Forum Discussion

cvbdsl's avatar
cvbdsl
Explorer
Nov 29, 2016

Thoughts on a 2005 Holiday Rambler Imperial 42DSQ

Ok, so I've got the itch to move up a bit from my 2003 DSDP to a 2005 HR 42 DSQ or similar.

I seen one online for a good price but am not sure how they fit in the HR line(low mid or high end).
HR brochures don't show the model for 2005 but do for the 2006 so I guess its a mid year type of model.

Any comments on reliability overall value etc?

2005 HR 42 DSQ




Thanks

Chris
  • I guess I won't be getting this one. Spoke to the dealer and "selling for a friend" and doesn't want my trade as it is worth too much?
    If my trade was worth around 30K he would. Guess he's looking for cash only.

    Chris
  • We recently traded in an endeavor that served us well for almost 10 years. It was a great motor home and looking at your pics, very similar to the endeavor we had. Don't let anyone shake you. I know someone who has a tiffen and they have had trouble with all kinds of things ever since they bought it. They aren't what they are cracked up to be. If you don't feel comfortable doing an inspection yourself, find someone really knowledgable and have them go with you. Don't shut down if you find minor things. most dealers will fix any small thing you find. Kick it to the curb if you find huge things.
  • We have a 2005 HR Endeavor, 1 step under the Imperial, bought new and would not trade it for any other 2005 model coach. It has been worry free and what few things have gone wrong were mostly owner induced and easy to repair or replace. IMO, you can not go wrong with this coach, IF you do a proper inspection and find it up to standards for an 11 year old coach. Some will try to tell you it is an orphan and to run away. WRONG, it is NOT an orphan, as Fleetwood still has the product and the information on the coach for your use.
  • For diesels Ambassador, Endeavor, Imperial and Navigator

    We have a 2001 Imperial which we have owned for 11 years. Great quality as compared to many others.

    Ivylog is correct it is equal to the Dynasty.
  • I have a set of brochures for 2008, for that year, Navigator was tops, followed, in order by Imperial, Septer, Endeavor and Ambassador, Neptune, and a couple more.
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    Only the Navigator is higher up the food chain at HR. It's very very similar to my 04 Dynasty and was built on the same production line. For Monaco in those years it's Dynasty, Executive, and Signature. Price wise I'd say it's pretty good although in June when I tried to have my insurance agreed value at $80K, they would only allow $75K... close enough for me so $85 US is a good price assuming the tires are fairly new. The fit and finish looks identical to my 04 Dynasty. It also looks like it may have a residential refer... a good thing. My biggest repair expense was my NoCold 1200 refer which I finally gave up on last year... should have 5 years ago. Here is my DIY refer install.
    .
    I've always felt the Dynasty gave the most bang for the buck... Girard awning all the way around, AquaHot, 9000+ CCC and the ISL with a Jake brake is enough power 99.8 percentof the time... the 0.2 is above 10,000 ft when you can no longer get 100 percent power. I'm not a fan of the bath and a half floor plan but I do like that there are windows besides the bed, not at the head of the bed... can be very cold on your head. It also has barn doors on the basement bays under the slides making it easier to get into. It appears to have the good old fashion rocker switches instead of the trouble prone multi-plex computer switching system.

    I bought my Dynasty slightly used in 04 and now have 75K miles on it... 12 years and plan on keeping it for another 12+ years. My combined weight is 45,000 lbs and I have a heavy foot so slightly less than 7.0 mpg is my overall mpg average. About the only negative is that it's easy to overload the front axle if you are not careful how you load it. At seven years I replaced my front 295/80/22.5 tires with Firestone FS400 315/80/22.5 and at 10 years I replaced all six rear tires with Hankook 11R/22.5 which are the same diameter as the 295s and a lot less expensive plus a very common truck tire.

    I would plan on replacing the TVs with LED TVs and here is my DIY 32" to 40" TV install. Doubt the Sat dish will work, even in the US. The quality of the wood work is excellent and mine still look almost new inside and out. I replace all of the ceiling halogen lights with $2 G4 12 5050 leds in warm white... decreased the amps from 32 to 4, not that you will run all 32 of them at once. Going all LED has really decrease the amp/hour decreasing the generator run time to less than two hours/day when boondocking.

    I love how the RR10S tag axle Monaco/HR handles... rock solid. It's 1500 miles from home to Colorado which I still do in two days and coming home I've been known to do 2100+ in three days. This summer I did several 800+ mile days. Passing trucks is a non event and I've yet to have a cross wind that stopped me from traveling.

    Assuming everything checks out and NO RUST, it's a lot of MH for the money with many nice features and some little things like... key less entry with one button bay lock/unlock. Air seal door... no wind noise. Dual pane windows that do not fog up.
    If I was looking for a replacement I'd probably pass BUT only because of the Bath and half.
  • Personally, I would stick with a Newmar product if the only other option was HR. If you must move take a look at other Newmar or Tiffin products.
    Again.....Personally.....YMMV!