Potential Owner with questions
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Topic: Potential Owner with questions
Posted By: ryguy76
Subject: Potential Owner with questions
Date Posted: 31 Jan 2013 at 12:37am
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Hi, We're located in BC, Canada and are considering the purchase of an rpod. Looking locally, they're about 22k fully loaded for a 177. The same trailer is about 20k in Washington and 15-16k in Oregon. Does anyone have any experience buying an rpod in the states and importing it to Canada? Would this be recommended? Also, can anyone give me a rough estimate of the tongue weight when loaded with an average load? I have a tow vehicle that will tow 3500lbs and has a 1000lbs payload. This would be my first RV, but from what I gather, which may be wrong or partially wrong, I would factor the 300+Lbs tongue weight + vehicle cargo weight + passengers into the allowable payload weight. Then the 2500+ RV weight plus its cargo would need to be below 3500lbs for towing capacity. Is this more or less correct? Thank you to anyone who can answer any of my questions. Ryan
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Replies:
Posted By: Kickstart
Date Posted: 31 Jan 2013 at 1:59am
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Welcome. This is a great site with a lot of knowleagable and helpful people. Now, be very diligent with your research before you buy a Pod and tow with a vehicle with a 3500 lb. rating. If you tow short distrances in non demanding conditions, you may be satisfied with this tow rig and trailer combo. But if you tow foothills and passes ( which pretty much describes my state of Washington and your beautiful B.C.), then you could struggle some and cause some real hardships for your vehicle. There have been many of us here who have tried towing our Pods with a marginal vehicle and been pushed into an expensive vehicle upgrade. I'm not trying to be a downer type person, as our RPods are great and a lot of fun. I just don't want anyone to be disappointed with their Pod experience. Your tow rig can't be too big, but can easily be too small. So be careful, and good luck with making a decision that works for you. ------------- '10 RP 175-Replaced by 2014 Kodiak 173 QBSL '12 Toyota Tundra '05 Sportster (half a Harley) Retired-We're on Beach Time! |
Posted By: P&M
Date Posted: 31 Jan 2013 at 10:28am
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Being born and raised in WA, and having spent a considerable amount of time in BC & Alberta and therefore knowing the terrain very well, I would suggest you think through completely how, when and where you would use the Pod for camping. While I also only have a 3500# towing limit for mine, I currently live in Charlotte NC where our terrain is mostly flat with some rolling hills, and we are content to head to nearby places to camp that are not a days drive away. Unless I was going to be doing the same type of camping in WA or BC, I wouldn't even attempt it in my rig. ------------- P & M ... and Comet too! 2012 171 -- The Monkey Pod 2018 Ram 2500 |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 01 Feb 2013 at 11:11pm
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Welcome. What is your tow vehicle year/make/model?
------------- Doug ~ '98 Coleman ('05-'09) ~ '10 171 ('09-'15) ~ 2008 Salem ('14-'23) ~ 2019 Keystone ('23-now) ~ 
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Posted By: ryguy76
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2013 at 11:14am
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Hi, thanks for responding.
Well, at this point, we could buy the trailer, but I wouldn't leave enough money to buy a new tow vehicl. For the time being, we can borrow my parents 2012 Honda Odyssey. Is it the best scenario... No, but it's the only scenario that would allow us to get the rpod we'd really like and out camping this year. We would do local camping until we could afford to buy our own tow vehicle, most likely a Tacoma in a couple of years. We live in Campbell River, on Vancouver Island and there is quite a few government campsites that don't require any significant journeys on logging roads, hills or curves to get to. Several are flat journeys on paved roads. So that's what we'll work with until we can buy a tow vehicle and the kids get a bit older for longer, more adventurous journeys. We're going to look at some trailers today and see if the rpod is the best fit for us, but from my research online, it sure looks it will be. Even with the money I'd save by going into Oregon, it seems like quite a hassle to get it across the border now. Having the paper work faxed 72 hours before crossing etc. that would mean we'd have to stay there for a few days away from the kids on our buying trip. Is there good value in buying locally for service reasons? What price should I put on that when I factor in potential savings of buying in the states? Thanks! |
Posted By: Goose
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2013 at 2:34pm
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Welcome, many of us started with a mini-van or suv that could tow up to 3500 LB's. Then down the road we decided that to upgrade to a SUV or truck with a bigger engine and more towing capacity due to the terraine that we travel across. If you do buy an R-POD or some other travel trailer you can always change to a newer unit later on. Good luck. Goose ------------- Mother Goose's Caboose..2011 RP171..07 Grand Cherokee 
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Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2013 at 11:03pm
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Agree. I used a 2003 Toyota Sienna for years with a (much heavier) popup, then the pod. The real problem for me wasn't hills as long as they were on back roads. The problem was highway speeds with hills and/or headwinds. You can find a dealer that will complete the purchase ahead of time via fax/courier, then can get the paperwork to customs before you even cross the border heading south. Hitch up, get through customs and you are on your way. I've heard of this being done before. ------------- Doug ~ '98 Coleman ('05-'09) ~ '10 171 ('09-'15) ~ 2008 Salem ('14-'23) ~ 2019 Keystone ('23-now) ~
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Posted By: Tilly
Date Posted: 03 Feb 2013 at 8:06pm
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I pull mine with a van that does 3500 and I talked to a guy today who tows with a 3500 suv and he has been in the mountains in the western us and says it is ok for him. With a bad wind I have to go slower. |
Posted By: Snowbound
Date Posted: 11 Feb 2013 at 2:40am
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HI, We love our Pod but were told it could be pulled with a Grand Caravan. A couple of short (two hours at most) trips soon convinced us to buy a second vehicle with more oomph. We now tow with a Dodge Durango and what a difference! The Durango barely notices the Pod while we could feel the Caravan struggling. The Durango takes lots of gas so we don't drive it much around the city, just once or twice a week on short errands. Those first trips were in the mostly flat terrain around Edmonton, not in the mountains or anywhere you might expect your vehicle to struggle. ------------- Tom and Bette in our 177 "The Gastropod" |
Posted By: Paige
Date Posted: 14 Feb 2013 at 7:30pm
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We tow with a Rav 4, 6 cylinder with the heavy duty tow package. It pulls smoothly and we live in upstate New York. We wanted the Rav for its good mpg (22) but when we pull the RPod, it drops to 10 mpg,,,and we were very disappointed with that...and that is doing 60 mph. So we take it slow. Most of our trips are around New York or in the winter around Florida. We love it. ------------- Paige and Pete 2010 177 - RPug 2012 Rav (six cylinder) New York & Florida residents 
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Posted By: ron_whitt
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2013 at 2:11pm
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Ryan as for the cost, we bought our 2012 177 fully loaded, raisers, dome, AC, micro/conv. etc. for little over 16k taxes in. As for your tv a rateing of 3500lb is very close to max. for safety I'd think twice on that one. What ever tv you get make sure you install a tranny cooler couple hundred now will save several thousand down the road. ------------- Ron & Shirley 2020 Tacoma 2012 177 rpod |