Anyone have any comments they’d like to share about the reliability and build quality of the new Exiss trailers? We are looking at one and we’ve never had this brand before. Can’t find Elite, 4Star or Platinum in stock anywhere.
Featherlite, Exxis and Sooner trailers are all made on the same frame and in the same factory. They wear like iron. I bought a used Exxis in the mid 1990’s.It has held up amazingly well under hard use.
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We are on our second Exiss and love it. The only reason we sold the first one was because we needed more room. Our trailer has been to Texas and back many times as well as all over the Midwest. It pulls great and has held its value.
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I can’t tell you about the build quality of a new one. We’ve had ours for 15 years and have made no repairs other than routine maintenance. The roof leaks and we need to get back up there to seal it again, that’s it.
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If you can do used, there are all those brands posted on Facebook.
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My husband years ago worked in the repair shop of a Sooner trailer dealership. Before Sooner, Exiss and Featherlite came together the Sooners were decent trailers. They changed some stuff afterwards and the quality wasn’t as great.
Not sure if they’ve improved or not but recently reading elsewhere someone inquiring about buying a new Exiss stock combo, salesman didn’t recommend hauling calves in it. What’s the point of buying a stock combo if you can’t haul stock in them?
We’ve had the back door fall off the back of a Featherlite and scatter bulls down the road.
Granted we use our trailers harder than most but I’d buy a used 4 Star or Elite.
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We had a 4 horse head to head Exiss (2001, purchased brand new) and traded it in for a custom built one (Cimmeron). I must say, our 2001 Exiss was amazing and held up really well. It was a great trailer and we always say whoever bought our trailer, got one heck of a good one! We just had to reseal the seams on the roof every few years (which you would have to do with any trailer) to prevent leaking.
I also currently have a 2 horse Exiss (2015) and its perfect as well. Nothing wrong with it and I just love it. I bought it brand new and have put $0 into it. It does not get used that often and when I do use it, it gets pressure washed inside and out, so that helps as well.
Mine is an '08 and I love it. Having to do some repairs now but that is to be expected at this point. Four horse gooseneck.
I have a 2014 stock combo Exiss that I love. I only haul 1-2 horses in it, but it pulls and tracks like it’s not even there and it’s easy to hitch (goose neck) and I have a 4" extension an a B&W turnover ball so I don’t worry about taking the back window out of my short bed F150. Great trailer. I’d buy another one but hopefully will never have to! I’ve also hauled a lawn tractor and other misc stuff but would have no hesitation putting calves or shorthorn cattle in it. My longhorn steer, I’m afraid won’t fit!
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I had a 2006 Exiss 4 horse with a mid tack and a front large dressing room. I had all kinds of problems with the axles on it. The axles were installed from factory out of alignment. When towing, I could see one whole side of the trailer in a mirror, and not the other. Went back multiple times and they never solved the problem with it. It wore tires out prematurely, and I was never happy with it. Finally sold it and got a 4 Star instead. I would not buy another Exiss.
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What model? I had a 2018 STC (stock combo) and the main issue I had is that I didn’t notice until very late in the order that it is a 20" step up! I ended up adding a ramp over the double back doors, which in hindsight I would always do now, but it was a Learning Experience.
I was also not happy with the aluminum floor. Having had both I really prefer a wood floor.
The other issue I had is that the hardware is all very loud, there is no rubber or plastic coating on anything so it rattles horribly, and doesn’t have horse safety features like the ability to pull a pin and release a breast or butt bar under a horse’s weight. I ended up wrapping everything with Vetrap. But it still rattled.
As far as build quality, no problems. DH knows how to weld and was happy with the construction, he climbed around in and under several brands before I ordered the Exiss.
If I were doing it again though, I would look at Gore or Hawk / Balanced Ride / EquiSpirit.
I think it depends on how hard you are going to use it.
And depends what you are looking for, such as LQ verus non-LQ.
I have an older 2003 Exiss. It had some electrical issues for many years until I found a decent auto body shop that actually fixed things correctly, and it’s been fine since. The roof leaks in some places. It’s a 3 horse slant with a dressing room in front (not insulated) so it’s not been hugely critical for me to fix. Last summer, I put a bunch of FlexSeal on the roof and that’s actually taken care of the problem. We’ll see how long it lasts.
This year I bought a new Lakota LQ trailer. Not top of the line like Elite, 4Star or Platinum but I liked the price point and I don’t haul all over the country, so it’ll probably suit me just fine. I have loved it so far. Yes, there were some things that needed fixing right away (kinda poor quality control) but Lakota was great about taking care of everything (good customer service).
My mother bought a new Feather light 3-horse slant with dressing room 2 years ago. The only issues she’s had is the lock doesn’t always keep her dressing room door shut when she’s driving down the road 
but she also hasn’t taken it in to have them swap it out yet. She also does not haul hard at all.
So I think there are a lot of variables. If you haul every weekend and haul far, then I’d try to find one of those better brands. They are out there. You might just have to drive a ways to get what you want.
