Miramar vs Hurricane vs Newmar

[MetalGator]

The wife and I went to the Tampa RV Supershow this past weekend. I think this is our 6th or 7th show now. We purchased a TT back in July of 2011 and we have been researching Class A motorhomes the last few years. The last two shows, we had pretty much made up our minds that we wanted a Newmar 3401. We really like the floorplan and the quality.

Fast forward to Saturday. I had seen as add for a Hurricane 35M in the recent motorhome magazine. I knew the quality wouldn't be the same but the "bang for the buck" price was really intriguing. We looked at this model and the wife fell in love with the floorplan. We also looked at the same floorplan Windsport but we liked the colors and floor options better in the Hurricane. The fit an finish was OK. Nothing great but it didn't feel cheap or anything.

Then I made the mistake of going back to the show Sunday. Right across from the Hurricanes were the Miramars. The Miramar 35.3 is exactly the same floorplan as the Hurricane and Windsport 35M. The Miramar had the full body paint, had 22.5 inch wheels vs 19.5 on the Hurricane. The taller tires gave quite a bit more storage space underneath. Inside, the cabinets and hinges were much better quality as was the furniture. Of course, this model was $20K more. I found the quality of the Miramar similar to the Newmar models we looked at. I see all the postings about "don't buy Thor" but I read the same thing about Forest River when we purchased our current Surveyor TT. So, does anyone of the forum have a Miramar RV and if so what are your opinions? The sales person mentioned that the Miramar had the More Ride (called something like that) suspension with Blistein shocks and front and rear anti-sway bars that the Hurricane didn't have. I looked at the brochure when I got home and couldn't find any info on the suspension. The wife originally said we could buy the Hurricane and then get the Motorhome we want in 7-8 years but I would rather get what we want now and then keep it a long time. I hate the depreciation on new RVs but I figure if I get the model I want, I can keep it a long time and won't have any reason to upgrade later. It's just to two of us and our dogs.

Burch

[billyboy]

MetalGator wrote:

Effy wrote:
I think at that level the Hurricane and Bay Star quality is the same.

That's interesting. When I looked at the Hurricanes, they had wrapped cabinets with particle board wood. Also, the cabinet hinges were very basic/cheap. The Baystar had real wood cabinets and heavy duty hinges on the cabinets. The furniture was also a little better quality. Not a huge difference but the Baystar definitely had better quality cabinets. The overall fit and finish just seemed a little better. That being said, I'm not sure the quality was worth $20-25K more!

I think your wrong about the cabinets being all wood. They are wrapped also

[Micbob4]

Hi Metalgator,

Trying to decide on Newmar 3414 and Miramar. How do you like the new Miramar? Thanks! Bob

[MetalGator]

stvdman wrote:

MetalGator wrote:
It looks like I will be a new motorhome owner soon. We ordered a 2018 Miramar 35.3 this weekend! Now the long wait. They said it would probably take 12-15 weeks as they have just started taking orders for 2018s.

Congrats!

How hard/easy was it to work a deal on an ordered unit vice one on the lot? (if they had one even)

stvdman wrote:

MetalGator wrote:
It looks like I will be a new motorhome owner soon. We ordered a 2018 Miramar 35.3 this weekend! Now the long wait. They said it would probably take 12-15 weeks as they have just started taking orders for 2018s.

Congrats!

How hard/easy was it to work a deal on an ordered unit vice one on the lot? (if they had one even)

I could have gotten the 2017 they had on the lot a little cheaper, but I was still able to get close to 31% off of the 2018 order.

[stvdman]

MetalGator wrote:
I have been checking out the Miramar 35.2. The wife is really liking the theater seating and the openness of this model. The only thing I don't like is if siting on the couch, the TV is behind you. You would have to sit in the theater seating to be able to see the TV. On the Miramar website, the floorplan shows a second TV on the side of the bathroom that could be seen while sitting on the couch. On several of the 35.2 models I see for sale online, they don't have that TV installed. Was the additional TV an option?

Burch

I Went to an RV show two weekends ago in MD and the 35.2 DID have that TV on the wall of the bathroom...salesman stated it was "standard"...was not listed as an option on the sticker either. Must just be something that may or may not be there depending on....well I have no idea why!

[stvdman]

MetalGator wrote:
It looks like I will be a new motorhome owner soon. We ordered a 2018 Miramar 35.3 this weekend! Now the long wait. They said it would probably take 12-15 weeks as they have just started taking orders for 2018s.

Congrats!

How hard/easy was it to work a deal on an ordered unit vice one on the lot? (if they had one even)

[MetalGator]

It looks like I will be a new motorhome owner soon. We ordered a 2018 Miramar 35.3 this weekend! Now the long wait. They said it would probably take 12-15 weeks as they have just started taking orders for 2018s.

[Georgia_Popcorn]

I am sure glad to read these last few post...One of my post got messed up a week or so ago...

[MetalGator]

We went to the dealer on Saturday to look at one of the left over Miramars from the show. After playing the money game, they came back with almost 32% of MSRP. They are currently searching for one in the colors we want (we didn't like the dark cabinets on the one at the lot). If they can't locate one, they said we could order but it would cost 3K more. I guess we will hear something today or tomorrow.

[tropical36]

Seems that I was able to fix it manually and should have tried doing so before posting again.
Whatever might be wrong, a moderator should probably have a looksee.

[MetalGator]

tropical36 wrote:
Something not working like it should here, with properly trying to quote a post.

I noticed this too. Everyone's comments running together even know the quote option was selected. Weird.

[tropical36]

Something not working like it should here, with properly trying to quote a post.

[tropical36]

MetalGator wrote:

golfknut wrote:

"Although it does have workable countertop space over the stove. It has a solid countertop that sits on top of the stove and also the sink".

That is the answer many salespeople give us when we point out the lack of counterspace in many motorhome floorplans. It won't do you much good while you're cooking though (because you'll be needing the sink and stove).....and that's when you need it the most.

My wife and I have come to the conclusion that many people who buy motorhomes must eat out most of the time and not do much cooking.

We do 90% of our cooking outside. I have a couple of different grills that I bring along. I rarely use the microwave but we do use the oven a lot. That's another thing I see missing from a lot of Motorhomes is the lack of an oven. In the almost 6 years of RVing I think we have eaten dinner out 1 time. We do tend to eat lunch away from the RV a lot if we are out exploring the area.

My wife tends to prepare the food before we are ready to cook so having the counter top space on top of the stove isn't really an issue for us. Plus, I would only need on side of the sink (double sink) so that gives us a little more room. Plus, it's just the two of us so we don't prepare a ton of food like a family full of kids would. There seems to always be a trade off when we are looking at RVs (counter top space, floor plan, storage, etc). The other gripe I have when it comes to RVs is the lack of full length closets. My wife only wears long dresses and she currently has to hang her dresses in our shower since we only have small shirt closets on our current TT.

Your wife would have loved the 36ft 98 gas Tropical we sold recently, with it's full length mirrored door closet across the rear in the BR.
Really hard to beat, which includes what we have now, in some respects. Also wide corian tops on each end of the bed, with drawers underneath. Now, how many large DP's have you ever seen this in? Even had a corner cosmetic center and all this without a BR slideout.
Naturally there was a lot to be desired by comparison with what we have now and in so many respects. Just goes to show, that there's always going to be give and take with them all.

[MetalGator]

golfknut wrote:

"Although it does have workable countertop space over the stove. It has a solid countertop that sits on top of the stove and also the sink".

That is the answer many salespeople give us when we point out the lack of counterspace in many motorhome floorplans. It won't do you much good while you're cooking though (because you'll be needing the sink and stove).....and that's when you need it the most.

My wife and I have come to the conclusion that many people who buy motorhomes must eat out most of the time and not do much cooking. 😉

We do 90% of our cooking outside. I have a couple of different grills that I bring along. I rarely use the microwave but we do use the oven a lot. That's another thing I see missing from a lot of Motorhomes is the lack of an oven. In the almost 6 years of RVing I think we have eaten dinner out 1 time. We do tend to eat lunch away from the RV a lot if we are out exploring the area.

My wife tends to prepare the food before we are ready to cook so having the counter top space on top of the stove isn't really an issue for us. Plus, I would only need on side of the sink (double sink) so that gives us a little more room. Plus, it's just the two of us so we don't prepare a ton of food like a family full of kids would. There seems to always be a trade off when we are looking at RVs (counter top space, floor plan, storage, etc). The other gripe I have when it comes to RVs is the lack of full length closets. My wife only wears long dresses and she currently has to hang her dresses in our shower since we only have small shirt closets on our current TT.

[DocP]

golfknut wrote:

"Although it does have workable countertop space over the stove. It has a solid countertop that sits on top of the stove and also the sink" That is the answer many salespeople give us when we point out the lack of counterspace in many motorhome floorplans. It won't do you much good while you're cooking though (because you'll be needing the sink and stove).....and that's when you need it the most.

My wife and I have come to the conclusion that many people who buy motorhomes must eat out most of the time and not do much cooking..

😉

It may be true that many eat a lot of meals out. I personally don't, but chose my motorhome based on the living space and not the counter space. We tend to use the microwave a lot and the outside grill. We also bought a collapsing rolling cart for items like the coffee pot, toaster, and stuff that would normally go on a countertop. We rarely use the gas stove or oven. If we need to cook inside we use a portable induction burner. I guess it's all in individual preferences. I've seen many motorhomes with much more countertop space, but then didn't like the rest of the layout.