which one? class A or Pusher? Why? thanks
Im new to this--going to do travel nursing on west coast/south area. Which rv should I buy? A new Class A or a used DIESEL Pusher? I dont think I can afford a new pusher.........and why??? thanks a...
Forum Discussion
As others pointed out, my first consideration would be a floorplan I like in the budget I want.
A DP will certainly drive better than a gasser (better suspension, better brakes, more power, usually higher towing capacity, etc - IMO, it a bit like comparing a school bus with a charter bus) but the gasser will still get you where you are going and costs significantly less.
As far as fuel cost, DPs do typically get slightly better mileage but not enough to offset higher fuel cost of diesel (we just travelled from Ontario to Florida last week and the whole way down diesel was typically $0.70 to $0.80 (or more) more expensive than regular (i.e. about 20-25% more). With our old gasser (98 Pace Arrow), we'd get a solid 7.5mpg, we our newer DP (03 Tiffin Phaeton), we get maybe 8.5mpg (usually more like 8mpg) so the mileage increase is not enough to offset the higher fuel costs and our cost per mile is higher. Maintenance is also higher. With a gasser you can get an oil change at many Walmarts for $70. With a DP, you can get an oil change at SpeedCo for $280 (I think) and that's if there are SpeedCos in your area, otherwise you might spend $300-$400 on an oil change. With the DPs, you also need to replace transmission fluid every 2 years (or 4 years if you are using synthetic fluid) and that's a good $400+. I think most gassers have 100k mile transmission fluid change interval. Tires are also typically larger so more expensive on a DP.
Finally, you need to check your state requirements. In most areas, you can drive a gasser with a regular drivers licence but many States / Provinces require higher class license to drive a DP (e.g. I'm from Ontario, Canada so need a commercial straight-truck licence to drive our DP and an air brake certification (e.g. I need the same someone would use to drive a dump truck or garbage truck). This isn't a huge issue but it's a bit of a pain (i.e. my wife is not licenced to drive our motor home because so far, she doesn't want to have to do the test (and because it's a test for a commercial licence, you need to know tons of things that are useless unless you're a truck driver).
A DP will certainly drive better than a gasser (better suspension, better brakes, more power, usually higher towing capacity, etc - IMO, it a bit like comparing a school bus with a charter bus) but the gasser will still get you where you are going and costs significantly less.
As far as fuel cost, DPs do typically get slightly better mileage but not enough to offset higher fuel cost of diesel (we just travelled from Ontario to Florida last week and the whole way down diesel was typically $0.70 to $0.80 (or more) more expensive than regular (i.e. about 20-25% more). With our old gasser (98 Pace Arrow), we'd get a solid 7.5mpg, we our newer DP (03 Tiffin Phaeton), we get maybe 8.5mpg (usually more like 8mpg) so the mileage increase is not enough to offset the higher fuel costs and our cost per mile is higher. Maintenance is also higher. With a gasser you can get an oil change at many Walmarts for $70. With a DP, you can get an oil change at SpeedCo for $280 (I think) and that's if there are SpeedCos in your area, otherwise you might spend $300-$400 on an oil change. With the DPs, you also need to replace transmission fluid every 2 years (or 4 years if you are using synthetic fluid) and that's a good $400+. I think most gassers have 100k mile transmission fluid change interval. Tires are also typically larger so more expensive on a DP.
Finally, you need to check your state requirements. In most areas, you can drive a gasser with a regular drivers licence but many States / Provinces require higher class license to drive a DP (e.g. I'm from Ontario, Canada so need a commercial straight-truck licence to drive our DP and an air brake certification (e.g. I need the same someone would use to drive a dump truck or garbage truck). This isn't a huge issue but it's a bit of a pain (i.e. my wife is not licenced to drive our motor home because so far, she doesn't want to have to do the test (and because it's a test for a commercial licence, you need to know tons of things that are useless unless you're a truck driver).
