So what was the outcome with Trails West and the trailer? what did it look like after they fixed it? Did they buy it back or did you just sell it?
here are some notes. Short story: i wasted a day of driving, hundreds in fuel and they didnt fix it. i asked them to buy it back and they refused. they reluctantly fixed it. didnt offer anything extra for their error.
-My Picture links werent working so i removed them. The pictures are the ones posted above-
my experience with TW was HORRIBLE... so much i just sold it after buying it new in january.
preface: i had a mirage on order then found this video online at night, canceled my order and ordered a TW that next day. i was SOLD on the prepped,prime,paint process
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug5K8tNFKb0
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Ug5K8tNFKb0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
picked it up 1/4/2013 in preston fresh off the line.. trailer pulls very well. it was extremely cold (-9) out so there was no water, salt, ice melt on the road. two week later i was installing etrack on the floor and was crawling under the trailer and found a TON of rust. some it of was obviously from lack of primer/paint but there was also a lot on the main rails coming up through the paint. i immediately took pictures and sent them to my dealer (Matt at Steer-in trailers who is AWESOME to deal with). Keep in mind these pics are two weeks from being built being driven on dry roads.
they said bring it to the factory to get fixed, because i bought it from montana and i'm in idaho so Preston was closer but its still 300 miles away. this summer my cousin got really sick and was in the hospital in Utah. i dropped the trailer off at the factory on the way down and met the production manager and sales manager to show them the rust, which had gotten a lot worse. they tried to act like it was normal, then they said that it was light surface rust, then they told me it was galvanized metal. if you watch the video on youtube (above) about their production process; it is VERY apparent that the bottom frame is not galvanized. To add to that i am a mechanical engineer that grew up in a sheetmetal shop and have worked in a sheetmetal shop for 7 years .... he wasnt fooling me. i was also worried that i got a "friday afternoon paint job". Shane and the production manager literally laughed at me for implying such a thing. the exterior paint job is VERY VERY rough, orange peel. hard to capture in person but ive have (2) different strangers checking out the trailer up snowmobiling and they mentioned something about it so i dont think its me being too picky. hard to capture in with a camera but it you look at the lights you can see it.
If everything else was perfect with the trailer i would have been 100% ok with this but with the rust it was frustrating.
they reluctantly said that they will sand it and spot fix the paint. i left it with them for 5 weeks to perform the repairs. they again almost laughed at me about the orange peel and were almost refusing to even look at it closely but i forced the issue. they made fun of me for expecting an automotive paint job. im not expecting that, but this was pretty rough. i called after 4 weeks to confirm it would be done, then the day that i was heading down both times being told that it was fixed. work got busy and i had to leave work later than planned so i was going to be there after 5. i called shane (the sales manager) and asked if there was an aftermarket number to call in case i had an issue. he rudely told me that there was no need. i then asked for his cell in-case i needed something and he told me no, there was no need. i got there and it was very dusty which made me a bit bothered because i thought they would make it look good. they put the jack on the ground so i couldnt get it high enough to my truck (it usually has a wheel on the bottom to add a couple inches in height). this annoyed me so i tried to find some wood around the yard to jimmy something up and decided to look under the trailer ..... they hadnt fixed ANYTHING!!!!!!!! i was furious beyond belief
Pics from condition they tried to leave it in:
As you can see the rust was getting worse ... not mild surface rust like they tried to pass it off as.
There were also a good 6-10 screws in the interior siding that had fallen out with in the first month of owning the trailer.
I sent them and email with pictures telling them i was very upset with the situation and they had 1 week to get it fixed and delivered to me by friday. Shane called monday and we had a heated debate. he was not apologetic. i told him how i had spent so much time and money to get it down there that i would like something for the trouble; a bench, shelf, spare tire .... something for the huge mess up. He started to argue with me that i had to drive to utah to see my cousin anyways. he then started to quote his warranty paperwork saying i was required to bring it to him. I told him that i didnt run my company that way; that we stand behind our product and installs regardless (HVAC contractor). the conversation didnt end well. he called friday and said it was done and a delivery driver would call me that evening to drop it off .... i didnt get the trailer until monday evening. it was fixed but the paint had a lot of runs in it .... not that it is a big deal but you would think they would take the extra mile to make it look good.
as i opened to side door i look down and noticed this:
more rust starting to pop up on the side of the trailer.
keep in mind i put 2 electric heaters in the trailer after riding and store it in our heater shop from sat night until sunday before the guys get into work so its cared for well IMO.
some stand features that i do no like:
the rear door can be heavy as the springs in the hinges dont take enough load off
the side door is EXTREMELY high; 33 inches off of the ground. im a fairly young guy in decent shape (32 years old, 6' tall) and it un-natural to get out. the charmac im ordering is around 7 inches lower. i found out you can request the door in a different spot but with the sloped floor you'll be limited
the door is trimmed with a thin piece of metal. literally the first time a sled was loading in the trailer (my dad) his stock pro ski caught it and dented it pretty deep. i bough ski slips after that but one night my buddies slipped off and it torn that trim piece half way off. its a poor design IMO. the charmac is trimmed in UHMW and is much better.
Things i like:
the floor is nice in some respects, but im going back to a lower deck with small inner fenders as we use the trailer to camp in and the tilted floors are weird to walk in (especially for toddlers at night lol)
the heater built in the front bench is a very nice feature.
