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lostagain View Drop Down
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Posts: 2586 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: R-Pod 195 Other Options Video
    Posted: 14 Jul 2019 at 9:05am
Seems to me that the 195, though it appears to be a very nice trailer, is an r-Pod in name only.  The original concept, at least as I understand it, was to market a small lightweight trailer that had the basics of a comfortable place to sleep, a galley, a head with a wet shower, and a dinette in a short, narrow, easy to tow package.  It gave the purchasers an economical option to get a trailer without having to have an expensive beast to tow it and it fits nicely into campgrounds that can only accommodate small RV's.  

As with all things human, we are rarely satisfied with what we have and always are trying to improve on them.  FR marketing people realize that this very human characteristic applies to the buyers of r-Pods and they have tried to capitalize on some kind of perceived brand loyalty to offer something bigger and "better" to their existing customer base.  Whether it is "better," it certainly is bigger, is an open question.  If you are looking for a roomier trailer with more accommodations of home, one could say it is "better,"  but if you are looking to stay within the original concept of a basic small trailer as was offered in the original 171's and 172's, then it ain't "better"; just bigger and heavier, requiring a much bigger investment in a TV that has the capacity to tow it.

We bought our Pod because we liked the original concept and didn't want to have to go to the expense of buying a heavier TV than our Dakota.  Though it'd be nice to have more room, a walk around bed, and a separate shower, the trade offs aren't worth it for our camping needs.  But that's not to say that others really prefer to have a bigger RV and if they have the resources, they should get one if that's what will make them happier.  

The bottom line is that the 195 is not really within the concept of the original Pod though it carries that brand name.  It is one more of trailer in a flood of comparable trailers.  That one should chose a 195 as opposed to others in the RV market, is simply a question of perceived value for the buck.   I think I'll stick with what I have.
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Fred & Maria Kearney
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Our Pod 172
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2627 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2019 at 9:50am
Yah Fred, I kind of feel that too. It's all about size versus easy in my mind. The original R-pods have maximum easy at the expense of being "big enough". Big enough is purely subjective, and everyone has a different threshold. At the other end are the 40-50 foot behemoths that have maximum size and minimum easy. Our F-150 affords us a lot of wiggle room, but I have to admit that our 179 still has a lot of easy left in it. 
bp
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mjlrpod View Drop Down
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Posts: 1214 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2019 at 10:36am
Betwenn the two of you (lostagain, glue guy) you already HAVE a tow vehicle that would handle the 195  with ease. You are throwing around all this " gotta buy a bigger truck" stuff, and you're already way over trucked for your pods. I get that the 195 is much bigger than the 172, thats what I had before the 195. It was a huge step up. 4 feet in length, and a little wider. The biggest gain was squaring off the back to gain a ton of head room. The 195 is only a foot or two bigger than a 179, hardly noticeable. You don't have to like it, but, do you really have to be disrespectful toward us? My R-pod is as much an r-pod as your r-pod is lostagain/fred. just because I enjoy a larger fridge, that I won't be complaining about because it won't keep my food cold, I'm somehow an enigma? I'm not looking for an arguement here, but I also don't see any reason I have to be treated like a second class citizen for having done nothing different than you. I went to the dealership, and I puchased an R-POD. 
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2019 at 10:46am
Originally posted by mjlrpod

Betwenn the two of you (lostagain, glue guy) you already HAVE a tow vehicle that would handle the 195  with ease. You are throwing around all this " gotta buy a bigger truck" stuff, and you're already way over trucked for your pods. I get that the 195 is much bigger than the 172, thats what I had before the 195. It was a huge step up. 4 feet in length, and a little wider. The biggest gain was squaring off the back to gain a ton of head room. The 195 is only a foot or two bigger than a 179, hardly noticeable. You don't have to like it, but, do you really have to be disrespectful toward us? My R-pod is as much an r-pod as your r-pod is lostagain/fred. just because I enjoy a larger fridge, that I won't be complaining about because it won't keep my food cold, I'm somehow an enigma? I'm not looking for an arguement here, but I also don't see any reason I have to be treated like a second class citizen for having done nothing different than you. I went to the dealership, and I puchased an R-POD. 

Just a comment here but I don't think these two guys are intending to be disrespectful, they're just pointing out that the 195 is a departure from the original marketing concept behind the rPod. That's true.  I don't think anyone is saying that there's something wrong with you for buying the trailer you like. I certainly don't think so. 

You also raise a very good point about the tow vehicle . The biggest hurdle to "going bigger" is the TV as those cost a lot more than the trailers do. If you already have a TV that's sufficient its purely a matter of preference. If like me you don't have a big enough TV then it can be a non starter. 
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mjlrpod View Drop Down
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Posts: 1214 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2019 at 10:54am
well offgrid, YOUR 179 is ALSO not the original concept. So where does this end? I've seen a lot of comments about the 195 that were not respectful.  I just want to head this off before we have two diferent groups within the one. Nobody is better than anyone. We all have suburban water heaters, and dometic refrigerators, and a/c. We are all pods 
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2019 at 11:24am
Originally posted by mjlrpod

well offgrid, YOUR 179 is ALSO not the original concept. So where does this end? I've seen a lot of comments about the 195 that were not respectful.  I just want to head this off before we have two diferent groups within the one. Nobody is better than anyone. We all have suburban water heaters, and dometic refrigerators, and a/c. We are all pods 

I think perhaps the opposite comment is also true, there have been some comments by 195 owners that could be viewed as disrespectful to those who have chosen other rPods. That doesn't mean that that was intentional, folks of course tend to get excited about what they've chosen and tend to think its always better than the other guy's choices.   'Nuff said.  

BTW, I agree, there are really now 3 categories of rPods, at least insofar as trailer weight and TV requirements are concerned. Roughly speaking, you need a tow capacity equal to the trailer max gross weight plus around 1000 lbs so you can put some gear and people in the TV and have some safety margin. That puts the non-slide rPods at about 4000 lbs, the standard width slide equipped rPods at about 5000 lbs, and the 195 in its own category so far at about 6000 lbs. 

I would argue though that for most folks there is really not much practical difference in TV selection between the two lighter categories, because there are pretty limited TV choices in between 4000 and 5000 lbs these days. Off the top of my head only the Jeep Cherokee comes to mind, but there might be more.  There is a category of compact SUV's grouped around a 3500 lb tow capacity and another bunch of tow vehicles clustered around the 5000 lb step. But I expect most of us would agree that 3500 lbs is pushing it for any rPod.  The width of the slide and non slide trailers while running down the road is the same as well. So, practically speaking the distinction between the non slide and slide rPods up through the 191 is pretty small, at least in terms of towing.  
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podwerkz View Drop Down
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Posts: 966 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2019 at 1:42pm
Lets just call the 195, an 'r-pod PLUS'.

Or we can call my slide-less 171 an 'r-pod LITE'.

Yeah I like both of those, actually.

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Posts: 2627 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2019 at 1:46pm
Originally posted by mjlrpod

Betwenn the two of you (lostagain, glue guy) you already HAVE a tow vehicle that would handle the 195  with ease. You are throwing around all this " gotta buy a bigger truck" stuff, and you're already way over trucked for your pods. I get that the 195 is much bigger than the 172, thats what I had before the 195. It was a huge step up. 4 feet in length, and a little wider. The biggest gain was squaring off the back to gain a ton of head room. The 195 is only a foot or two bigger than a 179, hardly noticeable. You don't have to like it, but, do you really have to be disrespectful toward us? My R-pod is as much an r-pod as your r-pod is lostagain/fred. just because I enjoy a larger fridge, that I won't be complaining about because it won't keep my food cold, I'm somehow an enigma? I'm not looking for an arguement here, but I also don't see any reason I have to be treated like a second class citizen for having done nothing different than you. I went to the dealership, and I puchased an R-POD. 
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I did not mean to be disrespectful. I was just (trying) to point out that all of this is subjective, and each and every one of us will probably make a different decision. 

For sure, I am very happy for you and your decision. No doubt about it. I am also (for the time being) very happy with our decision. Time will probably tell.

One of the hard things is expressing opinions and such in this text-only medium. So my apologies to you if I came off being disrespectful to you. That was not my intent.
bp
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Posts: 2586 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2019 at 4:14pm
mjlrpod -- In no way were my comments intended to be disrespectful of anyone.  Quite to the contrary, I think the 195, as I said before, is a really nice trailer and it meets the preferences and desires of a lot of people.   If I had a TV that could pull one and the cash to buy it, I'd seriously consider a getting one, but my little Dakota with 150K miles on the motor isn't going to pull one and last very long.  Buying a new trailer and a new TV just doesn't make sense to me when I stop and think about what I already have and how how I use it.  

But objectively, though it bears the FR name of r-Pod, the 195 is really not in the same class as the original concept with a wet bath and narrow body.  Using the name r-Pod with the 195 is a marketing strategy, in my view, to get people like me to upgrade to a bigger trailer.  That's what business is about:  Create a desire for a bigger better widget, then get people with smaller widgets to upgrade.

I write from a point of view that brand names and trademarks mean little to me.  I have an r-Pod because that was the brand that happened to meed our preferences at the moment we bought a travel trailer.  I have utterly no loyalty to the brand any more than Forest River, Berkshire Hathaway, or Warren Buffett have any personal loyalty to me.  It's just a thing that happened to meet my needs/desires at the moment.  If I ever look for another trailer, which is unlikely, I will look at as many different makes and models in my price range and pick the one with the best value for the money.  There is nothing special about the brand r-Pod or any other.  It just happens that they filled a market niche that now other manufactures are copying.  

I realize that many people don't share my views about brand loyalty, and if I was a little too blunt in stating it to the point that you felt offended, please understand that was not my intent and I am sorry you had hurt feelings.
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Fred & Maria Kearney
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Posts: 1214 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2019 at 7:25pm
   I think it may have been mentioned once some time ago but I am trying to remember what the r stood for in r-pod. The 195 is definitely part of the family of r-pods but I think as has been mentioned they should of added something to the name r-pod plus sounds good. We have a Vista Cruiser we are outside the family of r-pods but I still enjoy being part of the forum. But being a past owner of a r-pod i can understand someone wanting a change and those who prefer the size of a smaller r-pod. 
2018 Vista Cruiser 19BFD (2018-              
2012 Vibe 6503 (2014-2019)
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