Problems with Kaufman trailers

jodyfj40

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2008
Location
clayton
Guys,
I know a lot of people on the forum have a kaufman trailer and are happy with it, but I believe Kaufman may have made some changes to the way they build their trailers and also treat their customers. My brother was in the market for a new trailer to haul our rzrs on and received quotes from Kraftsman and Kaufman. Kaufman got the business due to the fact that Kraftsman had a 4-6 week delivery time and Kaufman was 1 week. Up to that point we had heard good things about both companies. Well when my brother got his trailer home he noticed some additional issues that he had missed while going over the trailer at Kaufman. Here are the emails and his conversations with kaufman regarding the issues.

1st email to saleman:

There are alot of paint issues, including the back were they didn't even clean the metal pieces off after they cut the holes for the back center lights. Just painted right over the pieces. I'm sure there was cutting oil used and if the metal pieces were never cleaned then I can only assume the cutting oil is under the paint and primer as well. This may not show today but will certainly show at some point. Please forward these to tim as he has left me a message earlier.

Thanks in advance for you help in getting these issues resolved.

Johnny jackson

Salesman called him back and told him they would take care of any issues and he could take the trailer to a local shop for the repairs. After that call he received another call from the customer service guy. This is a recap of that conversation.

After talking with my sales person from Kaufman yesterday and him assuring me that they would handle the cost to make these issues right I was told that someone from Kaufman would be calling me back to talk with me about taking care of the issues I'm having with my brand new up-graded diamond deluxe car trailer. I received a call from a Tim Johnson and he let me know he had reviewed the attached pictures and that his position was that this is what Kaufman Trailers delivers to its customers and that he didn't see anything that would justify a warranty claim or them to pay for any repairs. right down to letting me know that there is really know way to produce a car quality finish with the dust and dark spraying environment they are working with (yes he told me that the spray both was dark) Mr. Johnson also pointed out that if I compared his pricing with others that I would find that even with the issues I have pointed out with this trailer that I still received a great value. As a side note I could have gotten a custom trailer from Kraftsman with the 16" cross-member centers in-lo of 24", 4400lb dexter axels in-lo of 4000lb easy lube axels, lifetime warranty on welds in-lo of one year, one year warranty on paint in-lo of no warranty, at a cost of $70.00 less than the Kaufman Trailer. If I had it to do over I would have waited the 4 weeks and went with the Kraftsman trailer.

The pics of the upgraded sealed harness and automotive paint are attached.
 

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I like how the holes for the wiring don't have any kind of grommet or protection from rubbing. I know for cheap stuff you'd expect that, but you can predict where you'll be replacing wires in 5 years.
 
Since this is what they call an upgraded sealed harness I would hate to see the standard one. Also if that was as good a paint job as my painter could do I think I would find another one. It's not hard to clean the damm thing before you paint it. I think that's painting 101 lol. Or how about the weather proof connectors that they didn't use a heat gun on, they should do their job well.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
Not to be a jerk, but did you ever stop and think that maybe there was a reason for a 4-6 week delivery time?
Click to expand...


Exactly what I was about to say.... I'd be weary of a 1 week turn around time on a "custom" trailer. Don't get me wrong, evidently it can be done..... buuuuut.....
 
Not sure how else to take it but just everyone knows the reason for the 4-6 week time frame from kraftsman is due to the fact that they only build custom trailers to order. They do not stock trailers. Kaufman is a stocking dealer and can produce at a higher rate. According to the sales rep Kaufman sold 200 trailers the day my rother called to order his.

And for today's public service announcement if you ever start a sentence with "Not to be jerk" there is a good chance that will be how you come across.
 
Guys this was not a custom trailer, it was a stock trailer that they had sold out of and were already building when he order one.
 
I have repaired a bunch of trailers and modded them over the years. Looks pretty standard for the indusrtry. This is also why really good fabricators can't make jack on building trailers. It is like smittybuilt doing jeep armour. Lots of people dont want to wait or pay for quality. You got a trailer at a price point driven by an industry standard. Trust me it could be alot worse. I repaired a goose neck by them less than a year old a few weeks back. Same stuff, same quality. A good unit for the price. Material alone for an average shop cost what these thing sale for, and people complain they are to high.
 
The point is that as a consumer if you pay for something you expect to get it. When you read the description and it's says automotive paint should we have to ask if you clean it before you apply the paint. No one should expect an automotive quality finish on a trailer but to say the trash that was in the paint was normal just doesn't work for me. This is advertised as the best trailer they make. I guess the people that bought the standard trailer should be happy if they even remembered to paint it. No one ever asked for a $10,000 trailer that cost $3,000.00. But is it to much to ask for it to be cleaned before the paint is applied.
 
IMHO, the paint is a non-issue to me. Its a trailer not a show car. The paints job is to keep it from rusting. I literally wouldnt waste a second of thought on the paint issue. The wiring on the other hand, is piss poor. But is also better than average for a trailer in my experience. My dad just bought a custom equipment trailer to haul our tractors on. I went with him to his supplier of choice to "spec it out" because he says "I know about these kinds of things"...the guy taking the order was confused when I asked for the lights to be mounted but no wiring done on the trailer. He explaind the lights wouldnt work to even take it hom without wiring. I said we'd bring "tow car" magnet lights to get it home if necessary.
"Just so you know we cant offer ANY discount for not doing the wiring."
"Not worried about a discount, will save me time not having to rip it out the day it gets home to do it right."

Enjoy your new trailer. Go throw a chain and binder against that back panel a few times and scratch it up and smile.
 
Also "in-lieu"
 
What? The Bottom got paint? Haha, but seriously, I Didn't know anyone painted the underside, unless you Ordered it. My first trailer, I made some changes, after looking at the display, & asked for the bottom, to be painted. They Primed it!
My POS current trailer, is one of those Cheap Landscape trailers; No paint or primer under it.
 
Sad part is the bottom looks better than the top side paint lol
 
Believe me its better than most, a local very popular builder in the greater hickory area does all sorts of corner skipping details. Fine for me. After a few years of use, or a few short months of abuse I get to fix them for folks at my rate. Pays better than trying to cheapen my quality and build an entire unit. Automotive paint? I sure hope not. Industrial enamel with very little thinner would be better in the long run. Might fade but you can drag crap over it and beat the snot out of it without much fuss. You'd be even more pissed if you new most all builders don't use primer. Besides it built entirely of mill scale covered mild steel. Prepping that with much more than a wire brush is absolutely useless unless you wanna heavily sand blast the entire thing. You gotta except the "Jargon" for what it was: an add gimmick. Be damn happy they didn't use those stupid scotch lock block thingys. I've seen whole trailers wired with not a single crimp butt connector. All the wires black taped around channels. Or held up with zip ties in torched holes. And the worst one they use fender washers to "pinch" the wires in place.
 
put a little silicone in the wiring holes to keep them still from rubbing & use your trailer..
 
.... couldnt begin to tell you how many "brand new" boat trailers I've rewired for friends.
 
It's a trailer. I beat the shit out of mine I have bought 3 Kaufman trailers. They seem to have gotten better over time. They are cheap, but u can usually resale them for a few hundred less than u paid. U get what u pay for
 
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