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

Thank you all for the detailed responses. Very much appreciated.
If you are looking at an out of state purchase, is there a company that has inspectors that will go out and inspect the vehicle for you?

If it were me, I’d go with the 2 year old coach, rather than the 8 year old one, unless that is you gotta gotta have a diesel. Both will get you to your destination no problems. The appliances on the 2 year old coach are barely broken in as opposed to the 8 year old coach.

The Mirada would be shorter and lighter than the Berkshire, CCC may not be listed on a newer MH but if you take the actual weight with all the kids and stuff you take and subtract it from the GVWR(gross vehicle weight rating) if it is near zero you are OK if under zero you are overloaded if a positive number you can add more stuff or more kids. The Ford chassis may have a 22k rating if the actual weight is 20k lbs minus the kids you will have 2000 lbs to play with. Sometimes only UVW(unloaded vehicle weight) is listed there you have to account for all fluids, passengers and stuff to get your actual traveling weight. Usually shorter gas MH's have a good margin of CCC I have seen some with 3000 lbs and some Diesels with less. I would not buy a brand new MH for the first family vacation because you are likely to run into a lot of new MH problems and spend your vacation time at a dealership fixing the problems. Check the fresh water and storage capacities of both the DP probably has more, if you plan on dry camping. I would look at 3 year old gas MH's for a trip this year then compare to a larger DP. Good Luck in your search.

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?

There will be a sticker inside each coach that gives you the pertinent weights for the unit.

CCC will be detailed there.

Know what the family weighs and subtract that from the CCC. This will tell you how much gear you can haul.

This may make the decision for you as the DP should have a higher CCC than the gas coach.

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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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.