I'm considering buying a Travel Trailer something in the 20' range, I have a F250 with both receiver hitch and Gooseneck Ball and a GVW>8,600 so the Truck is heavy enough.
There seems to be as many Trailer Manufacturers as there are cars made, I'm not opposed to used, but honestly i don't know one brand from another, and don't have the budget for an Airstream.
Brands to avoid?
Worth looking at?
There's a Gander Outdoors 45 miles down the road from me, but I don't get the warm & fuzzies about them.
What say you?

From what I have read, QC on travel trailers plummeted during Covid. I know Thor has a reputation for being very shoddily assembled. Jayco is lower tier but is supposed to be okay if you know how to do your own repairs. Grand Design is a good brand but it's big money. You're really going to have to do your homework on this one. Hopefully some other guys will be able to give you more thorough info.

All of them have made good ones and bad ones, even airstream.

Sadly.. its a matter of going with a friend who is experienced if you have one, and looking over the models you like.

I've owned many brands... all of them had issues, but good points too.

Whats a budget for you look like? $20K? $50K?

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Stay away from Gander/Camping World, look at a smaller dealer to work with.  I also concur, avoid Thor, I haven’t looked at their trailer but Their class A & Cs are low quality.

We bought ours from Wilkins in Victor.  Service department was good, though the welder they used for some warranty work wrecked our brake magnets.  Make sure the dealer doesn't charge any prep fees.

There's a big difference in quality depending on your budget.  We went for a low end model, knowing it was going to be one that would have lower build quality, but it was what we wanted to spend, and I'm good with doing repairs.  So far, it's been good.  I've seen some models that are 3x the price of ours, about the same size, but really have some exceptional quality built into them.

I found the web site for the Local Dealer here and they are much more expensive than I thought..."used" ones were a bit closer to what I was thinking.
We haven't used a Travel Trailer in like 30 years, even then it was a small one rented from Outdoor Recreation on Ft. Drum.
There's a strong possibility I'll go back to traveling around, and no longer having a House anywhere else and Hotels being tiresome, the thought of a Trailer or even a Class -C is intriguing. (The Parents of my neighbors live in TX and they've come up here several times in a Ford F450 pulling a Jeep Wrangler and there lies the inspiration)
I used to see Sprinters made into campers, really liked the looks and versatility, but not the price...I don't want to dive in spending 30-40-50K and have it end up the way Boats and Airplanes do. (used progressively less each year until they haven't been used in years)
FB Market place seems loaded with them, most are probably junk.
https://wrattenrvsales.com/inventory/?condition=used-cars

The conventional wisdom is that a used one in good condition from around 2016, if you can find one, would be a fairly safe bet. It would be old enough to have come down in price but would be better quality than something new if it has been properly maintained. I'd avoid anything made from 2020 to present unless it's a highly reputable brand.

I'd love to have one myself but maintaining one would be a real chore. And I don't have anywhere to keep it where it would be out of the elements. It'd be cool to have one especially during long power outages after hurricanes.

There is a nice one in the St louis area that keeps going down in price.  It was listed last fall.  It is larger than what you are looking for but the price is dirt cheap.  I am only watching it as it is a step up from mine.  2018 28BHS for $12,000.  I was wondering if the bottom had fallen out of RV's again.  Looks good in the pics.  We bought a 2019 SLX as a leftover on the lot in January of 2020 just before the SHTF.  The SLX is the lower end of Jayco's line but since I am a DIY I went into this knowing I could fix most things better than factory.  I am happy with the build of my camper as long as the structure is sound I can deal with the cosmetics and mechanical things.

Save your money and MWR/OR borrow one when you want it!

I concur, but they might not be happy with my taking it out of State...."If it Floats, Flys, or Fornicates: rent it!"

You're retired by now aren't you?  I'd expect you to travel around, certainly GTFO of NY.

I bought a Winnebago Minnie 2500FL May of 2020. Most of our trips are 1-3 hours one way, but have been as far as to Yellowstone from Kentucky.

Repairs so far:
Replaced the Dometic 300 toilet with a 310 due to an internal crack/leak that caused a sewer smell.

Replaced all wheel bearings/races March of 2022. When I was inspecting and repacking wheel bearings, I found one wheel had a bearing with a rough surface.

The pull cable on one of the recliner seats came loose from the release mechanism.  Never did find the retaining pin. Reconnected the release cable an installed a new R clip.

All in all, happy with the camper. We use it monthly from April until the first week of November.

Gander=Camping World. They are the biggest chain of dealers nationwide. Every dealer has problems (my own included) but I’d do my homework before dealing with them. Been in the industry around nine years, am happy to help any way I can.

One of the more confusing (frustrating?) things about my business is that sometimes it’s hard to separate the parent company from the brands. For example: Thor Industries owns tons of brands, from the excellent like Airstream and Entegra to house brands like Coleman. Each has separate budgets, QCs, managers, and expectations. Jayco (part of Thor) makes some budget stuff, but also makes some very nice towables.

Just before Covid we went with a new Forest River GeoPro FBS19. Few minor issues but so far nothing major.

What's your opinion of Grand Design? I have an uncle who has one. He's retired and he and my aunt travel in it quite a bit. They seem happy with it.

inspect closely upon taking delivery.  I bought a 2023 East to West Della Terra 200RD (another Forest River brand) .  Plastic fender on one side had small cracks around the screws, Awning was starting to rip and had pin holes in it, and blackwater rinse hose was kinked. I fixed the kink with a pex elbow and RV dealer warranty replaced fender, and awning. Installer and I were surprised and disgusted to find that the brand new replacement awning had a pinhole in it. Seeing as I have a six year warranty, i let the repair guy put some sealant on the hole and will get a new awning if this one doesn't last six years.

Having toured and worked with a number of RV companies and their subs , I'm surprised many of them last five years without major malfunctions.

I think RV's are like Boats: First year, it's every weekend/time possible, second year couple times a month, third year maybe once a month, and the fourth year it doesn't get used at all and by the fifth, it's filthy, need service/maintenance/repair and isn't worth a fraction of what you still owe on it.
Boating/Camping/RV here is Memorial day to Labor Day with bonus days on either end...which is discouraging to ownership.

I would look at Arctic Fox, Outdoors RV, Airstream, and Lance.

They all have problems, we have a Lance and it has had a few issues but on balance has been ok.  My uncle has an Outdoors trailer and loves it, but supposedly quality has slipped the past few years.  

Airstreams are beautiful, we will probably get one once our kids are older, but they have had quality issues as well.  Arctic Fox seems to be the best build at this point.

We have 3 trips booked this year, planning on dropping our Lance off at a dealer this month to get a full inverter/solar setup installed.

Grand Design is one of the better mainstream brands for quality control and customer service. Another brand that doesn’t get a lot of attention in the towable world is Winnebago.

Just about anything built during Covid and after has allot of issues. Made the mistake trading in my 2017 fifth wheel to a 2022. My 2017 had 1 issue, period. My 2022 was in the shop 8 times the 1st year. Still not completely fixed. Stay away from keystone if you’re going new. My previous 2 keystones were great though. I camp allot in last 8 years. Talk to most about there brand of rv. The crap I heard in the last 3 years would make you decide to not get a camper. Had one guy last year just bought his 1st pull behind RV. On his way to campground I was at. Parked real close to setup. His thermal underlining came off on his way. Suggest you stay away from camping world. Find a small local rv seller. They will take better care of you. My first 2 were from a small rv shop. My last nightmare rv was from camping world. Never again. Find one 2017 or earlier, inspect the shit out of it, hook up everything, open everything. Here is one for you about my POS Keystone. Was camping late last fall. Needed heat as temps dropped to 30. Heat worked throughout the 5th wheel except the bedroom up front. Keystone didn’t complete the duct work to the bedroom up front. Been thinking of going to a class A or B. After talking to allot of owners at the campgrounds who bought fairly new or new, same kind of issues. Currently on the hunt for a 2017 or older. Good luck.

I think they suck. Meaning every name brand is basically a cheap lightweight shell on a crappy trailer.  The Amish crank them out as fast as they can on the assembly lines.
   Even the high end grand design ones will have rats nest for wiring when looking behind the walls or from underneath when the cheap plastic “thermal” barrier rips off going down the hwy(happens 2x to us).
   Currently have a 21 or 22(?)Phoenix 5th wheel 38 or 40’ can’t remember.  It’s made by or at the forest river factory. Friends and I have had decent luck with forest river. It’s really hit or miss and ford Chevy type debates.
    Bring some tools and if you’re somewhat handy you’ll be ok.  Recently spent Christmas in TX and our electricity went out second day. Stupid converter went bad. Used You tube to diagnosed it and swapped it out from local camper place. A lot of the electronics or appliances are used by all companies.i hear about fridges going bad or awning motors dying etc. things like that.
    I think we put on 20k miles in 2 years owning it. For us that justifies the cost.  I think I’ll keep this one till I can’t fix it anymore since I don’t think any new ones are any better.

Like others have said stay away from camping world! Small guy that has good service will be better in the long run!

I would buy a moisture meter from Amazon if buying used.

They tell no lies.

My experience is buying any trailer is somewhat luck.

Something will be wrong eventually and you want a minor issue vs something big.

NuCamp appears to have a good rep for what it's worth.