Having the hardest time buying a new class A

[mark52]

So, we are looking to buy our third motorhome and are ready to make the leap into a non-"entry level" motorhome. After an old Bounder and our current '06 Hurricane that we bought in '09, we would like to upgrade to a quality motorhome with full paint. I think our biggest problem is we often boondock (A lot of desert trips and dry camping up in the mountains). Many of the 32' to 38' Class A's now days seem to be made for camping at campgrounds only. Most either have small holding tanks or an enormous residential refrigerator that would require hours of generator use a day to keep the batteries charged. That combined with a other few particulars like, darker color wood interior, non-white couches, bath and 1/2, & oven are proving to make this purchase difficult. New is preferable but were not ruling out slightly used (2016 and newer). with a budget of around 110K, we are at that mid range level and have been looking at Fleetwood bounder, Southwind, and storm, Thor Miramar and Challenger, Holiday Rambler Vacationer, and Georgetown. Ive learned that new motorhomes sell for approximately 20-30% below MSRP and if its more than a year old or if they really want to sell it, 35% below. This makes it really handy for those dealers that list the MSRP, but some don't. I have probably about 50 hours of research in the last couple of months pulling up specs to check out holding tank and towing capacities and have scoured most of the west coast but just can't find the right one. What am I doing wrong here? Please help!!
Mark

[tropical36]

mark52 wrote:

There's a way to set your auto, so have you read your manual?
As far as I know, the side controls only operate the rear on any of them.
As for POWERGEAR, I still consider them one of or not the best and our 11 year old system, still works great.
I haven't read the manual yet. I actually just got it in the mail from the manufacturer because our dealer somehow misplaced it. I will check that out. I have researched it online in which people have said thats just how it is. I am only basing this off of our old motorhome that had a fantastic leveling system. You could set the "null" when you know the rig is perfectly level. After that was set, no matter how level you were, it would try to level even if that meant extending the jacks fully. In manual, there was 4 buttons, one for each wheel. If you held down the two left jacks, both left jacks would deploy. You could also go up and down as much as desired without having to "retract all jacks" first. That was a pretty nice set up if you ask me.
The problem with some of that is with people pushing buttons and twisting the chassis, thereby popping out the windshield and creating other problems.
I always thought these safeguards were in place for all of them, including the .....retract all jacks....feature.

[mark52]

There's a way to set your auto, so have you read your manual?
As far as I know, the side controls only operate the rear on any of them.
As for POWERGEAR, I still consider them one of or not the best and our 11 year old system, still works great.
I haven't read the manual yet. I actually just got it in the mail from the manufacturer because our dealer somehow misplaced it. I will check that out. I have researched it online in which people have said thats just how it is. I am only basing this off of our old motorhome that had a fantastic leveling system. You could set the "null" when you know the rig is perfectly level. After that was set, no matter how level you were, it would try to level even if that meant extending the jacks fully. In manual, there was 4 buttons, one for each wheel. If you held down the two left jacks, both left jacks would deploy. You could also go up and down as much as desired without having to "retract all jacks" first. That was a pretty nice set up if you ask me.

[mark52]

RVER wrote:
Your post has a 2018 Holiday Rambler in the signature box, is that the rig you chose for your new rig? Good choice, many of the ones you listed are ones I would AVOID so happy to see you did.

Yup, That's our baby. I know that once we get the electrical issue worked out we'll enjoy this rig for years to come

[RVER]

Your post has a 2018 Holiday Rambler in the signature box, is that the rig you chose for your new rig? Good choice, many of the ones you listed are ones I would AVOID so happy to see you did.

[tropical36]

mark52 wrote:
For anyone who was following this thread, we finally pulled the trigger and bought a new motorhome. We bought a 2018 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 35K about a month ago. We are happy with our purchase so far for the most part. It is an absolutely beautiful motorhome inside and out. The only draw backs so far other than minor warrantee issues is a potentially big warrantee issue - There seems to be problems with the chassis battery losing charge quickly for no reason and the house batteries also are severely underperforming. We are currently having that problem checked out. The only other thing that greatly disappoints us about this motorhome is the leveling system. HR used a "Power Gear" leveling system in this coach and it just sucks! Unlike our previous motorhome, you have to be almost perfectly level for it to work in auto. In manual, If you push the right side button, only the rear right jack drops. I though something was wrong with it until i researched it. Sure enough I have a worthless pile of junk leveling system. Im wondering if I can somehow upgrade to something that actually works in the future?

There's a way to set your auto, so have you read your manual?
As far as I know, the side controls only operate the rear on any of them.
As for POWERGEAR, I still consider them one of or not the best and our 11 year old system, still works great.

[2gypsies1]

OP: Thanks for returning and giving us an update. Glad you're fairly satisfied and hope you get the kinks worked out. Have fun!

[D_E_Bishop]

In my opinion you are going to have a hard time shopping CA. When we were looking the only Pacific State that had fairly low, high prices was Washington. There are some good buys in AZ, FL and TX, and consignment places are fair and they can haggle.

And yes Washington is still above average retail but not as bad as CA. I think that the homeless market took most of the older rigs off the market and many folks are upside down mortgage wise. They also want to call everything on their coaches, "accessories", even those things that were standard.

Just keep looking but be prepared to travel some just to look at some of them.

[mark52]

For anyone who was following this thread, we finally pulled the trigger and bought a new motorhome. We bought a 2018 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 35K about a month ago. We are happy with our purchase so far for the most part. It is an absolutely beautiful motorhome inside and out. The only draw backs so far other than minor warrantee issues is a potentially big warrantee issue - There seems to be problems with the chassis battery losing charge quickly for no reason and the house batteries also are severely underperforming. We are currently having that problem checked out. The only other thing that greatly disappoints us about this motorhome is the leveling system. HR used a "Power Gear" leveling system in this coach and it just sucks! Unlike our previous motorhome, you have to be almost perfectly level for it to work in auto. In manual, If you push the right side button, only the rear right jack drops. I though something was wrong with it until i researched it. Sure enough I have a worthless pile of junk leveling system. Im wondering if I can somehow upgrade to something that actually works in the future?

[tropical36]

RVER wrote:
I have read lately about Entegra problems but at the higher end it may be possible the quality may be a little better because they are not making so many at a time. NOW they are putting out lots and lots of rigs and not well built for the most part of the mid range and low range $$$ wise rigs.

Well, I'm not a newness sort of guy and only go with quality in the tried and proven, by year. If I was going for new in the Cornerstone price range for example, it would probably win out over an Eagle, as American has really disappointed me, with the direction their headed in, so it's not just the other guys, these days.

[RVER]

I have read lately about Entegra problems but at the higher end it may be possible the quality may be a little better because they are not making so many at a time. NOW they are putting out lots and lots of rigs and not well built for the most part of the mid range and low range $$$ wise rigs.

[tropical36]

RVER wrote:
PERSONALLY I would stay away from anything made by Thor. Not all have Thor names either like they now own Keystone and others. Google what Thor RV owns and then go from there. I think Newmar, Winnebago/Itasca, Tiffin make nice units and still have a reputation of quality. I buy used and am glad for it since the newer units do not seem to be made as well. The companies are making lots of rigs because RVing has caught on so quality has fallen. Drop back a few years and get a quality unit. IF you are not full timing, then go with gas but if full timing and will drive all over then diesel. Diesels cost MUCH more to maintain and fuel is more expensive but motors last much longer.

I think Damon and before being bought by Thor, is what really started with their reputation of building cheap entry level units, which they evidently made a lot of money with.
Now they own Jayco, which in turn owns Entegra, so most wouldn't subscribe to your statement of staying away from anything, owned by Thor. In fact the Entegra Diesel line has been known for quality throughout and is highly competitive in that price range. For beginners, they don't utilize full wall slides and something I just can't wrap my head around. Owning a full wide slide, that is and a deal breaker for me, with the models that have one.

[RVER]

PERSONALLY I would stay away from anything made by Thor. Not all have Thor names either like they now own Keystone and others. Google what Thor RV owns and then go from there. I think Newmar, Winnebago/Itasca, Tiffin make nice units and still have a reputation of quality. I buy used and am glad for it since the newer units do not seem to be made as well. The companies are making lots of rigs because RVing has caught on so quality has fallen. Drop back a few years and get a quality unit. IF you are not full timing, then go with gas but if full timing and will drive all over then diesel. Diesels cost MUCH more to maintain and fuel is more expensive but motors last much longer.

[mark52]

jplante4 wrote:

mark52 wrote:
UPDATE...
So here we are. in the middle of June we are leaving for a two week trip to Utah to visit some of the national parks and Moab. It would be nice to have a new one by then but at least we have a good reliable MH now. I'll update if we find something before our trip.

If you poke around the buying thread here, you'll see how bad an idea this is. The manufacturers leave the last 10% of the build to the dealers, things like putting knobs on cabinets and connecting the propane to the water heater. Dealers are not inclined to do this work on a coach they haven't sold yet, because they're doing it for actual customers.

We catch a lot of the warranty work for the local Campers World because people have scheduled a trip right after buying a new rig and do not realize the the dealer can't get to their issues in 2 weeks, or 2 months in some cases.

Nearly everyone that responded to this thread recommended buying used. There's a reason for that.

Thanks for that heads up! I kinda knew that when buying a new one, you have to deal with all of the initial problems and honestly, I think last weekend was the last chance to buy new before our trip. I would still consider a used one. In fact, My preferred overall purchase would be a slightly used Tiffin Allegro Open Road. A '15 or '16 32SA, 31SA, or even 36LA would be right in our price range. I think at this point, we will take our time with the search and wait for the right used one to pop up.

[DutchmenSport]

I understand buying "new". It's a fabulous feeling. Good luck in your search. Hope it all works out OK for you.