Future TM Owner questions

Smile,
Do a forum search on "Sienna" and read not just the Sienna posts but also the posts about towing with a minivan. You can also find posts about towing with 3500lb tow limit crossover SUVs such as the Highlander or Pilot which is similar. People do it but with mixed results. I towed with my lexus rx300 for a while before I traded up to a 5000lb vehicle. With the RX300, my mileage changed from 22-23mpg without to 16mpg with the TM.
At the moment (on my 2720SL) I have a shelf which hinges up on the side of the fridge cabinet and I put my lcd tv on that so it doesn't take up counter space.
I don't find the 3rd party microwave any trouble. I picked one which is lighter in weight than most. It sits on the floor in front of the wardrobe during travel and takes all of 5 secs to unplug and put there ( or vice versa)- a very small addition to the checklist of things to do when setting up camp or and tearing it down.
Trailmanor use sheet vinyl floors ( I replaced ours with vinyl tile but for looks, not wear - vinyl tile is only a little heavier than the sheet stuff). In my mind, wear is not an issue for the comparatively little time we spend in the camper. You can get vinyl tiles these days which mimic hardwood floors pretty well if its the wood look you're after, and they're a lot lighter than laminate.
Here's a link to an example DIY carport site:
http://www.coverquest.com/covers/carports/index.php
They do 7' tall metal carports. My local Lowes also sells something similar and I think may go down to 6 ft high. However, since a closed TM is between 79" and 82" with roof a/c and no lift kit you probably don't want to go lower than 7 ft.

-Paul

In 14 trips and 4700 miles over the last 18 months there was one occasion where I wish I had a microwave. My son's bowl of chili got cold and it would have been handy to warm it back up. However, I'm not sure it would be worth the effort to set up the generator so that we could run the microwave to warm up a single bowl of chili. I have only had hookups on two of the trips.

Between May and October we have never had a reason to run the heater except for a few minutes in the morning to take the chill out. Again, without hookups I have no use for an electric heater. You would not be able to run any electric heater from batteries and running a generator would be ineffieient.

The most common complaint of the furnace is that it is noisey when the fan is blowing.

We did use a ceramic electric heater for 2 days last November when we had hookups. I had the furnace on the lowest possible setting, just in case the electric heater was not enough. I never heard the furnace come on.

I weighed our rig once. The weight on the TM axle was 3380 pounds. I did not weigh the tongue, but would guess it was around 400-450 pounds. So the total weight was around 3800 pounds, fully loaded with foor, water, etc. Plus I had stuff in the back of the truck.

On one occasion I had to make a panic stop. It felt like I was able to stop in the same distance with the TM as I would have without it. I agree with others that having sufficient power to pull the TM is not the biggest safety issue. In a panic stop, going down hill, in a turn, along side a guard rail with a cliff next to you, I don't like feeling marginal.