Aliner Aliner Travel Trailer reviews

I am a first time trailer owner. I did a lot of research on line (You Tube has GREAT informative videos!) and had long conversations with the dealer before I decided to purchase the Scout Lite. I admit that there was still a lot I didn’t know but at that point I figured I needed to just plunge in. My Subaru Outback has 2700 lb towing capacity and that limitation was a primary driver of my choice. The trailer is under 1500 lb dry weight. Perfect so far. The roof and walls were very easy to open. But the quality of the components leaves something to be desired and that’s probably intentional to reduce weight. After using it once I noticed that the roof locks seemed to be out of position, causing grinding and obvious wearing away of the insulation near the connector holes on the roof. The rear window shade would not raise fully on one side. I called Aliner and they immediately said they would send me a new shade. After at least a month and not having received the shade I called Aliner back and they said they had sent the shade to the dealer. I called the dealer and they said they had had the shade for awhile but never called me to schedule an appointment for installation. Well I finally made an appointment and the replacement was installed perfectly. Then I noticed that one of the windows wouldn’t latch securely. All these issues made me guess that the entire frame was out of alignment. That’s what happens when the brand is so popular that it sells immediately after it is shipped to the showroom.I felt as though I should act fast as it might be a year before a a new order could be filled. Other issues included cabinet latches that pull out of the doors easily, the bubble windows on either end of the trailer are too low for an adult’s head to fit into when sitting at the dinette or at the other end. I should have waited for a model with dormers. Others are that insulation at the peak of the roof became loose and now needs to be tucked back into place when the roof is raised. The weather stripping around the door started to fall off right away. The front door lock is finicky and sort of flimsy. There is a large storage compartment under the front bed but it was awkward to access as you had to lift the entire cushion out to open it. I solved that problem by dividing the cushion at the edge of the compartment door and making a new cover for the smaller piece. Then all I needed to do was lift out the small cushion. The sink is really too small to use. The interior is really too small for more than 1 person and their gear. I weathered a couple of torrential California rainstorms this winter and stayed dry. I love the leather-like fabric on the cushions but I made dog-proof ones to go over these just in case. The most aggravating problems were electrical as the 12V outlet near the forward bed does not work. On my 3rd camping trip both 110 outlets failed and the problem was not related to GFI, fuses or breakers. Might be related to work I had done, not construction of trailer. You need to use a Zamp solar panel if you want to charge the battery using the Zamp connector on the trailer. I bought Jackery solar and will need to connect the panel cord to the shore power outlet using an adapter. Bottom line: Final assessment: good for single campers with very simple needs who do not need a lot of gear to store. I need a bigger, more comfortable trailer. Show less

We traded an '05 Scout for the new twin-bunk Aliner Expedition in July 2020. First, the cable on the camper was too short to reach the plug in my 4-Runner, so I had to pay more than $200 for an extender right off the bat. We stayed in a local park the night we took delivery and the Dometic Refrigerator wouldn't get cold. When we returned it to the dealer the next morning a tech found that the fridge compartment was so packed with foam insulation that the fridge wouldn't function. Excess foam was removed and we went on our way. While "dry camping" in August '21 the refrigerator failed again while running on propane. {we have medication that has to be kept cold, so had to buy a cooler for the rest of our trip.} The panel wouldn't light up, even on AC, so after we got home we took it to the closest Aliner dealer. The tech found that a fuse had been shoved into the converter panel "crossways" and created an intermittent short which ultimately blew another 30 amp fuse in the battery harness. Since the camper was out of warranty the service and repairs cost $92. Apart from the stressful, aggravating experiences with the refrigerator I also found that 3 of the 6 roof and dormer latches are mis-aligned so that the "hook" part on top doesn't engage squarely with the plate on the bottom. One latch is also mounted so closely to the roof "lifter" that it's hard not to pinch a finger. The screws in the lenses on the exterior lights are badly rusted already. Inside the camper we noticed that the sink basin is canted and the collar holding the trap underneath was never tightened, causing a leak. The "wall" of the cabinet housing the cassette toilet was wobbly, and I found that there were no screws fastening it to the rear bracket. While it may have been our own misunderstanding, I expected the post for the dining table to be the solid "twist lock" design shown on the videos. Nope. Same wobbly, pinch fit design that we hated in the MUCH less expensive Scout. Our frustrating, aggravating experiences with the fridge spoiled our annual trip to our favorite campground this year, and we are very disappointed in the lousy overall workmanship in what's billed as Aliner's top of the line camper. What we thought would be an exciting upgrade left us wishing we'd kept our old Scout. Show less