RE: Coleman or Starcraft?

[wapiti]

 wapiti
Went to Ketleson in Denver today to see some Colemans.
 
 And I must say I was impressed. With the dealership that is. Absolutely no pressure to buy today, was very curtious, answered every question and was very knowledgeable about GVWRs etc. I couldn t catch him on a single thing.
 
 We leaned toward the Grand Tour series and specifically the Santa Fe. The Cheyenne was of interest too with the front trunk. But we would really rather have the inside storage of the SF than the goucho of the Cheyenne. The cost of a casette et all is above our already stretched means. Besides we do have a porta potty already that the kids can use. I grew up looking for comfortable logs anyways.
 
 Price? Well, they quoted, basically just under 10K for the 2003 SF with 1.9 cuf refer, 16000 btu heater, 13,500btu AC, hot water heater and extra 10 gal tank along with the orig 10 gal, outside shower, awning, screen room, 2 yakima bars (all GT series come w the rails), some decor option with vanity thingy and the folding " love seat" . And I was surprised the battery, LPG tank and spare came with it.
 
  A bit of a choke for us. But doable. We re American after all and need to do our part to help the economy. Seriously it seemed a price that was not over market value and was probably a good deal for the package. What  do you all think?
 
 Wapiti

[wapiti]

 wapiti
BTW, price was wtih tax and prep and all fees included.
 
 Wapiti

[RamblingWreck]

 wapiti
Wapiti,
 
 Another forum member gave me some useful advise, check the NADA value of closest model year they list.  That should give you an idea if the price is in the ballpark.  Here is a link to their website: http://www.nadaguides.com/
 
 Read all the fine print on the NADA site.  I think western retail prices run a little higher due to increased freight expense of getting them there.
 
 Have fun shopping.
 
 Rambling Wreck

[wapiti]

 wapiti
Thanks for the good advice RW, I ll do that.
 
 W

[iwantapopup]

 wapiti
I tend to lean more towards the Coleman s myself.  DH & I just went to an RV show and looked over all the pop-ups they had.  We were blown away with the Coleman s and they had the deals!  Bacially everything you mentioned thrown in.  The awing, screen room, 2 propane tanks filled with covers, spare tire & cover, a/c, brakes, 1 light - wish it was a combo fan/light - but that s ok.  We decided on a Laramie, our pop-up now is a 10 ft box and so is the Laramie but it can sleep 7 and now we can only sleep 5 and we have very little storage.  The Laramie has the front trunk which we know we ll utilize.  To cut costs we kept the ice box but we have a mini-fridge and an extreme cooler so we ll be ok.  I would have liked to have the furnace and outside shower but we had to keep the costs down.  
 
 I don t think we could have gotten more value for the money.  Good luck with your decision.
 

[Camping Coxes]

 wapiti
We re buying a new (or new to us) pop-up this season too, and also looked at both Starcraft and Coleman.  We recently sold our Rockwood, which we were very happy with, except it got smaller as our kids got bigger.  Only reason we aren t looking at Rockwood is the nearest dealer is very far and if we have warranty issues, it would be a long haul to take it in for service.
 
 Overall, we decided the Coleman was best for us.  I didn t like that Starcraft used a heavy cotton type fabric on their upholstery.  After a few seasons of the kids " sliding"  on and off the chairs like they tend to do, I could see it shredding (just like a couch I had that worked great for us, until we had kids).  I also didn t like some of the decor items that seemed " cheap"  to me.  We felt the Coleman was better built, had better quality items installed and was worth the extra money.  By the way, our local Starcraft dealer had a hard time answering our questions, so I was finding him the information in the brochure.  AND his last years model s were on sale -- " I can give it to you for that price today only."   I hate that gimmick.  But anyway, his sale prices were no better than Coleman s new prices!  
 
 So after much consideration, we re planning on adding a 2003 Coleman Utah to the family in March or April.  I like the room the slide-out gives us, and I like the sofa feature.  If it says " seat"  it doesn t make into a bed, and frankly it wasn t very comfortable.  The sofa makes into a bed about the size of a twin or supertwin, and for seating it was very comfortable.  I like having somewhere to sit other than the dinette area.
 
 One word of advice -- get what you want now.  You don t want to be thinking everytime you go out, " Gee, I wish we had a heater."   And then you re bummed out everytime you go out and coveting thy camping neighbor s heater!  [8D]

[jeec0450]

 Camping Coxes
Here s my two cents worth.  We own a Coleman and are very happy with it.  I think one of the reasons is we have a good dealer and he is very close.  We bought ours at a show.  This enabled us to compare many PU s in a very short period of time.  DW just fell in love with the Coleman Bayside and nothing else really got her attention.  We had a couple of problem s but have missed no camping time.  Our dealer is outstanding and beleives in and services his products.
 []

[GustaFam7]

 wapiti
We love our 99 Starcraft! We are original owners of ours (bought it new) and we have had NO problems whatsover. I would say we have traveled probably 20,000 miles on ours, and it is still going strong! I believe we have only had to change the tires one time.
 Good value, good Pop Up. Wouldn t trade it for the world!!
 
 

[whitestar505]

 Camping Coxes
Enjoy your Utah. We bought one this past October. Had not had it out much. The weather is bad here this year. Did you get the build-in shower?
 
 Nothing like a Coleman!!!!
 
 Good Camping![]