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Mingy, Now let's not get too snarky here. Those of us with Ollies are fortunate not to have a unit with all the problems inherent in many stick-built units. (or hail magnets) "Stickies" do come in at a price point some can just afford to help them get their family out making smores around a campfire, or dipping a fishing pole into the water. It's about getting out there, after all. While they will not have the stamina of an Ollie. They do serve a purpose during their comparatively brief lives. Pete

I had heard that but did not want to spread rumors. The plaques are very nice 3 color plaques and that's nice of Oliver to do. I also heard they will mail them to Oliver owners that do not attend the rally.

Hey Ken and Judy! If you look at my profile, you will see that I named my Airstream "The Silver Sieve." If I wanted to design a TT to rot itself out, I couldn't do better than an Airstream. Replacing one axle and the AC? The nearest dealership wanted $5000.00. I told them that I wanted Sandra Bullock to call me "Big Daddy" but that wasn't going to happen either. It is somebody's hunting camp now and I am towing an Ollie. No regrets.

This is where some of us park our shoes and boots. I usually keep my house shoes there while I am out getting dirty.

I think for you the best thing you can do is find someone who is pulling travels today and can help you with instruction on how to do things the correct and proper way. I do find that at the Casita Rallies that there are always people there to help new owners on backing, setups, and just things you need to know. I would never suggest that you just start off down the road form the dealer and learn as you go, too many factors involved here. I myself have been towing trailers of all types for over 55 years and even today things arise that need to be given some thought before going on, that is making the wrong decision can be very costly and even dangerous to you and others. I don't know if there are classes on RV towing, but there should be from what I've seen some people doing with there trailers. I feel you can do it, just get the proper training from someone who knows. trainman

As for the Airstreams, the interiors seem to appeal to me, the mixture of materials, material textures, and layouts appear well thought-out. Although the "spacecraft" looking exterior give the RV a cool factor, it, in fact, represents a weak point in the design. Given the frailty of the external material to damage, and the subsequent leaking and eventual floor rot, any prospective owners should be very wary. Given that the construction methodology of the vast majority of RV's are "stick built", covered in a skin, I view the Airstream as very similar, but covered in a substandard shell. Other than looks, I would rather have the various layups most RV manufactures use on their exteriors. Add to this a very low ground clearance, limited options, and a premium price, an Airstream is just a standard issue RV, with expensive lipstick. It is my opinion, sure, and thousands of Airstream owners would disagree with me. Not dissing the brand, but explaining why I do not believe the Airstream is the top "quality" brand. Were I to scrutinize the Oliver build in a similar fashion, it would be mostly directed to the materials used in the interior. It is not a quality issue, but more a interior design kind of thing. As great as the Oliver BOM (Bill of materials) is on the important stuff, the cushion material, fabric selection, and perhaps ducting layout could use a little more attention. Again - my opinion. To be clear, we purchased our Oliver after viewing the build, carefully examining the materials, design intent, and manufacturing process. I'm a function guy. Looks are indeed usually just skin deep. I will admit, the initial price shock was hard to overcome, but you do get what you pay for. I fully expect our Oliver to look and function as well in ten years as it did the day we took ownership. RB

We to have been going back and forth between the Oliver Elite II and the Airstream 23FB and this week decided to go with the Oliver. We own a Casita at this time and have fallen in love with the fiberglass trailers over the last two years. When camping at rallies we toured many Olivers, Escapes, and Bigfoots and always told ourselves that the Oliver would be our next trailer. I have to admit that we almost went with the Airstream, but something keep telling me the Oliver was what we really wanted and a trailer built the way I like stuff done, 1st class all the way. The airstream defiantly has more room, duct-ed A/C, bath with a separate shower, Nev-R-Lub wheel bearings, etc., but I think once the fiberglass thing bites, your hooked. We know we made the correct decision with the Oliver and will never look back. Two different trailers, where the Oliver says camping at its best both in a camping ground, or boondocking, where the Airstream for me says, camping grounds only. trainman

Only one way to work on that Sonic. With a match.

I have the same front mount reciever that you’re looking at mounted on the front of my ‘13 Land Cruiser. Or I should say it was. I took it off before driving to Moab last week with the Land Cruiser and the Oliver. Later this week I’ll put the front reciever back on so I can easily back my LE II back into its winter storage spot for another month or two. Its great for moving the trailer around the yard. The rise on my drawbar might be even taller than the one you show. No issues, I’m just glad it goes on and off easily. It hangs pretty low. Fine for pavement, but for even mild off road it’s too low. Can’t comment on changing the oil with it in place, but that might be an issue. Just moving the trailer around your yard or a campsite? The hitch and drawbar you show will be fine.

That is your typical construction for a “better quality” RV, the pic is an excellent way to see what NOT to have in a legacy trailer. How many leak points, marginal materials and water traps can you see in that screen capture? https://www.venture-rv.com/products/sonic-travel-trailers/construction.html I think Oliver Trailers should make a similar graphic showing a cutaway Elite II..... John Davies Spokane WA

Anyone that attends the rally will be getting one of the plaques. I saw them a couple of months ago. They are NICE.

Ken & Judy - I viewed that video earlier this morning. As it was playing, I could not help but compare my Oliver on a point by point basis. Not only did the Oliver compare favorably on the Airstream negatives but it also did great on what Loloho thought were positives (for the Airstream). Kind of like having the best of both worlds! Bill

Nan - None of us like paying taxes! But, try to put that tax paying chore into a bit of perspective. Back when you started saving your money into that 401K plan (and/or IRA) you didn't pay taxes on that money (at least on the Federal level). Then, for all those years that you had that money in those plans you earned interest and dividends on BOTH the money that you deposited AND the tax amount that you didn't have to pay when you made the original deposit. So, now when you want to withdraw those funds you have to pay the taxes but you are at least paying with some of the monies that you have earned on those tax monies that you didn't originally pay. Certainly a classic case of "pay me now" or "pay me later" (from the government's point of view) but at least it is a bit comforting (to me at least) to know that I've been earning money on those taxes that I should have paid originally. A second thought - please don't take the broad brush negative comments by some people about Wells Fargo as proof positive that the entire organization is BAD. In any organization of ANY size, there are good and bad people and things that should be avoided. Yes, Wells Fargo got caught doing things in parts of that organization that were not according to law, regulation or common decency. However, that does not mean that everyone in that organization or every part of that organization is/was bad. Financial institutions are constantly reviewed by several Federal and State regulatory agencies and "must" adhere to volumes of standards and regulations that touch virtually every part of that business. It is one of the higher regulated businesses that we have. Certainly when an institution (your bank, auto mechanic, airline, hair dresser, etc., etc.) fails to abide by acceptable standards and/or regulations (and are caught - which I believe they all will be caught in due time) our trust in them is somewhat eroded. When that happens (and ideally we should be doing this at all times) we should take a closer look at our dealings with them and decide for ourselves if that institution and the people within it continues to warrant our trust and/or business. Having said all this, I believe that depending on your own amount of financial expertise, you should treat major financial decisions in a manner similar to how you should treat major health decisions - if there is ANY doubt in your mind as to your course of action, you should seek a second opinion. Bill

My wife and I ended up financing for exactly those reasons - for us the cost of the money was less than what we earn from it, and of course pulling the money out would have meant taking a capital gains hit. So in the end, the financial benefit of financing outweighed our psychological resistance to debt. But we're both still earning incomes and the debt will be gone by the time we retire, so perhaps our resistance wasn't so great. If we were retired, we might have made a different decision - who knows. The great thing about the Ollie is that so long as I don't drive it off a cliff, it will still be going strong when the debt is payed. I'm not sure if you can really go wrong by financing, barring some market disaster, so long as you don't need the credit for something else. What I mean is that you can always pull the money out later if you decide to pay it off. And I think with the Ollie's resale value, you're unlikely to ever be upside down on the loan. The truck may be a different matter, of course. Then again, my wife keeps the checkbook, so my advice probably isn't worth much more than maybe the comfort of knowing that most all of us have weighed the same decision.

One interesting thing about an Oliver that sets it apart from all other (mass produced) RVs is the resale value. In the current economy their values are holding very high, they hardly depreciate at all, so if you needed to sell yours, it would not be a huge financial loss like for a Thor-built plywood junker. HOWEVER, when the US economy tanks again, in a year or two or five, the artificially booming RV market will definitely collapse with it and it will be much harder to sell your Ollie, and the price will inevitably be lower. Because the production numbers are so low, there is no real way to know a used one’s true Blue Book value and RV dealers are reluctant to buy and sell them. So you have to sell privately. When the economy tanks your financial investments will too. Especially if they are based on the stock market. Not good. The point is that it is a real gamble if your finances are shaky in any way, and as we turn grey you never know when a medical emergency might happen. Some of the trailers listed here have been due to unexpected medical bills. It is unfortunate but a fact of life. In your shoes instead of raiding my money reserves I probably would be shopping for an older easy to handle self contained Class B motorhome like a Roadtrek that has already depreciated, to buy outright and use for a year or more. The shorter ones can even be used as a daily driver. If you like the lifestyle you can sell the house while living in the RV, order an Ollie and look for a low miles Certified Used truck, or a new heavily discounted one, and then sell the current RV for a minimal loss. Don’t liquidate your retirement savings unless you have a very dependable second income. I am not a financial advisor, nor do I play one on the Internet, so don’t believe me or anyone here. Talk with a trustworthy one who charges for his services and who is NOT trying to sell you something on commission. This is my own advisor, look at her description, and try to find somebody close by who is similar. Or give her a call, I highly recommend her and she might be able to offer a referral, or she can do everything for you remotely. If you hire her, she is not cheap but you won’t end up with some weird annuity you don’t need and you can trust her to be completely working for your best interests. .... https://www.financialtrex.com/faq/ https://www.financialtrex.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-financial-planner/ Get your investments “tuned up” for a coming downturn. Change banks (Wells Fargo is plain BAD - Google “Wells Fargo problems”.) Don’t make any major moves before confirming that they are good moves. Remember - I said to don’t trust me! ;) Good luck. John Davies Spokane