Newb wondering about brands

[colomap]

I am brand new to RV or van living and researching the myriad of brands and options. My question is: Are there obvious brands I should avoid? Brands that have a terrible track record etc?

 

[nature lover]

If you had 100 people answering this question you would get at least 100 different answers. For my two cents I would not want a manufactured RV. They are not made to live in or to travel long-term in. Most are very cheaply made. just look at the resale price of some of these rigs with over 100,000 miles on them and are only like five or six years old. They simply don’t retain any value. Frankly honest my other problem is I wouldn’t have the money to buy one. I’m struggling along trying to put money into making this conversion van work for me. But I still think custom building out a van of some type is the best way to go. My band will have no resale value either but I am hoping it will last at least me until I can travel no more. My 98 Dodge with a home built interior cost me $3500 and had 106,000 miles on it. And I put another thousand into the build and equipment. I have not been able to maintain the exterior, it looks like a piece of crap. I i’ve been able to keep up with the mechanical end of it and so far it’s running very well. If I have “extra“ dollars I would rather have it go into keeping the wheels turning safely rather than making it look pretty. Yesterday I put a new windshield in as the other cracked in the June accident. As time went on it was cracking more and it needs to be inspected here in Pennsylvania in November. I found a place to do it for $200. They were very professional and obviously knew what they were doing.

Another small piece of advice if I had, $20,000 to put into a vehicle I would put 10 into a vehicle and 10 in the savings. You can build out a very livable van for 10 grand. It’s a hypothetical amount but I am constantly feeling the pain of lacking in emergency fund. I enjoyed van life I would enjoy it a lot more if I had some cash back me up.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I would avoid brands on Amazon that aren't familiar and seem to cheap.
There ten thousand companies that are just a company in name only.
Everything they sell is drop shipped from China, Vietnam or Thailand, and just has their name printed on it. That is all. They dont even bother to make instructions in many cases.
Lots of these are actually ok products for simple things. But you get zero customer support, and you wont find any replacement parts down the road.
Or as I found out the hard way. Their version of a standard measure like 8mm is just plain wrong.
Wrong size, wrong threading.

Personally I like to buy from brands that make more than one thing. I hope it means the company is around for a while. This backfires on me too sometimes. A brand I thought I could trust gets bought out and is now just a badge for an inferior brand.

 

[tx2sturgis]

If it's a Chinese brand name you can't pronounce, be afraid, be very afraid!

 

[jacqueg]

Just a note - most "American" brands, including well-known brands, sell goods that are made in China. Chinese manufacturing is world-class, when they want to be. The difference is that China has no respect for end buyers. American and other well-known brands enforce quality control.

So how do you as a consumer avoid the junk? A dead give-away is really lame brand names and very cheap prices. Buy on Amazon, and pay attention to the reviews. Buy from an American company that has a return policy. And check here before you buy.

 

[Cammalu]

Colomap. You don’t specify brands for what? A car? A van? An RV? Equipment? Might help to know what you are looking for

 

[Sasnak]

For the house batteries I went to my local batteries plus and bought their x2 power batteries. They are high quality and if one dies under warranty there are tons of stores all over.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I used to do contract work with a guy who had an import business with his wife, who was Chinese.
Over teh course of installing server racks and cat6 cables he told me that when you order stuff made in China they can make it cheap, fast and crappy or they can make it affordable, slightly less fast and good. They would get mad if you just ordered without specifying you wanted good quality and came back complaining. They default to cheap crud for the marks.(meaning who you sell it to, not that you are a mark). But they have thousands of years of metallurgy, chemistry, textile and carpentry traditions. China CAN make quality stuff. It's just that all we are using them for in the West is cheap crud for marks.
That said I avoid Chinese made stuff because it's hypocritical to complain about the manufacturing jobs being gone and go and buy imports.
If I must I try to find a Taiwanese equivalent.

 

[Scorpion Regent]

Brands of what?  I need something a little more specific to work with here?  Breakfast cereal?  Socks?  Disposable ball point pens?
One of the easiest things to do is wander through the threads and see what people are recommending for a certain purpose.  
One thing I can tell you is that all most everything sold at Harbor Freight Tools is made in China, it doesn't matter what the brand name is.  Their quality is at best second rate, but the price is usually good.  The expectation is the more it costs, the better the quality, but their warrantees are often better than their products.  Check to see where Craftsman hand tools are made.  Now days they are made in China and not so good.  If it's a used tool and it's marked made in the USA buy it, because it is like of higher quality than new.  Visegrips by Irwin have just shifted production to China so the same rule applies.  There is a American company making Eagle Grip pliers that are all but identical, of top quality.
As for vans & trucks a brand is just a starting point.  You really need to do your research to get a good buy.  Unless you are purchasing a new vehicle how it was driven and maintained is just as important as how, where, when and who made it.  Life is complicated, try to oversimplify it  and things will slip by you.

 

[WanderingRose]

I believe the OP was talking about brands of RV’s, not of various and assorted tools and batteries and things.

Still, clarification is needed and perhaps they will revisit this thread to provide that.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Harbor Freight is where I buy tools I only need to use once or twice. Otherwise I bite the bullet and buy the real thing. Though to be honest that is getting more difficult as once trusted brands get bought out by newer companies that are moving much more volume.
Made in China is relative though.
My old Makita cordless drill which has lasted me 10+ years was apparently made in China. I just noticed that last night as I was crawling around under my bed platform doing some work on the van. That drill has been on many 12-16 hour gigs where I was installing stuff constantly.
It's still solid as heck. Made in China but they specified the good plastic, the real metal, and a Made in USA Jacobs chuck.
Too bad I lost the 2nd battery! Hard to find 9.6V Makita batteries these days.

PS I did get my rivet nut installer at HF. Its kind of a piece of garbage with no instructions, but it's installed a couple hundred rivet nuts so far! I think it's going to catastrophically fail on rivet nut number 201.

 

[eliyama]

The most important aspect to looking at this way of life: [1] Start on extended weekends, perhaps a short vacation. Start in your backyard, your city, county, state, or nearby state. Test your skills at gathering wood, propane stove, water, toilet. Start with a tent if it is safe, sleep in your car otherwise. Get a small ice chest for starters. Save save save. If necessary, live in your vehicle if you can find parking, and work while saving. RENT is the biggest taker off your paycheck. Put out thoughts and prayers to 'attract' what you need. There are many living in their vehicles, even school teachers! A cheap old vehicle that runs, to keep your risk low, and minimal insurance required by law. [2] Take stock of your skills, what you could do for cash, part time, full time, season work. Quitting your job is no solution if you do not have a map, unless you are ready for retirement. I have known plenty that worked their way across the country. It is possible, a few months or years in each place. I recently came across an ad where I live, the couple lived in their vehicle for decades, and was selling their old conversion van for $500 at Los Angeles International Airport their departure for offshore retirement destination. They had a plan, stuck with it, and did it decades before it became mainstream. Back in the day, what they accomplished was difficult because employers wanted a landline; today with cell phones are a game changer. [3] I worked for destination resorts, rural areas; loved it. There is a population that follow this sort of career both here and abroad. All types of skills are needed. If I had been smart enough back in the day, knowing what I know, I would have done the converted truck or van route; but in those days solar panel technology was in infancy, not like today. This link is well known for those in the industry, but with the internet the world is your apple: https://www.coolworks.com/ Don't panic. If you have a steady job, count your blessings. Buying a house or car under pressure is a bad idea. Relax, keep watching for something that suits your budget. Be cautious, have a trusted mechanic look it over for a small fee. Take care, future is bright for you. Previous poster said to stay away from RVs, absolutely unless you have a $M in the bank; even if you did, unless your are a mechanic, those repair centers make a lot of money on any repair done. The same is true for expensive conversion vans. Get a notebook from dollar store, keep notes.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Back in the day, what they accomplished was difficult because employers wanted a landline; today with cell phones are a game changer.

Cellphones are a game changer. Especially because you can use them as a hotpsot for internet. With the caveat that even most 'unlimited' plans will limit your amount of computer tethering.

Another strange one I found out recently is that POboxes are persona non grata for a lot of uses now?
I've had a Pobox off and on for the past 30 years or so. Used to have a punk rock zine back in the early 90's, and a small record label for a while. Also have been doing the live in a van thing off and on for years.
Never had a problem using a PObox for everything. Even had my voter reg and my license based on it.
(super funny when a cop asks you 'is this your current residence on this license')
Now I am getting all kinds of resistance from companies that dont' deliver to POboxes, even if they do ship USPS?
And many other things like my bank, credit cards etc won't let you change your address to a PObox.
Had to get on the phone in a lot of cases and argue with them to get it changed.
For the bank I told them to look at the balance in my account and ask if they thought I was a customer for 10 years just to pull some PObox scam.
So in a way, having a physical address is the new having a landline.
Which is why so many folks are using mail relay and similar services.
Recently found out UPS offers this service as well.

 

[maki2]

Colomap. You don’t specify brands for what?  A car?  A van?  An RV?  Equipment?  Might help to know what you are looking for

Look at the title of this area of the forum...it is "choosing the right vehicle" and the sub section is "vans". That means they posted in a forum area where they did not have to specify what they are discussing because it was already written out in the header.

 

[dixonge]

Harbor Freight is where I buy tools I only need to use once or twice. Otherwise I bite the bullet and buy the real thing. Though to be honest that is getting more difficult as once trusted brands get bought out by newer companies that are moving much more volume.
Made in China is relative though.
My old Makita cordless drill which has lasted me 10+ years was apparently made in China. I just noticed that last night as I was crawling around under my bed platform doing some work on the van. That drill has been on many 12-16 hour gigs where I was installing stuff constantly.
It's still solid as heck. Made in China but they specified the good plastic, the real metal, and a Made in USA Jacobs chuck.
Too bad I lost the 2nd battery! Hard to find 9.6V Makita batteries these days.

PS I did get my rivet nut installer at HF. Its kind of a piece of garbage with no instructions, but it's installed a couple hundred rivet nuts so far! I think it's going to catastrophically fail on rivet nut number 201.

I've spent over $400 w/ Harbor Freight in the last year. Mostly smaller tools and parts for solar things. Wire strippers, crimpers, heatshrink, terminal rings, parts bins, work lights, cable cutters, etc. It hurts a lot less when it's a tool I know I won't use much. And yes, if the quality isn't up to par, I don't feel as bad since it was cheap. But I can't say I've noticed any lack of quality. I kinda love HF.

 

[gizmotron]

Since it's RV's then you should know that almost all new RV's are junk slapped together to last 5 years. You are not supposed to use them full time. Now there are a few brands left that still build quality. They are built almost entirely out of aluminum. You can't buy a new Camplite RV anymore: https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-camplite-and-ford-truck-campers/

You can buy an Airstream but it will cost an arm & a leg. If you can get a used Camplite then you will be getting a product that RV dealers would love to sell. You see, the RV industry purchased the company just to shelve it. They want to sell the crap. So building your own can make a lot of sense. A new pile of junk will cost you around $70,000 if it is a new motorhome. A trailer conversion might cost less even if you hire out all the work, as long as you supervise it. It's nearly impossible to get real value insurance for your own build. The system that controls everything is designed to screw you. I would buy a used Camplite trailer and get a new truck. That way you get a well built setup and you get the official badge on the side of the entry door. Holiday Rambler use to build a quality trailer in their Alumilite trailers. You could get a 20 year old one of those. But they have plywood floors. Here is the trick on planet earth. Screw the customer and get as much as you can for yourself as long as they will let you. People these days have no idea that they are being screwed. And it's legal too.