The Taos is a unit PU rental folks have. I found one for sale 5 miles away from my house.
Very similar floorplan to the Cobalt, I think it is made by Fleetwood.
http://www.adventurecamper.com/AC-Taos.HTML

It looks pretty good. Is it off road compatible? I looked on ebay and they had one or two of them. I think one was only $2550. You may check it out. Our model is the colonial, but is now called the sante fe. They list the sante fe as sleeping 5-6. We can sleep 7-8 in ours. Of course our kids are little. When they get older, we may have to move up. We are expecting baby #6 Sept 1. We can fit 4 in the king bed, 2-3 in the queen bed, and 1 big one or 2 little ones on the dinette. We eat outside, so it is fine. We will be adding the add a room though. The screen room is nice, but the add a room has vinyl zip up windows in case it rains.

If you want something small and light, the Taos seems perfect. Check out the fleetwood Yuma as well. If you want off road ability, I would do a little more research on the Taos. If it is just ground clearance you are worried about, you may be able to adjust the Taos' axle/tires for that. The Taos I saw was 2002 and Coleman was listed as the maker. Coleman was associated with Fleetwood, but that have since split.

Happy popup hunting!

Sandra,
1) How do you manage to find time to post with 5 little ones and another on the way?
2) I went and looked at that Taos. Same floorplan as the Cobalt. It was a rental and obviously used, not a cherry. It didn't sit up as high as the Cobalt, so I would say not as much ground clearance. I like the idea of an add-a-room with vinyl zip up windows, I will have to see if that is availabe.
3) I am definitely leaning more towards the new Cobalt for many reasons. That Yuma is larger and heavier. Oddly enough, I feel I am one of the few who sees smaller is better (no jokes please!) I like the lower weight and better manueverability it seems a smaller unit will provide. I had looked at some of the real small units and for us, that Cobalt is a good size.
4) I appreciate everyone's feedback both past and future. As a newbie, I can learn alot from you all.

Hey DoubleD

1) I get my quiet time, that is what keeps me sane. (Although notice how long it has been since I posted) I also can post while they are doing their lessons (I homeschool.) I have also been feeling under the weather this pregnancy and spending a lot of time in bed, so I keep stealing dh's laptop a lot to keep from being lonely. I am feeling better now though, so I think that part is over. My kids are very helpful, so I have no more chores to do than any other mom, if not less.

2) Fleetwood sells a screen room, which is just a screen room, and an add a room, which is a screen room with higher privacy panel, and vinyl zip up windows to keep out the weather. We want the vinyl windows so that in bad weather when we are stuck in the camper, we don't go nuts!

3) If dh and I were back to our prekid days, we would probably go with a much smaller one as well, so I understand the size issue.

4) That is what we are here for. I am a newbie as well, but have already learned a lot and am glad to share what little I know.

Keep us posted on how things go for you!

Well, I have pretty much made up my mind. I went and looked at the Flagstaff, Rockwood, Starcraft, and Jayco yesterday and satisfied my curiosity. I still prefer the Cobalt, and am most comfortable with the dealer and the salesman I am working with on the Cobalt. I checked out the little things like getting on the ground and looking at the frame and stabilizers, checked the construction of the cabinets, checked bed sizes and discussed things like brakes, hitches, and battery charging.
The Jayco dealer wanted to tell me I wanted a larger unit and encouraged me to push the limits of the TV!
The Rockwood and the Flagstaff are bascially the same as each other and although have an 8' box, weigh less than the Cobalt with a 7' box. That tells me the construction isn't as durable. The Starcraft 10RT weighs 750# more empty, is sold by the same dealer as the Cobalt, and my salesman agreed that I would be going 35mph over the passes with that unit.
Now it is time for the details part. Gonna get insurance prices, find a storage facility close to home, get the hitch installed, determine the price I want to pay, and FANTASIZE about our new toy. I am convinced this is the unit for us.

Sounds like you did your homework and have come to an educated decision. Glad that you have got that part over with.

I can't believe that the dealer was going to have you pushing your tow limits! Unbelievable what some people will do to make a sale.

Happy Camping!

We bought a Fleetwood (Coleman) pop-up back in 99'. Once you know what model and options you want let the internet help you shop. The 3 fleetwood dealer near us didn't seem to want to deal as far as price. I seached on the internet for a dealer within a 2 hours drive and called the first one and told him here is what I want make it worth my time to drive 90 miles and buy from you. He called back in 5 minutes and offered a "out-the-door" price that was $1700 less than the intown dealers. I told him I would be out the next day with a deposit. done deal......Did the same thing when we upgraded to your new Aerolite Cub hybrid last year. I had 3 dealers within 125 miles giving me quotes. We looked at the fleetwood hybrids but the hitch weights were just way too heavy.
Owning the 99' Coleman pop-up for 6 years and about 225 nights of camping, she held up very nicely. We only lost about $2100 when we sold her last spring. So I would call up a few other dealers within a 2 hour drive and say this is what I want go from there. But never tell the dealer your dealing with now who gave you a better price, just tell him this is what was offered and if you want my business or any future sales "lets get er done". Because dealers know that once you get the camping bug and buy a pop-up somewhere down the line you will upgrade to a bigger unit and come back to who sold you the pop-up in the first place....

Jim

Great points, Jim. I will do that. I like the guy who spent 2-3 hours with us and would like to give him the business. But, getting prices from other dealers would put me in a position of dickering without completely alienating the guy.

Hey all, thanks for all of the great feedback! I spoke with my dealer today and we agreed to make a deal. Although I hoped for a better price, I am getting the unit for $5595 less $500 for the tent trade in after tax. At 4.2% tax, that is $5830-$500=$5330 with tax. I will probably get the RVQue for the $200, also, even though I love my tabletop charcoal grill. He said they don't get them in with the canopy, so I can get it from him or not. It is $220 for the canopy at the dealer, Carefree models are only slightly more.
I checked Peco and they want $5100 without A/C and with a furnace, so my guy in Colorado is fairly close. I am not going to get the unit from Peco in Atlanta to Denver for any less, and the 2 other Front Range Cobalt dealers quoted me $6795 and $6195 plus extras.

Congratulations!