Born Free Motorcoach

This is a really interesting (and sad) situation. It seems to illustrate how a small business can be adequate to employ great people, support the owner's family for generations and develop a cult like following. Yet that same business can't generate enough profit to keep the interest of private equity investors.

The (likely) demise of Born Free Motorcoach is the fault of all of us who have bought new Class C motorhomes during the last several years who either didn't like their designs or didn't like their prices (... their built-in roll cages notwithstanding).

When shopping for a new Class C years ago, we looked at Born Free but passed - too expensive versus what you got, I couldn't stand up in their shower stall, and we thought the raised hump in their front roof section "looked funny".

Our Winnebago Itasca had everything we wanted feature-wise and construction-wise ... including a reputation better known than Born Free's - and it was available from a dealer at a steep discount below Born Free pricing because, I think, it had a problem that nobody wanted to live with so the dealer couldn't get rid of it. The problem with it was that it did not have a slide - which was a hot motorhome feature at the time. Before we bought it, we had searched at least a year all over the U.S. for the set of features that we wanted in a small Class C at a price that mere mortals could afford.

We all want a quality well built RV. WE complain about quality and poor workmanship all the time yet we are unwilling to pay/ support the premium brands.
Born Free is another manufacture that was building a better mouse trap.
Their workmanship and quality standards were a step above the competition, but like Cameo,Evergreen,Excel and other quality brands they have fallen to the wayside due to lack of sales.
In the end we prefer bang for the buck vs. quality

pnichols wrote:
The (likely) demise of Born Free Motorcoach is the fault of all of us who have bought new Class C motorhomes during the last several years who either didn't like their designs or didn't like their prices (... their built-in roll cages notwithstanding).

When shopping for a new Class C years ago, we looked at Born Free but passed - too expensive versus what you got, I couldn't stand up in their shower stall, and we thought the raised hump in their front roof section "looked funny".

Our Winnebago Itasca had everything we wanted feature-wise and construction-wise ... including a reputation better known than Born Free's - and it was available from a dealer at a steep discount below Born Free pricing because, I think, it had a problem that nobody wanted to live with so the dealer couldn't get rid of it. The problem with it was that it did not have a slide - which was a hot motorhome feature at the time. Before we bought it, we had searched at least a year all over the U.S. for the set of features that we wanted in a small Class C at a price that mere mortals could afford.

The slide is more weight, more potential for problems, more poorly insulated.... just a number of issues. One guy who owned a '07 View Bunk model (no slide) once bragged about how he had never had a slide out problem!!

Charles

CharlesinGA wrote:
The slide is more weight, more potential for problems, more poorly insulated.... just a number of issues. One guy who owned a '07 View Bunk model (no slide) once bragged about how he had never had a slide out problem!!

Charles .... right you are regarding slides in a Class C! :C

I implied the wrong thing in my post when I was being facetious about shopping for our RV and finally finding the perfect one except for it having a "problem" in that it did not have a slide. WE ESPECIALLY DID NOT WANT A SLIDE and were delighted to finally find a Class C that didn't have one while at the same time having everything else we wanted.

We figured that for what we had to spend to get a decent used or new Class C, it better be able to do it all for maximum value ... including occasionally going off-highway to rockhound on rough roads. Off the beaten path is no place for a heavy, wobbly even when retracted for travel, leak-prone, and somewhat complex mechanical appendage that also compromises the shear strength of an RV's wall.

Having had numerous problems with a slideout previously, we specifically wanted 'no' slideout when shopping for our new motorhome last year. Luckily, there are still a few made. We love ours, and could not be happier.