Chinook Glacier - Are They A Maintenance Problem?

Motor Home Specialist is advertising the 2018 Dynamax Isata for sale. The 2005 Chinook Glacier had three coach batteries in a basement compartment on a slide out tray and a 2,000 watt whole house inverter/charger.

I owned two Chinook Concourse RVs. They were good units, well built. I sold my last one when the company went out of business and it had passed the 5 year age though. Figured the resale value would decline pretty rapidly after that, so I'm surprised to see used Clacier's selling in the range shown. As I recall the original MSRP on them was around $150K.

If the Chinook Glacier was just what I was looking for, I wouldn't worry a stitch about the systems you are concerned about because nearly all such things are 3rd party items of which are readily available, or they are generic items like power distribution panels, faucets, etc.

Now spending that kind of money on a 2005 Chinook Glacier, the used market will tell you if the price is in-line. The Chinook was known to be a quality built product, much like a hand full of other scaled-down B+ manufactures of the era like Coach House, Born Free, Phoenix Cruiser, and Isata. Coach House and Phoenix Cruiser are still in business today. Isata was a product of Dynamax but the company exchanged hands during the recession and dropped the Isata line-up.

Phoenix has been around since 1998, quite a long time for a single owner. The original private owner Kermit Fisher sold the company this summer to a pair of private owners who are in the trenches (not hands-free investors) determined to carry on the tradition of a quality product, care of recent and old-time customers, and with the utmost care for their employees. Unlike the industry in general, the employees at Phoenix have been there for many years, very little employee turn-over which is reflected in the product. The previous owner Kermit is even staying on-board as an employee to engineer another platform, I assume the Ford Transit.

If you decide to consider a Phoenix Cruiser, I advise to limit yourself to one that is not older than a 2007 to be assured in getting two house batteries in a special compartment for two, and whole house inverter. The entry door is top notch, the Sanicon waste management system is great, and the non-intrusive locked & sealed spare tire compartment is the best I ever seen. I speak from personal experience with our 2007 2350 model HERE. The company offers so many floorplans, slide outs, and lengths, you have quite the choice for housing. We intentionally had ours made for us 10.5 years ago without a slide out. It's a great unit. We love our PC. Our plan is to own it for over 35 years until we are too old & dangerous to drive.

Plus the trade name has been acquired and is "returning" to production by an independent manufacturer in Elkhart IN. Same quality coach, who knows?

The Chinook Glacier is built on the E450 Ford chassis. Parts are readily available and service is available at any Ford dealership that services Ford trucks. Most coach appliances, air conditioners, furnaces, etc. are standard equipment found on most class C motorhomes. The hydraulic level system and slide out are HWH with service available at the HWH factory as well as many RV service centers. However, the slide out is a pneumatic sealed slide and is a very top end slide out. The slide out bladder seal when needing replacement is very expensive. The electrical system is top of the line with features not found on most class C motorhomes. Some parts are no longer made by the original supplier but are available from other suppliers. Because of the complexity and luxury, they will have more maintenance than the average class C motorhome. What is not there cannot break. Whether they are worth it is a judgement call.