SenorApples wrote:
Who truly makes a well built coach? Every site/blog I read seems to say something different.
I have my opinions, as everyone else here does. It's "interesting" to hear people's opinions on who is "best," but I personally will not make a major buying decision on that alone.
So I'll answer by telling you what I did when I purchased my first diesel pusher. I spent over a year researching and looking for myself. We went to rallies where we could look through dozens of coaches a day. I went to all of the websites of the coachmakers in my price range and made a spreadsheet comparing all of the CONSTRUCTION specifications. If the website did not have all the information I needed, those questions were asked when I was looking at coaches and I had the salesman SHOW me how what he said was a fact. Salesmen lie and salesmen will say something they think you want to hear. We had a number of times when the salesman said one thing, but then could not show me what he was claiming.
Another thing we did, even though we were looking for a new coach, was to go to used lots and look at older units. The idea there was to see, first hand, how various brands held up over years of use and abuse. Let me tell you, this exercise was a valuable eye opener! Look at enough used coaches, and you'll start to see real differences in how they hold up over the years. You can't just look at a few because clearly how an owner cares for a particular unit can make a big difference. But when you look at a lot of them over a period of time, you start to see, on a larger scale, how they hold up.
When my wife and I finally narrowed it down to two manufacturers that the research showed were the top quality in our price range AND had the floorplans and other features we were interested in, then we went shopping and negotiating with confidence.
I will say that Tiffin was definitely on our top quality construction and service list. In fact, I would have rated them #1 on my list...sadly, at the time, they did not offer dual pane windows, which was a critical feature for us as we camp in cold weather. Of course, Tiffin has long since offered dual pane insulated windows, so that would not be an issue for us anymore. Newmar and Winnebago were the other top two on our list. We ended up with a 2001 Winnebago Journey DL. That coach was the most trouble free RV we have ever owned...from initial quality and throughout our years of ownership with it. We had Newmar inbetween and now own our second Winnebago Journey.
Good luck in your shopping and in your final purchase decision, and welcome to the community.
