We have made the leap, and decided to buy a new camper.  After weighing many pros and cons of different units, we have settled on a Jayco 32BHDS.  We cannot find a smaller unit that offers room for all of us or decent storage.  As far as brand, we have dealt with Jaycos since owning our 2005 27BH, which was an awesome unit that we outgrew.  The new camper is 35 feet long, which may limit where we can go.  We will have to see as we go.

We decided to get a new camper because the one we had was not working for what we were doing, and have some issues, being a used unit when we got it.  We deal with a dealer in St. Clairsville, OH, which offers excellent service and support during and after the sale.  We like Jayco because they have survived the consolidations in the industry, and seem to have good quality.

As for questions about the new units, we have several.  The main question is: why do they insist on removing roof vents?  We camp often without hookups, and there is no way to vent these units without the roof vents.  For 2012, Jayco removed the roof vents, but left the framing.  Weird.  Ours WILL have the vent over the front bedroom, either by Jayco or the dealer, because this would be a deal breaker for us.  Balancing this are several options that have been added.  We have no use for an outside kitchen, as this option assumes you “camp” on a level concrete pad, but we are looking forward to the tray on the back as a factory option.

Having the tray means we can legally carry things back there, such as our inverter, BBQ grill, and some hoses and electric cords.

So far, this is what we have come up with.  It should be at the dealer around late August, and we hope to pick it up in September, in time to have a couple of trips in the fall.  Wish us luck!