I am retiring at the end of this year and my wife and I are planning on upgrading from a travel trailer to a Class A Motorhome. I have been doing a lot of research on what to get. Our budget can't exceed about 90k.I thought I had found the ideal motorhome in the Thor Motor Coach A.C.E. 29.4. It has everything we'd want (we don't have kids) including a king bed (I am 6'5", so a nice sized bed is more than a luxury). I've seen some videos on it, and I've looked at a lot of different dealer websites.As a second choice, I've been looking at some Fleetwood models and a Jayco model. Here is my problem. When I look for customer reviews of these motor homes it appears to be tough to find a review that is favorable (other than outside of the manufacturer's website). Indeed, looking at reviews for dealers, I find multiple unfavorable reviews for dealers (and their service departments as well).Is there a brand that generally gets favorable reviews, and is there a dealer that generally gets favorable reviews? As an example, though many people may not like Toyotas, most people concede that they generally make a high quality product. Is there a Class A motorhome equivalent?Bonus points awarded for someone recommending a high quality dealer as well. ;)We are willing to stretch above our budget in order to get something good. But I figure we've only got one chance to get it right. Thanks for any help you can give me.

I wouldn't worry about a dealer at all - we bought our DP off of Craigs List from a computer programmer in Bolder, Colorado.Ours was a 2005 Fleetwood Excursion 39S that we bought for $84.5K and it was in almost perfect condition. The Excursion is the same as a Discovery, but it's the upgraded version and it has the higher ceilings that you'll need. The only thing that's actually gone bad was the engine alternator which his warranty paid for.Bill

Be sure of the bed measurements. Most king size in rv's are "camper kings" at 75" in length. That may be a little short for you.

BernieCheryl wrote: When I look for customer reviews of these motor homes it appears to be tough to find a review that is favorable (other than outside of the manufacturer's website). Indeed, looking at reviews for dealers, I find multiple unfavorable reviews for dealers (and their service departments as well).Maybe this should tell you something?

We had a Ace 30.1. We really liked it but wanted a little more room so we traded to our current motor home. You do need to check the bed I too am tall and the bed in the Aces are six inches shorter than a standard bed. For the price I thought the quality was good in the Ace. Of course the more you have to spend the better the quality. Had a few minor issues all which I repaired myself. Look at Georgetowns FR3 it's modeled off the Ace. Don't let anyone scare you away from a certain brand of motor home they all have issues at one time or another. If your willing to go over your budget around 30K you can buy a Tiffin 32SA that has a full size king bed. :) Good luck with whatever you choose.

Look at used let some one else take the loss on depreciation. Also more MH for the money.

Quality Control?? | Good Sam Community

22 Replies

gonesouth
Explorer
Apr 28, 2016
I think the point regarding Tiffin is that yes, they have great factory service, and if all else fails, you can call Bob. But, most of their competition doesn't need to have a last call before a warranty problem gets handled, it gets fixed at a lower level.

My experience has been that if a company will only fix it if you call the Owner, their systems aren't really up to snuff but are just being papered over. It's how I see it, YMMV.
prstlk
Explorer
Apr 27, 2016
Tntman wrote:
To the person recommending a used Monaco, did you forget about the RR4R trailing arm debacle that sank said Monaco. Also wiped out Safari, Holiday Rambler and Beaver. Replacing the trailing arms is very costly.
Do your homework and call the previous owner if you can.
I do not think I would denigrate Tiffin while RVing in a trailer, try owning a Tiffin first. Bob has the BEST factory service in the industry. I can call Bob anytime and talk to the owner of the company, try that with any other manufacturer.

The trailing arm only effected the r4 chassis not the r8 it covered 2 years of production and was addressed in a recall. Volkswagen has at present a huge recall for their diesel cars worldwide this was caused by greed and data manipulation, not an engineering mistake. Monaco took steps to fix not hide.
I have talked with both tiffin and monaco line owners, it's a mixed bag of love and hate for both brands.
My point is you shouldn't condemn a entire brand over a single issue.
Jmho
Mr_Mark1
Explorer
Apr 27, 2016
Tntman wrote:
To the person recommending a used Monaco, did you forget about the RR4R trailing arm debacle that sank said Monaco. Also wiped out Safari, Holiday Rambler and Beaver. Replacing the trailing arms is very costly.
Do your homework and call the previous owner if you can.
I do not think I would denigrate Tiffin while RVing in a trailer, try owning a Tiffin first. Bob has the BEST factory service in the industry. I can call Bob anytime and talk to the owner of the company, try that with any other manufacturer.

I, too, believe Tiffin is a good RV to consider. All RV's are pretty much built the same (Newmar, Tiffin, Fleetwood, etc.).

But, the trailing arms were not the demise of Monaco at all. It was the crash if 2008 and the CEO trying to get too big too fast. (Typical CEO). Every RV manufacturer will have a glitch to correct. Tiffin's roof rails and sagging water compartments didn't put them under.

MM.
Tntman
Explorer
Apr 27, 2016
To the person recommending a used Monaco, did you forget about the RR4R trailing arm debacle that sank said Monaco. Also wiped out Safari, Holiday Rambler and Beaver. Replacing the trailing arms is very costly.
Do your homework and call the previous owner if you can.
I do not think I would denigrate Tiffin while RVing in a trailer, try owning a Tiffin first. Bob has the BEST factory service in the industry. I can call Bob anytime and talk to the owner of the company, try that with any other manufacturer.
barmcd
Explorer
Apr 26, 2016
gonesouth wrote:
If I were you I'd take a road trip and go to PPL in Houston. A couple of days there will really give you an education on what's out there, even if you don't buy there. And since you can walk around and go in every one without a saleperson..... Then visit Motorhomes of Texas in Nagadoches, tx, and MHSRV on the outskirts of Dallas (another amuse yourself dealer) and you will get a range of dealers and choices. Then look at the website for DiMartini in California to see if you want to look at anything there. At that point you have good reference points on good coaches and with MOT and DeMartini you have seen two of the best-liked dealers in the country. By then you should be ready to go out into the world, Little Brother.

On here, i'd listen to advice from Bruce Brown, Ivylog, and Brett Wolfe and a few others but mainly those three. There are others but they don't respond to as broad a range of queries, so I dont remember their names this morning but Dave Head, Larry Cad and Larry Feather come to mind as well as Scharley and Sully2.......

And MHSRV will even give you a golf cart to ride around in wile you look. It's a big place. One thing I suggest you do if you visit there is look at the trade-in rigs waiting for cleaning. It'll be an eye opener for you. They make PPL's consignment units look pristine and give you an idea of what that sparking used RV looked like when the previous owners had it. That experience was what precipitated our change in strategy from looking at dealers to looking at private sales.
gonesouth
Explorer
Apr 26, 2016
If I were you I'd take a road trip and go to PPL in Houston. A couple of days there will really give you an education on what's out there, even if you don't buy there. And since you can walk around and go in every one without a saleperson..... Then visit Motorhomes of Texas in Nagadoches, tx, and MHSRV on the outskirts of Dallas (another amuse yourself dealer) and you will get a range of dealers and choices. Then look at the website for DiMartini in California to see if you want to look at anything there. At that point you have good reference points on good coaches and with MOT and DeMartini you have seen two of the best-liked dealers in the country. By then you should be ready to go out into the world, Little Brother.

On here, i'd listen to advice from Bruce Brown, Ivylog, and Brett Wolfe and a few others but mainly those three. There are others but they don't respond to as broad a range of queries, so I dont remember their names this morning but Dave Head, Larry Cad and Larry Feather come to mind as well as Scharley and Sully2.......
timmac
Explorer
Apr 26, 2016
I am on my 3rd Fleetwood, 2000 Terry travel trailer, 2002 Flair 26Y, and now a 2008 Bounder 32W and all 3 never gave me a problem, just little stuff that is normal in most any RV.
gonesouth
Explorer
Apr 26, 2016
How did that go, If a man advises you to buy what he bought, take it with a grain of salt. If he says to buy something different, he may have something worthwile to listen to.
Cloud_Dancer
Explorer II
Mar 06, 2016
What would work best for me is Foretravel in Texas or Tiffin in Alabama. That's on account that next time I do NOT want to be too far from the factory....:B
I want to be able to drive to the factory year-round, without dealing with ice and snow....:B
Bruce_Brown
Moderator
Mar 06, 2016
Alabama Jim wrote:
Tiffin motor homes are probably the best on the market. But, as usual, everyone has an opinion.

Thank you for that one - I needed a good laugh.

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