Gasser guys and gals ...why not a diesel ?
....I’ve seen some people state that they have avoided a diesel .... why so ?
Forum Discussion
Well, back in 2002 when we started our research, we were shopping for our first RV of any kind. We started looking for a small hybrid to tow behind our Honda Odyssey. After more than 2 years of research, we decided on a gas Class A which we use to tow our Odyssey.
OBVIOUSLY, we went WAY OVER our original budget. But desire for adequate space for a growing family of 6 and my requirement that we have a rig which operated within it's chassis limits, ultimately put us in the gas Class A market. We ended up with the rig in my signature and 17 years later we STILL love the dual sofa/dual slide layout and it's worked well for our family for all of these years. It pays to do your homework, and we owe many folks on these forums a debt of gratitude for their advice during those years.
Initially, when I mentioned "Class A" to my wife and told her it was the style that "looked like a bus", she immediately was turned off by the idea. Why? She thought all Class A's were diesel, and she didn't want a diesel (mostly the odor). When I explained that there are gas Class A models too, all was well. (I was fortunate in that she DID let me buy my diesel Kubota tractor 4 years earlier! :B )
But back then, family & friends thought we were crazy for spending that much money with a growing family (7, 3, 2 & 10 months) period. Let alone spending more.
A decent quality diesel motorhome back then would've added well over $40k to our already over-extended budget. It just wasn't going to happen. I also noticed at that time that there WERE some diesel Class A's available which were only about $20k more. BUT...they were "cheapened" to attract those who only shop on price. I did look at a few of these. The cabinetry looked really cheap...much more so than our (upgraded) hardwood cabinets in our gas Class A, and they typically had a propane generator instead of diesel unit (a definite "NO" in my book), and they were on a "less than optimal" chassis. In general, the entire interior looked inferior to what we'd be getting with the gasser we selected. In other words, not really an "attractive" diesel option, in my book.
We hope to keep our Class A gasser for quite some time, BUT, I am keeping an open mind and occasionally search the internet for a nicely kept 20-25 year old Prevost motorhome within our price range. I could be persuaded, at that point, to purchase a diesel. If the wife lets me. ;)
But until that day, our gas Class A has been pretty much the ideal motorhome for our family and budget and I expect it to be able to continue in that role for quite some time.
~Rick
OBVIOUSLY, we went WAY OVER our original budget. But desire for adequate space for a growing family of 6 and my requirement that we have a rig which operated within it's chassis limits, ultimately put us in the gas Class A market. We ended up with the rig in my signature and 17 years later we STILL love the dual sofa/dual slide layout and it's worked well for our family for all of these years. It pays to do your homework, and we owe many folks on these forums a debt of gratitude for their advice during those years.
Initially, when I mentioned "Class A" to my wife and told her it was the style that "looked like a bus", she immediately was turned off by the idea. Why? She thought all Class A's were diesel, and she didn't want a diesel (mostly the odor). When I explained that there are gas Class A models too, all was well. (I was fortunate in that she DID let me buy my diesel Kubota tractor 4 years earlier! :B )
But back then, family & friends thought we were crazy for spending that much money with a growing family (7, 3, 2 & 10 months) period. Let alone spending more.
A decent quality diesel motorhome back then would've added well over $40k to our already over-extended budget. It just wasn't going to happen. I also noticed at that time that there WERE some diesel Class A's available which were only about $20k more. BUT...they were "cheapened" to attract those who only shop on price. I did look at a few of these. The cabinetry looked really cheap...much more so than our (upgraded) hardwood cabinets in our gas Class A, and they typically had a propane generator instead of diesel unit (a definite "NO" in my book), and they were on a "less than optimal" chassis. In general, the entire interior looked inferior to what we'd be getting with the gasser we selected. In other words, not really an "attractive" diesel option, in my book.
We hope to keep our Class A gasser for quite some time, BUT, I am keeping an open mind and occasionally search the internet for a nicely kept 20-25 year old Prevost motorhome within our price range. I could be persuaded, at that point, to purchase a diesel. If the wife lets me. ;)
But until that day, our gas Class A has been pretty much the ideal motorhome for our family and budget and I expect it to be able to continue in that role for quite some time.
~Rick
