My wife and I are going to take a bunch of time off and travel around the country starting this summer. We have a 27' travel trailer that we need to upgrade. I have been doing a lot of research and the BigHorns seem to be a great choice for overall quality and price. We really like the 3585RL and have located two of them at different dealers nearby. I have each dealer's final pricing and am getting close to pulling the trigger. My wishlist includes auto levelers which neither BH has, so I am trying to decide on ordering one vs. buying off the lot. They also each have the chinese tires and that concerns me. The advantage of buying one off the lot is slightly cheaper base price (so they say) and I can get it right away. I can have the dealer upgrade the tires and have Lippert install the level-up later.....or order it exactly the way I want it now. Those of you BigHorn veterans out there, which way would you go?
Getting close to pulling the trigger on BigHorn
- Thread starter hoosblues
- Start date
jimtoo
Moderator
Hi hoosblues,
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.
I am sure you will get lots of opinions here. Myself, I think I would order with the options I want. And one other thing I would add it the "dual pane windows". The only problem with ordering is the waiting, but maybe not to bad since you can look on the forum here and see some of the mods others have made and maybe think of ways to make your Bighorn fit your needs.
Enjoy the forum.
Jim M
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.
I am sure you will get lots of opinions here. Myself, I think I would order with the options I want. And one other thing I would add it the "dual pane windows". The only problem with ordering is the waiting, but maybe not to bad since you can look on the forum here and see some of the mods others have made and maybe think of ways to make your Bighorn fit your needs.
Enjoy the forum.
Jim M
Jim,we purchased a 2012 Bighorn 3685Rl a few months ago,out tenth RV. This is the best we have owned. All the add-ons you wish are available & depending on your need I would have everything installed by heartland,less running around. The only thing I do with my tires is have them balanced, & fulled with nitrogin which allowes them to run cooler & extends the life of the tires because there is less heat in the tires lessing wa & you do not lose preasure as you do with air. If you do use nitrogin in tires having air make sure the shop purges the air out first. Enjoy your new rig...Safe travels
I would have the dealer change the tires--as far as the level up--you may want to wait until you are near a level up dealer/mfg and have them install it for you. If you plan to travel this should not be too bad to wait and plan a trip to a mfg place.
You will relly like your BH
al
You will relly like your BH
al
codycarver
Founding Wyoming Chapter Leader-retired
If your travels take you through Indiana you can have the 6 point system installed at Lippert. The last time I checked it cost $3800.00. Call Kelly at 574-312-6112, she will have all the details.
BTW, Out tires were made in China. We have put over 10,000 miles on them so far without complaint. I keep the air @110PSI and have added a T.T.P.M.S system.
Good Morning hoosblues:
DW and I were face with the same dilemma as you are suggesting; buyingoff the lot or ordering a new unit from the factory. We had even found the unit we wanted on alocal RV lot. Our challenge was thisdealer felt that his unit was worth $10k more than anyone else waswanting. We ended up purchasing from a Midwestdealer 1,900 miles from us, and even though our price from the Midwest dealerended up being only $5k under what the local dealer was pricing his unit for,we wanted different options on our unit than what the local dealers unithad. We also preferred to be the firstusers of the unit rather than have had half of Seattle’s population traipsingthrough the unit looking it over.
Long story short, we ordered and bought the unit from adealer in the upper Midwest where we were able to order the options that wewanted on the RV, and didn’t have to accept the options that the local dealerhad put on his unit. This discussioncould be argued either way, i.e. buying from the lot, or ordering new from thefactory. We’re pleased that we got theoptions we initially desired.
There are so many options to consider. Jimtoo has mentioned dual pane windows. We considered them initially and decided thatwe would not be camping in extreme weather (hot or cold), but in retrospect, wewould probably have considered them more carefully as we have been out with the RV for aweek or two on 3 different occasions since last Thanksgiving, and it has been alittle chilly here in the great NW.
Regarding the options you are wanting, ya justgotta take the list of options available, and decide what you want. Dual pane windows are a good example where ifyou want them, you would want to put them on from the factory, as buying andinstalling them post-RV purchase it could possibly be cost prohibitive. Other optionscould fall into this category as well. If there is one option that I could do over, it would be installing discbrakes on the RV before we pulled away from the dealer. Due to the cost of the upgrade, we willprobably wait for a year or two while leaving a little extra distance between usand other vehicles on the road.
If you local dealers have the unit and options you want at aprice you’re comfortable with; great…..
Good luck with your choices……… gebills.
DW and I were face with the same dilemma as you are suggesting; buyingoff the lot or ordering a new unit from the factory. We had even found the unit we wanted on alocal RV lot. Our challenge was thisdealer felt that his unit was worth $10k more than anyone else waswanting. We ended up purchasing from a Midwestdealer 1,900 miles from us, and even though our price from the Midwest dealerended up being only $5k under what the local dealer was pricing his unit for,we wanted different options on our unit than what the local dealers unithad. We also preferred to be the firstusers of the unit rather than have had half of Seattle’s population traipsingthrough the unit looking it over.
Long story short, we ordered and bought the unit from adealer in the upper Midwest where we were able to order the options that wewanted on the RV, and didn’t have to accept the options that the local dealerhad put on his unit. This discussioncould be argued either way, i.e. buying from the lot, or ordering new from thefactory. We’re pleased that we got theoptions we initially desired.
There are so many options to consider. Jimtoo has mentioned dual pane windows. We considered them initially and decided thatwe would not be camping in extreme weather (hot or cold), but in retrospect, wewould probably have considered them more carefully as we have been out with the RV for aweek or two on 3 different occasions since last Thanksgiving, and it has been alittle chilly here in the great NW.
Regarding the options you are wanting, ya justgotta take the list of options available, and decide what you want. Dual pane windows are a good example where ifyou want them, you would want to put them on from the factory, as buying andinstalling them post-RV purchase it could possibly be cost prohibitive. Other optionscould fall into this category as well. If there is one option that I could do over, it would be installing discbrakes on the RV before we pulled away from the dealer. Due to the cost of the upgrade, we willprobably wait for a year or two while leaving a little extra distance between usand other vehicles on the road.
If you local dealers have the unit and options you want at aprice you’re comfortable with; great…..
Good luck with your choices……… gebills.
MTPockets
Well-known member
We've purchased on impulse and we've ordered exactly what we wanted.... That "rush" has to wait a bit when you order, but in the end, getting exactly what you want, the way you want it, is the way to go - but consider everything carefully (price deal, optiions, model, etc.) before you sign on the dotted line... take your time so you don't say (I wish I had gotten that option) later.
FordMan1966
Well-known member
This is a great floor plan. We have had a 2013 Landmark Grand Canyon ordered for almost 7 weeks which is the same floor plan. It is suppose to be delivered to the dealers lot tomorrow and PDI will begin and ready for us to pick up Friday. I would have bought off of the lot if they would have had what we wanted. By ordering I am getting a 2013 instead of a 2012, LINC remote control system, and 2 yr. warranty and 5 yr. structural warranty. So I guess is worth it to get what you want. I got full body paint and could not get the 6 pt. leveling because the jacks hit my steep driveway before it got on the driveway. Oh well I guess I am still young enough to level it myself.
We just went through the same decision you are going through. We opted to order our Big Country last week. We thought that it was better to get Exactly what we wanted with this large of a purchase. We also get the 2013 model. The most important thing to us was getting what we wanted and not comprimising.
boatto5er
Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
Hi Hoosblues! I would definitely order to get the level up on the rig. The Goodyears and dual-panes are other must haves in my humble opinion. Once you get your rig, consider joining the Heartland Owners Club (we have a very active chapter in VA and my wife and I are the Chapter Leaders). We'd love to see you at one or all of our events!.
Thanks! Our home resort is Indian Cove in Va. Beach. I saw that you have a rally nearby there coming up.
hoosblues,
Consider bringing your current RV to the VA rally if you don't have your Heartland rig by then. You will be welcomed with open arms by the Heartland family. And if you have your rig on order before the rally, you can sign up for the owners club in advance of your coach delivery. Then you can come to the rally as a member
And have your owners club plaque ready to add to the coach the day it arrives.
Are we sounding too pushy
Best of luck, whatever way you decide on the rig (stock or ordered).
Jim
Consider bringing your current RV to the VA rally if you don't have your Heartland rig by then. You will be welcomed with open arms by the Heartland family. And if you have your rig on order before the rally, you can sign up for the owners club in advance of your coach delivery. Then you can come to the rally as a member
And have your owners club plaque ready to add to the coach the day it arrives.Are we sounding too pushy
Best of luck, whatever way you decide on the rig (stock or ordered).
Jim
Rottiesmom
New York Chapter Leader - retired
Which ever way you go you definately need the leveling system it will prevent many arguements LOL! Good luck in whatever you decide and hope you
come to the rally you'll have a blast!
come to the rally you'll have a blast!
wdk450
Well-known member
I have already chimed in on this subject with my pick of upgrades, which Heartland/Lippert should be able to install. I will add to that list the new NeverFail lifetime suspension bushings.
Depending on your financial situation, I would think for most people who are financing the purchase that it is easier to roll all of the wanted/needed upgrades into the financed price of an ordered unit, rather than have tho come up with $1400 for premium tires, $2000-$5000 for upgraded suspension, $1000 for upgraded pinbox, etc. out of your RVing budget over the next few years. I also think you will have a higher resale value/desirability in the immediate years after purchase if life throws you a curve.
Happy Rving!!!
With the NorCal LOWs, on the banks of the Sacramento River, in Corning, Ca.
Depending on your financial situation, I would think for most people who are financing the purchase that it is easier to roll all of the wanted/needed upgrades into the financed price of an ordered unit, rather than have tho come up with $1400 for premium tires, $2000-$5000 for upgraded suspension, $1000 for upgraded pinbox, etc. out of your RVing budget over the next few years. I also think you will have a higher resale value/desirability in the immediate years after purchase if life throws you a curve.
Happy Rving!!!
With the NorCal LOWs, on the banks of the Sacramento River, in Corning, Ca.
Ray LeTourneau
Senior Member - Past Moderator
HEY HEY! Welcome to the Heartland Family.
