Turtleback

[EPO]

Perhaps not the right forum but from their website today:

We are saddened to announce that, due to unforeseen circumstances, Turtleback Trailers will be halting production for the remainder of 2023.

It’s been such a great journey creating memories with you. We have loved every part of this community, and it’s tough to say goodbye for now. Thank you for your years of support and investment.

For questions about warranty work please contact us at update@turtlebacktrailers.com.

We wish you all the best adventures ahead. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being the greatest overlanding community. We will truly miss this herd.

Sincerely,

Your fellow adventurers at Turtleback Trailers

 

[CRYA]

Uh…unforeseen circumstances? Like the economy is in the toilet and people can’t finance $50k trailers…

 

[ekim952522000]

Hope all the people who had 50% non-refundable deposits in get there money back.

 

[SBSYNCRO]

April Fools joke? If there was a single company making off-road trailers that I would have bet on surviving the long term it would have been Turtleback just because of how long they have been around (relatively speaking) and how many customers there are out there and how loyal they are to the brand. ("The Herd"). I'm an owner of a 2019 Turtleback trailer and I just spoke with them about a week ago to plan a visit to PHX for some service. They were still taking appointments. I'll definitely be calling on Monday along with a hundreds of other people!

That all being said, I have seen a sharp uptick in the number of Turtleback trailers for sale within the owner's group on FB. An obvious sign of a weakening economy. I'd imagine that all RV and overland-oriented businesses ramped up sharply during the COVID shutdowns to meet demand. If they used debt to finance that growth, they are in trouble now as orders dry up and debt servicing costs skyrocket (and access credit tightens further for both the businesses and the consumers).

 

[Obsessed2findARuggedHybid]

I don't know how Imperial Outdoors (Xplore x145 and X195) and Palamino (Pause) are going to continue to sell thier 125k-165k trailers in this economy. Maybe they are so expensive potential buyers don't care a pay cash.

 

[etherbunny]

April Fools joke? If there was a single company making off-road trailers that I would have bet on surviving the long term it would have been Turtleback just because of how long they have been around (relatively speaking) and how many customers there are out there and how loyal they are to the brand. ("The Herd"). I'm an owner of a 2019 Turtleback trailer and I just spoke with them about a week ago to plan a visit to PHX for some service. They were still taking appointments. I'll definitely be calling on Monday along with a hundreds of other people!

That all being said, I have seen a sharp uptick in the number of Turtleback trailers for sale within the owner's group on FB. An obvious sign of a weakening economy. I'd imagine that all RV and overland-oriented businesses ramped up sharply during the COVID shutdowns to meet demand. If they used debt to finance that growth, they are in trouble now as orders dry up and debt servicing costs skyrocket (and access credit tightens further for both the businesses and the consumers).

I’d love to hear an update after you speak to them Monday. A turtleback trailer was going to be my next step up in a few years.

 

[EPO]

Though I'm not in the market for a Turtleback, I've always like their products and can only hope it's an April fools joke.

In the same vein, there is a very high end Class B Sprinter and Transit van manufacturer/seller where I live. Fantastic looking products. Their business has clearly slowed down. Used to be that a used van that they were reselling for a customer and their new "stock" (not custom) vans were sold immediately. Not the case anymore. List of vans hardly moving on their website for weeks even after some being marked down.

 

[sn_85]

Uh…unforeseen circumstances? Like the economy is in the toilet and people can’t finance $50k trailers…

To me "unforeseen circumstances" would be something tragic and catastrophic like the factory burned down or the CEO passed away. Obviously something immediate and unexpected. If they're calling "unforeseen circumstances" the recent economy, supply chain, material costs then it's clear they were short sighted. Hopefully we find out more about the situation.

I posted this on another thread but I never understood spending $40K on a military trailer. TBH I questioned their pricing model. $35-$40k for an Expedition 3. A trailer you still sleep in a roof top tent. They released a "basic" tub model called the getaway initially at $8k. Then after a few years the price ballooned to $20k for a tub. I don't think their price model was sustainable. At the end of the day people like camping and if they're spending $35-$40k on a product it better damn well come with a live-in quarter and some luxury.

 

[csphoto]

To me "unforeseen circumstances" would be something tragic and catastrophic like the factory burned down or the CEO passed away. Obviously something immediate and unexpected. If they're calling "unforeseen circumstances" the recent economy, supply chain, material costs then it's clear they were short sighted. Hopefully we find out more about the situation.

I posted this on another thread but I never understood spending $40K on a military trailer. TBH I questioned their pricing model. $35-$40k for an Expedition 3. A trailer you still sleep in a roof top tent. They released a "basic" tub model called the getaway initially at $8k. Then after a few years the price ballooned to $20k for a tub. I don't think their price model was sustainable. At the end of the day people like camping and if they're spending $35-$40k on a product it better damn well come with a live-in quarter and some luxury.

Thanks for letting us know that. Truly useful information from someone with no relevant experience. Nice to see this forum hasn't changed.

 

[sn_85]

Thanks for letting us know that. Truly useful information from someone with no relevant experience. Nice to see this forum hasn't changed.

What happened to the rest of the un-edited comment? Didn't want to come off sounding elitist?

 

[Hannahturtleback]

Perhaps not the right forum but from their website today:

We are saddened to announce that, due to unforeseen circumstances, Turtleback Trailers will be halting production for the remainder of 2023.

It’s been such a great journey creating memories with you. We have loved every part of this community, and it’s tough to say goodbye for now. Thank you for your years of support and investment.

For questions about warranty work please contact us at update@turtlebacktrailers.com.

We wish you all the best adventures ahead. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being the greatest overlanding community. We will truly miss this herd.

Sincerely,

Your fellow adventurers at Turtleback Trailers

Hi everyone!

Turtleback Trailers is back in production and has moved operations to the Greater Nashville area! ⁠
⁠
The Turtleback Team is passionate about the overland industry and its community. Engaging with the herd and building lasting relationships is important to us. Our roots are in the Southwest – and that isn’t going away. Turtleback’s culture and local presence are priorities we will maintain. ⁠
⁠
A bit about us: Veteran owned; an American-made manufacturer; 50 years in business and counting; an award-winning culture passionate about people and their craft; three premium brands: Turtleback Trailers; Wil-Ro, Inc.; and TerraRover Overland Co. ⁠
⁠
We want to know more about you! Reach out. Visit our factory. Meet our team.

Sincerely,
Turtleback Trailers

 

[EPO]

Grea

Hi everyone!

Turtleback Trailers is back in production and has moved operations to the Greater Nashville area! ⁠
⁠
The Turtleback Team is passionate about the overland industry and its community. Engaging with the herd and building lasting relationships is important to us. Our roots are in the Southwest – and that isn’t going away. Turtleback’s culture and local presence are priorities we will maintain. ⁠
⁠
A bit about us: Veteran owned; an American-made manufacturer; 50 years in business and counting; an award-winning culture passionate about people and their craft; three premium brands: Turtleback Trailers; Wil-Ro, Inc.; and TerraRover Overland Co. ⁠
⁠
We want to know more about you! Reach out. Visit our factory. Meet our team.

Sincerely,
Turtleback Trailers

Great to hear this!

 

[cs0430]

Sharing my experience with this new company that took over Turtleback.

I agreed to buy a pre-production shell Expedition model they had acquired as part of buying Turtleback. The first order form I received had the wrong shipping amount reflected. I asked for it to be updated so I could sign and have a new trailer heading my way. During that call they offered the possibility of ordering one to be built should I want a different color. I told them I would prefer to buy the one in stock but if necessary would wait until a new one could be built and delivered in December. Days went by and I heard nothing. It didn’t bother me as I was happy with either the in-stock one or one in December in a color I’d rather have. Eventually I reached back out to sales only to be told the original one had been sold. No worries I thought, until they told me the price for a new one would be $5k more than what they were selling me the first one for as that is what they plan to sell new shells for. There was no mention of this in the earlier call or I definitely would have pushed for the paperwork to be revised immediately before someone else could buy it.

I asked to discuss it further and despite sales agreeing that they were responsible for things not going well, ownership was unwilling to budge on the newly built trailer price.

Ultimately they offered me the expo discount of $2k off only to then drop on me the shell wouldn’t have the swing out like the one I was ready to buy did. I’d now need to pay extra for that. At that point I was over it.

Just really bummed at how this turned out.

 

[Obsessed2findARuggedHybid]

Sharing my experience with this new company that took over Turtleback.

I agreed to buy a pre-production shell Expedition model they had acquired as part of buying Turtleback. The first order form I received had the wrong shipping amount reflected. I asked for it to be updated so I could sign and have a new trailer heading my way. During that call they offered the possibility of ordering one to be built should I want a different color. I told them I would prefer to buy the one in stock but if necessary would wait until a new one could be built and delivered in December. Days went by and I heard nothing. It didn’t bother me as I was happy with either the in-stock one or one in December in a color I’d rather have. Eventually I reached back out to sales only to be told the original one had been sold. No worries I thought, until they told me the price for a new one would be $5k more than what they were selling me the first one for as that is what they plan to sell new shells for. There was no mention of this in the earlier call or I definitely would have pushed for the paperwork to be revised immediately before someone else could buy it.

I asked to discuss it further and despite sales agreeing that they were responsible for things not going well, ownership was unwilling to budge on the newly built trailer price.

Ultimately they offered me the expo discount of $2k off only to then drop on me the shell wouldn’t have the swing out like the one I was ready to buy did. I’d now need to pay extra for that. At that point I was over it.

Just really bummed at how this turned out.

Run for the hills on these new owners. Very cheesy behavior. You dodged a bullet

 

[jeepers29]

Run for the hills on these new owners. Very cheesy behavior. You dodged a bullet

Didn't TB sell during covid as well?