I’m just going to call it here – my confidence in Brinkley has gone down significantly after reviewing this incident (it is FAR bigger than just one camper owners experience)…
Brinkley RV is a relatively new RV manufacturer. They started their business just a few years back on the premise of building a better (towable) RV camper AND providing superior service and support.
A recent interview of a Brinkley RV camper owner with Liz Amazing however reveals a VERY different picture. As I analyzed the situation, I concluded that Brinkley could have done FAR better – starting with the original design of the camper – which I believe is flawed – and affects any number of camper owners.
What follows is an overview of the situation, my analysis and a link to Liz’s interview with the Brinkley RV camper owner so you can hear and judge for yourself.
My first experience with Brinkley
I’ve had my doubts about Brinkley since my initial experience with their 5th Wheel trailers and toy haulers in March 2023. In my first walk-through, I found attention to features that RV’ers will absolutely love, but a lack of attention to construction and frame issues. Storage was limited (in comparison to a similarly sized Arctic Fox trailer), shocks were not present; the frame is Lippert (as most use – BUT NOT ALL!) The bedroom was also VERY plain jane in terms of innovation and storage.
The Brinkley 235i – was it problematic from the get-go?
Now, in a very recent Liz Amazing video, I listened carefully to one owners experience that actually reveals FAR MORE than that individual owners challenges with their Brinkley trailer.
In all fairness, as you review Liz’s video, you’ll find that Brinkley was more helpful than Forest River or Thor would have been – but – these people paid FAR MORE for a camper than almost any travel trailer offered by either of these two giant (disasters.)
The owner volunteered their purchase price (in 2025) was about $68,000. for a 27 ft. couples travel trailer (Brinkley model 235i.) This is significantly more than one would expect to pay for competitors. This includes even quality competitors like Outdoors RV or Arctic Fox that frankly I have recommended to my Concierge RV Buying Clients – and incidentally I’ve yet to have an owner of these campers with significant problems.
About this Brinkley RV Experience – What Concerned Me Most…
Their most serious issue was clearly the furnace (or heater as they refer to it.) Liz’s video details the issue(s) they faced. My assessment after listening carefully is the original furnace system design was FLAWED and NOT functional. It’s CLEAR to me both from the owners report of his findings when he dropped the underbelly, and the make-shift repairs Bretz attempted to get the furnace to function. The “icing on the cake” was the owners report from the Brinkley group on Facebook where other 235i owners were reporting the SAME issue with the furnace.
It was also clear that Brinkley was TRYING to wash their hands of this situation! I’d expect as much from (you know who) in the RV industry – but Brinkley’s entire “pitch” is “we’re different.” Hmmm…
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A teachable moment…
I was also concerned to hear about the black tank issue where Brinkley told Bretz (the dealer) that they would only allocate 1 hour to fixing the black tank water flow issue.
Allow me to start here: This is why dealers HATE warranty work. They can’t (won’t) service a camper for longer than the manufacturer will approve for any given issue. Further, they are NOT paid their retail rate for service. In other words, an RV dealer’s service center may get $160. per hour for repairs and service outside of warranty work. Warranty reimbursements from the manufacturer may be HALF their retail rate! AND THEN the RV manufacturer limits the time they will pay to fix an issue!
This is what happened to these folks and to Bretz. So, I do not blame Bretz for not looking deeper as when the owner asked about putting paper down the commode to see what was blocking the black water flow.
As a side note, this is also why (in the RV world), RV dealers other than the one dealer who sold you the camper DO NOT want to do warranty work on your camper! The work-around for this that I’ve advised my Concierge RV Clients to follow is to (when under warranty), contact the RV manufacturer and request they cover the parts and labor cost of a mobile RV tech to fix their camper. What no manufacturer will cover however is the ‘house call’ fee charged by mobile techs.
Brinkley FAILED to maintain contact and respond to the camper’s owner
The owners also reported that even though they had a personal contact at Brinkley and they emailed that person on several occasions, they were not reliable about getting back with them.
To Brinkley’s credit, they did make good on some demands made by the owner (to make them whole) – but – in my view, things should NOT have gone as far as they did. Brinkley should have thought about the engineering of the furnace system BEFORE ever releasing this model! It concerns me as Brinkley seems to be expanding their trailer offerings RAPIDLY – which makes me wonder, what ELSE have they missed in other models?
Brinkley also did NOT put the customer FIRST when they limited time on the black tank issue. After Bretz put in the initial hour and didn’t solve the problem, Brinkley should have provided additional feedback AND additional time. It’s this kind of nonsense in the RV industry that drives me wild!
Conclusions
Brinkley still has a ways to go to prove themselves to me and incidents like this one paint a picture that is NOT promising. Many companies (in my view) start up with a plan to be bought out (by the “Big 3”.) It is not clear to me at this time that this is Brinkley’s plan, however, I maintain it IS possible. Only time will tell.
As I close, if you’re looking for a “guide by your side, who also has your back”, I work with my clients to help them purchase (or sell) an RV camper – and I will even negotiate for you! For a complete description of my Concierge RV Buying and Selling Services – along with my fee schedule, please see my post HERE.
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