Why did we choose the Coleman Lantern LT 17B vs. used or other choices?
Why the Coleman Lantern LT 17B? That is a great question, and one that took us months to find the answer for. We started wanting to camp with friends and family but wanting to evolve out of tents like many families do. This at first led us to look at the pop up tent trailers. The ones we saw new were nice, but the old ones, well they were pretty well loved by the time we saw them. The lack of a bathroom of really any privacy led us to look elsewhere.
“We spent months searching new and used looking for the perfect fit for us.”
Quickly we moved to hybrid trailers. Here we really enjoyed the pop out sleeping space that allowed your living space in the trailer to be just that, really living space, vs beds. We simply couldn't find one used in our price range that we could also tow with our Toyota 4Runner named Ruby.
Moving on we got to your normal travel trailers and literally looked at hundreds of them. If budget is no concern and you want to spend $24k there are a ton of options. We however were not sure we would love this RV lifestyle and wanted to explore at a lower price point, either by buying used or through a cheaper newer option. Used, well let me tell you, people love their campers! Used generally means these were well used and lots of work would have to go into making it ours and making it livable.
Enter the Coleman Lantern LT 17B priced at about $16K and was on sale, for about $10,900. Now buying a trailer is much like buying a car, so stand by for my advice on how to negotiate your trailer purchase. We got a fair deal for sure on it. This trailer met our list of requirements which were:
We wanted to have bunks for the kids while they still like being around us.
Had to have a restroom - and while his has that, the shower is a bit short and there is no sink, but we didn't care.
Had to be well under the 5,000 lbs the 4Runner Ruby can tow, and this is about 3,000 lbs so check.
Had to be closer to $10k than $20k
Had to be short enough to fit in our driveway - neighbors will love us
Had to be from a brand we recognized, there are some questionable quality trailers out there...
The 17B checks all those boxes. How do we like it you ask? Don't have any idea as of this writing we haven't taken delivery yet! Watch for more as we go on our adventures.