American Eagle, Country Coach, Newmar
Hi all, I was hoping to get some advice. We currently have a 1998 Winnebago Adventurer 32ft with no slides and are a family of 3 living in it. We've just recently completed a 2 month adventure acros...
Forum Discussion
A big part of buying RVs is compromise. You've mentioned a $70k budget so that's a big compromise. You also have to compromise on brand, model, size, engine, etc.
Before picking a model, I suggest you decide on exactly what you'd like and need.
Age: the older you get, the cheaper it will be but there's a technology and arguably a reliability cost. Would you rather have a lower end 2013 gasser or a top end 1997 DP ... (I suspect they would be about the same price)
Diesel vs gas: IMO, a DP is clearly a better machine than a gasser and has several advantages but it does cost more to buy and it does cost more to maintain. Also, usually you can get a bit to a significantly better mileage with a diesel than with a gasser but diesel usually costs 10-20% more at the pump so it's unlikely you'll actually see your fuel costs decrease (there are 2 many variables to really make a blanket statement here; a Sprinter chassis based mh might get 20+ mpg, an ISB (especially the old 5.9s) might get 10-12+ mpg, most of the DP engines will likely get somewhere around 7-9mpg. I think most gassers get around 6-8mpg. Mileage also does depends a lot on the speed, terrain, towing, etc so it's hard to accurately compare but the bottom line is that for the majority of mhs, there isn't a great deal of difference as far as fuel costs are concerned. One important factor though is that the engine / chassis really only matter when you are on the road - once you're parked (which for most mh owners, is most of the time (it's not uncommon for mh owners to barely put 5k miles / year on their coach)), it's just the floorplan that matters.
Sleeping capacity and layout: you mentioned 3. Are you looking for some sort of bunkbed floorplan? If so they do exist but that does limit your selection significantly. As far as the floorplan, an older model top end DP is likely to have less slides than a newer lower end gasser. Size is also a factor, if you want something under 36', there's not a lot of DP options, if you want something around 36-38, you can probably find many DPs and gassers, if you want something 39+, you pretty much have to get a DP.
Performance : the more you're willing to pay, the more performance you'll get. And other than the cost (and possibly a bit of an increase in fuel costs but even that I don't think is particularly significant), there's no real drawback to having more power. That said, other than specific high towing and carrying capacity requirements, even the smallest mh engine will get you where you need to go and up / down any hills to get there. Some are certainly faster but I don't think you'll be able to find any road where an Cummins ISB260 won't get you there and you must have an Cummins ISX
Towing / carrying capacity : Pretty much all mhs can tow 5k, most DPs will do 10k, some will do as high as 15k. Carrying capacity depends a lot on the specific motor home. It also depends on how you travel - if you don't usually travel with full water, you can save a lot there.
Brand / models : You listed American Eagle (near top end of Fleetwood line), Country Coach (high end builder but still had fairly wide range of products) and Newmar (high quality builder but has wide range of products). You're coming from a relatively low end, basic coach and you are mentioning some of the higher end products. Maybe you don't need to make such a jump; maybe a low-end or mid-line coach will have all the features you are looking for and still be a huge increase over your current one. Also, personally, I find that there isn't a huge difference between comparable products from different manufacturers: a top-end Tiffin is probably pretty close to a top-end Newmar and to a top-end Entegra, etc.
Licensing : Not a huge issue but depending on where you live, you might need a higher class license to drive heavier and / or vehicle with air brakes (e.g. my wife could drive our old gasser but she does not have the license required to drive our mh. She doesn't want to drive it anyway but if I was ever sick or hurt, we wouldn't have the same options).
Before picking a model, I suggest you decide on exactly what you'd like and need.
Age: the older you get, the cheaper it will be but there's a technology and arguably a reliability cost. Would you rather have a lower end 2013 gasser or a top end 1997 DP ... (I suspect they would be about the same price)
Diesel vs gas: IMO, a DP is clearly a better machine than a gasser and has several advantages but it does cost more to buy and it does cost more to maintain. Also, usually you can get a bit to a significantly better mileage with a diesel than with a gasser but diesel usually costs 10-20% more at the pump so it's unlikely you'll actually see your fuel costs decrease (there are 2 many variables to really make a blanket statement here; a Sprinter chassis based mh might get 20+ mpg, an ISB (especially the old 5.9s) might get 10-12+ mpg, most of the DP engines will likely get somewhere around 7-9mpg. I think most gassers get around 6-8mpg. Mileage also does depends a lot on the speed, terrain, towing, etc so it's hard to accurately compare but the bottom line is that for the majority of mhs, there isn't a great deal of difference as far as fuel costs are concerned. One important factor though is that the engine / chassis really only matter when you are on the road - once you're parked (which for most mh owners, is most of the time (it's not uncommon for mh owners to barely put 5k miles / year on their coach)), it's just the floorplan that matters.
Sleeping capacity and layout: you mentioned 3. Are you looking for some sort of bunkbed floorplan? If so they do exist but that does limit your selection significantly. As far as the floorplan, an older model top end DP is likely to have less slides than a newer lower end gasser. Size is also a factor, if you want something under 36', there's not a lot of DP options, if you want something around 36-38, you can probably find many DPs and gassers, if you want something 39+, you pretty much have to get a DP.
Performance : the more you're willing to pay, the more performance you'll get. And other than the cost (and possibly a bit of an increase in fuel costs but even that I don't think is particularly significant), there's no real drawback to having more power. That said, other than specific high towing and carrying capacity requirements, even the smallest mh engine will get you where you need to go and up / down any hills to get there. Some are certainly faster but I don't think you'll be able to find any road where an Cummins ISB260 won't get you there and you must have an Cummins ISX
Towing / carrying capacity : Pretty much all mhs can tow 5k, most DPs will do 10k, some will do as high as 15k. Carrying capacity depends a lot on the specific motor home. It also depends on how you travel - if you don't usually travel with full water, you can save a lot there.
Brand / models : You listed American Eagle (near top end of Fleetwood line), Country Coach (high end builder but still had fairly wide range of products) and Newmar (high quality builder but has wide range of products). You're coming from a relatively low end, basic coach and you are mentioning some of the higher end products. Maybe you don't need to make such a jump; maybe a low-end or mid-line coach will have all the features you are looking for and still be a huge increase over your current one. Also, personally, I find that there isn't a huge difference between comparable products from different manufacturers: a top-end Tiffin is probably pretty close to a top-end Newmar and to a top-end Entegra, etc.
Licensing : Not a huge issue but depending on where you live, you might need a higher class license to drive heavier and / or vehicle with air brakes (e.g. my wife could drive our old gasser but she does not have the license required to drive our mh. She doesn't want to drive it anyway but if I was ever sick or hurt, we wouldn't have the same options).
