Class C under 30 ft. with gas engine

Thanks so much to all of you.

Coachmen has a class c the Freelander 20 CB which is 23 ft 7 inches long,and it's on a gas engine. It's based on the Ford Transit. From what I have read about the MPG is anywhere around 13 to 15 MPG. Its unloaded weight is 8140 lbs with the gvwr at 10360 lbs. I got the weight info from their 2017 Freelander brochure.

kstorms wrote:
Thank you CharlesinGA - what is MH's? And is the View Forum on this site?

Original View Forum is on Yahoo Groups.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/View-Navion/info

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/View-NavionTech/info

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ViewNavionMods/info

Yahoo is a pain to deal with, as it is not a regular forum like most others you are used to using. When you sign up, be sure and do not check that you want email notification of posts. Yahoo was designed in the early '90's and it still reflects that thinking.

Charles

Thank you so much. God Bless and safe travels!

kstorms wrote:
I meant that i liked the overall look to the View.

And one follow-up - can a gas engine RV be taken to any repair shop for service?

Thanks

No. Many places (including dealerships) decline to service RVs for various reasons. The bays not being able to fit an RV bing the most common reason I've heard from folks.

Thanks to all - very helpful information - one follow-up on the reply from DaCrema - can you tell me more about what you mean about water penetration into the house part of the body. I am not familiar with this.

Thanks

DrewE wrote:
Routine service should be basically the same cost as servicing a van, since the chassis is the same (at least as far as things that need chassis service are concerned). The length of the vehicle really doesn't enter into that at all...

I have an E-350 regular length van, in addition to the motorhome. At the dealer I use, size does make a difference, at least for routine service. I can take the van in for the Quick Lane $9.95 oil change (which is more like $13 with taxes and disposal fees) as the technicians can use the same lifts used for pickup trucks, making the job quick and easy.

The motorhome needs a scheduled appointment if it needs to go on a lift, because there are only two large truck bays with lifts. That runs up the price to the $25-30 range. The alternative is to pull it about 1/3 of the way into one of the Quick Lane service bays (only of the four fits this way) where the technician can crawl under it. The clearance is not great, not every tech fits, not every tech is willing to do this. So this comes back around to scheduling a large truck service session.

Similarly for tire service, brake and suspension work, in many shops the work gets turned away or gets done out on the driveway, and there is sometimes a premium for the trouble. If I schedule into a truck service shop, either the rates are higher or the amount of labor greater, or both. But it is all relative, the Honda dealer charges 2-3x as much for the same job on my Honda Fit as I pay for routine service on the motorhome.

Routine service should be basically the same cost as servicing a van, since the chassis is the same (at least as far as things that need chassis service are concerned). The length of the vehicle really doesn't enter into that at all. It is true that most vans don't have duallies, which does add to some maintenance costs a bit (most obviously when buying tires). Length makes little if any difference in the costs on its own. I suppose a longer RV does have a bit more exhaust piping to replace when it wears out, but at that point it's splitting hairs.

In fact biggest single periodic expense is tires, which on most RVs need replacement due to age rather than treadwear. Last year it cost me just about $1000 for six new tires from a local store for comparatively inexpensive (i.e. not fancy name-brand) tires.

On my Ford E-450 based C, my local Ford (truck) dealer does oil change, filter, chassis lube and inspection for $25-30. If air filter needs replacement, the cost is just the part, because the box is already open. Wiper blades, pair of $12 blades, $8 labor.

Transmission fluid change every 30,000 to 50,000 miles, $200 for a flush.

kstorms wrote:
Thanks - so at 10 mpg on average i can see how often I would have to fill up....

I know that gas engines typically do not last as long as diesel...but I am leaning towards a gas engine because:

The average RV is less than diesel
Maintenance is usually less
And - if I have heard this correctly, I can get an RV serviced at any auto service center that can service a car (as long as they have the capacity to accommodate the size of the RV - and I am getting one that is less than 30 ft...) which is nice if something happens on the road.

I have not read through the thread yet but would like to comment:
Gas milage. A lot depends on how tall a RV and the shape. I get just over 11mpg often enough for it to be a real number, but that is on very flat roads with little traffic. In the Shenandoah I get mid 8s. The average is high 9. I have a 26.5 Lazy Daze MidBath.
The Ford V10 is a strong motor and lots of folks are seeing 200k miles. If the RV is running close to the max weights the drive train will be under more stress (doesn't mater diesel, gas, Ford, Chevy, Mecer or what ever). If you are looking at used RV I would not worry as much about milage as I would worry about the water penetration into the house part of the body. I suspect that the Chevy motors are equally reliable as long as the house part of the RV is not pushing the upper limits of what the RV can handle.