I traded in my travel trailer and upgraded to a 5th wheel since I got a new truck & purchased my 2019 Coachmen Chaparral 298RLS. I thought that I would really enjoy this model because of its compact layout that I could find- non bunk house- under 38ft in length. My first impression was it's awesome! However, after taking it out on my VERY FIRST camping trip last night, I had my slide out fail. It went out of alignment and had leaked water all inside of my unit. Now I have to go all the way back to my dealership to take in to MAYBE be covered under warranty work. If Coachmen didn't cheap out and used Schwintek slide out gears I was told I would have never had this issue! Now I'm noticing that the sealant around the windows has not been inspected and might leak as well. There are SEVERAL screws missing from the frame. I didn't do enough research about coachmen before hand and since I've encountered these issues, I see that it's apparent I should have listened to my neighbor who told me to only buy a Jayco.... I made an impulsive decision and now it looks like I'm going to be paying the price for it... I highly suggest taking a look at these other owners that also bought new and had similar coachmen issues. https://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/coachmen_rv.html?#sort=helpful&filter=none Show less

We bought this RV in July 2020, it is our second 5th wheel. We had actually researched and looked at several 5th wheels years before buying (we wanted to know exactly what we wanted before actually ready to buy.) We had settled on a Coachmen Chaparral front living. Our previous 5th wheel was a front living lay out and er loved it. We started having some issues with our first 5th wheel and decided we better get a new one before something catastrophic happened. So we went from planning to take our time to look around for the best deal, to needing to make a purchase quickly. We are full-time RVers so the 5th wheel is our home. Since we were looking during the pandemic, there was not much available on the lots. No Chaparral front livings within 500 miles of us (we were in Nebraska at the time). Found the 381RD in Iowa. The one we looked at was a 2020 and after some discussion the salesperson said she had a new 2019 model at there MN location that was new, exactly same furniture and layout as 2020 or were looking at and $2700 cheaper. I liked saving the money and also felt that maybe a camper not built during the pandemic would be better workmanship. So we bought and have loved it so far! We have been from Iowa to Arizona with it with several stops in between. Two minor issues, the sprayer did not work on kitchen faucet. Called factory and they sent a whole new faucet. Also small leak somewhere on fresh water tank that I have scheduled to go into dealership in July before warranty runs out, so we will see how that goes. We love the room that this unit provides, and although we really like front living layout, we have come to enjoy the rear living concept. So no regrets so far! Show less