Is owning a travel trailer always this stressful? Starting to wonder if this life is for me...
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Genuine question for experienced owners.
I bought a used 2016 StarCraft 17SB hybrid travel trailer about 3 weeks ago for $8500, and I feel like I've spent more time fixing and worrying than actually enjoying it put into $4000 into it to make sure it was good to go water intrusion wise.
So far I've dealt with:
- Rebuilt bunk door and a full exterior reseal before I even picked it up.
- New tires and bearing service.
- Learning how to winterize/dewinterize without messing something up.
- Plumbing confusion with low-point drains.
- Grey tank sensor doesn't work.
- Grey tank filled up way faster than I expected and backed up into the kitchen sink.
- Shower barely drains, even when the grey tank isn't obviously full.
- Toilet started leaking around the base after adding a little water back into the black tank.
- Constant worry about black tanks, grey tanks, dumping, sanitizing, flushing, etc.
I rented trailers for years before buying one and honestly... it felt so much less stressful. Pick it up, enjoy the weekend, return it.
Financially it almost seems cheaper too once you factor in repairs, maintenance, storage, insurance, and all the little things you end up buying.
I'm not trying to complain—I genuinely want to know if this is just the steep learning curve for first-time owners, or if some trailers are just constant projects.
Does it eventually become second nature where you just hook up and go camping? Or are you always fixing something?
Starting to wonder if ownership just isn't for me.