What extras should I insist on in a new Class C

Didn't see anyone mention side view cameras. For those that have them, do you use them?
Bill

Man alive -- if I purchased a rig with all the things folks here think "essential", we'd be looking at Newell, or Foretravel, or a custom Prevost, at least price-wise.

Everyone manages just fine with a certain amount of compromise. And clearly, what one person considers essential the next will consider frivolous or maybe "nice but niot necessary".

It's a "recreational" vehicle -- not another dream home.

MarshaNichols wrote:

fdwarren wrote:
We spent 3 hours looking at RVs today after many hours of research and using all of your advice. We really appreciate all the great advice. We are almost sold on one we saw, the 2015 Forrest River Sunseeker 2500TS. It has almost everything that was mentioned except no auto leveling(which I want) and the two phase furnace which we do not need since we are heading South for winter.Thanks again for all the advice.

Leveling...I thought I wanted one also BUT it adds so much weight and is expensive. I have had my RV a couple of years and have only had to level 3 times and it is no big deal...I am a single woman.

after messing around with ramps, blocks, etc. I added HWH levelers to my second motorhome. my third was ordered with them. in the rain and mud it is a big deal to level it. It always bothered me to watch the DW out in the rain and mud pushing the ramps around, my yelling at her, "No your other left". etc.
I find it somewhat amusing that folks won't bat an eye on paying $6,000 for FBP but won't spend $2,500 on a convenience factor.
bumpy

fdwarren wrote:
We spent 3 hours looking at RVs today after many hours of research and using all of your advice. We really appreciate all the great advice. We are almost sold on one we saw, the 2015 Forrest River Sunseeker 2500TS. It has almost everything that was mentioned except no auto leveling(which I want) and the two phase furnace which we do not need since we are heading South for winter.Thanks again for all the advice.

Leveling...I thought I wanted one also BUT it adds so much weight and is expensive. I have had my RV a couple of years and have only had to level 3 times and it is no big deal...I am a single woman.

If you can get a good price on what you want from a local dealer then go for it. But don't be afraid of buying elsewhere, including internet like RvDirect.com, if price is right. Forest River will help you with warranty work, including referring you to independent repair facilities if needed. We saved $8000 over best dealer's price from RvDirect.com. What little warranty work we needed required checking with a couple of dealers until we found one that could get us in quickly. It was actually an air conditioning repair and Dometic arranged the location.

One thing i have always done is to have a propane connection to the outside of the MH. I then get a BBQ with the appropriate orfice (SP) and use my house propane for the BBQ. That eliminates having to haul around a propane tank.

We took all of your advice and spent the weekend at RV shows to see what is available with which options and what price point. We spent Friday and Saturday in Hershey and went to Timonium on Sunday. Hershey was huge and impressive and we are glad we went. Hershey had about any model and brand you wanted to consider, where the MD show had only a very few C Class. Trailers, 5th wheels and Class A dominated the MD show, but even there it was a mere shadow of Hershey.
We learned a lot in Hershey and were able to compare Jayco, Thor Four Winds, and Forrest River Sunseeker. We also ruled out Winnie (too expensive), Itasco, and others that didn't meet our desires. We were also able to see the Sunseeker 2500 TS and the 2700 DS, and we decided to move up to the 2700DS because of seating and storage. It is amazing what one or two extra feet does, but we able to move up and stay below the dreaded 30+ ft length at 28'3. Another thing we learned is that dealers REALLY will NOT do warranty service on rigs bought out of state. I am sure that is part sales pitch, but it was consistent when I called MD dealers to check out the sales reps BS.
Also we learned that PA dealers HATE MD dealers! No dealers from MD are allowed at the Hershey show, and that is why they have the Timonium one the same weekend. It seemed stupid, but I now understand.
So we used the Hershey Show to see ALL the models we might consider and then discussed more specifics of a purchase with a MD dealer. The Forrest River rep, Paul Genovese, was super and gave us the most info of anyone. He is one reason we will probably get the 2700DS.
It was a great weekend and we learned a lot. There were also a bezillion accessory and add-on dealers in Hershey and few in MD.

fdwarren wrote:
I am on a mission to buy my first RV, a 26 to 28 foot C Class. Besides the normal stuff, what extras should I insist on? Do I need to get airbags, Saf-T-locks, or whatever. Which things make RVing more enjoyable.

What's makes RVing more enjoyable is different for everyone. There are countless products out there that claim to be necessary and everyvone of them has a following of people that swear by them saying things like "I won't ever RV again without my...".

My advice for a new RV owner is to go out and experience RVing for yourself and make your own decisions on what you need/want.

mlts22 wrote:
One idea I plan to do is see about a roof cover, but add a filter, then run the fan backwards (so it sucks air in, rather than blowing it out.) This would create a nice positive pressure to keep dust out.

We run the Fantastic roof vent fan reversed on it's "IN" setting all the time when traveling off-pavement in our Class C in order to keep the dust down inside. No filter is needed because the roof vent fan pickup is of course way up high in relatively clean air, while all the dust is being picked up and kicked up down low by the tires. Not a lot of air "flow" actually occurs anyway, as all the fan is doing is trying to bring air in but can't because we have all other openings in the RV - including the dash A/C turned onto circulate only - closed except for the flapper vent for the cooktop exhaust fan. All the roof vent fan is doing is maintaining constant air pressure inside the coach so no dust can come in down low from the tires through any (hopefully, very few) tiny cracks in the coach walls or flooring.

This has worked great for us ... especially out on desert roads.

Thank all of you who answered my question regarding roof vents. All good advice.