Cirrus 820 Review and Insight

dcole

New member
I have not seen much in the way of reviews and information on the Cirrus 820. We recently purchased a new 820 so thought I would share some feedback I wish I would have had during our research process!

Some background....we finally decided to move into a full size, hard sided camper after over 15 years in a Hallmark Guanella. We had an awesome set up with a modified F150 that served us well for complete off the grid, dry camping with well over 1,600 nights in that setup!

After a lot of research and looking at a number of campers we decided to go with the Cirrus 820 on a modified F350. We chose the Cirrus for the modern design/look and tie to NuCamp. Although we could not find a lot of reviews specific to the Cirrus we felt the tie to the T@B and T@G family would carry over.

We really want to love this camper but having some issues that have us questioning our decision.

We currently have ~10 nights in the unit and have a warranty hit list of 16 items and appear to have a couple of new ones come up every trip. We purchased the unit from Bob Scott RV in Grand Junction CO where Chris and his team have gone above and beyond to take very good care of us even though they are a new dealer for Cirrus and don't have a lot of history.

To be fare, the Hallmark is an indestructible unit and we may have had unrealistic expectations for this type of camper and how we use it. I would say my bigger issue is specific to how Cirrus is handling, or more accuratly not handling, the situation. A few specifics detailed below:

* During our purchase with Bob Scott they told us the Cirrus rep would like to offer us an after the sales rebate, nothing big but would have been cool to get some goodies with. We had already committed to the purchase so it was not a tactic to close the sales. We were told this would come directly from Cirrus and here we are 3 months later and nothing. Would have been better simply not to say anything and then shoot us a cool little thank you. this sets up the communication issues below.....

* After the first two trips and the warranty items adding up I asked the dealer if they could have the Rep give us a call and simply walk through what we are seeing, if they are seeing this on a broader scale and share some insights we have on how they may be able to improve the product for those of us that will spend 80+ nights/yr dry camping in remote areas.

* With still no response from the rep I reached out to Scott Hubble (CEO) through the Cirrus Marketing team to simply share our excitement with the new camper and provide some insight as to both our experience to date as well as general observations on the product. I was told that they value such contact/feedback and Scott would be reaching out shortly. Similar to the attempted contact with the local rep, still no follow-up or contact.

* I posted my now growing experience and frustration on their FB page and got another immediate response in canned marketing style but still no direct contact to try and address the growing warranty items as well as simply try to provide some feedback to help improve the product.

Again, I may be jaded coming from the Hallmark tribe. At any moment you could pick up the phone and give Brian a call and he would be all over the issue giving you insight and suggestions on a fix/improvement or setting up an appointment to bring the unit in and they would address it. We got the same treatment with a 2003 used unit as a brand new unit. This is the true customer service experience we came to love and expect from a passion driven product company.

We will get the items fixed by Chris and his team at Bob Scott and use the rig over the next few months. I will continue to update with both positive and not so positive results. I truly hope we can work out the kinks and it proves to be a great unit, if it doesn't I will post it on the for sale form at a great deal and we will continue our search or simply go back to the trusted and loved Hallmark product.

If you are interested, just let me know and I'll be happy to forward our warranty list as well as thoughts on how the units could be improved for more off-grid dry camping.

Disappointed but hopeful!!

cirrus 820.jpg
 

dags

Adventurer
i have been looking at these units and am interested in hearing the types of warranty issues you face?
 

ersatzknarf

lost, but making time
Hi Daren,
Beautiful camper and thank you very much for sharing.
It's too bad that the company chooses to be that way...
Hoping very much that you can get it sorted or find another way.
I think I read that Hallmark are making a flatbed camper, now, too :)
 

dcole

New member
Frank

Thanks.

I did receive a email from Scott Hubble this morning stepping up and taking full responsibility and stepping in to help get to the bottom of things.

Stay tuned,

Daren
 

dcole

New member
I wanted to provide an update. Cirrus has engaged from the highest level of the company and working through Bob Scott to resolve the issues we are dealing with. Once I was able to break through the complexity of getting to the right person they have been great. They are also taking my situation/frustration to heart and working on a better avenue for customer service, support and interaction.

With that said the unit has been in the shop for a week and we are still waiting to get it back.

Based on my initial rant and frustration I felt it was only fare to give credit where credit is due with the out reach and attempt to make things right.

More to come.

Less disappointed and more hopeful,

Daren
 

boxcar1

boxcar1
I just hate it when it takes a squeaky wheel and social media to get a company to respond to problems with products. I will be interested in the outcome.
 

dcole

New member
It is a bit disheartening to have to take that route.

I am happy to report that after over 3 months of going back and forth with Cirrus they have really stepped up to resolve all of the issues. I think we were a bit unique in the fact that our unit experienced all of these issues. If you follow the Cirrus Truck Camper Owners FaceBook page the individual issues are not uncommon but to have all of these on one unit is unusual. I also think the newer production runs have addressed almost all of the issues and you are seeing a much higher level of QC coming out of the factory. We hope that within the next two weeks every outstanding item will have been addressed.

Although a long and drawn out process, we are happy with the attention and response they provided and they truly do seem to have the passion to provide solid customer service.

My hope is that after a number of discussion with their CEO, some process will be put in place to have much better customer service access and support. If you look at the NuCamp side they do an exceptional job.

If anything falls short of our expectations I will be sure to update this thread!

Daren
 

tabraha

Observer
Thank you for the update! We're looking at possibly moving from our off-road trailer to a truck camper and have been poking around on the Cirrus units for awhile now. Glad to have found your thread.

Have you had any chances to compare the off-pavement handling of the unit vs the Hallmark? You hear about all of the advantages regarding the center of gravity of the pop-ups but rarely do we get an apples to apples comparison. I really wonder if there is that large of a difference from a practical standpoint.
 

sertguy

Observer
I'm also moving from a pop-up (Outfitter Apex) to hard side camper. I was sold on a Bigfoot or Northern Lite and recently started looking at the Cirrus 820.

So I'm curious how you think the Cirrus will be off road? Specifically, do you think the Cirrus is built to be able to withstand hundreds of miles and years of off road washboard and forest roads without any issues?


Thx.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

dcole

New member
Sorry for my late responses!

A few follow up items:

1. I'm happy to say that Cirrus (NuCamp) has really stepped up to take ownership and address all the warranty items!
2. In regards to the off-road handling....a few observations so far:
- Combined with the F350 vs F150 the rig is a beast and takes some getting used to
- We added air bags and adjustable Rancho shocks which makes a big difference
- Initially we have had a lot of "squeak" with the unit moving around...we just ordered a bed mat that we hope will help with that
- It is much taller than the Hallmark and changes the COG so we have been taking it easy on off camber roads so far
- We have done some semi tech, more babie head roads and it is simply a bit slower going
- Clearance (height) is an issue...we are at ~12.5' so have to watch overhangs and trees much more closely than in the past
3. We miss the simplicity of the Hallmark and it was extremely durable. We used the crap out of it and it stood up well. Once we got through the warranty issue it seems to be handling well but we simply need more mileage to have a fare comparison. I'm also a fir believer the later/newest production runs have worked out a lot of kinks.
4. We have looked at a ton of units both pop up and hard sided. In the pop ups nothing can beat the Hallmark new our used. The Cirrus seems to have the best finishes and most bang for your buck.
5. The issues I still feel are out there are:
- Screens...the design has a couple of issues....one they do let bugs in, there are a few tricks that greatly reduce this but it can be a bit bothersome. The screens also "blow in" with moderate winds.
- Windows...They are awesome in terms of size and placement. The drawbacks are the braces (we are looking at switching to gas struts). The material (a light plastic so not 100% on long term durability, great for weight). Ability to withstand heavy winds, we had an issue two weeks ago where a dirt devil came up and took two windows right off ( we are adding some para-cord "safety straps" that should prevent that in the future.

A great resource is the "Cirrus Truck Camper Owners" FB page...a ton of information.

We are headed out for our first extended trip the first of Oct, 8-10 days, and will get a much better feel for a lot of componets
 

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