Quest for Quality Small RV
We have been rving for 40 years and have always had small Rv’s under 30 ft. Some have been class A and some have been class C. Our first class A was a 1983 27 ft. Pace Arrow. When Tiffin came out with the Breeze in 2010 we were excited to get a diesel pusher under 30’.
After 5 years of great travels and few problems, we felt the Navistar engine may be a problem going forward so it was time to trade. In 2017 the Breeze 28 was no longer offered and no Tiffin Class A was under 30’ ,so we bought a 25’ Winnebago Via on the Mercedes chassis.
The Via was great for 3 years with no problems but the corner bed was a challenge and Mercedes had just come out with a new chassis so we wanted to go back to a Tiffin product. But again ,Tiffin offered no Class A under 30’ so we traded for a 2020 Wayfarer 25 RW which we bought in March. Unfortunately, we took one camping trip in it and decided that the floor plan and the limited OCCC would not work for us so a search for another RV began.
Once again, finding a quality small class A was fruitless. In July ,we looked at a Used Coach House class C and decided this coach would work. We contacted Coach House at their factory and they stated that they were now building their coaches on the new Ford E450 chassis with the new engine and safety features. In July We then drove our Wayfarer to Florida and traded it in for a new 272 Coach House to be built. The 272 model was only 14 inches longer than the Wayfarer but offered a better Floorplan, greater storage, 2200 lbs. of OCCC, one piece fiberglass shell and greater towing capacity. In our opinion, Coach House is the best built Class C available.
Now the bad news, yes we lost money and the Coach House was more expensive but the saddest item was our coach would not be ready for pickup until February 2021,a 7 month wait. Although initially disappointed, we feel ecstatic now because the wait time is almost over for our coach, and the current wait time for a new coach is now 16 months.
From our research our opinion is the only really quality builders on the E450 chassis are Phoenix Cruiser and Coach House. I would hope Tiffin, Entegra or Winnebago will start building a small high quality class C or B+ on the new E450 chassis . Even though a high quality coach will be more expensive, we believe there is a market for a well built motorhome.
After 5 years of great travels and few problems, we felt the Navistar engine may be a problem going forward so it was time to trade. In 2017 the Breeze 28 was no longer offered and no Tiffin Class A was under 30’ ,so we bought a 25’ Winnebago Via on the Mercedes chassis.
The Via was great for 3 years with no problems but the corner bed was a challenge and Mercedes had just come out with a new chassis so we wanted to go back to a Tiffin product. But again ,Tiffin offered no Class A under 30’ so we traded for a 2020 Wayfarer 25 RW which we bought in March. Unfortunately, we took one camping trip in it and decided that the floor plan and the limited OCCC would not work for us so a search for another RV began.
Once again, finding a quality small class A was fruitless. In July ,we looked at a Used Coach House class C and decided this coach would work. We contacted Coach House at their factory and they stated that they were now building their coaches on the new Ford E450 chassis with the new engine and safety features. In July We then drove our Wayfarer to Florida and traded it in for a new 272 Coach House to be built. The 272 model was only 14 inches longer than the Wayfarer but offered a better Floorplan, greater storage, 2200 lbs. of OCCC, one piece fiberglass shell and greater towing capacity. In our opinion, Coach House is the best built Class C available.
Now the bad news, yes we lost money and the Coach House was more expensive but the saddest item was our coach would not be ready for pickup until February 2021,a 7 month wait. Although initially disappointed, we feel ecstatic now because the wait time is almost over for our coach, and the current wait time for a new coach is now 16 months.
From our research our opinion is the only really quality builders on the E450 chassis are Phoenix Cruiser and Coach House. I would hope Tiffin, Entegra or Winnebago will start building a small high quality class C or B+ on the new E450 chassis . Even though a high quality coach will be more expensive, we believe there is a market for a well built motorhome.
