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How To Inspect A New RV Before You Take Delivery Of It

This post was updated on May 23rd, 2016

Canadian Sandy Burns recently bought her second RV, a brand new CrossRoads Sunset Trail fifth wheel trailer. Although she was excited to start camping in it, she knew that before signing on the dotted line and towing it away, she should inspect the trailer first.

When you buy a new or used RV, it’s important to verify everything is in good working order.

You don’t want to end up with a lemon. Although there’s no certainty that you’ll catch everything that could be wrong, a mediocre inspection is better than none at all. As fellow Canadian Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

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She says,

The reason I did this video was to point out that even brand new trailers should be inspected thoroughly because there could be something wrong (you can’t assume that because it’s new, there are no problems).

Checklists are great, and visual checklists are even better. It was helpful to actually see what you should be looking for around the rig. Thanks for the confidence boost, Sandy!

Original video by RVTravel.

RELATED: Learn what to look for when buying a used RV




2 thoughts on “How To Inspect A New RV Before You Take Delivery Of It”

  1. When we bought our new fifth wheel in 2012 we were also told of an inspection fee to make sure everything was ok from the factory. After returning the unit several times to fix obvious problems, on the third trip back it was to hook up the AC vent to the unit . I asked them what I paid this extra money for their so called inspection , with such obvious problems going un noticed. He couldn’t come up with a real answer. .. Buyer beware don’t pay dealers extra money for an inspection because they don’t do them.

  2. We bought a 2014 Coachmen Freedom Express, delivered from the factory in early 2014. Purchased from a very ‘reliable’ and trustworthy dealer in Southern Ontario. When selling to us (at an RV Show, where we signed the deal), they told us that they automatically add $1,200 to their pricing to assure a “…complete and comprehensive inspection of the unit, when it comes in from the factory…” Bulls**t. We were back and forth to their shop (an hour each way) several times over the next few weeks, getting repairs done to situations that would ABSOLUTELY have been caught if they had done such an inspection. Furthermore, as we camped at various favourite spots over the next year, we discovered that 100% of the campers that bought new units from pretty much any dealership found the same problem. Worst of all, it appears that virtually EVERY manufacturer, EVERY price point, EVERY model level was presenting the same disappointing and frustrating lack of manufacturing quality. We are now finally enjoying our trailer, be we can say with absolute certainty that we will never spend another nickel buying from any manufacturer. Which is sad.

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