Need advice: Shopping for a Class A...

One thing you might want to do is to Google for Thor/Forest River owner's forums for some of your mfg-specific questions. IRV2.com has owner's forums. Good luck in your search. You'll love a Class A!

First off I have a 2017 Thor ACE. For me the unit is fine I have had no major problems. Yes some loose screws, some wires needed tightening etc. I moved from a nice 5th wheel to the ACE and am happy I did.

Most sales people will not be able to answer your questions on frame, wiring that sort of thing. Look at how the kitchen drawers are made is a clue.

I think most brands have there set of problems. People will complain on the forums about their units. While most are happy with them. You very seldom will hear a post about how great my unit is.

As for trade I was never one to try and sell my units outright. If you have the time and the place to advertise you might make a little more selling yourself.

I think you have answered a lot of your own questions just from reading reviews. Yeah the ratings may be slanted some because happy buyers are less motivated than the ticked off ones, but enough volume eventually shows a trend. In the price point you mentioned you are in range for Newmar, Tiffin, Winnie, and may want to add HR Vacationers and the Precept line from Jayco.
You may want to come down 95 a bit to Ashland Va at least to shop and peruse.
You have two CW affiliate stores McGeorge and another that is changing names, plus General RV, and Commonwealth RV which sells a lot of used units both consignment and repo.
Watch carefully for the price points, Mc George is pretty Fee heavy in their sales contracts, likely around $4000 in add ons and fees.

If you need to price compare, check
www.rv007.com
They are in Danville Va and Myrtle Beach SC, so they may be farther than you want to go just to look but they price their rigs out the door so the price you see is their actual final price, at least this will give you some reference points.
Happy Motorin

As an owner of 3 class A's my experience has been the best with my Newmar. Also have heard great reviews about Tiffin These mfg. make a good Gas coach as well as the DP models. I had a winnebago which was an alright coach and for many years I had an Airstream DP another good coach I had a Forest river TT product their service was excellent but there was some lack of quality there.
In the end you will have to live with and be happy with your purchase don't overlook the small stuf and the unseen. If you can go for a few factory tours of the builders that you are interested in. There is much more than fit and finish and gingerbread when you are on the rtoad and dealing with things.
If you buy a gasser with the F53 chassis set aside an additional $2 grand to tame the ride.

If you're going to $150k, skip Thor and FR. It's a buyer's market right now, with inventory on the lots and units backed up on the transporter's lots in Indiana. Look at coaches in the 150-200 range and negotiate to under 150.

Buying new, be prepared to spend some time at the dealer in warranty repairs. I would say the selection of the dealer is most important. Research the service department reviews here.

Go with Craig's List to sell your TT. Just don't answer any emails from guys on offshore drilling rigs offering to buy "the unit" sight unseen for their father and dealing only through PayPal. This is a scam.

Find a good used Tiffin with complete service records. Pay to have it professionally inspected. You will end up with one of the best available at a bargain price!

Once you have decided on what you like, go to RVtrader.com and search there. We saved 25K over what close by dealers wanted for the same coach. If you have to travel to get it, just consider that your first camping trip in your new toy.

garyemunson wrote:
If you have to travel to get it, just consider that your first camping trip in your new toy.

I would recommend against this in a new rig. They factories are turning out rigs so fast that they're counting on the dealers to complete the build. There are a lot of warranty issues that will turn a camping trip into a nightmare.

The local CW is backed up on warranty issues until into October. The RV service center I work at is doing some of the work because they have a lot of unhappy customers. These people bought a brand new camper and expected to make a trip to Yellowstone the next week. Instead the camper sits unused waiting for CW to get to them.

I would make my first camping trip in the driveway.

cargo carrying capacity is one thing I would want to know for sure especially on a gas coach. We found out the hard way on our first Class A Gas coach that it had plenty of ccc EXCEPT it was really only available on the rear axle. After we had bought it and learned enough to know we needed to have it weighed on each corner, then we learned that nearly the entire capacity of the front axle was taken up by the weight of the engine. So we had a big pass through storage area that we could not put much weight in.

Private sale vs dealer sale - better is subjective; better price will most likely come from a private sale but dealer sale will likely be easier in that you would be able to do one deal, trading in the tt and getting your motorhome but that ease will be more expensive. It really depends upon how much you are willing to pay for less stress and effort on your part.

If you have the time, go to a big rv show like Hersey. Close the doors and windows and sit down in lots of units, and then listen - how much noise do you hear from the people outside? Does it sound solid when you close the door? open and close drawers, window coverings, etc.

You also didn't mention how you are going to use the coach but you mention a cross country trip. Are you going to be full time or one big one month trip a year? or maybe 3 months at a time and then sitting for several months unused. That all factors into your decision.

I'll just throw in one more thing - for that price range you could buy a good quality used diesel coach. one of the reasons I prefer diesel is the ability to pull into a truck stop lane instead of having to squeeze into gas stations especially while towing a toad. There are lots of other reasons but it really depends upon how, where and how often you use your coach whether those other reasons will apply to you.

For a gas unit Newmar, Tiffin Winnebago or posdibly even one of the new Entegra class A gas units. All coaches have some issues but customer service, support, work with warranty etc makes the difference, and first prize for that would go to both Entegra and Tiffin...both offer great support, and service and those are the two I would go with...Yes I am a bit biased towards Entegra but having first hand experience with them makes them a winner for me. Now that they have come out with the Reatta (entry level diesel to compete with FOrza) and have the new gas units , they now have a coach to compete in every segment.