Move from Class C to Class A gas

NewbieRandR wrote:
We have been traveling in a 29' Winne Outlook 08 for the past 5 years and have come to the conclusion that we would maybe like to have a little more room, especially with the bathroom. We have been looking at the Winne 2017 Vista 31BE and love the size of the Jack n Jill bathroom. We could possibly get the same floor plan in a Class C but without the additional basement storage and other advantages of the A. Are there any folks out there that have made the change from C to A that would like to share their experience?

Ron

Never owned a C and never will.
If for nothing else, I like the bus look with the large windshield for viewing the America's and consider C's an after thought in design and much like putting a truck camper into the bed of a truck.
Sorta sorta, like the super C's, but only because of the pop over hood for it's diesel engine access and being that engine access is my number one complaint about a pusher.

We made the shift from a 26' Class C to a 32' Class A and thought it was one of our best vehicle changes.

Our Class C was a 1986 Winnebago model that was in production for only one model year. Due to its age, it came with a caburator-equipped Ford 460 engine with enough smog gear to choke an elephant. We bought it relatively cheaply to see if we liked RVing. We loved RVing but soon came to hate that POS. Gas mileage was 6 mpg at sea level and dropped to around 4 mpg at altitude. There's a lot of altitude around here, so it was an expensive beast to run.

It had a strange interior configuration, which may have contributed to Winnebago's discontinuation.

We managed to sell it quickly at only a slight loss. At the time, gas had climbed from 80 cents to around $1.75. Within two more years it was around $4 a gallon.

We missed the lifestyle, and despite the price of gas,we bought the Class A. It was an '02 with the 6.5 liter V-10 and a 4-speed transmission. We got a reliable 7.7 mpg everywhere, since the EFI system corrected for altitude.

We loved the extra living space and the view through the windshield. After 4 years, we realised we were dipping into our IRAs to buy gas for our hobby. With great reluctance we sold the rig and have not replaced it.

NewbieRandR wrote:
Are there any folks out there that have made the change from C to A that would like to share their experience?

Ron

Ron, you haven't had many takers yet on this so I'll give you our take which is not going to be a good comparison as we went from a Winnebago Aspect Class C to our current DP rig but, for what it's worth, here goes.

You are apparently needing/wanting significant sleeping capabilities since you are looking at the bunk model class A. Also, the Vista is a lower price point coach from Winnebago and so therefore some of the amenities and build quality will not be the same as what can be had with other models and manufactures. If this level of RV fits your needs, then I'll move away from discussing chassis, appliances, build quality, etc.

Here's a quick list of my impression of moving from a C to an A: I miss the driver's door and the Ford build quality from the cab
area forward. A lower price point RV like the Vista will be noticeable here. Our Ellipse is not a good comparison as it is whole different animal so someone hopefully will have a better apples to apples impression for you. I miss not being able to heat and cool rather well as we are on the road with just the E450 HVAC. With an A, you very likely will be running your genset to cool as you travel and possibly even run your coach heat while traveling down the road. If this is something that would be a deal breaker for you, just be aware that heating and cooling demands with an A will be different. Visibility from that big front windshield is nice. Replacing that big front glass is not and it seems like it takes a bigger beating than what we had on our class C.

If you are interested in looking at something different in an A, then that opens up a lot of possibilities and huge advantages with room, storage, on board amenities, towing capabilities and so forth. If the Vista meets your needs, it would be worthy of your consideration but, do not totally discount looking at a class C if you are tying to meet a certain cost point. The advantages in this category may not tip the scales in favor of going to a class A.

A Class C with the split bathroom, queen walk around, is the same size as a Class A with one. You don't gain any more space in the A, the floor plans are identical. All you get that is different is maybe captain chairs that turn around up front and the big windshield. That you now have to install/buy a good cover for in winter and summer.

My first RV that I bought was a Class C and it was called a basement model. I had the same storage as an A.

Don't know if they still make a Class C with a basement though.