Where is Winnebago in the Gasser lineup?

"Mondooker"......You've asked a ton of questions in the last few months and have gotten good answers, but you can only ask so many questions before the information becomes useless. Just about everyone here is going to defend their purchase which really doesn't help you.

If you have been out looking at coaches, you're just wasting your time asking more questions here. I don't know if you're a real shopper, or someone just trying to rack up a bunch of posts.

You've asked some good questions in the past and I applaud you for your diligence, BUT....should be armed with plenty of information to go out and make an intelligent choice. You don't need someone telling you where an RV ranks. As stated, it will come on a Ford chassis, have a Dometic or Norcold, if you choose propane, and a Suburban or Atwood water heater.

You need to start LOOKING at the coaches and see which ones are built better. Does a drawer have a metal slide or just a cheap plastic clip. Are the cabinets real wood or paper wrapped. What type of slide mechanisms.

If you haven't been out walking through the different brands, than you're just wasting your time. You've been given enough information in the past few months to go out and make an intelligent decision as to what is junk and what is well built. When we bought our first DP, I had a list of must haves and would like to have. That made it pretty easy to plug in a coach that had what fit our budget.

Your only real decision now is what will YOUR budget buy. This is where the trade offs come in. What level of quality can you afford.

Great information Hikerdog, thanks.

Mondooker wrote:
Effy what I hear you saying is they all use the same ford chassse, the same ford engine and drivetrain and most of the same suppliers! Would you go as far as to say "If you Buy a top end gasser, fix what needs fixing and they will all shake out about the same"?

They may be all built on the Ford F53 chassis, but Ford makes a number of these chassis in different weight classes and wheelbases. Look closely at the chassis specifications. While the wheelbases overlap in different weight classes many of the lighter chassis don't have the same amenities.

They all have the same engines and transmissions, but again the differential ratios change as the weight capacity increase.

Here's a link to the 2014 F53 brochure. If you look closely you'll see many differences between the 16,000 lb. capacity chassis and the 26,000 lb. capacity chassis.

http://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/brochures/2014/Class_A_brochure-2014_LoRes.pdf

For the best handling and most cargo capacity try to get a motorhome built on the longest wheelbase, highest capacity chassis. As an example our 2013 Winnebago Adventurer is built on a 22,000 lb. chassis with a 228" wheelbase. The wheelbase is 57.1% of the overall chassis length, and the finished motorhome has a cargo capacity of 4036 lbs. The rule of thumb is that the wheelbase must be at least 52% of the overall length of the motorhome to have good handling in heavy traffic and poor weather conditions.

There are many motorhomes that do not meet the minimum 52% wheelbase guideline, or have as little as 800 lbs. of cargo capacity. Be sure to do your homework and pick a motorhome that has both an acceptable wheelbase ratio and sufficient carrying capacity to meet your needs.

We have owned 2 older Winnebago's & the quality was top of the line!
While I hear good things about those other two coach builders, I'll stay with my Adventurer....

I owned two Winnebagos built before in the last industry crash. On Chieftian and one Elanden II and both were great coaches built like a tank. Very solid and completely deck out in all the Latest gadgets. We left the motorhome market for many years and went the 5th wheel route and then finally back to motorhomes last year. After shopping all the brands I could not find a hairs worth of difference between all of them in the gasser category, I did think that the new Winnebagos looked a little cheaper in outside appearance. Just not a fan of their looks in the front and rear. Our Georgetown XL had an MSRP of $178,00 which put it right up there with the MSRP of Tiffens and Newmars. We are extremely happy with ours and we spend 7 months out of the year living in it. So far it has not been back to the dealer for anything. We did have a bad engine battery that my local Ford dealer replace for me free of charge.

We searched for about 10 months before buying our new Motorhome, We looked at all the brands and compared them without any pre conceived brand loyalty. The Motorhome we purchased was a Jayco Precept 35UN. The floor plan, and quality was exactly what we wanted. We really loved the Winnie Tour and Journey but they were a tad bit out of our price range which was coaches that listed under $150,000.

Mondooker wrote:
Effy what I hear you saying is they all use the same ford chassse, the same ford engine and drivetrain and most of the same suppliers! Would you go as far as to say "If you Buy a top end gasser, fix what needs fixing and they will all shake out about the same"?

It's not just the same chassis and drivetrain, it's the same refer, heat, ac, genset, plumbing, tanks, wall materials, cabinetry, windows, etc. I used to hear a bunch of hubbub about Amish cabinetry in the Newmars - but that doesn't really exist in the gasser line. It's the same veneered wall panels and cabinet sides that's in every other gasser. I think they have a few Amish guys working on the assembly line, but this doesn't really translate into "Amish built cabinetry" not to mention they also use the same power tools everyone else is using. You hear about fit and finish and one brand is better than another and frankly I've never been convinced. I have walked though several Newmar Bay stars and Canyon stars and the famed high quality eluded me. Bin door hinges mis-aligned, wall panels pulling away, blinds coming loose from the walls, cabinets that didn't close straight etc and this was on brand new coaches at a show. I could walk through any brand's gas offering and pick it apart on materials and workmanship. They are all about the same. The separation point comes in what- if any - quality control happens at the factory before it leaves to try and catch things before it gets to the customer (not sure anyone is doing this anymore) and post sale support from the manufacturer. I find it funny that some folks will praise a brand while other folks who own the same coach will tell you it's junk. I'm not saying either is lying. It really comes down to how every individual unit is slapped together. It's a **** shoot. I think real separation comes in at the mid to upper DP level. Very clear differences in quality across brands at the top of the food chain. But in the gasser line I think it's Nike vs Adidas. You pay for a brand name. If folks can find subtle differences that help them sleep better at night and justify paying more money, that's great.

Effy what I hear you saying is they all use the same ford chassse, the same ford engine and drivetrain and most of the same suppliers! Would you go as far as to say "If you Buy a top end gasser, fix what needs fixing and they will all shake out about the same"?

We're on our second Winnebago Adventurer and have had excellent performance from both. Our 2001 Adventurer had well over 100,000 miles on it when we traded it in on our 2013 Adventurer. It looked and ran like new when it was traded off. It lasted about 2 weeks on the dealers lot before someone bought it.

Our 2013 has also been an excellent performer. Early on we did have a problem with the full wall slide, but that was fixed at the factory service center. We have a little over 26,000 miles on this one and look forward to many more.

I think Winnie makes an Ok coach. Frankly I think most of the gasser market is on a fairly even keel. I've owned Thors and had very few issues and I know folks put them at the bottom, and I've seen Newmar and Tiffin gassers with some very poor quality workmanship and materials. They all have issues. Winnie is just as prone to Schwintek slide issues as any brand that uses them and their roofs occasionally peel off. I would challenge anyone to go to a show, ignore the brand badges on the coaches and walk through and tell me what brand you are in based on fit and finish. If you are truly objective I think you will have a difficult time telling them apart. They all use the same basic materials, same components and same lack of quality in slapping them together. I think Brand hierarchy is an illusion in the gasser market. I do know some are priced higher than others and I also know Winnie doesn't discount much on price negotiations. But brand loyalty in the RV industry is foolish in my opinion. Pick the coach you like with the floorplan that meets your needs and a brand that will support you with issues. Because you will have them no matter what brand you buy. And I think the proportion of issues is closer related to the day it was built rather than brand. Blast away folks, I know it's coming. But before you rant, be honest with yourself.