Coachman quality

[blknomad]

I am searching for a 35ft or so pusher. It seams that the Winneybago 36m is made of gold so I'm branching out and looking at a Coachman cross country. How is their quality compair to the winneys? Also will the 300horse cummins be enough for that size coach? Any input will be appreciated before I spend $100K.

[Berner2]

I have a 2004 Coachmen 354MBS 37'. I have owned it since 2006 and I am very satisfied with it. I checked the fuel mileage on a trip around Northern CA a couple years ago and I got over 9 mpg pulling an IH Scout. I haven't checked it since and probably won't ever, 9+ is good enough for me. The 300hp Cummins pulled the Scout without any problem. The hills weren't a huge challenge, not to say I didn't notice them, but, I was happy with the performance. Towing or not, I drive as fast as conditions permit. Would I like to have 4, 5 or 600hp, hell yes, maybe in my next MH.

When I bought this MH it was within my budget. I knew what I could spend and I looked around for quite a while before I bought. Having had a couple of older MHs I also knew what I wanted in the way of a floorplan etc. The coach has a single deep living room slide, decent kitchen counter space, adequate bedroom, a big vanity counter top along with a nice sized shower and dressing area, a priority for me. I picked this over some gas units that were higher end and some older diesel units that didn't have the layout I was looking for. I am happy with the build quality, no issues other than a couple of drawer guides and some little misc. stuff that I took care of myself. No "house" build issues!

I have however had a couple issues that were Freightliner related. I had a leaking oil seal on one of the front wheels and an air dryer on the brakes crapped out. The most significant issue was on a trip through Oregon when ALL of the bolts fell out of the flex plate. I stopped at a campground for a couple of days and when I packed up to leave the MH wouldn't move. I had to be towed 90 miles, thank you Coach Net, and spent a couple of days in the shop for repairs. These problems were all fixed under warranty and all cropped up under 12k miles. This same trip my friend's 40' Country Coach also had to be towed to a shop and he lost a couple of days with a fuel delivery problem.......they can all break!

I have had a few 10 hr days behind the wheel and one 15 hr stint and didn't feel beat up when I was done.

To sum it up:
Not at all fancy, very comfortable, drives nice, pretty roomy, decent storage capacity, everything works well......I'm still satisfied. I might look around for another coach now that I'm retired, but, maybe not.

[Bumpyroad]

FormerBoater wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

RayChez wrote:

And really the Discovery is an entry level coach for Fleetwood. Don't know much about the Alegro Red, but I do know Fleetwood coaches because I was very interested on the Fleetwood Eagle for many years. And the Eagle vs the Discovery is like day and night.

as I recall from years back, there were three "americans" and you had to get the top one, the eagle to get a fiberglass roof???
bumpy

ALL American Coaches have fiberglass roofs.

You have to go back to 1998 where the Dream and Tradition did not have fiberglass roofs.

Kind of 15 years out of date Bumpy.

hey I said "from years back" didn't I? 🙂
that is when I was looking at them.
bumpy

[wnytaxman]

We have had two Coachmen, one a Class C and one an A. Both were nice units with very few problems. We now have a Berkshire which is owned by Forest River who also own Coachmen. We had an issue with our Berkshire that Forest River is handling even though the coach is three years old. Based on our experience with Forest River I would have no problem recommending a Coachmen product.

[my996duc1]

Kinda like asking a bunch of Ford truck owners to rate a Chevy truck.

As a new owner of a used older Coachmen and no issues yet ..... does anyone have any examples or solid info about these ?

Seems like alot of opinions but not much first hand knowledge.

Anyone that actually owned a Coachman have some input ?
Problem areas, things to watch for, ect... ?

_

[FormerBoater]

Bumpyroad wrote:

RayChez wrote:

And really the Discovery is an entry level coach for Fleetwood. Don't know much about the Alegro Red, but I do know Fleetwood coaches because I was very interested on the Fleetwood Eagle for many years. And the Eagle vs the Discovery is like day and night.

as I recall from years back, there were three "americans" and you had to get the top one, the eagle to get a fiberglass roof???
bumpy

ALL American Coaches have fiberglass roofs.

You have to go back to 1998 where the Dream and Tradition did not have fiberglass roofs.

Kind of 15 years out of date Bumpy.

[Bumpyroad]

RayChez wrote:

And really the Discovery is an entry level coach for Fleetwood. Don't know much about the Alegro Red, but I do know Fleetwood coaches because I was very interested on the Fleetwood Eagle for many years. And the Eagle vs the Discovery is like day and night.

as I recall from years back, there were three "americans" and you had to get the top one, the eagle to get a fiberglass roof???
bumpy

[RayChez]

dubdub07 wrote:
Looking at the different entry level coaches, we had the same issues. Power vs cost vs amenities. You really can't judge a coach by its pictures. We liked the Allegro Red pictures and went to look at one. On the lot was a Fleetwood Discovery. Mo money, for sure. But they were night and day compared to the pics. The Discovery is a very nice coach. The thing I found was that the 340HP and less ISBs it that you only get the Allison 2500. To get the 3000, you need the 360HP ISB or bigger. For me, I wanted the 3000. ISB or ISC, I wanted the Allison 3000. Too much weight in the mountains with the smaller tranny. IMO.

And really the Discovery is an entry level coach for Fleetwood. Don't know much about the Alegro Red, but I do know Fleetwood coaches because I was very interested on the Fleetwood Eagle for many years. And the Eagle vs the Discovery is like day and night.

[dubdub07]

Looking at the different entry level coaches, we had the same issues. Power vs cost vs amenities. You really can't judge a coach by its pictures. We liked the Allegro Red pictures and went to look at one. On the lot was a Fleetwood Discovery. Mo money, for sure. But they were night and day compared to the pics. The Discovery is a very nice coach. The thing I found was that the 340HP and less ISBs it that you only get the Allison 2500. To get the 3000, you need the 360HP ISB or bigger. For me, I wanted the 3000. ISB or ISC, I wanted the Allison 3000. Too much weight in the mountains with the smaller tranny. IMO.

[wny_pat1]

bobkatmsu wrote:

shaneperch wrote:
Just get a used high end coach with the most power you can get and never look back. As per sleeves. If I spend a boatload of hard earned money, I would expect a sleeved engine whether I keep it for two years or two decades. Sleeves are an issue with me. sorry. I want a sleeved diesel.

Ok, another stupid question. Please define "sleeved".

In layman terms - Most of the larger diesel engines have a sleeved cylinder inserts instead of a bored cylinder wall. Saves on rebuilding cost. Just remove the sleeve insert and put in a new one. You are not boring the cylinder wall and installing oversized pistons which would make the engine structurally weaker after many rebuilds. Your car gas engine has a bored cylinder wall because it was not designed to go through rebuilds. And if you do rebuild it, and bored out the cylinder more, you would need oversized pistons.

[mike_brez]

I can't help at all but we just camped last weekend and across from us was a beautifully looking Coachman Encore.

[LongWeekends]

B's Bunch wrote:
Maybe get flamed for this but you asked. Any coach can be a butload of problems. When we were first looking at deisel coaches we went by a coachman dealer liked the coach took it for a test drive and there is not enough room on here for my comments. I do not intend to badmouth the coachman but NOT FOR US. We ended up with a NEWMAR Mountain Aire Gas. Big mistake as it ruined what my thinking of what a coach should be. We were spoiled. Hook line and sinker. After the brake disaster with workhorse we ended up with a Dutchstar. Great coach probably should have kept it. Anyho we traded for the doublewide and have not looked back. You have to look at what you are getting for your money. After going thru this I would not buy a Coachman Tent. But many are very happy with their choice. Larry

Love these posts...not a bit of concrete info but still, in a not-so-subtle way suggests that the RV that I own is a complete piece of junk. There is probably a better way to make your point. Perhaps offer reasons why you didn't like the Coachmen. Reasons that can actually help the OP instead of just making blanket statements that have zero support. Glad you love your RV but maybe that isn't in everyone's budget. I am sure there are Prevost guys that wonder why you would ever own a fiberglass coach like yours(ours).

As for ours, I know it is an entry level DP and is outfitted accordingly. That said, we have zero rattles, everything works, it drives perfectly, doesn't leak a drop of anything...after 9 years and 53,000 miles, what is so terrible about that? To the OP's question, my experience says that they build a quality RV....not sure how their tents rank, however.

[RayChez]

There is no way you can compare an entry level coach like a coachmen vs a Revolution LE. One is a one hundred thousand dollar coach and the other is three times more expensive. It is like comparing Chevy to Cadillac.

But you buy what ever your budget can afford. And I sure would not stick my nose up just because I could afford a more expensive coach.

[B_s_Bunch]

Maybe get flamed for this but you asked. Any coach can be a butload of problems. When we were first looking at deisel coaches we went by a coachman dealer liked the coach took it for a test drive and there is not enough room on here for my comments. I do not intend to badmouth the coachman but NOT FOR US. We ended up with a NEWMAR Mountain Aire Gas. Big mistake as it ruined what my thinking of what a coach should be. We were spoiled. Hook line and sinker. After the brake disaster with workhorse we ended up with a Dutchstar. Great coach probably should have kept it. Anyho we traded for the doublewide and have not looked back. You have to look at what you are getting for your money. After going thru this I would not buy a Coachman Tent. But many are very happy with their choice. Larry

[bobkatmsu]

shaneperch wrote:
Just get a used high end coach with the most power you can get and never look back. As per sleeves. If I spend a boatload of hard earned money, I would expect a sleeved engine whether I keep it for two years or two decades. Sleeves are an issue with me. sorry. I want a sleeved diesel.

Ok, another stupid question. Please define "sleeved".