Hi all,I’ve been looking at the American Coach lineup of mitorhomes. But even lthough I’m using American Coach as the example. This question pertains to other quality motorhome manufacturers as well. For example...American Eagle MSRP $620,000.00American Heritage MSRP $840,000.00Both are 45’ DP’s with Cummins engine and Freightliner Liberty chassis, Tag axle etc. I know that the Heritage has a larger Cummins engine, heavier duty transmission and chassis and everything is upgraded over the Eagle. That would have to be the case for an additional $220,000.00.But my question is more one of “Serviceability”. You can spend $70,000.00 for a Cadillac Escalade or $45,000.00 for an XTS but the one thing they have in common is they are a Cadillac! Like the Caddy or not that’s not important, what's important is that you can keep either of them for 20 years and they will both hold up the same even with a $25,000.00 difference. No difference in “Serviceability”! Its the “Quality of build” and you can depend on it regardless of model.Is the same thing true of motorhomes. If the manufacturer has a reputation for quality like American Coach, can you depend on its 20 year run because the American Coach has “Quality of build” its not the model its the manufacturer?Thank you,Harry

Really do not know how to answer your question accurately, but our 16 year old Eagle is an amazingly reliable piece of equipment.Personally, I cannot imagine how the Heritage warrants that price delta, but I am fairly sure that both will "go the distance".Hard to beat the Eagle on an upgrade perspective as far as the house design is concerned.

How do you feel about it if the question is put that the manufacturer is General Motors and in one case you are looking at a Chevrolet Tahoe and the other an Escalade with an extra $25,000 of fancy stuff added, and some money for the prestige of a different name? Does the different name badge from the same manufacturer mean more serviceability? I don't think so, the extra price is for the extra stuff and the prestige.Because that's more like what you are looking at with the two motorcoaches.Underneath, a Freightliner is a Freightliner.

As you can see in my sig, our Endeavor is 14 years old and doing everything we ask it to. No, we haven't owned it since new but it has been well taken care.Whether its a car or a motorhome I believe that as long as it is maintained it will last as long as you want it too.

There are actually two very different issues at work here:Quality.Degree of complexity.Quite a lot of "higher end" coaches add a shocking (IMO) number of "gadgets" to their offerings.Even if quality is the same (and in many cases, "state of the art" is NOT a proven, reliable commodity)the more complex the systems, the more things there are to break.

Check out the specifics sheet. Little difference in the chassis and lots of different in the box you ride,eat,and sleep in. We test dove a H and it had heated, AC, and vibrating seats . The E had only AC and heat.

Coach Prices and Long Term Quality | Good Sam Community

40 Replies

smlranger
Explorer
Jun 21, 2014
All of the high end rigs being considered use Aqua Hot or similar hydronic heating systems which do a wonderful job of heating the coach and providing unlimited hot water (assuming you are on full water hook up). Entegra claims to use a lot of insulation, especially in the floor. Our 2007 County Coach is well insulated, far better than the Winnebago Journey we had.

As far as chassis, I know a lot of people slam the Freightliner chassis. As already noted, most any of the chassis under a DP will last many years if properly maintained. Those with IFS and more air bags and bigger frame rails will surely ride better and flex less. Our previous coach, a 2002 Winnebago Journey, was on a FL XC chassis. It had 84,000 miles on it when we traded it and there was nothing wrong with the chassis. It ran, rode and drove very well for what was an entry-level DP.
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Jun 21, 2014
Foodsman wrote:
The coaches we've been talking about in the $500,000.00 category of American, Entegra, Monaco and Newmar. Are all of these coached what you would call "four-season" ready to handle the cold of Montana and the warm of Florida?

Harry

Yes, they could be considered 4-season coaches. However, you're supposed to be out of those states in winter or summer. That's migration time! :)
LOG
Explorer
Jun 21, 2014
I would suspect that most, if not all, the coaches in this discussion use diesel for heating rather than propane.
bsinmich
Explorer
Jun 21, 2014
I think the Newmar will have the best insulation. The article in Feb FMCA on the 2014 Mountain Aire show R19 for walls and floors and R24 for roof. I don't have that in my home. They are one of the very few companies that publish their R ratings.
JetAonly
Explorer
Jun 21, 2014
Foodsman wrote:
The coaches we've been talking about in the $500,000.00 category of American, Entegra, Monaco and Newmar. Are all of these coached what you would call "four-season" ready to handle the cold of Montana and the warm of Florida?

Harry

I can only speak to our experience, although at that level I would expect similar performance from the others. We have been comfortable from 11F to 105F. We have two Heat Pumps and an Aqua-Hot.
RayChez
Explorer
Jun 21, 2014
All of these coaches have good heating systems and are well insulated. But you also got to remember the walls are still three or four inches thick and the heaters will keep them nice and warm in the winter, but they will use lots of propane.

As far as to the hot humid whether of Florida, they all should handle that pretty well. Heck, even your entry level will handle Florida's weather. But up in the tundra it is a little different.
Foodsman
Explorer
Jun 21, 2014
The coaches we've been talking about in the $500,000.00 category of American, Entegra, Monaco and Newmar. Are all of these coached what you would call "four-season" ready to handle the cold of Montana and the warm of Florida?

Harry
Aridon
Explorer
Jun 21, 2014
You hit a point of diminishing returns quality wise pretty quickly and start paying for specialty goods, puff and fluff and detail.
RayChez
Explorer
Jun 20, 2014
RoadMaster only in name, but actually it is a much better built chassis by Freightliner.
eheading
Explorer
Jun 20, 2014
In reality, the Roadmaster chassis under the 2015 Dynasty is exactly the same as the Fleetwood/American Coach Liberty Chassis.

Ed Headington