The Drifter - Specs and FAQ

The Drifter is listed as fitting a frontier on the Vagabond website. I reckon it's as simple as finding the right bed rail clamps. It certainly wouldn't hurt to measure though.

 

Inside bedwidth is 58.69” and inside bed length is 58.5”. I’ve got a topper so the other numbers are hard for me to get but I’ll try!

EDIT: the used camper I thought I could get got sold, and I found out from talking to another Frontier owner that it won't work on a short-bed. Short-bed Frontiers have the weirdest shaped beds. So I guess the perpetual wait continues

 

Anyone know if this company is actually still in business? I’ve been waiting 23 months since putting down my deposit. In April I was told I was scheduled for a June build, we’re now in August and it’s been crickets. Left about half a dozen voicemails and multiple emails unanswered. This is brutal. It’s a camper. Houses are built faster than this, even during covid.

 

Your right man, nothing but crickets. I’m right with you on wondering how this is going to turn out...I’m in the exact same boat as you.
I don’t even try calling or emails. I was in the area last week and did a drop in. Not expecting to catch Phil (but maybe) but for sure thought Jay would be around but no.
There were three campers almost complete but no others started.
From here https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ter-how-long-are-people-waiting.697409/page-9
I thought we would get an update (check the end of the thread), but yea crickets, nothing but. So it does make one wonder where this is heading.
I am still hoping/praying we will all get our campers and Vagabond continues with its success. The three I saw were beautifully built.
Maybe/hopefully We’ll get the update that’s being asked for

 

I'm confused. Was no one there? Or did you speak with someone? Other than the three builds, were there parts staged?

I keep watching the excel delivery sheet. Jim Langford got his on 6/21 and the two before that were 5/7 and 5/14. Looking for 2021 it appears they are building about one per month. Just a really bad time to be waiting for anything...

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/22/business/chip-shortage-pickups-suvs/index.html

 

I recently spoke to Phil. They are trying hard to overcome all the challenges. I can’t speak for him or the team, but they are still there and working to pump campers out.

 

Ya, I'm hoping this week we hear from VO.

 

On 6/21/21 (VO153) when I picked up my Drifter there were 2 tops being worked on. Sounds like they are moving forward. It was extremely frustrating knowing I was so close to the end and not receiving any info. I totally fell the pain. Every time I did talk to Phil I felt that I had indeed made the right decision.

 

I agree that the rate seems to be about one camper a month. I don’t understand how they can’t update us while only building one a month. Something isn’t right.

 

Its very concerning, the demand is there, they need to hire someone that handles logistics to get the ball actually rolling like every other company that makes these style campers.

 

Absolutely. Today I officially hit 23 months since putting down my deposit with no end in sight and I am seriously considering pulling the plug on this whole thing before I end up losing my money from my deposit. This has by far been the worst experience I have ever had with any company.

 

That's so discouraging. The wait is one thing, especially given the circumstances, but to have extended wait with essentially zero communication and especially when you're repeatedly reaching out is truly terrible. We're seriously contemplating backing out too and going with a CampORVLND since they're doing 6-7 month leads consistently guaranteed. Not sure what the heck is going on here, and we're all in the dark left guessing with thousands of dollars already on the line

 

Looking at the current orders on the spreadsheet, it looks like there are approximately 200ish orders. At the current 1 camper a month, that’s around 16 YEARS to fulfil just their existing orders. That is absolutely not sustainable. Where do they even go from here?

 

Like that math is true but we also don't know a lot, and we do know supply chain issues exist and will probably persist for a while. I'm just as frustrated, but extrapolating 2020/2021 data into infinity isn't really doing anything. We know they were cranking em out before, and at the current point in time they are not. I just wish we had more info. I feel even worse getting pissed about it, it's just a bummer. The campers are cool as fuck so it's just a bummer wondering

 

Yeah, I doubt it’s that slow but again we have zero information so it’s all conjecture. I’m trying to level my expectations and mood, but when I’m staring down a second winter in a row spent tent camping (I live and work out of my truck year round 2-3 days/week) it’s hard not to get upset. Particularly when there’s no end in sight.

 

Understood buddy. Its a weird psychological thing being upset and frustrated with something you're also stoked about. Reconciling that the camper is sweet, and I'm dying to have one on the truck, but I'm also starting to feel pretty disrespected as a customer. I'm gonna wait regardless but information is cool and needed

 

Yeah I get what you mean, maybe it’s just my mind wandering as this whole experience has been just constant disappointment. Something needs to change though because if they can’t respond to customers, they won’t be able to facilitate people selling spots which will probably just result in people doing credit card charge backs etc.. and then what happens?

 

I 100% agree with one of the worst experiences. I'm not a needy person, and am extremely patient. I understand the reality of the situation, COVID has been deeply impactful to nearly every industry and sector, and beyond - families, rent, you name it. Knowing that, I have put in changes to my order, they've been made. Never asked for, nor gotten a timeline update, mostly because I knew it wasn't going to be accurate. Oh well, ya know? It'll be ready when it's ready. I just put my head down and have been investing in other projects I really wanted to do to my truck, some (like suspension upgrades) in anticipation of the extra weight of the Drifter.

Hindsight 20/20, with a little transparency via a note from VO citing the realities of the situation, I would have bought a cheapo fiberglass topper for the time being to camp out of for summer 2021. Or a RTT. The communication is just bewildering. Hopefully they're working on new awesome functionality for upcoming campers. Some of the modular stuff Super Pacific is doing on the interior looks pretty rad. (hint!) Think of the excitement and momentum that could have been maintained through small touchpoints like new experiments that we're instead finding out about via this forum.

I honestly thought in January 2021 it would have been no later than August. At the time we were told April. Here we are...10(?) campers later and I'm guessing February 2022. 28+ months assuming 3 campers/month from here on out.

To that end, the way I look at it is: it's not hard to Google and figure out what's going on. I'm worried I might not be able to sell my spot at this rate - why would anyone be interested? I'm ~21 campers away. I have no ability to give anyone who would be interested a timeline other than an earlier spot in line, whatever that means at this point. Beyond that, would you actually recommend this experience to anyone?

Not really interested in selling my spot—I believe in the product compared to competitors. That said, I have been telling people to go in another direction when people ask me about the Drifter (from a general interest point of view), given my experience.

I get the supply chain issues. I really do. What I don't get is the four almost-completed campers on the floor after 6 weeks since the last known delivery with no communication or plan. Meanwhile, competitors plug away.

Thanks Livejournal! Er, um, I mean, TacomaWorld.

 

You hit the nail on the head here. With previous updates and Vagabond saying they were still on track for 12 month lead times I sold my RTT setup in the winter as I figured I would for sure have the Drifter for Spring/Summer. I think all of us would be way more at ease with the odd update here and there.

I’m normally very patient as well and have been for the majority of my wait time but 23 months is getting pretty ridiculous when I was originally quoted 10, especially having no idea when the camper will actually be ready and calls & emails going unanswered. I understand some delays due to COVID, but there were still 7 months from when I ordered to when COVID really hit and slowed things down. I get a few months extra for delays, but 13 months?

 

@Overlanerd @Iggy @tyfoon11
Any comments would be appreciated. This would really be a good time for your customers to hear from you!