What constitutes an "entry level" Class A?
So I've been researching, reading about, and even seeing first-hand various Class A RVs. I was told to specifically check out Newmar, Tiffin, and Winnebago as they were better quality than the Tho...
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When we were shopping in 2013, the cheapest new Class A I saw had a sale sticker on it for $69,999. This was at the Hershey show.
That's not chump change in my book. That's good money.
That most certainly was entry level but nothing to laugh at. This lifestyle isn't cheap.
It had white Filon sides and stickers -not full body paint.
The storage compartments were cut out of the Filon Sides -not one-piece rolled aluminum or similar construction.
The counter tops were laminate -not solid surface or stone.
The cabinets were pressed wood with laminate over that -not solid wood.
The flooring was one sheet of linoleum -not tile or wood.
It had a TPO roof -not one-piece fiberglass. This might be debatable whether this roof puts you in the entry level category. Lot's of really nice and more expensive Class As are built with TPO.
It had white, plastic faucets -not metal or plastic with a simulated metal finish.
The furniture looked of a good quality. Everything in it was serviceable and could last a lifetime if taken care of properly. TVs and audio/visual looked about the same as other models.
It was built on the Ford F-53 chassis like all the other gassers. It was most likely built on a lighter-weight chassis, but if that matched the weight of the coach, would not matter in this debate. This coach was short.
I can say with certainty that was an entry-level Class A.
We ended up buying an entry-level Class A.
That is, it was a Class A at the lowest price point offered by Tiffin.
It had full body paint, one-piece fiberglass roof, rolled aluminum storage compartment doors, vinyl tile floor, plastic faucets with faux-bronze finish, solid surface counter in kitchen/laminate in bath (we had them upgrade our's to solid surface in bath) and solid wood cabinets.
I'm not knocking any of the above components. We were shopping several different manufacturers. it seemed to me that they all had something at the same price point. Within that price point, they all had something better or nicer quality then the others somewhere in their coach. Maybe one maker would use all high-end TVs and the other would put in some off brand that I never heard of. Then the brand with the high-end audio-visual would cheap out on the flooring. Then the next brand might have cheaper flooring and audio-visual but the furniture looked to be of higher quality and most likely more expensive.
This also held true on the components. One would have a high-quality inverter/charger with some 110AC devices running on the inverter. Then the other brand only had convertor/charger with no inverter. One brand would put the low-end 13,500BBTU AC unit. Then the next would have a 15,000BTU with heat strip and on and on.
There are Class As out there that are no doubt entry level as described above. Then, each manufacturer will have something that is their entry level coach. As described above, my entry level coach is different than some other maker's entry level.
What I really want some day is an entry-level Marathon Coach!
That's not chump change in my book. That's good money.
That most certainly was entry level but nothing to laugh at. This lifestyle isn't cheap.
It had white Filon sides and stickers -not full body paint.
The storage compartments were cut out of the Filon Sides -not one-piece rolled aluminum or similar construction.
The counter tops were laminate -not solid surface or stone.
The cabinets were pressed wood with laminate over that -not solid wood.
The flooring was one sheet of linoleum -not tile or wood.
It had a TPO roof -not one-piece fiberglass. This might be debatable whether this roof puts you in the entry level category. Lot's of really nice and more expensive Class As are built with TPO.
It had white, plastic faucets -not metal or plastic with a simulated metal finish.
The furniture looked of a good quality. Everything in it was serviceable and could last a lifetime if taken care of properly. TVs and audio/visual looked about the same as other models.
It was built on the Ford F-53 chassis like all the other gassers. It was most likely built on a lighter-weight chassis, but if that matched the weight of the coach, would not matter in this debate. This coach was short.
I can say with certainty that was an entry-level Class A.
We ended up buying an entry-level Class A.
That is, it was a Class A at the lowest price point offered by Tiffin.
It had full body paint, one-piece fiberglass roof, rolled aluminum storage compartment doors, vinyl tile floor, plastic faucets with faux-bronze finish, solid surface counter in kitchen/laminate in bath (we had them upgrade our's to solid surface in bath) and solid wood cabinets.
I'm not knocking any of the above components. We were shopping several different manufacturers. it seemed to me that they all had something at the same price point. Within that price point, they all had something better or nicer quality then the others somewhere in their coach. Maybe one maker would use all high-end TVs and the other would put in some off brand that I never heard of. Then the brand with the high-end audio-visual would cheap out on the flooring. Then the next brand might have cheaper flooring and audio-visual but the furniture looked to be of higher quality and most likely more expensive.
This also held true on the components. One would have a high-quality inverter/charger with some 110AC devices running on the inverter. Then the other brand only had convertor/charger with no inverter. One brand would put the low-end 13,500BBTU AC unit. Then the next would have a 15,000BTU with heat strip and on and on.
There are Class As out there that are no doubt entry level as described above. Then, each manufacturer will have something that is their entry level coach. As described above, my entry level coach is different than some other maker's entry level.
What I really want some day is an entry-level Marathon Coach!
