hello, my wife and i are looking to buy a class a diesel. first of all, Jonny i read your article and thank you for taking the time to write it. my question is what brands are the best as far as fewest problems, quality of materials used. we like the floor plans on some of the fleetwoods but i have read a few negative things about them. the brands that seem to be best (from what i've read so far) are winneabago,newmar and one other one that i can't remember at the moment. we are looking at used units because lets face it new ones are very expensive. how important do you guys feel having a washer/dryer are? do most of you use them or just find they fill your holding tanks faster then you would like? what are the most important things to look out for when shopping for a used RV? roof,delam,rust? how many hrs on a gen is alot? we are looking at RV's between 38 and 42 feet. also is there any advantage having an RV with tag axles other then more weight carrying capacity? our goal is to buy in the next couple years and use it for weekend trips and one major trip per year until we retire and then be snow birds or full time RV'ers. any advice you guys have is very welcome and appreciated. thanks guys

You have asked for opinions about several topics. Many of those topics are covered at length in older threads.Try seaching for Washer/Dryer, tag axle, or best motorhome and you will find hours of informative reading.Most of us are one or maybe two rig owners and probably very biased in our opinions when answering your questions.In addition, we all use our rig differently, from families, to full timers, to part timers, and occasional users. So our needs and experiences can vary a great deal.I will tackle one of your questions. 3,000 hours on a generator is a lot of hours, but it is likely the generator will still have many hours remaining to run well in its life. The key is maintenance done during its life. Some buyers may think 1,000 hours is a lot. We each have our own opinions of what we are willing to accept in purchase decision.Enjoy the search. It is almost as much fun as owning the rig.

Floor plan should stay in the list..

thanks Dean and Bob i'll start searching for those threads

Hope you don't mine, but I've taken the liberty to add punctuation, capitalization, and paragraph indentations to make it a little easier to read and answer your questions. No disrespect is intended. majortwo wrote:Hello, my wife and I are looking to buy a class A diesel. First of all, Jonny I read your article and thank you for taking the time to write it. My question is: what brands are the best as far as fewest problems, quality of materials used? All brands make different levels of coaches...from entry level gas rigs to almost million dollar DP coaches. Is one brand better than another? Probably not, but you can get different levels of quality in each.We like the floor plans on some of the Fleetwoods, but I have read a few negative things about them. The brands that seem to be best (from what I've read so far) are: Winneabago, Newmar and one other one that I can't remember at the moment.Tiffin?.... Country Coach?.... Monaco?.... Beaver?.... Holiday Rambler?.... Safari? We are looking at used units because let's face it, new ones are very expensive. How important do you guys feel having a washer/dryer are?Our previous coach had a "combo" w/d and we hardly ever used it. Our current coach has a "stacked" w/d and we use it a lot. Do most of you use them or just find they fill your holding tanks faster then you would like? Typically when using the w/d, you open the gray tank so that you don't fill the tank.What are the most important things to look out for when shopping for a used RV? Roof,delam,rust?Yes. In addition, a record of maintenance by the previous owner really, really helps out a lot in determining how well the coach was taken care of. No record? Try to find the name of the previous owner and contact him directly.How many hrs on a gen is a lot? Again, it depends on how well the unit was maintained. Good records showing regular maintenance...great. No records...who knows.We are looking at RV's between 38 and 42 feet. Also, is there any advantage having an RV with tag axles other then more weight carrying capacity?A tag will provide a much smoother and better ride with less wind deflection. Our goal is to buy in the next couple years and use it for weekend trips and one major trip per year until we retire and then be snow birds or full time RV'ers. Any advice you guys have is very welcome and appreciated. Thanks guys

The common brands like Winnebago, Newmar, Tiffin, Monaco Beaver, HR and others use a basic set of appliances like refrigerator, microwave, water heater, stove, oven & generator, so you are not going to find many options here or gain any advantage in these areas. The most common engines you will find in older DP's are Cummins & Cat. however Cat has stopped making engines for MH's, so newer DP's will have mostly Cummins. There are some other engine brands like Navistar but are limited to Late Model Monaco's. Your best bet is to settle on a model year range and start doing your research. Make a list of what is important to you and fill in the blanks. If you start a general search without some parameters you will get confused very quickly by all the differences. If you are not sure about something you can come here to get clarification and consensus. You have time to do your homework, so have fun.

looking for our first class a diesel | Good Sam Community

jauguston
Explorer
Mar 09, 2014
Your thoughts about Alfas are well placed!
majortwo
Explorer
Mar 09, 2014
nbargolf, i'm happy to hear from a fleetwood owner. we haven't ruled out any makes at this point. i should take that back, we aren't excited about alfa's
we do like 08 or newer fleetwoods floor plans.
nbargolf
Explorer
Mar 09, 2014
To each his own but don't rule out the Fleetwood we have a 2008 Providence absolutely no problems great on the road and real wood finish inside. The Providence the top model of that line but a great value for the dollar in slightly used units.
nbargolf
Explorer
Mar 09, 2014
"All the things you mention are good ideas, except the washer combo, takes forever to dry a pair of jeans, I will leave it with- we wanted the storage space plus most campgrounds have a laundromat.". To each his own we have a combo and love it who cares how long it takes to dry and we hate laundromat and if the small space it takes is a problem IMHO would look for a unit with more storage because the unit has too small of space to start with.
road_glide
Explorer
Mar 09, 2014
BobandShaz wrote:
Floor plan should stay in the list..

X2
BobandShaz
Explorer
Mar 09, 2014
Good info TNT thanks
conmoto
Explorer
Mar 09, 2014
Please do extensive research beyond forums. Respectively I disagree with almost all of Tntman`s points. This is such an subjective adventure that everyone will like something different and you will have to explore and walk through many floorplans to get what YOU are going to be happy with. Good Luck!
Tntman
Explorer
Mar 09, 2014
Understand that you are getting peoples opinions and judge accordingly
You asked for it, here is my 2 cents worth.
All the things you mention are good ideas, except the washer combo, takes forever to dry a pair of jeans, I will leave it with- we wanted the storage space plus most campgrounds have a laundromat.
ONE thing that should not be overlooked is the size of the holding tanks. Our Phaeton holds 100 gallons of fresh water, 50 black and 70 grey. This is important if you want to ever boondock or stay at a Wal-mart campground. We can go a week on the water before needing to dump.
A residential refrig means more 6 volt batteries, less time boondocking before needing to charge those batteries.
A straight axle front end will give you rocking motion that independent front suspension does not.
You need to make a list of the things you desire, including floor plan and STICK to it when you decide to buy.
Also consider length, it is a lot easier to drive a 40 foot coach as opposed to a short wheel base one. Plus you will have space to move around. NOT commenting on short coaches, just an observation.
Any coach you purchase should have a 3000 MH or larger transmission for when you are towing. Shorter coaches have smaller transmissions in them.
2003 brought the first EPA regulations requiring catalytic converters and EGR valves. 2006 brought in a "collector for the exhaust that is expensive to replace. 2010 brought us the urea system, personally I feel it also is expensive for the urea that is required to keep the coach running.
Hope this helps
majortwo
Explorer
Mar 08, 2014
Many thanks to all for the advice. i'm sure we will have many more questions along the way.
backhoemike
Explorer
Mar 08, 2014
1995 newmar London aire and love it. it has 223,550 miles on it just replaced air bags and just batteries and minor issues. Oh and roof leaks... but that is common on all of them and with the miles we cant complain. Newmar is class act , the man we bought it from called and wanted it back after a month with his new Winnebago