Down to Road trek?

I don't believe you mentioned the length of time you spent on the road per trip. We have been comfortable in our "quirky" (aka innovative) Roadtrek for everything from multiple-week trips to daily trips. We go much more now because it takes no time to get ready. Fire up the fridge, figure out the cloths and go. Just got back from a music festival. It works great for taking a break, meals, bathroom stops, etc. As I stated earlier, it works well for us, but make sure you have a bed that fits you.

Granted, we are driving a Transit Cargo van that I converted to our needs; but I can add that having a "small and nimble" vehicle can be good. Today, coming home from a 10-day drive through the SW USA (where we could go anywhere, park anywhere, etc) on I-80, a car in the left lane suddenly veered into our lane. There were concrete barriers to our right - no shoulder. Hubby hit the brakes and swerved as close as possible to the barrier and the car missed us by a hairs-breadth. Had we still been in our Class C or with our 5er, there WOULD have been an accident.

Hi PSW,

No doubt you have had encounters with Lucas, Prince of Darkness.

PSW wrote:
I have owned both a MG and a Austin Healey in my past and now THAT is quirky so I probably measure most things compared to "positive earth"!

Quirky? I never thought of those systems as quirky but I smiled when I read chast's post because..........they are a little quirky. But, they have worked well for us for over twenty years and we have found the systems to be reliable. I still pause when I try to remember which way those valves go to switch between the water tanks so I just always leave them combined and use both tanks. I suspect most owners do the same.

I have owned both a MG and a Austin Healey in my past and now THAT is quirky so I probably measure most things compared to "positive earth"!

Our experience with Roadtrek was that we found them to be “quirky”. As an experienced RVer, we found the septic hookups, the utilities layout, the fresh water system, the charging system and the shower all to be Roadtrek peculiar. Most other B manufacturers conform to standard RV layouts as far as hookups are concerned. We have found Pleasureway our favorite of all the B vans out there.

We had a 96 Roadtrek 190P we bought new and we enjoyed it for six years, sold it and bought a small C, kept it for a few years and then bought a new 2007 Roadtrek 210P. Seven years later, we sold the RT and bought another small C because we had gotten to the point where we camped (boondocked) more and toured less. We tough a Jeep behind the 24 foot C. Add up the lengths of the Jeep, the towing gear and the C and we are about 43 feet long. We have to plan every stop for gas, cannot just "whip in" to a place to grab a bite to eat and so on. When we get where we are going it is great and we spend 2 weeks or so in one boondocking spot using the Jeep to run around.

Well, great. The lady that bought our 210P put it up for sale after a few years and guess what? We bought it back from her! She kept it in immaculate condition for a few years and only added a small amount of mileage. It is now back in its home garage on our property, looks like new and runs like new. I can service and take care of all the rv "stuff" on the unit myself and after all these years know those systems pretty well.

Our RT has twin beds as opposed to the couch that makes into a bed. That gives us a large storage space accessible from the back. This 210 has an armoire in place of the third seat and the combined interior storage is more than our last C. So is the external storage. I think I am correct that the 210 has more cubic feet of storage than any other B.

To make a long story even longer, it has now been 23 years since we bought our first Roadtrek. Driving is more of a chore for us than it was 23 years ago. We can drive for longer distances in a day if we desire, buy gas anywhere and every little town has a "Chevy place" that can work on that chassis.

Cramped? Yep, compared to a C any B is a little cramped.

Hey, so is a Cessna Citation or a Learjet. So what?

Jayco-noslide wrote:
We are currently happy with a well used 30 ft. Class C. But getting older and might be able to keep going longer if we downsize to something easier to drive and small enough to do away with a dinghy and all the hooking work, etc. Seems to me that, considering the high price even used of the more modern Class Bs that a used Road Trek might be best. Possibly one for $30000 or less, Compared to the 50K and up for newer designs. I know we would be sacrifising space, bed arrangement, storage, freezer and other painful ammenities. Would like to hear from those of you who have gone this route.

This is what we did. Older 'trek for well under your $30K price max. Ours is a pre-sprinter sized unit, and you would need to make sure the bed is big enough for you. Ours is, but just. Because it's just an oversized van, it is our second vehicle when not on the road as well, so it gets used often. No need to make reservations, as you can park in any sized spot. If you like to meander, it doesn't get much easier. We made the move from a Class A years ago, and never looked back.

If you are considering a used Roadtrek... and there are lots of great ones still out there, this is one of the best places to start shopping:

Roadtrek International

Of course there are quite a few older Pleasureways and Great West Vans around too.

Roadtrek is bankrupt but a company has purchased them. I'd buy used--but not new.

We have the same problem. getting older is not for wimps!
We have been on the road for about 20 years mostly in class A rigs. Our last one was a 40 ft American Eagle but we started having some health problem and decided to try apartment living for a while to get well.
We got well and didn't enjoy apartment living and if we wanted to go on a trip we had to use motels and restaurants.
We now have a 2006 22 ft Trek and are enjoying the 20+MPG at the speed limit.
The bathroom is small...... we still try to stay at campgrounds so we can use their toilet facility. Sleeping in the Trek is very comfortable. My wife does the cooking and is enjoying our new life style.