Questions about 2499

[TruckerTed]

Hello all you owners of model 2499;
Wow you have good taste! We have finally seen our first T2499 and what a cute trailer that is. It was in a town about 3 1/2 hours from where we line in Ontario Canada. The one we saw was a 2005 never sold yet. Now we have some questions.
1 Do you feel the AC and Furnace are adaquate?

2 Since Sunline is closing and there is no real warranty do you belive the Canadian dollar price befor taxs is $22,350.00 is a good value? He said he would warranty it himself for 6 months. He would add in the 2 maxivent covers. The predelivery is 350.00.

3 Has the height of the hitch caused any problems for anyone? We are planning on Towing it with a Ford F150 4x2 with the 5.4 engine and 3.73 rearend.

4 Any opinions on what hitch is best for towing this size trailer?

If, after checking some dealers in Detroit , we buy from him we plan to give him some down payment and the rest when we pick it up with the plan to pick it up May 07. The warranty would start then and we would have time to use it and see if there are any flaws. Does this all sound like a good plan?

Ted

 

[donreitz]

Ted:
1. We have the standard A/C and it's worked fine for us. We had the misfortune of traveling through Kansas the summer of '05 when our thermometer registered 103 degrees. Although it took awhile for the trailer to cool down, it did and we slept comfortably that night.

The same for the furnace. If we're tied to shore power we'll use a small electric heater rather than the furnace. Otherwise the furnace puts out all the heat we need. As we generally don't camp in very cold weather you might want further advice on this.

2. I'm not sure how to answer this for you. My stock answer to the "Is this a good price?" question is to do the following: (1) obtain the MSRP, (2) subtract about 20 percent of that, and (3) expect to pay about that amount for the trailer alone. You can begin bargaining at whatever price you want, but expect to pay about 20 percent off list. If you get a better deal then great, but 20 percent off list is about right for Sunline quality (keep the trailer price separate from any offers the dealer makes for hitch installation or dealer-installed options since the actual price of the unit can get lost in the total cost).

Now in your situation I'd be leery of having no firm warranty, so a price reduction for that uncertainty is in order. How much? That's up to you. If you're confident the dealer will make good on any problem then there's not much justification for a significant reduction. If, on the other hand, you suspect you'll be stuck taking care of warranty work on your own, then get a better deal. As others have pointed out, much of what comes in a Sunline (applicances and such) are standard items warrented separately by the manufacturers anyway.

3. We tow our 2499 with a Silverado 4x4 that's stock but still sits pretty tall. Consequently we have an extended shank on our hitch. It's a standard size and you can find these at any RV dealer. Depending on the height of your truck you may or may not need the same shank. In any case, you won't have trouble finding a good match.

If you haven't already, you might want to check the towing capacity of your truck before going much farther with this. I don't know what your truck can tow, but we towed our 2499 for awhile with a Tahoe 5.3L/3.73 and it was just about all the Tahoe could handle. Stability was fine, but power was limited.

4. I hope you haven't asked this question on RV.net. If you have, you'll get a zillion responses, most of which won't help you (it's the same with asking about which brake controller is best). You'll have to make up your own mind, but I think it's fair to say that any reliable brand of hitch/weight distribution system will work well as long as it's intalled correctly and you use it correctly. We have a Reese Dual-Cam setup; it was resonably priced and it operates perfectly. If your dealer intalls another well-known brand, is willing to give you a good price, and knows how to install it correctly, then go with that.

Good luck.
Don

 

[Woodstock-SUN]

Hi Ted,

Welcome to the Sunline Owner’s Club. I hope you don’t mind me replying to your post as I own a T2299 not a T2499. While there are obviously differences there are many similarities.

The basic AC and furnaces in Sunline TT’s are adequate for each model. Upgrades are/were available for those that might have more extreme temperature swings to cope with. We have camped in sub freezing weather without a problem. Conversely, in the heat of summer our standard AC was never overwhelmed.

Pricing is a tricky question at this point as some are saying that extreme discounts should be the norm while others believe that we all own a classic piece of camping history that is worth normal pricing. The general rule when buying a new TT is a discount of 20% to 30% off MSRP (in my case I purchased my T2299 @35% off MSRP). I do not know what the MSRP is on the 2005 T2499, however, the MSRP on the standard 2007’s is $23,685 USD ($27,000 CAD ?) Many of the T2499’s that I have seen lately have an MSRP of $27,000 USD indicating several options. Is your prospective unit a standard model or does it have a lot of options? It is hard to comment intelligently on your price without knowing what, if any, options are installed. Having said all this, my gut reaction is that you might be overpaying for a 2 year old model. GoodOleBob or KanyonKitty will hopefully jump in here with some opinion. Both own new T2499’s with a lot of options and each did a lot of research.

I tow with a 2006 F150 4X4 SC w/5.4 3.73 LS axle. Unloaded dry weight of my TT is 4200 lbs which is about 90% of a T2499, so I don’t think that you will have any towing problems. Just know that anything around 5,000 lbs is a real load to a F150 in spite of Ford's towing claims. I tow with an Equal-I-Zer WD hitch. I have experienced no problems what-so-ever with the hitch other than some creaky noises initially. Last summer I raced my brother in law in hitching up. He has a Reese set-up. There was no contest! I purchased the hitch for $400 to my door from RV Wholesalers and installed it myself in 30 minutes. I did have to get a different shank, however, as the standard shank did not have enough adjustment for my set-up. No cost change….just needed to go to the Equal-I-Zer web site hitch configurator to match a shank to my set-up.

I hope you find some value in my comments and, again, Welcome Ted.

David

 

[GoodoleBob]

Hi Ted,
Your on the verge of an important descision. Whether to buy a trailer from a maker that may be out of business, and what pricing is realistic at this point.
A two year old model of any Sunline should come with a suitable discount in my own opinion. But if...and this is a big IF these trailer do in fact achieve some sort of collectors value because of their reputation for build quality then some might say just grab one while you still can and be happy you did, That's all open to discussion and the truth of it may not be know for several years well after your finished shopping.
As Ted mentioned I just bought a 2007 model of the T2499. The base prices was as he mention $23685 USD and we added many options which brought the final MSRP to $31105 USD if I'm not mistaken. The dealer sold this trailer to us for $22999 USD. That's about a 25% reduction. Several other Subline dealers had offered us this same trailer at $25000USD.
The hitch was a separate purchase for the same dealer and it was the Reese Strait Line Dual Cam Sway Control. This is their latest version of that popular hitch arrangement and as others have noted just one of many good hitch option for this T2499. I paid $880USD for it installed and it included the extra deep drop assembly that my particular truck required. Not a bargain but considering all that it included I felt satified it was a good purhase. You can install one yourself and save some money too. That depends on your level of mechanical capability. In seeing the install they did I could have done it myself but didn't want to complicate the delivery day preceedings so opted for their labor.
If you trust this dealer and his warranty plan then the delayed delivery with a warranty startup date to match is a good plan. IF you trust them..again a big IF. Get it in writing as everyone always says.
The T2499 has an excellent towability inherent in it's design. Sunline really knows how to make a trailer towable. The sway will be almost non existant except for certain circumstance and then the sway control components you install will assist. My T2499 was delivery to me at 5600lbs. Heavier because of the various weight adding options we chose. That leaves me with a potential to add no more than 1400lbs more before reaching GVW. It will be a somewhat heavy T2499 compared to some others, but well within my trucks capability. Your truck being a 1/2 ton might not be happy pulling MY particular trailer at it's camping wt, but depending on how YOURS is equipped and it's final camping wt it may be just fine...That's homework for you to do. Hope this helps you a bit and we are so happy to have you join us here. I hope your Sunline shopping goes very well.

GoodoleBob

 

[kanyonkitty]

Hi Ted,
Welcome to the group, and hopefully welcome to the wonderful experience of Sunline ownership. Now, I will chime in with my opinion, and "IF" it ruffles someones feathers, remember: I'm blonde & Single So here goes:

Well for price, hard for me to compare as I'm not familiar with the exchange rate thingy. I can tell you what I paid for my 2006 Sunline with all my options $21,865. If I were in the market for a new Sunline, would I still purchase one with the closing of Sunline, no need to think about that, YES I would. Though I will sure miss the fine folks at Sunline, hope they can rebound. I would require the dealer to put his "promises" in writing, don't think you'll need to use them but since he offered, put it in writing.

I use a reese dual-cam high performance sway control, with a drop draw bar. My truck sits high, F-350 FX4 pkg, 18 in. wheels, camper pkg, etc, etc, etc,etc. :wink:

The A.C works great, and it really got a workout this summer. As for the furnace, haven't used it, as I have the electric heat strip option and so far that is all that I have used. I also carry a small electric heater, but haven't needed it. I try to use electric for everything when I pay for a campsite

I took time to decide on "which" Sunline to purchase, and what options I wanted and the 2499 was top notch for my needs. I love those back windows ( great views when I was out west ), the bathroom is large enough to function in, that squeegee shower door is great. I lost the front door due to having twin beds, but not a big deal to me.

I made this purchase to be a long long LONG lasting one, and I feel confident that Sunline can/will last as long as I plan to rv and then some.

My best friend has a 1982 T-1550 that is in perfect shape, and everything is still all original EXCEPT for the curtains !! Now, how is that for real quality?

Geesh, sorry, I'm ramblin' again, but I get on a "Sunny" roll and just keep going n going

If the price is what your willing to pay, go for it. IF Sunline can't recover, we'll all have CLASSICS!!!!!!!!!!