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derouen6's avatar
derouen6
Explorer
Jan 05, 2015

2004 National Tropi-Cal

We own a 2004 National Tropi-Cal with full body paint. Are there any forum members with a 2004 fbp Tropi-Cal? Do you know anyone with one? Have you ever seen one?
I believe very few were manufactured. We are putting ours on the market and it is difficult to determine a value. The MSRP was about $20,000 more with fbp and several upgrades that came with the package.
I tried the National owners forum with no luck. One respondent suggested I use the 2005 model price adjusted somewhat for being one year older.
We are the original owners and custom ordered it. I personally have never seen one in our 10 years of travel.

Sherry
Class A
  • LVJ58's avatar
    LVJ58
    Explorer
    Jan 06, 2015
    You might want to check here:

    NADA http://www.nadaguides.com/RVs/2004/Used/National-RV


    When you select your model on the NADA site there is a list of all the items a coach may have where you need to check a box for each item on your coach.

    There's also a box to check for full body paint.

    Hope this helps somewhat--

    Best of luck & safe travels...:)

    P.S. National RV made some excellent coaches....
  • DSDP_Don's avatar
    DSDP_Don
    Explorer
    Jan 06, 2015
    There are a lot of them out west. I believe the factory was in Riverside County, California.
  • dons2346's avatar
    dons2346
    Explorer
    Jan 06, 2015
    DSDP Don wrote:
    There are a lot of them out west. I believe the factory was in Riverside, California.


    The factory was in Perris,CA. Most likely you will find more on the west coast. I wouldn't trust NADA any further than I could throw it. You might google "2004 National Tropical" and see what comes up. Sometimes you will find a dealer that has one for sale and use that for price comparison
  • subtroll's avatar
    subtroll
    Explorer
    Jan 06, 2015
    Why would anyone want to sell such a wonderful coach? Our 2004 Tropical received a new full body paint job in 2013. It looks and runs like new and is ready for another 125k miles and 10 more years.
  • Whaler's avatar
    Whaler
    Explorer
    Jan 06, 2015
    It seems National RV had a history of building DP motorhomes for a couple of years then dropping the name. They had Tropicals, Marlin's, Carribean's and one called a Bus in addition to the Tradewind and Islander which they built for years. The short term builds were good motorhomes. Some Tropical's were on Freightliner chassis and I saw one on a Spartan. Pay attention during your research to chassis maker as some had IFS and others had the solid axel which could be a price point. The Tropical is a very nice motorhome. I saw some on RV Trader yesterday.
  • jlrobison2's avatar
    jlrobison2
    Explorer
    Jan 06, 2015
    Go to National RV Traders .........Click on Tropi-cal .
    They list several From $75000 to $100,000 Wished I own one .
  • dons2346's avatar
    dons2346
    Explorer
    Jan 06, 2015
    Forgot to mention that the early Tropicals had a 300 pound useful load
  • derouen6's avatar
    derouen6
    Explorer
    Jan 07, 2015
    The 2004 Tropi-Cal with fbp must indeed be a rare bear.

    LVJ58: Been to NADA several times, but thanks.
    dons2346: NADA is a guideline most people use. Correct or not.
    Subtroll: It is a wonderful MH. Quality built. Did your Tropi-Cal originally have fbp?
    jlrobinson2: thanks for the website. They had 8 2004 Tropi-Cal T370s. None with fbp.
    dons2346: The ccc on this MH is 2200# if that is what you are referring to.

    I will continue my search out of shear curiosity if nothing else. There has to be more out there.

    Sherry
  • subtroll's avatar
    subtroll
    Explorer
    Jan 08, 2015
    Our 2004 T-396 did not have FBP when purchased at Lazy Days in Jan 2004. The gel coat and decals held up well but getting it painted at Mike's Custom Paint in Bremen,IN ($13k in 2013) transformed it to a new coach. We continue to receive many compliments and it will outlast us.

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