2016 Coachmen Mirada 35BH Gas VS 2010 Berkshire Diesel 39BH

You likely don't realize you just poked the hornet's nest that is the ongoing, never ending gas V diesel debate that plagues forums. Better stick close and get what answers you can before it gets out of hand and the mods shut it down. Once that happens you might do a search and you'll find hundreds of threads with arguments and maybe even some good information sprinkled in to answer your question.

Thank you for the quick reply. We live in AZ and have a home rented in CT end of July. We were going to rent an RV but at $6K for 3 weeks, we started looking at ownership. We figure we could use the $6K as a deposit, and just own and get a lot more use out of it. The biggest issue is our budget around 80K and the features we want in an RV. ie: Bunkhouse, sleeping for 8 to 10 etc.. were found more with Gas coaches in the last 5 years. What we found was a lot of the older Diesel models, didn't have the bunk houses, and when you get below a 2004 model, the interior becomes too dated (wife factor). However, when we started looking at review sites, the Gas models came with lower quality materials and a lot of the reviews weren't very good. That is why I posted here. We found a Berkshire Diesel that we are going to look at in the next two days. However, we found a very clean coachmen Mirada that has all the features we like, but the reviews haven't been that good. There is just so much to learn about these vehicles, that is the reason for the post.

That's a lot of people in a RV. Check the CCC (not sure what it's called nowadays??)...cargo carrying capacity....all the people's weight, all of your stuff, food, fuel, water, etc. That's going to be a big determining factor on whatever you buy. Also, enough storage for all of your things should be looked at.

Can understand your desire not to just spend $6k on a rental, but when you consider what you could lose on a purchase, it may not seem bad.
You didnt mention any experience with this as a travel method, nor have you mentioned past experience driving something of this size. You may find the travel part to be more nerve wracking than going to work, for both you and your family. A rental for a weekend trip or two would be my first suggestion to get an idea of whether this is a method you and your family can enjoy together.
Figure 300-400 miles a day for your travel time, confined in the size space youre considering, will your family be happy together? Do you have enough time available to throw in a couple of days off to let everyone unwind, maybe near a theme park or other venue.
It would have been great if you could have started this process a month ago to try that.
Happy motorin.

Sounds like you actually may be able to use one enough to justify owning. I’m a diesel person but for rigs less than 38 feet long you do not need a diesel pusher, BUT the closer you get to 37’ the less cargo caring capacity most will have. Because of the higher cost of diesel pushers most are NOT very family friendly. In many of the bunkhouse DPs, the bunks are shoehorned in to a floor plan that does not work very well with the slides in. You are going to have a hard time finding that many seatbelts in any motorhome but especially so in DPs. Good luck, you are going to need it. It’s a lot easier to buy than to sell when the rig does not work well for your situation. Slow down and do not let “end of July” rush you into a poor decision.

Since you are in AZ I would probably buy a used Cruise America class C as your first RV with that many people, but you will be very limited on how much stuff you can put in it.

kerrlakeRoo wrote:
Can understand your desire not to just spend $6k on a rental, but when you consider what you could lose on a purchase, it may not seem bad.
You didnt mention any experience with this as a travel method, nor have you mentioned past experience driving something of this size. You may find the travel part to be more nerve wracking than going to work, for both you and your family. A rental for a weekend trip or two would be my first suggestion to get an idea of whether this is a method you and your family can enjoy together.
Figure 300-400 miles a day for your travel time, confined in the size space youre considering, will your family be happy together? Do you have enough time available to throw in a couple of days off to let everyone unwind, maybe near a theme park or other venue.
It would have been great if you could have started this process a month ago to try that.
Happy motorin.

I rented a 36' Monaco back in 2008 for a weekend trip, and it was a bit nerve racking when just starting out. But it was a simple trip to a campground about two hours away. We plan on taking about a week each way on this trip, so we can stop and take our time.

Ivylog wrote:
Sounds like you actually may be able to use one enough to justify owning.

Yes with 6 kids, we drive more than fly these days. :-)

Ivylog wrote:
In many of the bunkhouse DPs, the bunks are shoehorned in to a floor plan that does not work very well with the slides in.

That's interesting to know, I didn't know why not many DP's had bunkhouses

Dance Chick wrote:
That's a lot of people in a RV. Check the CCC (not sure what it's called nowadays??)...cargo carrying capacity....all the people's weight, all of your stuff, food, fuel, water, etc. That's going to be a big determining factor on whatever you buy. Also, enough storage for all of your things should be looked at.

How do you figure out how much Cargo carrying capacity weight you really have before going on a trip?

To answer your question, between those 2 for me it would be easy, I'd go with the diesel. Heavier suspension, more storage, has already taken a bigger depreciation hit, etc.

dotcommer wrote:

Dance Chick wrote:
That's a lot of people in a RV. Check the CCC (not sure what it's called nowadays??)...cargo carrying capacity....all the people's weight, all of your stuff, food, fuel, water, etc. That's going to be a big determining factor on whatever you buy. Also, enough storage for all of your things should be looked at.

How do you figure out how much Cargo carrying capacity weight you really have before going on a trip?

Sorry, I don't quite know how to answer that. I'm hoping others who are more knowledgeable about the specifics will chime in. I've seen answers about a ballpark poundage per person regarding contents, etc. but don't specifically remember what it is.