Gas vs Diesel

[slypig]

Hello,
I'm a newbe. Can I get some pros and cons between Gas and Diesel engines for a motorhome?
Thanks

[John_S_]

mccsix wrote:
Has anyone here attended chassis school and manuf training and get volumes of schedules and requirements associated with a diesel?
I have and the amt of maintenance spelled out for diesel is unreal. I traded a perfectly good 36' gasser for a top of the line diesel. True it is quieter, but more expensive for routine and unscheduled repairs besides the fuel costs. The diesel is highly touted for going 300000+ miles but who keeps theirs that long and how many maintenance $ to get there. I realize there are lots of owners who ignore the maintenance schedules and drive them till they stop working and fix whatever is broke.
I sold my 40' DP and bought a low mileage 35' V10 with as many or more options than the DP and I love it. Take it down to local service center get oil/filter/lube and I'm cheaply out the door, no appointments or hassle (IE Freightliner).
The key is FLOORPLAN FLOORPLAN FLOORPLAN. My bath and half rocks!

I have both and do stay on top of the service schedule. The FT has 165k on it and the BF has 38k. I have a friend who sold his FT with well over 300k in a couple weeks. There are loads of Foretravel coaches well over 100k and still going. I have seen then over 500k too. They needed some fiberglass work up front for the Rick chips but the structure was sound. The maintenance is a bit more but the ride and ccc is much better. I can carry 7k inside the coach and pull another 10 and still not exceed the GCVW. I have a 5k limit on my gas unit and only a few hundred pounds left pounds left inside.

Your use determines what you shoukd get.

[DanTheRVMan]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Find the floor plan that you like at a price you can afford and buy it.
Whatever engine is powering it will get you where you want to go and back, which is all that really matters.

Good comment

advantages of DP are

1 quieter
2 fuel with truckers - easy
3 Air ride
4 exhaust brake

Drive a lot and the advantages are worth the cost. Do not use it a lot and it makes no sense to pay the premium for the advantages.

[Peralko]

Value is subjective--any new coach will take a big hit the moment you drive it off the lot, what matters is what a coach will bring when you trade or sell it. The point still remains high mileage on a gasser will affect it a lot more than a DP. A dealer will use every trick to give you as little as possible on a trade, and he will take high mileage on a gasser into account when he makes his offer.
I don't use Ebay as an indication of DP sales. They don't sell nearly enough of the coaches we are interested in for our future replacement coach. Nice versions of those have been selling like hotcakes--some not lasting a week.

[rgatijnet1]

Peralko wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Peralko wrote:
High mileage can have a significant impact on the trade-in value of a gasser, but no impact on the value of a DP.

I think you forgot the smiley face to imply you were joking.

High milage will have a significant impact on either. Diesel will be slightly less impact depending on "how high" (assuming similar rigs of similar quality). Of course it comes with a much higher up front price also.

As others have said, get the floor plan you like. Unless you are going onto the carney circuit, you are unlikely to wear out either drivetrain due to miles.

Sorry, the drop in the value of a gasser is no joke! We put a lot of miles on our gasser, and found the value had dropped in half after two years!
Just as an example, I used a members gas coach (I won't say whose!), and used 10k miles, 40k miles, and 60k miles. The NADAvalues dropped from $110k to $104k and then to $99k just based on miles. That is certainly not a joke for gasser owners! Do the same with a DP, and it will not change. I agree floor plan is a big deal, but basically--put a lot of miles on a coach, get a diesel, minimum miles and a gasser may fill your needs.

As all of us know, NADA values are not even a close guess as to the value of an RV. If you have a new DP today, and it sits in your yard for six months, with no mileage added, the value of that DP will drop. To even think that adding 60K miles to a DP will not affect the value is just ignorance of the marketplace.
Do a search on eBay of COMPLETED auctions and see how many DPs are actually being sold. Maybe about one in 20, if the price is low enough.

[Peralko]

valhalla360 wrote:

Peralko wrote:
High mileage can have a significant impact on the trade-in value of a gasser, but no impact on the value of a DP.

I think you forgot the smiley face to imply you were joking.

High milage will have a significant impact on either. Diesel will be slightly less impact depending on "how high" (assuming similar rigs of similar quality). Of course it comes with a much higher up front price also.

As others have said, get the floor plan you like. Unless you are going onto the carney circuit, you are unlikely to wear out either drivetrain due to miles.

Sorry, the drop in the value of a gasser is no joke! We put a lot of miles on our gasser, and found the value had dropped in half after two years!
Just as an example, I used a members gas coach (I won't say whose!), and used 10k miles, 40k miles, and 60k miles. The NADAvalues dropped from $110k to $104k and then to $99k just based on miles. That is certainly not a joke for gasser owners! Do the same with a DP, and it will not change. I agree floor plan is a big deal, but basically--put a lot of miles on a coach, get a diesel, minimum miles and a gasser may fill your needs.

[gemert]

welcome and there is more to the diesel than just the engine. Usually diesels (not always) come with many more standard item VS options such as air ride, higher quality cabinets, more power, larger, upgraded water heaters, oh yeah and a higher price tag and maint. cost,

[J-Rooster]

IMHO, it comes down to pulling power and comfort! A gasser pays less for fuel ( the cost difference between gas & diesel. Maintenance like a oil change and grease job the shop that I go to charges $69.00 gas & $300.00 diesel. DP's have air ride which is really nice and can tow heavier vehicles.

[conmoto]

The new gassers are utilizing many of the DP floor-plans, more now than ever. The Newmar Canyon Star 3914, Winnebago product 38Q are very close to DP floor-plans. I am still enjoying our DP but still appreciate a practical layout regardless of power-train.

[slypig]

tankcj wrote:

Two Jayhawks wrote:

slypig wrote:
Sorry I don't want to make anyone nausious (ad-nauseum) 🙂 I'll do the search. Thanks for the responses.

It didn't make me nauseous at all. People need to remember if we don't "re heat" topics that have already been discussed this forum dies.

Oh...and welcome to the forum!

Good point!

Thanks no offence taken...was just trying for a small joke.
I appreciate you folks!

[mccsix]

Has anyone here attended chassis school and manuf training and get volumes of schedules and requirements associated with a diesel?
I have and the amt of maintenance spelled out for diesel is unreal. I traded a perfectly good 36' gasser for a top of the line diesel. True it is quieter, but more expensive for routine and unscheduled repairs besides the fuel costs. The diesel is highly touted for going 300000+ miles but who keeps theirs that long and how many maintenance $ to get there. I realize there are lots of owners who ignore the maintenance schedules and drive them till they stop working and fix whatever is broke.
I sold my 40' DP and bought a low mileage 35' V10 with as many or more options than the DP and I love it. Take it down to local service center get oil/filter/lube and I'm cheaply out the door, no appointments or hassle (IE Freightliner).
The key is FLOORPLAN FLOORPLAN FLOORPLAN. My bath and half rocks!

[valhalla360]

Peralko wrote:
High mileage can have a significant impact on the trade-in value of a gasser, but no impact on the value of a DP.

I think you forgot the smiley face to imply you were joking.

High milage will have a significant impact on either. Diesel will be slightly less impact depending on "how high" (assuming similar rigs of similar quality). Of course it comes with a much higher up front price also.

As others have said, get the floor plan you like. Unless you are going onto the carney circuit, you are unlikely to wear out either drivetrain due to miles.

[cochise49]

We traded our 9 year old DP for a new Gasser. Wanted more amenities like: slides, storage, entertainment system. Same floor plan and extras in a DP would have cost 100K more. Figured we live in it a lot more than we travel in it. I do miss the "pssst" though.

[Peralko]

High mileage can have a significant impact on the trade-in value of a gasser, but no impact on the value of a DP.

[rgatijnet1]

Altern wrote:
How many people sell their DP's for a gasser..:)

If everyone had enough money their would be very few gassers .

I have had both DP and gassers. I can afford either and now a gasser is serving our needs the best. Floor plan is still the most important and even tho we put 15,000+ miles a year on our coach, we still spend more time parked and enjoying the floor plan then using the engine on the road. Since we travel mostly in the Western mountains I have always made it to the top of every mountain pass with no problem with whatever coach we have.
The people that think that a DP is only for the wealthy are the ones that an RV salesman loves because he knows he can stroke their ego and they will buy anything. :B