Thanks for pointing this out. The questions is: What do you prefer? We have a diesel heater in our Patriot and we prefer that because we always have plenty in the tanks before we go out, and sometimes refilling the propane tanks can be a hassle. In our case only the generator runs on the propane.

It's not a bad idea, and we may eventually start doing more in-depth reviews of single units in our videos. It's a balancing act between providing too much info and too little. Rose thinks Dan just likes standing in all the showers, and laying on all the beds. Thanks for your comment.

Yes, we were also shocked that the dealership had both the Jayco & Entegra, and we were expecting to see a lot more differences between the two units. Aside from exterior styling, they did appear identical. We also liked the floor plan in the Mercedes quite a lot, but didn't like that we would have to sacrifice the outdoor kitchen. We think the popularity of RV's this size, especially the off-road capable ones is going to increase in the coming years. We can't wait to see what new design ideas will appear next. Thanks for the comment.

If there are no competing dealerships in the immediate area/city/town carrying the other line, they probably just sent excess inventory.

We agree that the Mercedes is much more comfortable than the other EKKO. We are not big fans of the side-by-side seats in the Ford EKKO even though we discovered that there is a way to separate them for travel. (The one seat is still very tight against the wall) The "dinettes" in the other two weren't bad considering the very limited amount of space they have to work with. We remain impressed at the ability of the engineers to squeeze so much functionality into such a small footprint. Thanks for your comment.

You are very welcome. We really enjoy discovering these RVs and sharing them with you folks. Happy Travels.

We agree that it would be useful to have a comprehensive information source for manufacturer build quality. However, it might be difficult to find an objective opinion where sometimes these analyses may be very subjective. A "Consumer Reports" for RV's might be useful if there are assurances that the information is not tainted by sponsorships. In the meantime, we must rely on posts and videos from customers, and try to weed out the "subjective" information. There are individuals who will perform RV inspections, and you may want to consider that before you make such a large purchase. There would be a cost involved though. Thanks for bringing up this topic.

There are RV inspectors, they aren’t cheap, but they can spot many issues you may not even know about.

Yes, we definitely prefer a dry bath when we can get it. All these models have 5.3 cu ft. 12V refrigerators. Good question. Thanks.

The Fords are just under 23 feet long and the Mercedes is about 24 and a half feet. Sorry, to get all the specs out we only post them for a brief time. You can pause the video there to get them all. I hope that helps. Thanks for the question.

One thing we do like about all of them is that large storage (garage) in the rear. It's a game changer for a small utility RV. Thanks for posting.

A good point.

We agree that some of these "shelves" look good in the showroom, but in actual use, they may be useless at keeping everything in place. We do have a diesel in the Patriot, and by most accounts they do have a reliability and resale advantage over gas motors. I guess we'll have to see if that is true over time. One additional thought on DEF: We filled the first time using a box of DEF we found at WalMart, but then we discovered it is much cheaper to fill at the truck stop at the pump. We were surprised at the massive price difference. Luckily, we don't have to refill very often, and when we do, it's usually only 3-4 gallons. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

You make a good point, although diesels generally get better gas mileage, it is usually not enough to justify the cost gap. Last year we found some gas stations in Nevada where the gas and diesel prices were within a few cents of each other, but we think that is a very rare occurrence. Dan is with you on the Granite Ridge, it is the one he probably would have chosen as well. Happy Travels.

We have become big fans of the lithium batteries coupled with large solar arrays. Paired with a "soft-start" air conditioner, they are a game changer. Thanks for the post.

They all sleep 2, but the Winnebago has an optional "pop-top," and with that option it can sleep 4.

Nope, none of these units have slides.

Yeah, Dan does get ahead of the camera person (Rose) more than a few times. We're half fast, but we're working on it. Thanks for the comment.

Yes they do, and it explains why the Condor and Granite Ridge are nearly identical. However, please keep in mind that Thor owns Tiffin, and the quality differences between those two brands couldn't be further apart. Only time will tell if that will continue. We were recently treated to an in-depth discussion on why so many manufacturers sell the same models under different names. We may be making a video on that topic in the future. Thanks for your comment.

Thanks for pointing that out. We're 100% sure that these portable cook tops are meant to be used on the counter or on the outdoor table. It is nice to have that option in these smaller Class C's. It's also nice to have the option to remove it entirely if you know you're not going to use it to conserve space. Thanks for the comment.

Wow, that was a long one! It is so funny you should mention truck campers, because our RV search began several years ago after watching a video of the Northern Lite 10-2. Dan really liked the idea of having a living space detachable from the "tow vehicle" without having to haul a trailer around the country. We really liked the full body fiberglass construction and all-season capabilities of the Northern Lite. Some of the best features of the truck campers we looked at, were the huge beds & large refrigerators. At the time, we moved away from the idea of a truck camper because we wanted to be able to access the rear while driving, In hindsight, this may not have been as much of an advantage as we thought at the time (Not having RVed before). The points you make regarding the advantages to the truck campers are right on track. We're not too sure why truck campers are not very common in the southern United States. Maybe it's because the lack of mountainous terrain and cold weather keep those concerns far from our minds. In Florida, even today you have to drive a significant distance to even find a dealership that carries truck campers unless you live near Tampa. That influenced our decision at the time as well. If you've seen our "Hunt for the perfect RV" video at the Florida RV Supershow, you will see that we were in shock at the amount of space in the Mammoth model. It had more than twice the living space of any of these "Mini Class C's." (We love the name, and hope you won't mind if we borrow it) We are hopeful that your comment will encourage potential RV buyers to at least consider truck campers as they have a lot to offer. As far as the comparisons in this video we completely agree with you about the refrigerator, cabinets, light upholstery, cassette toilet, firm cushions, flooring, shower door, and high price tags. You make many excellent points and we are so happy you took the time to make all these observations. Our intention with this video was to let anyone who is considering a Winnebago EKKO know that there are other options. Thank you so much for your post, your contribution is very educational & helpful.

@@halffasttravelers2702 in google, type in truck camper magazine. They post all truck campers for sale and where across the usa at dealers weekly. N all kinds of helpful info about how to select one etc. 😉. And not having access to the drivers seat really isn't a big deal and not worth the convenience at the mini c's price tags imo. I follow a gal named kimann chessa who lives in her cirrus truck camper fulltime on her own. She had a truck issue took off her camper n stayed in it at a casino parking lot for a few days while her truck was being fixed. Imagine if that was a mini C 😱. And well, she too doesn't find it a big deal not having driver access, pros n cons, it's what works best for u and at what price tag. But because those class C n B's r so overly priced, many have gone the truck camper route, better bang for the buck. 🍻

Spyker....What truck camper and truck do you prefer? Thanks for your knowledge and thoughts on everything.

@@Rottingboards oh boy, this isn't a short easy answer....I bought a new ram dually 5 yrs ago, my first truck, because i was reading guys were saying ford engine harder to work on, so more labour costs, cause more had to come out of engine to fix anything, but mostly because and at the time, ram was the 'king of the pulls', had the most torque n horsepower for pulling. i wanted the best at the time to pull a 42ft fifth wheel up mountains without worry, n she did, but also ram had the best diesel engine and exhaust brake. If I were to start my research over again today 🤔 for sure it wouldn't be a ford with the CP4 fuel pump nightmare. Research how it's a nightmare of big bucks when it fails. I'm not sure if I would choose ram again, i would compare others. Why? Although i do love my truck, love the exhaust brake, n awesome power, i'm wondering if i should start a class action law suit against ram for their failure ABS module, a part i have been waiting for on back order since last September and a part they haven't even done a recall on, so 2G comes out of my pocket to fix! yes seriously! I hear ram is reengineering the part. But this long of a wait is beyond ridiculous, and because of that, yes i would definitely compare the other manufacturers. Being i already had my dually truck i kept it for my truck camper, I solo RV now, so no I wouldn't buy a dually again for a truck camper if I were starting all over, it's a bitch to get the camper on n off by myself because a dually u have a couple of inches on both sides, if u have a partner then fine, single wheel truck a lot easier to load n unload as a solo. So then yes, my camper would be smaller too if I didn't have a dually. But yes i would buy a 3500 size single wheel truck over say a 2500 engine because truck campers aren't light, payload higher on a 3500 vs a 2500. Think about mountains eh! Lol. I'm on my 4th rv now, I choose to buy new, the northern lite truck camper for many personal reasons. I'm not young anymore. Rv's are a lot of maintenance, so i picked one that will be the least work to look after. I choose a fibreglass camper because they don't have seams everywhere on every corner holding the walls together like artic fox, host, lance etc truck campers. They are built like a clam shell. More solid, only worry about the seals to the fixtures (roof vents, ac etc) Hate the Tpo, rubber roofs as they are higher maintenance, n tear easily. No slides -No slide motor to worry about n no rubber membranes to maintain clean n lube. Plus a slide, they r drafty in cold weather deployed. Resale value holds longer on fibreglass campers. I compared bigfoot to northern lite two yrs ago. Bigfoot was a big no, because i read a lot of comments of their very poor customer service, plus i found their website was a mess. They updated their websites floor plans n changed things around in the middle of my researching, it went from being bad to worse. If they r that careless about customer service n their website imagine how they care about building their campers 😱. Your decisions to buy a truck n camper has a lot to do with the weight of a camper the truck can carry safely, how much you want to pay, how much your willing to look after. Careful truck campers are a lot heavier than many realize, n what many manufacturers make u believe. Research to death google n utube. Saw a vid a guy bought an artic fox took it to the scales n was ticked how much heavier it was then it said. But fibreglass ones are lighter. If NL didn't exist I would have gone with the next best, artic fox. I wouldn't consider any Host camper (mammoth etc), because of their ridiculous price tag, n the sloppy builds - utubers have shown in brand new ones. Plus you'll need a beefy truck, a 4500 or 5500 to properly carry one. Wouldn't buy a lance either, way too many complaint's on lance anything when i was researching, plus their quality n build is nothing like they use to be. Now Poorly thought out designs, n terrible storage n so spacious cause no cupboards! 🤣. They r over priced too for what you get, artic fox far superior to lance imo. Yes I love my camper. It came with the dometic hotwater tank, big deal for me, means aluminum tank, no anode rod needed, N yes a lot less maintenance, suburban water heater have the anode rod n yes pain in the arse to look after. And my camper has a three way fridge, runs on battery, propane or shore power, having options is superior don't be fooled by the hipe of 12v only fridges. They r cheaper to make than absorption fridges. N Not unless u have a lot of solar n a lot of lithium amp hours would i want a 12V fridge right now. Also I had to have a built in generator, can't lift a 60 lb anymore, things to think about, and no way was i hauling a generator n hooking one up in the rain lol! So your choices of truck n camper will have a lot to do with what will work for u! 🍻

@@SpykersB Thanks for posting this reply. There is so much good information in here. You include the answers to so many questions that buyers don’t know they should be asking. We hope you continue to enjoy your TC for years to come.

We're not going to disagree with you on this, but we will say that we have noticed differences in quality levels between models even those owned by the same holding companies. For example; Tiffin is owned by Thor, but the construction quality could not be any more different. Thanks for your post.

@@halffasttravelers2702 So this construction on the new Jayco seems better?

@@timpfluger Obviously every RV is different, but we have noticed that the Jaycos we have seen appear to be built a bit better. We would definitely recommend you compare the two before making a purchase so you can make your own assessment.

@@halffasttravelers2702 Thor purchased Tiffin not that long ago, give it some time and tiffin will be junk too

We hope so much that they will be able to maintain their higher quality standards. Only time will tell.