Buying Strategy (looking for opinions)

[tragusa3]

Over the last 6 years we have put over 40k miles and 4-500 nights in our travel trailers. We didn't anticipate this much usage when we chose a travel trailer. With our experiences, we want to try a motorhome for the following reasons.

-Want to improve the "driving time" experience

-We like exploring back-country and often push the limits of our truck (jeep trails in the San Juans, Moab, etc.) and have no way to bring a Jeep or UTV.

-We boondock often and never liked the idea of security. If things go bump in the night I have to exit the trailer and get to the truck to leave.

-Pride of ownership: Perceived quality difference between trailers and Class A's.

- Increased cargo capacity. We don't want to have to think about weight as much.

-At 48 and 53 years, we are thinking about paying off the "retirement rv" before we quit working. Maybe this is the one?

This list could go on and on.

We see two paths we could possibly go with pros/cons for each. I'd like to draw from your experiences and hear your thoughts.

Option 1: What we want. If buying new or slightly new, we settled on the Winnebago 35F (or similar). Preferably, 2017 or newer so that we get the 6 speed tranny. Cost: Anywhere from 80'ish to 115'ish. This is the expensive option, but we get more of what we want and it is newer, warranty, etc. We ultimately prefer this option, but it does stretch our comfortable budget. On top of that, I went to the tax office yesterday and discovered that the annual property tax on motorhomes is about 2.5% of the value. So, using 100k, that would be $2500 annually in taxes ($208/month). I like to be sensible about how we spend money, and that tax bill is hard to swallow. Ultimately, I suspect the tax will keep us from choosing this option, and I'm sad about that.

Option 2: Find a motorhome that is older (2005-2010), but still checks off most of our boxes. A plus here is that we may pay cash if the budget stays $50k or below. No payment and taxes would be nice!

We are a bit handy, and aren't afraid to do a cosmetic improvement. Pulling out furniture and flooring, painting, etc. are all possible. We don't want and are afraid of mechanical problems.

Maybe I'm looking for some support that you have done Option 2 and its worked out well.

Any support for either option? Random thoughts?

[tragusa3]

Thank you guys. Have a few worries, but it is easy to worry when spending this kind of money. Got a call from the dealer today. Fixes are done. Waiting on a few overnighted parts and PDI scheduled for Saturday!

Lined up the insurance today (which I was pleased with after shopping a bit).

[2gypsies1]

Glad you found the one for you! Enjoy!!

[scbwr]

Congratulations! I hope you're on the road soon and enjoying it.

[tragusa3]

Great post TriumphGuy! I've responded to your PM. Hope we might get together!

We couldn't resist going back to the dealer today. They let us take it out by ourselves. First time driving a Class 'A'. I was nervous for a few miles and became comfortable very quickly. Impressed with all aspects, except I wonder about emergency maneuvers??? Felt like they would be non-existent!

We have come to an agreement and we are scheduled for a PDI this coming Saturday!

[TriumphGuy]

tragusa3 wrote:
Thanks everyone. JD, I enjoyed your story. Warms my heart that this hobby is so rich as a memory maker.

A brief report:

We spent an exhausting 6 hours at the dealership today. Not in the sales hot seat, but in the coach (alone). We went through it like nobodies business. I could see employees looking at us funny, but it is what it is.

In the end, we realized that the floorplan isn't better or worse than what we thought we wanted, just different. All trade-offs.

We talked numbers and are very close to making it work. Might be a Tiffin owner by next weekend!

Hi neighbor! We're just down the road near Greenville, SC.

We were very much in your shoes about 3 years ago. For many of the reasons you mentioned, we wanted to go beyond our fifth wheel. I had many future "out west" trips planned, and I just didn't like the idea of all that driving in the truck, "getting out to get in" as they say...

We got serious and looked at motorhomes at a few dealerships and then RV shows. We started looking at Class C's but for a number of reasons landed on a short list of Class A motorhomes to look at. Similarly, I set a budget of $50k and started scouring the used market.

Then I learned about Tiffin and - not to get into a kool aid discussion - but I really liked what I saw in the build of the coach and in the 35QBA floorplan. But I thought it wasn't going to happen because they cost more than the others in the first place, and the used demand was very high.

I shopped for months and was frustrated with availability on the market, and then got even more frustrated when I couldn't land anything on my list for a decent price.

Then I had a forum member get in touch with me who was looking to trade-in and didn't want to take the dealer's low ball offer - for a 2011 Tiffin 35QBA.

We had to do some serious thinking because this was about 2-3 years beyond our price point. But he was asking way below market ...

So we double checked our finances, committed to some adjustments and we've never looked back. We have had some amazing trips and planning more as the kids are in that perfect age for travel. And I'm amazed the amount of customer support I've gotten from the company, being a second owner.

For sure, we could have made the memories in ANY RV, and just about any Class A would have met our needs for being able to have certain conveniences. But waiting around for the right deal and being ready for it really worked out for us!

ALSO - just checking, either our counties are very different for taxes or maybe you could check into the property tax question again? We're in Greenville and on a 2011 we pay less than half than what you had in your original post above for property tax.

Anyway let us know how it goes!

[tragusa3]

Thanks everyone. JD, I enjoyed your story. Warms my heart that this hobby is so rich as a memory maker.

A brief report:

We spent an exhausting 6 hours at the dealership today. Not in the sales hot seat, but in the coach (alone). We went through it like nobodies business. I could see employees looking at us funny, but it is what it is.

In the end, we realized that the floorplan isn't better or worse than what we thought we wanted, just different. All trade-offs.

We talked numbers and are very close to making it work. Might be a Tiffin owner by next weekend!

[Yellowboat_]

tragusa3 wrote:
We've been scouring the internet and local dealers since I made this post. Flip flopping our minds from day to day. Had a salesman from the local dealer say he would call when the right thing came in.

He called today saying it wasn't a perfect fit, but I needed to come see anyway. He just took a trade on a 2011 Tiffin Allegro 34TGA. The only owners were still in the office purchasing their new unit. They were 70'ish and downsizing. One owner, kept in storage, 9,900 miles and 39 hours on generator. Two year old tires. It is in better than "like new" condition. Nearly NO evidence of being used. The price offered to us was in line with what I've seen on RVtrader as comps.


I'll keep you posted.

This is how we bought our first class C. We had looked at all the local dealerships but we couldn't find a coach that we liked. A salesman said that he knew what we were looking to buy and he would call if he found one. A few weeks later he called and we went right down. He showed us a coach that had just been traded. It hadn't been cleaned.

The class C was owned by apple farmers. They used the coach in their fields as an office / bathroom facility. It was a Mobile Traveler.

Some time after our purchase I found dry rot over the drivers seat. The dry rot was covered by a thin plywood panel that was placed over the rotted area. I took it in to a repair facility and they made repaires. I learned later that Mobile Travelers were known for leaks. I removed and sealed nearly every fastener on the outside of the coach.

We owned that coach for 27 years and our family had a lot of memories in that coach. We were nearing retirement and my wife had been suggesting for several years that it was time for a new coach. As winter came to an end I went out to get the coach ready for another year. As I entered the coach I noticed that the ceiling was drooping. I went into our house and told my wife that it was time to shop for a new coach.

Safe travels. JD

[Gjac]

I would not let the 6 speed transmission be a deciding factor. To me storage especially pass through storage bays, FW capacity if you want to dry camp, CCC, and HP/Wt ratio would be more important. Check the final gear ratio of the 5 speed to 6 speed it is probably pretty close if not the same. Also understand the difference between the 362 HP and 320 HP in the newer models. Someone on here probably knows the specifics but it is probably the same engine just derated HP. Once you understand the eng and transmission difference you will feel better about your option #2 and be able to focus on features that would be important to you. It will take you several years anyway to modified/ repair and add any features that you want to travel in when you retire. Good luck in you search.

[tragusa3]

We've been scouring the internet and local dealers since I made this post. Flip flopping our minds from day to day. Had a salesman from the local dealer say he would call when the right thing came in.

He called today saying it wasn't a perfect fit, but I needed to come see anyway. He just took a trade on a 2011 Tiffin Allegro 34TGA. The only owners were still in the office purchasing their new unit. They were 70'ish and downsizing. One owner, kept in storage, 9,900 miles and 39 hours on generator. Two year old tires. It is in better than "like new" condition. Nearly NO evidence of being used. The price offered to us was in line with what I've seen on RVtrader as comps.

It doesn't have a few of the items we thought we must have, but we are awfully tempted. Tempted enough that we left a deposit on it and will spend some time with it on Saturday.

We thought Tiffin quality was out of our budget, but this one is a possibility. Now the big decision is, choose quality without a few preferred items vs. lesser quality brand with more preferred items.

I'll keep you posted.

[2gypsies1]

tragusa3 wrote:
Yellowboat and 2gypsies, what was your experience with warranty repairs? I heard that buying elsewhere and going to service at your local dealer can be problematic.

We didn't need any warranty work. 🙂

[scbwr]

While I know that the 6 speed is an improvement, we have the 5 speed on our recently purchased 2012 Bay Star and so far, I don't see where it will be a problem having traveled through the mountains in PA. We're looking at a trip out west next year, and I thing Rocky Mountain NP will be a good test.

When looking for our first class A, we decided to go for a good used unit. We were originally looking to keep the budget too low and ended up spending a little more but are extremely happy with the Bay Star and glad to have a 2012 model. Based on what we saw in our search, I highly recommend looking for Newmar, Tiffin or Winnebago/Itasca units. Also, compare tank capacities for fresh water, gray water and black water as capacities do vary....one of the reasons I didn't care for some of the Fleetwood Bounders we saw. I will say that the exterior wall construction of the Newmar motorhomes does make them very quiet and the cabinetry is very nice! But, if we had found an equivalent Tiffin for the same price, we wouldn't have hesitated to purchase it.

Another plus with our purchase was a transferrable ($100 fee) extended warranty which gives us a fairly good period of time or miles. And, the previous owner had made improvements to the suspension (rear track bar, Summo springs).

Good luck in your search!

[tragusa3]

Yellowboat, if we were to go Option #1, then a 2017 on a lot, that is discounted, would be highly desirable. Thanks for the tip on Private Seller but almost new. That is a concern.

We want badly to get the 6 speed. Honestly, we have always purchased cash for things. That wouldn't be possible with option #1. Every time I use the payment calculator I feel like I want to vomit. Yet, there is still a side of me that could be reckless for once in my life and just get what we love. I do believe if we went new/close to new, the coach could last us the rest of our years. I'm 48, wife 53. If we go option #2, it would be a really old coach in 20 years.

Almost positive we have a buyer coming on Saturday to pick up our TT. Now that that is sold, this thread is real. Exciting!

[cvbdsl]

As was mentioned previously, buy your last MH first, again not like I did.

My budget around 6 years ago was $50K CAD for a MH and toad. I ended up with a 2000 36' gas bounder with one slide and a 2004 Honda CRV well under budget.

A year later I traded up to a 1999 38' Dutch Star DP two slides and kept the Honda, still all told under $60K.

A year later I had two MH's (DW was not happy!). Bought a 2003 40' Dutch Star DP 3 slides from the dealer where I bought my 1st MH - he was a small dealer, going to retire and gave me a great deal and I was lucky to be able to pay cash. Took me a couple of months to sell the 99 DS . Later we also upgraded the toad to a 2013 Edge.
This was going to be our last MH for retirement.:W

I kept the 2003 until last year, and bought a 2008 HR Scepter PDQ 43' with four slides. Also just upgraded the toad to a 2018 Edge. Total investment now north of $200K CAD for both - taxes included (we only pay taxes when purchased -new or used - and not annually)

So you see, once you have the bug, there is no telling what you will do down the road. Slides, floor plans and options can make you do crazy things. Now that I am retired, I'm pretty sure this is our last MH since revenue is now very limited.:B

Good luck on your search as half the fun is the search.So much out there to choose from!

Chris

[Yellowboat_]

tragusa3 wrote:
Yellowboat and 2gypsies, what was your experience with warranty repairs? I heard that buying elsewhere and going to service at your local dealer can be problematic.

With both of my new TT's, I didn't take it to the dealer for anything. It's almost always easier for me to do stuff myself.

However, I'm almost certainly not buying new, so the bidding war tactic probably won't come into play.

I ended up purchasing from a local dealership so service isn't an issue. And our local dealer is also a Ford auto dealership so it is one stop shopping for all repairs which is really convenient.

I could see where warranty work could be an issue but after the Winnebago warranty I don't see a difference between a used coach bought from a private party or a new coach purchased from another dealer.