Confused Need help Newbie here looking for frist

Welcome! You'll get lots of opinions on here. Each unit has its own pros and cons. If it were me, I'd see if I could locate and RV show somewhere that you could attend so you could spend a day or two touring the models and getting ideas on what is right for you.

Here is a link to Canadian RV shows. (I hope you mean Ontario Canada, and not Ontario California...)

Canada RV shows

what type truck do you have to tow a TT or a 5th ? that comes into play also. how much room do you need? just you ad the dog may get by on something in the 25 ft range with a slide. nothing over 10 years sometimes means head ache repairing. some units have been taken care of and they make good first units. I have a 99 and it has been taken care of religiously. it is still a good unit. units like mine are rare but there are some out there. I know a guy who has a dog and he just has a small class C. he does very well in it. he does take care of his MH and it is in very good condition. some Units are built for the cold and the Canadian weather. keep asking your questions we will try to answer the best we can

I considered the same things about six years ago. Personally, I prefer some space so I wanted a class A in the 40' range. I didn't have much trouble fitting it into smaller sites. I live in the mountains and liked the idea of exhaust braking so a diesel made sense. Once I got my wife on board with the idea, I pulled the trigger. Over the past few years, other considerations came into play like bigger slide outs and amenities so we upgraded. After a couple of upgrades, we found our sweet spot with the 42QD. It may not be your cup of tea, but it's our idea of the home away from home.

Well I plan on putting only about 10k or less a year A 42 is to big for me as a starter unit.
I like the winnebago sightseer 33 But very hard to find used ones in my price range. I would like to spend 50k max with maybe another 5k to equip. the way I like.
I am mostly concerned with construction want good mid entry quality

rs680 wrote:
Well I plan on putting only about 10k or less a year A 42 is to big for me as a starter unit.
I like the winnebago sightseer 33 But very hard to find used ones in my price range. I would like to spend 50k max with maybe another 5k to equip. the way I like.
I am mostly concerned with construction want good mid entry quality

Check out the Fleetwood Bounders, lots of them for sale, they are built good, you can find them with gas or diesel.

RS Welcome,

It is nice to see someone else from Ontario here.

Where as in how far north in Canada are you travelling in the summer?
Are you planning on provincial parks?
Are you planning on camping crown land?
Will you be heading down logging roads?

As to what you need and what you want will be a personal choice. I could tell you what a female would like in a RV but that may not help you, LOL

If you are summer camping you will not need a 4 season. However, this year in August the heat went on in the TT that was Timmins, I have camped in the rockies in July and woke to 6 inches of snow, LOl but still was fine in a tent. Usually holidays are in Sept and no further south than Chapleau. Still you will not need a 4 season.
If you are planning on northern Ontario you don't want to be over 30'. Ours is 27' then add another 4 for the hitch etc. We are limited in some areas to the number of choices for sites. We never have had a bad one. The parks can handle over 32' but you may not have the most secluded site. Our parks are not like our southern friends with cement pads. I think they are a little more rustic here, LOL
Also remember that once you get a little north distance to town, shops or points of interest may be a drive from the camp ground, so you may want to think TT so you are not having to take a motor home everywhere. We have been glad that we chose TT over a lge motor home. There are places we have been that it is a 6 hour drive to the closest store/gas etc.

We looked at almost every RV dealer from Orillia south. There are a few that we did not like, the dealers not product, including where we bought ours.


Some say your relationship with the dealer is somewhat like marriage.
You don't know what you have until it is too late.
It is either the perfect match, or a deal you wish you had never made.

Good luck, if we can help at all just ask!

I always thought that a nice B towing a small TT would be ideal.
bumpy

Very difficult question to answer because there are so many variables. How big is your dog, for example? :)
I'd start with how much space you feel you need for you and your dog to be comfortable for long periods on the road. The smaller units are going to be easier to drive, easier to maintain, easier to set up and tear down, and more efficient on your wallet.
Second, how many times are you going to setup and tear down? This would impact my decision. A trailer/5th wheel take more time to setup and tear down than a motorhome does. If you plan on moving every week, that could impact your decision.
At 10k miles, your on my edge for a diesel based on cost of fuel. Diesel fuel costs more, but gets better mileage. If you were driving 20-30k/yr, that would have a greater impact. Nice to have, BUT, you get more space for less money in a gas rig. Our rig has a grade brake which is very similar to an exhaust brake in terms of it's function. I believe that most Class As with Allison transmissions have this function. A diesel will typically have air suspension, gas will not. At 20-30k/yr, I'd want air ride, no question. At 10K? I'd elect to spend that money on space/comfort.
As for age...tough one. Personally, I wouldn't buy anything pre-2000, but that's mostly because of slides and other conveniences that came into the market at around that time. Our rig is coming up on 10yrs, which I still can't believe, and if I were in the market, I'd have no problem purchasing it again ;) We bought our coach sight unseen, with preinspection right of refusal, of course, but we had look at hundreds of rigs online, and when we saw this particular floorplan, we were both sold instantly. We may never have seen this configuration by just visiting dealers.

For research, we found Ebay to be invaluable due to being able to look at 100s of floor plans, and getting a good idea on pricing at the same time. We set up searches within specific parameters, and then could look at new/relisted coaches any time we wanted to. You can save a search, and you can base the search on age, mileage, price, fuel type, etc.

One thing I frequently say is that motorhomes are like boats in that there's no such thing as the perfect one. Everything is going to be a trade-off/compromise based on your own priorities, and what makes it a bit more difficult is that you're not sure what those are, due to lack of experience.
I balance that with the fact that you don't NEED the "perfect" coach...so don't get stuck in analysis paralysis ;) Ask questions here, figure out what your short list of "must haves" is, and then everything else becomes a bit more minor.

Jim

You may also consider height. My TT had a much lower clearance than my current FW. There are streets I can't use because of overhead tree branches.

I understand how you feel because it took two years for us of considering every option before we bought. It gets overwhelming and you hate to commit to the wrong thing.

We (two people) travel the way you describe, long distances mostly in the summer, three to four months and about 10,000 miles a year.

The used Sprinter diesel Class B we bought three years ago was in your price range, and you mentioned possibly considering a B. The smaller interior space is not for everyone (that's the potential minus), but we found a B to be ideal for the way we want to use an RV at present.

These are the pluses from my experience:

Fuel mileage in the low 20s or better per gallon of diesel, depending on how fast we drive. We have about a 600 mile range between fill ups.

We do not need to tow a second vehicle behind.

Virtually any campground can accommodate a class B van RV.

Signs that read "no RVs" for certain roads, parking areas etc, in National Parks and other locations are not a concern - on asking, we are told, "Oh, you're OK," and waved on in.

The smallest tunnels I've ever seen (in South Dakota) were not an issue.

We have everything (food, water, bathroom, change of clothes) when out sightseeing.

At home, we can park it in our driveway, very convenient, and use it for hauling, too.

The turbo diesel engine is a workhorse that never breaks a sweat in the Rockies.

The set-up on arriving at a campground takes only a few minutes to check the site's level situation and plug in the electric cord if there is power at the site.

Departure is also very quick. Unplug, fill up if you need fresh water, dump the holding tanks if they need it. Hit the road.

Cleaning our "home" on the road every week or so on long trips takes just a few minutes.

Class B vans have an excellent resale value, especially diesels.

Canadian companies pioneered the van conversion market that exists today, and you could visit a factory or two. Layouts vary - some are more open than others, giving more visual space. Interiors often are hand-fitted with top quality solid wood cabinetry that holds up extremely well.

Feel free to send me a private message if you have questions about B type RVs.