One of the biggest and loudest complaints I hear about RVs is that they’re just too darn expensive. It’s wild that there are several camper vans that cost a quarter million dollars, and you can buy million-dollar motorhomes that pretzel their driveshafts. Thankfully, the RV industry has realized that not everyone is rolling in the riches like Mr. Monopoly. This year, I’m seeing several new travel trailers that are significantly cheaper than even the least expensive new cars in America. Here’s the king of the cheap, the 2025 Keystone Coleman 13B. It costs just $9,999 and somehow still has every single feature you need for a fun weekend getaway with your family. This makes a Mitsubishi Mirage seem expensive!
Cars remain expensive commodities. The average price of a new car is approaching $49,000 and the floor is dropping out from under the least expensive options. According to Mitsubishi, the Mirage is now $16,695. That ever so slightly undercuts the previous cheap car champion, the Nissan Versa, which now starts at $17,190. I remember when the Nissan Versa was $10,000 during the Great Recession.
Sadly, much of the RV industry is the same way with prices that make you ask how people even have the money to spend on these rigs. For example, the Wingamm Oasi 540.1 is quite expensive at $188,500. Yet, luxury camper vans by the likes of Winnebago, Airstream, 27North, and others sell for a quarter million or more, which makes the Wingamm sound like a deal in comparison. Meanwhile, larger Class C coaches are cheaper than all of the above. Yeah, RV pricing is wild.
Thankfully, the RV industry has something going in its favor that the automotive industry does not, and that’s a race to have the most affordable campers. It’s resulting in trailers that are dirt-cheap, but remain usable for you and your family.
Each year I go to shows like the Florida RV SuperShow and I’ve noticed that the number of low-cost campers keeps increasing and the prices keep getting lower. In 2023, one of the cheapest RVs I found on the market was the $15,000 Dutchmen Coleman Rubicon 1200RK, a trailer so small that you couldn’t even stand in it. In 2024, the cheapest I found was the shockingly cheap $13,000 Dutchmen Coleman Lantern LT (below), a larger trailer that could fit a family. I thought that was the apex of cheap. I couldn’t see how you could make a fully-featured stand-up trailer for even cheaper.
Well, new for 2025 is the Keystone Coleman 13B, and it’s somehow even cheaper. This fully-featured travel trailer has an MSRP of $12,632, but the trailer just launched and dealers are already advertising a price of $9,999. I wonder how low some people will be able to get one after some negotiation. That means this new camper is a fraction of the price of America’s cheapest new cars.
A Household Name In Camping
Coleman only shows up in my articles when I’m talking about a super-budget RV, but the brand is iconic in the camping space. If you like the outdoors, you’ve almost certainly purchased Coleman-branded tents, grills, sleeping bags, lanterns, coolers, camping gas, and more. Coleman’s history goes back to the early 1900s when William Coffin Coleman began marketing a gas lamp of his own design. The company expanded into other outdoor products, introducing a camp stove in the 1940s, a plastic cooler in the 1950s, and backpacks, sleeping bags, and tents in the 1960s.
In 1967, Coleman got into the RV space by launching a pop-up camper, which took only two years to become the top-selling tent trailer in America. Fleetwood RV purchased the rights to the Coleman RV division in 1989 and removed the brand name from the trailers. The Coleman name was revived on trailers in 2008 just to die again in 2011 when its parent company halted pop-up camper production. Today, Coleman camping products are sold by the Newell Group and Coleman-branded camping trailers fall under the umbrella of Thor Industries. Thor brand Dutchmen was the steward for Coleman for a while, but this latest creation comes from Keystone, a different Thor brand.
Regardless of the brand name, Coleman trailers tend to be not just the cheapest RVs in Thor’s portfolio, but the cheapest fully-featured RVs in the entire market. I found cheaper campers in Tampa, but all of them forced you to sacrifice room or features to get to that price. Of course, getting that rock-bottom price does mean that you should temper your expectations.
Small Size, Big On Features
So far as I can tell, Keystone was able to slash $3,000 off of the price of last year’s cheapest Coleman just by making it shorter. Last year, the Dutchmen Coleman Lantern LT was 21′ 5″ long. This year’s new Keystone Coleman 13B is 15′ 11″. Of that, the box is 13 feet long. That means you’re getting a substantially smaller trailer. Yet, as you’re soon about to see, the trailer is also optimized pretty well for how tiny it is.
Starting with the exterior, the cost-cutting is immediately apparent. Keystone isn’t advertising any modern construction tech like Azdel walls or Alpha-Ply roof membranes. That means you’re looking at a standard stick build here, which is fine given the fact that you aren’t really paying much for it. One touch I do like is the corrugated metal siding. I dig the style and in my experience, the metal siding does seem to age better than fiberglass sheeting.
Walk around the trailer and you’ll see even more dough-saving measures. The trailer’s battery is a puny unit and the tongue jack is a manual affair. That’s about as old-school as it gets! The trailer’s frame also appears to be a simple painted frame. Look underneath and you won’t even see four stabilizer jacks. There are only two in the rear, a hallmark of a bare-bones unit.
Also cheap is the entry door, which doesn’t even have a window. Yet, I did find an improvement here. In previous iterations of Coleman trailers, the door was held open with a hilariously weak plastic arm that couldn’t even withstand a light breeze. This time, the door’s swing has a physical limitation in its hinge that stops it from slamming into the awning. Underneath, the entry stair is one of a basic, decades-old design.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Keystone found the plans for a trailer from the 1990s, dusted it off, and put it into production. This trailer isn’t even trying to be that modern.
Walk inside and you’ll see a hilariously minimal, yet functional layout. There’s a small bed up front, a bunkhouse in the rear, and facilities in between. Everything is unapologetic in how low-rent it is and in this case, I dig that. The refrigerator doesn’t perfectly fit the space it’s in and it’s secured with ugly exposed brackets and fasteners. The sink is a single-basin plastic unit and your only cooking appliances are an electric cooktop and a microwave. The walls are devoid of a pattern or decoration and the mattress pads are thin.
My pictures don’t show it well, but the bed up front appears to be able to fit two adults, though I hope one of them isn’t too tall. The rear bunks will be great for kids or maybe adults who are still kids at heart. The bathroom is similarly tiny, but it does have a real functional toilet and shower, which is pretty sweet.
The rest of the trailer is so cheap it’s almost endearing. It seems Keystone couldn’t figure out how to mount the battery and tank monitoring station without impeding bunk space, so it’s just slapped on there. Then there’s the random light switch with cheap labels on it.
Oh yeah, the air-conditioner is like something you’d hang from an apartment window, but it’s installed into the wall. Heat comes from the electric fireplace. The switch seems to suggest that you can have air-conditioning or heat, but not both. So, this trailer must have a really basic electrical system.
Not Falling Apart From The Factory
Of course, the big question here is about quality. Well, it’s cheap. Everything in this trailer looks and feels cheap, but it’s also not really trying to convince you it’s anything different. You’re not going to walk into this Coleman and think it’s trying to be luxurious. Every part from the counter to the walls feels like Keystone used the lightest, least expensive option it could find. I’m fairly sure if a kid tripped and fell into the front wall of the bunkhouse they’d fall through into the bottom bunk.
Yet, at the same time, it does seem that some quality control was put into this trailer. I saw nothing that would slice your hand open (you’ll read about that trailer next week), nothing broken straight from the factory, no missing fasteners, no rust, and things that should be mounted level were on-point. Even the seals looked like they were applied by someone older than five, which I can’t say about my parents’ much more expensive travel trailer.
It’s sad that I even have to mention things like rust or missing fasteners, but that’s just how bad RV quality has become in recent years. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes. I cannot guarantee this trailer will last decades, but I do get the feeling that if you keep up on the maintenance, it should serve your family well for many years. Then, once it does wear out, maybe just retire it to become a permanent cabin or something.
This little guy looks like a good option for a small family who just wants to have a ton of fun at the lake on a weekend but doesn’t want to sleep in a bunch of tents. This trailer doesn’t even have a propane system because that would add cost. Yes, you can get a used camper for less than $10,000. But if you want something new with a warranty, it’s hard to beat the 2025 Coleman 13B right now.
The other good news is that the Coleman 13B weighs just 2,460 pounds, which means a large variety of crossovers that families already own will be able to tow it without a problem. In terms of holding tanks, the 13B can hold 28 gallons of fresh water, 34 gallons of gray water, and 34 gallons of waste. That’s not amazing, but I think that should be enough capacity for a couple of days if you’re careful.
While there’s absolutely nothing exciting going on here innovation- or feature-wise, I’m happy to see that the RV industry isn’t leaving the bottom end of the market behind. Not every RVer wants a giant bus, a dishwasher, and two decks. Some people just want a thing to take to a state park every now and then. I think this Coleman will be great for that. It’s a cheap tool to create memories in. I hope the RV industry continues this trend of having cheap options because everyone who wants to enjoy this hobby should get the chance to do it.
Honestly this is the kind of RV I might order for myself. Don’t need a massive vehicle to tow it. Big enough for my family and it weighs only about 2600lbs. Though if I was buying for myself, I’d probably get something even lighter and more basic like this:
https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/rockwood-tent/16OTG/9668
I don’t need a stove because I already have a portable stove.
Having power might be useful, but for less money I can get a something like a Bluetti portable power station with or without solar panels.
I was surprised by the power awning and the fake fireplace in this pricepoint. I do realize that fireplace is the electric heat. There’s a benefit to having “less stuff to break”, and even if it doesn’t hold up well, the stick built and covered with metal style can last a long time. I have a 1966 vintage that is built the exact same way and is still in service (wood frame with metal siding). Nearly every included RV mattress is crap and they might as well not include them so you can just buy a good one at the start.
Regarding the absence of propane… Even a lot of the larger and fancier trailers and motorhomes have given up on propane systems in the last several years. It’s one more system to maintain, and if you get leaks, it can literally kill you.
Rather, it would be nice if Coleman would offer a ~$2000 upgrade to this trailer for a few lithium batteries and a roof full of solar panels. It should give you a few days worth of off-grid camping.
Yeah, there’s a lot of benefit to going without propane in a unit like this. I do like having propane. We have an older Airstream and I camp with our local club a lot. I hear a lot of complaints about the newer models that switched to 12 volt refrigerators and the instant water heaters. I don’t have solar, but I can boondock and keep my fridge going on propane, my little 5 gallon water heater hot, cook in my propane oven or on the cooktop, and run my furnace if it gets cold and be fine for a day or two with my 2 standard batteries. If I ever move from a long weekend camper to taking a couple weeks out west or something, I may add some solar though.
A lot of the RV dealers will add a solar system for you as an upsell, so there may be pressure not to include it so there’s something they can add on for an extra fee to roll into that 20 year financing. That’s where the money is for them on these units. They get advertised at under $100 a month (for 20 years). They are a really bad deal if you do that. But if you are a cash buyer and want something new and basic, there are probably many worse choices out there.
A major complaint I have: camper beds are too short.
Especially transverse mounted beds.
Whilst the corner-cut in the ‘double’ bed might be inconvenient, if I’m taller than the trailer is wide (incl some space above my head): I’d be forced into the top bunk with my feet dangling off the end of it.
I’m not sure the interior could be any more depressing.
Sure it can. Add 30 years of wear and tear and its then current residents, a homeless family who can’t afford a van living in it down by the river.
Touche!
In 30 years this thing will be hard pressed to attract raccoons as a living space. Not that it really matters at this price point. It’s a deluxe tent for people who want hard sides but can’t/won’t accept a car payment to get one.
Coleman “We will stick our name on anything!”
Sad because I still have my Grandads old Coleman white gas camp stove from the 1950s and it still works flawlessly.
The first time some of my friends saw it they asked, “wait, we have a backup stove right!?”
They used to make some great gear but now it’s just another label affixed to crap disposable goods.
Watch for the upcoming Coleman camper Harley-Davidson edition. It adds faux leather danglies along the roof and a $5,000 price increase!
Shoot, for the HD badge I’d expect at least $10k.
I can’t wait for a Coleman-branded car.
This is the part of the market I’d like to see real competition in. When my dad was working far enough away that he was living in a camper during the week, this would have probably been perfect for him. He was renting a space with hookups, so no off-grid prep necessary, and this would have been smaller and cheaper than what he was using (which was probably also a Coleman, but I don’t remember for sure).
To echo others, offering a propane option would make this a heck of a trailer, but I think there are enough people who camp where there they can plug into power. This is nice to see.
Of course, I don’t camp in a trailer, so there may be plenty I’m missing here.
So these campers cost less than half what the city next to mine is paying for micro shelters after factoring in exchange rates. Way to go Hamilton!!
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/tiny-homes-microshelters-1.7433258
Based on having to replace a few tongues over the years my first concern is that the latch isn’t easily replaceable when it eventually breaks. Although it’ll probably get a lot less use than the ones we have at work so maybe it isn’t a big issue.
Worth noting that basically every low-priced RV comes with a disclaimer that it is not intended for full-time occupation and you will have problems if you try it. I don’t know whether the tiny homes are any better, but something like this would not be suitable as mid-to-long-term housing. Something that is should cost more than this.
I will concede that these trailers aren’t for full time living. Also, knowing the city of Hamilton, whatever crap ass shelters they paid for probably won’t be ideal for living full time.
I’ve worked with a few people over the years who live full time in small trailers. We actually had a guy at work years back that lived in a slide in camper in his truck. Not the sort of people I’d want to live like but certainly better than the tents people are currently living in and routinely setting on fire.
My city recently got an $11.65 million dollar grant to provide electric charging stations. Okay, cool. Fine. But it’s only for 47 charging stations, meaning a price of nearly $250k each.
Ugh. Might as well just provide 47 dryer ports and use the savings to supply a lifetime of free electricity.
If they are DC Fast Charge and needed electrical infrastructure upgrades to support them, that’s probably about right. The equipment itself without install can be $100,000. If they are Level 2, then they are getting screwed on that price.
They are “Level 2 and 3”. And I lied, the contractor that is installing them is chipping in nearly 3 million, so that more like $300,000 per station. I think they are being built across a lot of sites, so there is a lot of associated infrastructure.
But if you look at the official list, lots of cities are building a lot more chargers for a lot less money.
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/cfi/grant_recipients/round_2/cfi-awardees-round2.pdf
Yeah, that’s too much
I’ve always appreciated these barebones trailers. There’s a lot of frippery in so many trailers these days (who needs heavy solid surface countertops in a trailer?), and if this provides you a place to sleep, cook, and poop out of the weather then it’s doing its job.
My one complaint (and it’s a big one) is the lack of propane. A trailer with an old school lead acid battery is basically useless for off-grid camping if it doesn’t have propane for the fridge, water heater, and cooking. No matter what the dealer tells you, an electric fridge does not work unless you have a crazy battery/solar setup.
I’d also have to add a mattress topper to those backbreaking pads, but that’s easy enough to do. I even did that in my current trailer even though it has a proper mattress.
Yeah, this is definitely something you’re not going off-grid with unless you’re also bringing a generator and fuel along for the ride. That being said, I did see a bunch of slightly more expensive units with propane and slightly better beds. That’ll be in a round-up concerning “the rest of the cheap” units. 🙂
This would be perfect tow for a REXEV with V2X capability.
Barebones? It has A/C! And a heater! And a fridge! And a toilet with a shower!
That’s LUXURY!
IMO “barebones” would be more like a dilapidated 1960’s VW van with its drive train ripped out. You get a rickety table, a bench bed, an icebox and MAYBE a cooktop.
I am able to run lights, 12V fridge, and my CPAP machine indefinitely when off-grid in my travel trailer after adding a 2nd group 27 battery and wiring up 200W of free-standing solar panels (so I can chase the sun when in partially shaded sites). It does have propane, but I didn’t realize the fridge was 12V-only until after I took delivery. Doh!
Honestly, if it was 400-500 lbs lighter, low enough to slide through a normal garage door opening, and had a propane system, I’d be seriously looking at this, for $10,000, it certainly does appear to be $10,000 worth of camper, which is a fair transaction
I can swallow the “This depreciated luxury car is cheaper than a new economy car” stuff, but the comparison of a camper to new car prices seems too far removed, seeing how the camper is not a car at all. I’m afraid we are about to get an article titled “These geniuses bought 100 PS5s for the price of a new Camry!”.
The headline is a strategy that our editors have said pairs the “unfamiliar with the familiar.” Most readers of this site are car people, so they can visualize cheap in car terms. But it’s harder to explain what’s “cheap” in RV terms to car people. Most people just know that RVs usually cost more than most cars.
So, my intent here is to show that here’s this new thing you can sleep, crap, and shower in that costs less than the cheapest new thing you can drive to work.
In fairness, I’ve been using this sort of headline construction for at least a couple of years (longer than the “Genius” thing) and most people seem to be able to make the connection of what I’m trying to do. 🙂
“ here’s a thing you can sleep, crap, and shower in that costs less than the cheapest new thing you can drive to work”
This would have been an outstanding hed
Very true! Sadly, internal data shows that super-long headlines usually kill a story for various reasons beyond our control. I still do them, but the usual goal is to take a statement like that one and try to say it in as few words as possible.
No worries. I am genuinely interested in the article about this camper, and liked it overall. I didn’t personally find the comparison of a new car price to a new camper price particularly helpful, but I realize that is only my take on it. Maybe I was thrown off by the fact that there isn’t even a new car available for anywhere near $10k, so the comparison seemed clunky to me. I love the website, and cheap campers are definitely of interest to me, so even if I am not going to take $10k from an envelope marked “Mitsubishi Mirage Money” to buy this, I am now interested in this camper that I didn’t know existed before.
“But it’s harder to explain what’s “cheap” in RV terms to car people. Most people just know that RVs usually cost more than most cars.”
But what I REALLY want to know is how many surplus EMD GP10 locomotives can I buy for the same price as one Monaco Dynasty 45P.