currently we own a 2018 2108ds Winnebago and the trailer floor plan does not meet our needs after a couple of times rv'ing. No issues with the quality so far...Just cramped. For my wife and our 1 dog. I have owned other RV's in the past.
So folks;
i have joined the forum as my wife and I are looking at spending (what we consider a lot of money) on a 2018\19 cougar 1/2 ton 26brswe or something in that size. We tow with a f150 (which can handle the weight and hitch weight)..
my main concern is, figured I would ask the experts here first then hearing it from my local stealership.
1) Would you buy a cougar towable again ?
2) Are you seeing a trend of quality issues go up since THOR owns it ?
3) Customer service (I get that its the typical when in doubt ship it out, including winni's trust me..there are issues on all sides). How responsive is CS in the first year ?
4) IS the trailer holding up after use (Drawers, Cushions, electrical, etc )
5) any other towable companies (ORV, Lance) would you look at ?
6) how is the Slideout mechanism's (Airplane wire) working for you so far
I must admit, i have done a few searches, but getting a little worried on the negative feedback i have seen so far... I believe Cougar has some modern design thinking, just trying to do some more analysis (paralysis)...
THanks
Ian
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These are all good questions. I've had 5 trailers and they were all good quality. My last 2 were a Jayco 25' ultralight and a Prowler 30'. Never had a quality issue with either. I recently purchased a 2018 Cougar Half Ton 27SABWE. My wife and I fell in love with the floor plan......at first. I was a bit unsure about the cable pop out system but honestly what sold me was the self leveling system, the PVC roof, sealed belly and foam filled walls. At first glance the draws and hardware looked solid.
Before our first trip I installed a Onan 3600 LPG gen and an Aims 4000 inverter. We took it to the Delta for a ring out. It was raining the first day and normally I would be concerned with set up in the rain. But I felt the leveling system would alleviate some of that pain so off we went. When we arrived I got out thinking that all I had to do was push a button and get inside......boy was I wrong. Long story short, the system failed throwing all kinds of error codes. Lifting one side off the ground, out of stroke etc. It took me and hour and a half to figure out how to manually level it. The next fail was the water heater. It blew flames out of the side of the trailer and filled the bathroom with gas. The fresh water system cavitated every time a faucet was turned on. One drawer slide failed, the window shades wouldn't stay up and it took an act of god to lock the hitch.
We took it back to the dealership and reported the issues. They called several days later and told me it was ready for pick up. They said they fixed all of the issues. The leveling system just needed to be calibrated. the water heater had debris in it and the window shades needed to be adjusted. The had to rebuild the drawer slide frame. As for the cavitation and the hitch, that was normal....
So I returned home and pressed the leveling button and guess what happened.........FAIL! I was infuriated. Called the dealer and took it back. We went through this 3 times before I exploded to the sales manager. The factory would only pay for a calibration. And the mechanic calibrated and tested it in the same spot every time. I told the shop to calibrate it and move it to various locations on the lot for testing. Outcome it failed. As it turns out the factory used too large of screws breaking the rear sensor and it was just hanging by it's wires. They had to cut the sealed belly open to make the repairs.
Next trip we took it to Bodega Bay. Got out and pressed the button and it leveled.
The trip was a success.
Recently we had a severe rain and I found water in two of the window tracks. Took it back and they pressure tested the trailer to find 7 faulty window! WTF??? Those are on order.
The negatives are:
- The floor vents are poorly located. You walk on the bedroom vent collapsing it and the rear lounger foot sits on the the other doing the same
- Storage is severely lacking
- Loungers have to be turned sideways in order to retract the slide
- Construction debris works its way from under the cabinets into the living space. I removed a bottom drawer to find all kinds of crap!!
- The window valances are crooked
- There are staple holes everywhere
- The king size bed is a joke. Cant stand next to the bed
- The bedroom closets are too short
- Don't lean against the interior walls....paper thin, no support
- The interior LED lighting is ridiculously over done.
- Crappy TV antenna
Positives:
- LOTS of windows!!!
- Great floor plan
- Large frig
- Good entertainment system......CRAP speakers
A sound bar took care of that
- Leveling system
- Electric awning
- Large slide
- Comfortable furniture
- Good color scheme......the light one
- PVC roof
- Foam filled walls
- Good chassis and axles
- Sporty rims
- Molded nose cone
- Rear storage rack
- LED lights
- I can pull it with my Expedition
So at the end of the day, would I buy it again?.....well given the state of the industry what choice do I have. The problem industry wide is supply and demand. With a good economy and all the Baby Boomers buying trailers the manufactures can't keep up. They slam these things together with little to no quality control. I could do a better job!
Sorry for the long post but you asked.