Thor ACE 30.2 vs Forest River 31B3

superrayzor wrote:

Effy wrote:

nma33 wrote:
Have you looked at any the Jayco Products? I copied the link from a store just for floor plan, Its a Alante 29UM. The size is about what you are looking for with bunks. I by no means am endorsing this dealer!

http://www.rvdirect.com/stockmodels.php?stocknum=FLM7297

X2 - or the Winnie Vista, the Newmar Bay star sport, Forest River FR3, Coachman Mirada or pursuit.....

Vista no bunk beds until 35 feet unfortunately but looks veautiful.

Newmar Bay Star Sport loses the dinette which is a dealbreaker. Eating for 6 people at the sofa/tiny dinette won't work.

I really like the FR3 32DS. Just annoyed because I don't want a king bed, prefer a queen and would rather give that space to other things :) Also seems to be ~94K for a new one.

I wouldn't pay a lot of attention to an advertised price. If you really want to know what a decent deal would be, price it on RVDIRECT.com. They may not have all the brands, but on the ones they do have it's about the best pricing you can find. If you get near that with a local dealer you are doing well. Of course you could always use RVDIRECT. I almost bought my last coach that way but a more local dealer came close enough.

As a rule of thumb you should be able to negotiate about 25-35% off MSRP. Often it takes pitting several dealers against one another to get there, but with the internet, it's pretty easy to get to competitive pricing.

On your line of thinking, you are on the right track. Often it's a good idea to go to a show and see them all. Even if they don't have the plan you want, it's a good way to see nuances like Décor, fit and finish, etc. While quality may be close some have pretty distinct décor. Look at every single thing you can, how do the blinds work, are they day/night, is there carpet or solid flooring under the dinette, how easy is it to load groceries, how comfy are the seats, where are power ports/outlets, is there room to prepare a meal and dry dishes, what's the TV(s) viewing angles, what can /can't you access with the slide in, how many AC's, 50 amp or 30, how big are the bins, are there slide toppers, how much storage, is the storage on the camp side or under the slide, etc etc.

Have you ever rented an RV? Often that's a quick way to find out what you need in a coach. One thing is for sure, it's really hard to buy your last coach first.