Wanted to post my overall experience so far since I got the RV at the Phoenix Cruise America location and drove it 1760 miles home to Spokane (with a detour to the grand canyon, north rim).
I'll go from bad to good on everything, but I want to make it clear that my family and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the RV. All the major systems are working great, the V10 has PLENTY of power when mated to the 6-speed, and we can't wait to go out in it again!
Ok, onto the bad...the CA refurbishment was good, but not as thorough as I ended up expecting it to be. It's definitely a used RV and has clear signs of that in wear and fit/finish (little scratches and other thing on the interior that I won't dive into in the list below). Other items I noticed were:
- There's missing caulk at the top of the shower
- There's a gap around the fresh water fill port (CA confirmed that it's not normal and should be tight with a gasket)
- The wall between the fridge and the dinette doesn't seal against the outside wall...not sure if that's normal or not, but by comparison to my parents' truck camper (which is sealed tight), it isn't.
- The propane sensor goes off while boondocking if we use the fridge a lot...propane smell is noticeable when exiting and entering the cabin (I turned it off at the tank since then). Pending diagnostic to see if CA willl fix the issue here. Doesn't happen when using shore power.
- Black tank sensors permanently read 2/3s...from what I've read, this is just normal for RVs in general so I figure I'll not worry about it and replace it with a different type of measuring system in the future.
- House door striker is loose/misaligned. Seems like it's stripped in the wall as the striker can move in place by hand. When door is deadbolted, it's nice and tight in the frame...without deadbolt engaged, it feels only half-closed.
- Bathroom door opens while driving. We place something in front of it for now but seeing if CA will fix it (seems likely as they mentioned this sometimes happens on their active rental units and they've fixed it in the past)
- There's some daylight visible through the side of the bottom step...CA indicated they'll likely repair, pending diagnostic.
- Half or more of the drawer slides fall out of their guides at half or near full extension. They look pretty old and pitted so I think they got missed.
- I climbed on the roof and checked the A/C once I got home and it looks like it hasn't ever been cleaned. It worked find on the trip but I think it could definitely use a deep clean and some simple maintenance. The A/C itself works great, albeit loudly (fan noise...compressor noise is almost imperceptible).
- The useless rear-view mirror looked like the silver in the mirror itself was decomposing...I popped it off and threw it in the trash since it's not useful anyways.
- The shower floor was dirty, as if it hadn't been wiped down...I don't think they cleaned it very thoroughly inside.
I flew down knowing these things might show up and took the risk to drive it home as-is and get things repaired after because of how well I heard things go for others and because I only have so much PTO at work (and struggled to get an RV inspector scheduled...gave up after contacting 5 different places and being met with various difficulties from "we need you to leave the RV with us for a week" to non-response to finding out they've retired from the business). Some of the items I didn't notice until we were already on the road as well, but none of them had any significant impact on our ability to function or camp so I'm not worried.
All of the issues are ultimately minor and relatively easy to fix but they're present and we're waiting to get the RV into a shop for an estimate/diagnostic to see if CA will take care of them out of their goodwill fund. Speaking of that...the first 3mo/3,000 mile warranty is powertrain...other fixes (cabin/house stuff) are all "goodwill fund" so that's something to be aware of if purchasing from them. The drivetrain itself is immaculate under the hood.
Diagnostic with the local RV shop is scheduled for the 15th so we'll see how it goes then. Worst case scenario: I go through the aftermarket warranty I purchased from them for hte coach side for any systems and just do repairs myself (which, like I said before, all relatively minor and easy to do...just don't want to have to do them myself if I don't have to).
Now, some interesting changes/update on the RV itself for current model years:
- Transmission defaults to Tow-Haul mode. No need to hit a button to get there. Just start it up and it's in that mode. Nice! I assume this came in with the 6 speed.
- The 6-speed is NICE. It's quick to downshift to help with braking at even a minor tap of the brake pedal and holds speed easily on downhill grades. The extra gears also make it easy to go up hills. It's no sports car, but it drives very well and rarely jumps above 4,000rpm (only in the steepest parts does it do that)
- The stems for the dual rear tires are metal. I noticed this when installing the TPMS system I brought with me (I also noticed none of them had valve stem cap on them...not a big deal since I was replacing them with the TPMS sensors anyways, but it just caught me by surprise). Nice that I don't have to upgrade these as it came upgraded.
- All interior lights are LED already...I think that's already been reported by others but I figured I'd include it for completeness. Exterior lights outside of the headlight assembly are also all LED.
- The solar panel that was mounted to the A/C unit on the roof was removed and the hole where the wires ran down are fully sealed.
- The proximity sensors for backing up work really well still and surprised me when I was squeezing the RV into the shop.
Picking up the RV was smooth as silk...all the major systems appeared to be working just fine (fridge was warm but it takes a while for it to cool down initially and is working perfectly now). My parents had driven down in their truck camper loaded with gear I had pre-purchased in anticipation for the pickup and they let us load it up in their loading bay in the shade while the RV was plugged in and AC was running. My sales rep, Kevin, also gave me a new sewer hose, new drinking-safe water hose, and new folding table as part of a get-started kit. The RV also came with the stuff that was already there (the old table, old sewer and water hose, and old 30a to 15a plug converter). I had upgraded versions of stuff for most of that already but it was nice to have backups.
I have a future upgrade list a mile long (in a spreadsheet), but the most immediate ones I want to get done are:
- Add fans to the main house roof vents (over the front bed and rear bed). There's no fans right now and it was a bit rough in the heat...a little bit of airflow would go a long ways when boondocking.
- Rear view camera. The proximity sensors work on my unit but seeing exactly how close I am would give me far more confidence in backing up.
- I can tell the exterior had a fresh coat of paint on it due to the overspray on the rear hitch. The RV looks nice, but little details tell me more of the story there. :)
The trip itself, from Phoenix to Spokane, was GREAT! We boondocked half the time, stayed at a couple of KOAs, and stayed at a few private campgrounds and the whole experience was amazing and memorable for my family.
Firstly, we'll never go to Phoenix again in July unless we absolutely have to...119 is way worse than the 110 I've felt before. It literally felt like someone was holding a blowtorch to my legs when I walked from the air-conditioned RV to a store across the parking lot. We fled to flagstaff where it was MUCH nicer.
For driving, I averaged 9-9.5mpg but I was trying to make time while driving to get back home in time for something, so I was often cruising at 70-75mph on the highway.
We got home on a thursday and turned around to meet some friends and camp in it the next day for the weekend (this past weekend). It was a hugely positive experience using it and we can't wait to go back out in it again! My wife and daughter love it and I do too!
If I missed anything. feel free to ask and I'd be happy to give more detail on my experience. :)
