Big Katuna wrote:
It’s all about trade offs to me. I’ve had two gas coaches and bought a new DP in 2005.
Some rhetorical questions to provoke thought.
Are you going out west in the Rockies?
Do you like getting off the Interstate and driving US highways and county roads?
Do you like older state parks with lots of shade or prefer wide open RV Resorts?
Are you going to be driving often, move around often or sit for a few months at a time?
Class Cs weigh about 15K lbs, are under 11’ tall and almost all shops will work on them; it’s a van. All the dash electronics, AC, sheet metal, electric windows. Simple and reliable. You can pull off the road and not sink in. Driver comfort not as good as DP.
But they fit in low clearances and are comfortable on backroads. And Billy Bob can work on them.
Class A gas weigh low 20s and over 11’ tall. The drivability I’m sure is way better than my old gas chassis. A friend bought a 2000 F53 drove it 15 years with few problems; brakes, belts, maintenance. They traded for a new 2016 F53, six speed night and day better than the 2000.
A DP weighs in at 30K lbs and up. I’m parked next a Winnebago Tour, a 43’ monster. I looked it up and it’s over 50K lbs. Pull off on the shoulder in THAT and see what happens. A DP drives way better. It’s quieter, engine braking downhill is great. I rarely use my foot brake. When new, maintenance amounts to annual oil and lube.
Wait till they get older like my 2005 and things start breaking. Everything costs way more. Finding places that work on DPs is easy. Finding GOOD places to work on them is another story. Expect to pay $125/hr AND UP for labor.
I’ve had two ride ht valves replaced $400 a pop, belts and tensioner $600. A high pressure pump failure can costs thousands.
All valid points. We've owned a C and 2 A's to date. The A's were bought new and rather entry level. But that worked for us in the past. We do like state parks and not warm and fuzzy on parking lot type CG's. We typically shop around for a KOA type CG. However, that was fun weekend type trips and a totally different plan and purpose. Our thought is to tour coast to coast, starting low and looping high and zig zag in between. Without time constraints we thought we'd have sort of a high level plan and figure it out as we go. Likely staying in places for a week at a time (I'll still be working) and moving weekly or every other week. Drive times preferably will be 6 hrs per day or under - depending on where we go from place to place. National parks are on the list. So with all that in mind, a nice gasser would certainly do. However, this will be our full time home, at least for 2-4 years. Driving the gassers, despite being new and the myriad of mods I've done, I am worn out at the end of a driving shift, and the noise is hard to hold a conversation. Also full timing will require a lot more stuff, so capacity is definitely a consideration. I think for these reasons a DP is our primary focus. That or a super C, but we have only looked at those for the sake of DW's comfort level in driving - which she never does.
As we will be selling our house, we plan on having a lot in reserves for maintenance, repairs and issues. $125-175k is our budget. Technically I could spend 2-3x that, but we don't need that level of coach and I'd rather have the funds on hand and not be coach poor.
Where we plan to travel makes me think a 36-40' coach will get us in most places we want to be. We don't plan on doing a lot of dry camping. We also plan on having a toad. Currently we have a CRV and it works, but we may move to a larger one if we have the capacity and it fits the budget - but since it's already set up we may run it until it makes sense to trade it.
