I am new to the r-pod world, and super excited about it! 

I am thinking of the 196, any advice? What did any one pay? 

What should I be aware of? It is the 2020 brand new one. 

Thank you! Also, I am glad to have found this forum :)

Congratulations!  I was in your shoes back in January 2011 when a 177 was special ordered.  Still have it today with many great memories in the rear view mirror. 

Advice: Regardless of where you are purchasing make sure to do a video as you are shown all the features.  It seems like you are in a dreamworld as they go through all the things "you need to know" and as you encounter information overload, much will be forgotten.  When I went through that process, the salesperson was more than helpful as we were both writing down as much as we could while he explained how everything worked, from the hot water heater to the refrigerator to the winter bypass valves to the furnace, proper set-up, r-dome, ect.  Our walkthru was probably a good 2.5 hours, we were so pleased with the salesman as well the the dealer we purchased our 177 from in Escanaba (U.P.) Michigan.  Also, if you are a FB person (I not much so but my wife is) you can also check out the RPOD facebook owners page, lots of info there as well.  Much more heavily visited and used than here.  BUT I have benefited greatly here over the years, many well seasoned podders here who know a lot more than me.  Enjoy and keep us all in the loop as you bring that 196 home!

BTW: I always recommend getting the hardwired EMS so that you put it in and forget it. Never forget to use, and never forget to put it back in the camper before leaving. 

I am looking into a new car/tow vehicle now and weighing my options, so thank you for the advice! Thank you for the water pressure and surge protector advice as well! YOU are my new hero!! 

Thank you again!

Stay safe and take care!

If you're considering solar it sounds like you might be planning to boondock. If so you will want an alternative power source. Solar is great if you aren't camping under tree canopy or in cloudy weather all the time. You might want to start with  a portable 100 watt system (solar module, charge controller, 30-50 ft long cable, and tilt rack) that way you can more easily position the solar module in the sun. You don't need to buy the "pre wired" brand, whatever that is at the moment, any kit will do and can be directly connected to the batteries (with a fuse). 

If you're mostly boondocking in heavy forest or want to run the a/c and micro then you'll probably want a generator. Get an inverter/generator (quieter and more efficient) either 3kw or higher if you want to run the a/c or 2.2kW and install an a/c soft start. 

As mjlrpod says you will need a fairly serious tow vehicle for that trailer, a mid size SUV won't cut it. 

THANK you for all of the advice!!! I have so much to learn! :) 

 If you want to tow with that size vehicle (I do) then get a lighter trailer. I think my 179 is the heaviest I would ever want to go and I keep things as light as I can. Again, power is not the issue, its handling the weight safely. 

I will keep looking, cause the 196 is definitely the trailer I want.

If you want to be sure, get all your TV and trailer specs and put them in this calculator. Use max gross trailer weight for the trailer (about 4800) and 13% of that for the tongue weight, so just around 600. You want to be between 10 and 15 percent of trailer weight on the tongue, never less than 10 or you can get sway. Then add the weight of all the stuff and passengers to the TV plus the wdh at about 100 lbs and see what the calculator tells you. 

A lot of difference will be in the gearing and whether the engine is turbocharged or not. A naturally aspirated engine with 4 speeds will not tow nearly as well as the same engine with 8 or 10 speeds. Add in a turbocharger, and it will tow even better.

My former 4 cylinder Escape with a 2L Ecoboost engine towed better in the mountains than the current 4L V6 naturally aspirated engine in the Frontier. One downside of the turbo is that the Escape would also tend to heat up much more if going up a steep hill at low speeds. I could see it in the Torque app's catalytic converter temperature readings. We came close to overheating once when trying to get up to the Blue Ridge Parkway when we were on a steep, narrow road with lots of curves and switchbacks. The engine started going a power limited mode. I was able to pull off and let it cool to make it the rest of the way. Once we were able to build up some speed though, the cooling was more efficient and we did not have any more problems.

And, because most of the energy consumed towing is used to overcome trailer air drag, you won't get any better fuel economy towing with a marginal TV rather than a more capable one. In fact, it could be worse. 

At the first pre-delivery inspection of the trailer that replaced our Pod, I spent about 3 hours going through everything with the check list.  When I took delivery, I had the list to work from to make sure that everything was right.  It is best if you can take delivery at the dealer so when you review the punch list work, you can verify that they did it correctly.

If you have a friend who has an RV, it would be very helpful if you could convince her/him to accompany you on the walk throughs.  Experienced eyes really help spot issues that need attention.  

Best of luck with your purchase.  

Mileage is a difficult thing to estimate. You can have the most efficient vehicle around, but if you try to tow fast (e.g. 65 mph or higher), you will get poor mileage. My first times towing, I was trying to tow 65-70 mph (posted Interstate speed limits) and was getting about 8-10 mpg, especially when I hit a headwind. I decided to slow down (I was using a WDH from the start), and it became both a better, less white-knuckle experience, and my mileage increased to a more respectable 12-13 mpg. With the small SUV, I added a Purpleline AeroPlus wind deflector, and saw my mileage increase further to 13-16 mpg. Not towing, we would get closer to 30 mpg on the highway.

We changed after an accident to the Frontier. Same towing speed, but the AeroPlus proved to not help because it sits too far forward. If I had a cap instead of a tonneau cover, it would likely do more good. My mileage towing is more like 11-13 mpg. Since the Frontier is 4WD, it is only rated for 19 mpg highway when not towing. I rarely see that figure though. A Diesel would likely do much better on mileage, but the cost of a Diesel engine plus the additional cost of Diesel fuel (and DEF) would negate much of that mileage advantage. Still though, if I could find a Diesel truck at a good price (not $70,000 for sure! That is almost half the price of the house we live in.), I would likely go for it.

Bottom line: Slow down. The journey is part of the adventure. Make it a  point to relax while traveling. This would apply no matter what brand or size trailer you purchase.

Thank you!

We tow our 179 with a Ford Expedition EL.

3It has a v8 and 3.73 rear gear ratio,  We have plenty of power, plenty of weight capacity and plenty of room to carry all of the extra stuff we think we need. It is the same basic frame/engine/transmission as the Ford F150.  We use an Equalizer 4 point WDH and feel safe with the combination. We have used it for 4 years and love it. I would highly recommend it as a capable tow vehicle.

We have packed the Pod and the truck and then gone to our local landfill and weighed the combination.  You will be surprised how much weight you will add to the empty trailer weight and also to the tow vehicle weight. don't underestimate the combined weight of the two.

Most dealers will include a "starter kit" with a new unit-water hose, water pressure reducer, tank drain  ose, toilet chemicals, wheel chocks and maybe more.  One item you will use is a 30amp to 15 amp power adapter.  this will allow you to plug your Pod into a standard outlet at your home or anywhere that the 30 amp service is not available.

Once you get the new Pod, one of the best things you can do is to "camp" in your driveway-you will find out pretty quick what you forgot and what you need without being far from home. It is a great learning experience.

Good luck-feel free to ask questions-we all started at the beginning and learned from this Forum

Vann