Anyone have a Fleetwood Highlander Camper?

[mash]

Does anyone have a Fleetwood Highlander series folding camper? What are your thoughts regarding this series of campers? We have a 1994 Fleetwood folding camper and are considering upgrading. We love our 1994 camper and have not experienced any problems with it. We love it but would like to have more room. We've looked at this camper series (haven't selected a specific model, yet) and it looks gorgeous. I think I would really enjoy having an oven, built-in microwave and continue to store it in our garage. Do you think it's worth the extra $$$$'s? I would love to hear opinions. Thanks Much!

 

[ORLCampers]

Hello - Yes, we have a 2005 Fleetwood Newport and love it. Some don't like the Newport since it doesn't have a slide out, but it works well for us and we like the outside storage trunk. We debated for a while about whether we needed the high wall, but the hard wall shower and potty are a nice feature. Very convenient to use the potty, change into bathing suits, or take a quick shower without having to empty everyone out of the camper.

We cook mostly outside on the grill or outdoor stove, but have used the indoor stove a few times. We used the oven once to make some cookies for the kids, but don't see using it too much. We use the microwave all the time to warm lunches, kids meals, etc. With that said, you can get the stove and Microwave on the non high-wall models so I wouldn't recommend basing your decision to get the highwall for the oven as you probably won't use it much.

Another topic which has been a subject of debate is the new "real potty" in the 2006 and 2007 models. This system uses a black water tank instead of a cassette so you need to either be hooked up to a sewer connection while camping, or take the trailer to a dump station at the campground to dump it. It's not an issue at FW as you can easily get a Full Hook up site with sewer, but if you camp at other places and don't have a sewer site, you just have to be vigilant about how often you use the potty and facilitate dumping. There are many threads on the pop-up message boards that debate this subject.

Lastly, keep in mind the weight of the high-wall Highlander trailers and whether your Tow Vehicle can handle it. Especially once you get it loaded with gear and supplies.

 

[mash]

Thank you very much for the response. You have given me some things to think about. We have a Ford Expedition as a tow vehicle so I wouldn't think that weight would be a problem. However, I will double-check the manual.

I didn't realize you could get a stove on the non-high walls. I'll go back and look at those. Would you say the biggest selling point of the highwall camper is the hardwall shower?

You brought up some great convenience points about the potty and shower that I hadn't considered and will definitely check out the differences in potties on the 2006 and 2007 models.

A trunk is a MUST! We have one on our existing camper and don't think we could live without it. It appears that the 2006 models don't offer a trunk on the Fleetwood website. It's convenient for putting extra stuff in while travel but it's also great to be able to access that stuff while it's stored in our garage (extra power cords for Christmas decorations!).

What about some of the other minor features like the double sink? That looks pretty cool. The counterspace looks a lot bigger and wider. Can you comment on these features and any others that you really like?

Thanks again for the feedback!

 

[ORLCampers]

The Americana and Destiny models do have a an inside stove (swing galley) so you can cook and also a small refrigerator. They do not have a Microwave or the oven. They also have outside storage trunks. There is alot of storage inside the camper on the high-wall, but having the outside trunk is better (IMO).

We have a 2005 model so ours doesn't have the double sink, but I wish it did. The ability to have clean and dirty sides would be nice, but since we have so much counterspace, we just use a drain rack.

I would say the hardwall potty / shower was a key feature we liked. Being that it is a cassette also helped. For the shower and sink drains we have a gray water collection tank so it's pretty simple.

I'm sure others can talk about other models (Jayco, Starcraft, etc) and their benefits you may be interested in. All in all, we are happy with our high-wall.