Winni Rialta

some of the B owners do not consider the Rialta a "true B". it has all the features of a B, head/shower ( ext too) galley furnace, hot water etc etc.

when I was shopping last year I considered Rialtas.


there are 4 floor plans which differ is bed lay out, seating and galley- there is a great rialta owners website ( google) with tips and tricks and common complaints.

as I recall the 2001 started a more powerful motor- even so all years will cruise interstate speeds and deliver mpg around 16~18 on the flat.
I do see them slowing on the grades.
As a VW you expect pretty easy parts and service- there are no mysteries with VW.
the cab's plastic interior trim and dash may be the weakest point

the head is genius and takes up no room when not in use.

the Rialta is better for under 6' ( I'm 6'2" and considered being ok with stooping- I have lived in boats)

there is a rialta specialist dealer around redlands, CA- their website can be good for info and typical parts etc etc

youtube has some great videos from users incl a family of 4 who live full time in one

the one you are looking at is early so less powerful ( 160hp?).
the rear table folds into wall and the bed is a sideways sleeper.
the 2nd row seats convert into a (twin)- good for kids.
I think that model has a 3.0 fridge, 2 burners, microwave and 2 sinks ( 1 in the head)- the pass seat swivels around so that some of the cab space can be used when parked.

most B's have a 2.8 onan- they are noisy but work...be aware that 2.8 is at sea level...power drops at elevation

it will also have capability to run stuff on LPG, 12 volt or shore power

as for pricing-- I dunno...the ones I saw here were mostly desert mobiles- which are all rust free ( you can eat off the chassis) but the rubber takes the hit



in the end I went with a Pleasureway Lexor TD...tall enough for me, bed long enough and on a chev 3500 chassis- I have GM's so no suprises. the 6.0 gives 16 MPG at 65 MPH and is well sized, tranny well matched to the weight



Good Luck!

Mike

rialta is a volkswagen diesel enegine

mkguitar wrote:
some of the B owners do not consider the Rialta a "true B".

That may be because it is a Class C.

I looked into Rialta before and found the carrying capacity was low. Once liquids, food, gear and people aboard it was almost overloaded. Its a little long for me, but it looks nice inside and out.

I owned a 1998 Rialta. It had a VW VR6 gasoline engine and it ran really well. It is NOT a B, it is a class C as described by the Winnebago literature and meets the definition of a C. Some might call it a B+ since it does not have the cab over bed, but they would be wrong, it's a C. Now that that is out of the way...

We liked the performance, gas mileage, and features of ours. We had the twin bed FD model. The only feature we could never get used to was the shower/bath combination, having to pump the shower water into the holding tank, pull out the walls to make the shower, etc etc.

When it came time to get new tires, it was a struggle locating tires that would carry the load. Things may have changed but back then the only ones that met the specs was Continental and they were hard to come by.

The VW parts were flawless. However, we had to find an independant foreign car shop to work on it. None of the VW dealers in the area would touch it.

candlback wrote:
I looked into Rialta before and found the carrying capacity was low. Once liquids, food, gear and people aboard it was almost overloaded. Its a little long for me, but it looks nice inside and out.

yep, I noticed that the one with a "double" bed in the back was rated for more carrying capacity than the twin bed one? found out it was because the double bed one was only using one person to sleep in it so gained 150 lbs.? of CC.
:)
bumpy

I don't think any Rialta's had diesel engines.

stan909 wrote:
I don't think any Rialta's had diesel engines.

it appears i was incorrect. I was sure i looked at one years ago and it was a diesel but i guess i was wrong. sorry

I can only recite what I've heard about Rialtas. Wonderful little C till something goes wrong. Then repairs can be nasty. A well-cared for one could still be a good unit. Professional mechanical inspection of a used one is mandatory. I've heard of the powertrain being replaced with a FWD GM assembly. I forget whether it was based on a Buick or a Chevy V6. The form factors of those two engines is different. Buick V6 is a 90-degree block based on the V8. So, actually is the Chevy 4.3 V6, but the Chevy V6 I'm thinking of (3.3L?) is meant to be a V6 and is a 60-degree block.
Remember what I said at first. This only based on what I have seen and read. I have not owned, driven, or worked on a Rialta.

The Rialta's predecessor, the LeSharo and one other, had the diesel. They were built on a Puegot (French) frame. They were notorious for drivetrain problems, not to mention extremely under powered.

LaSharos are the ones that had retrofits (if you're lucky), usually to a Chrysler minivan drivetrain. This supposedly greatly improved reliability, maintainability, and performance, and probably mpg. But these conversions were very pricy, around $20K if I remember right.