Coachmen Freedom Express 246RKS

Ours is much older but we like the RK. A friend has a rear living room and while it has a user friendly kitchen I find it strange tripping over his feet coming in the door.

It's good to hear that you made out so well with the Coachman 246RKS. The floor plan looks very handy. We stopped by the dealership again today to take a few measurements.

Our first camper 3 years ago was a 246RKS. I loved this camper and we had basically no problems with it. We camped a lot in those 3 years and just this year traded it for a fifth wheel. I loved the rear kitchen and the whole layout. We only traded because we wanted something larger. Actually we have had more trouble with the 5th wheel and we had in all 3 years with the Coachmen. Good luck!!

Everything has problems. It pays to be handy enough , with some basic tools to tweak these things to the point of being able to use them safely.
They sometimes use staples in idiotic places like a dinette back-rest where people normally exert a little more pressure causing the staples to pull out . There's nothing like ending up on the floor while your eating breakfast. Heaven forbid they use a decorative bolt or brace.

Regarding the rv whine.....TT owners whine can drown out a Honda 2000 and a $700k class A owners whine will drown out a contractors generator. :B

I owned a Winnie class c about 10 years ago. I like it just fine no real issues other than the high price to replace the coach batteries . I liked the V10 motor. It had plenty of power to tow my Jeep up the Western mountains. Got rid of the class C because the wife always got car sick in it. I'm on my third rv now and looking for my next one, looking more and more like the coachmen might be it.

NYCAP wrote:
I'm about to check out a Coachmen Leprechaun 317KS (a class C), about 12 years old, with the V-10. On another blog I read a lot of people dissing Coachmen, but then on checked out Winnebago and a few other makes, and found people dissing them as well (for many of the same problems). From that I gather that RVS like boats break and leak, and people tend to write stuff more when they have problems than when they're happy. Coachmen has been around since 1964. So they can't be too horrible.

I've never owned a motorhome, know zip about them, but I have been RVing in popups, a hybrid, and several travel trailers for some years now and would say your assessment is right on the money. People will automatically whine about anything, regardless of brand, when they think they've been "wronged", more often than not without fully understanding the true nature of the problem(s). I've owned several brands, for 3 yrs now have owned a Coachmen, and would say it's no better OR worse than the average for a reasonably priced, mass produced product. I've had a few minor issues, pretty well all of which I attended to myself, a couple of more concerning issues I had the dealer deal with, but overall nothing that couldn't be resolved with a little common sense. Each individual unit will have it's own set of issues, with little commonality with issues another unit may have ... sometimes you get lucky and experience very few, other times not so much. As the saying goes - "You pay your money and you take your chances" - whether new or used. Nonetheless, once you're out there you'll reap the rewards ... just keep your head on your shoulders and avoid joining the whiners when some issue will inevitably need attention. Good luck with your search but if that search happens to land you with a Coachmen product, it passes your own personal inspection, and it otherwise meets your needs then I wouldn't avoid it just because it says "Coachmen" on the side. :)

I spent 30 years as a yacht captain,and I spent all that time wondering what would break or go wrong next. Didn't matter if the owner spent 30K or 3 million. From what I've read it's obvious why they call RVs "Land Yachts". One thing I learned is to never buy new. The first owner gets the new boat bugs and pays to straighten them out, plus he pays the broker's profit.

So now I've retired, and know better than to buy a boat, but I've still got the travel itch. I figure that with RVs at least I don't have to worry about rough seas, breaking lose of a mooring or sinking. Also I like that the name doesn't stand for (B)reak (O)ut (A)nother (T)housand. Or am I wrong about that?

I'm searching for my first RV. I figure to come in fairly cheap to limit my downside while I learn what the life is about. This is pretty broad, but I'd appreciate any advice or wisdom anyone cares to pass on. Having acted as a buyer's rep on several boat deal I tend to not be impressed by the glitz easily, and look for the rust instead. So I intend to check it out like a surveyor to the best of my ability, and then have a professional check it out also.

I'm about to check out a Coachmen Leprechaun 317KS (a class C), about 12 years old, with the V-10. On another blog I read a lot of people dissing Coachmen, but then on checked out Winnebago and a few other makes, and found people dissing them as well (for many of the same problems). From that I gather that RVS like boats break and leak, and people tend to write stuff more when they have problems than when they're happy. Coachmen has been around since 1964. So they can't be too horrible. Plus my friend owns a smaller one and is happy. So I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this model? How's it's power? Can it pull a small trailer with a motorcycle uphill (like upstate NY)? Any systemic problems?

Thanks in advance for any advice and sharing any knowledge your experience has gained you.

P.S. I take it Good Sam's is a good organization to join?

I'll give it a good inspection if this is the one we buy. Thanks for your reply.

We have a Coachmen Freedom Express 322RLDS. While I like the layout, we had two years of fixing problems. Almost all problems were not readily visible during PDI (such as under the enclosed belly). Coachmen products seem to be thrown together with little quality control (that can be said of many manufacturers). I recommend being careful and do a thorough PDI, including maybe an opportunity to "test camp" for a day or two. Some of our problems: incorrect wiring of TV inputs, we've had three air conditioners, leaks in slideouts, bad water pump, incorrect installation of black tank, radio installed incorrectly, water leaks in kitchen island, toilet leaks, trim panels coming off, etc. Good luck but with any RV, be thorough and don't rush through your PDI.