Motor coach with bunks recommendations for family

[jlrmfc21]

Hi all,

We are a family of 4, and my two girls are 12 &9. We had a 2018 jayco whitehawk 29BH for 2 years and sold it a year ago but now find ourselves living in Utah this year. Military move in April 2021. We are back in the market for a camper but we are leaning towards an affordable class A with bunks.

I know NOTHiNG about class As. Budget is under $90k which seems very doable for low mileage used ones.

Been doing a lot of research and there seem to be floor plans with a queen or king bedroom in the back and also have bunks too. Mainly been looking at the Thor ACE 30.2. Any others you recommend?

Any tips from anyone I should think about?

I know my whitehawk was in 5 or 6 times for warranty work so I want to be as selective as possible in now ensuring that I get one that has a good reputation for quality..

Is the 6.8 v10 a good engine?

[Mike_W]

jlrmfc21 wrote:
I think we are going to put an offer in. 🙂

and based on the market's very hot asking prices, i'd love to know what you end up paying...yeah, i feel weird asking. But I'm close to retirement as well and they market is still very high. trying to get a feel to see it it is softening a bit.

[dodge_guy]

jlrmfc21 wrote:
I think we are going to put an offer in. 🙂

Sounds good. Please Post some pics when all is final!

[jlrmfc21]

I think we are going to put an offer in. 🙂

[AllegroD]

dodge guy wrote:
As long as it is used the way you state there is no issue with buying a DP. The problems come from when it sits unused for months on end. I’m not talking storage, but just unused which is when the problems creep up.

^^^ What dodge guy said. You are only 4 years out from retirement. On top of that, buy what you want for retirement.

[dodge_guy]

As long as it is used the way you state there is no issue with buying a DP. The problems come from when it sits unused for months on end. I’m not talking storage, but just unused which is when the problems creep up.

[jlrmfc21]

Taking the family to look at the allegro RED 38QBA tomorrow. It has 54k miles, two owners, and they are asking $125k.

I looked at it a week ago and seems like a nice coach.

We aren’t in the position to full time yet as I’m a couple years, 4, out from retirement abs my two girls are 12 and 9. We love the floor plan and think this would be a great coach.

Would it make sense to buy a diesel pusher like this when we will only be using it for long weekends and maybe a week or two a year? I’m more concerned about it sitting a lot not being used and the maintenenace? When I retire in 4 years, we plan on doing 2-3 month roads trips with our girls so I’m weighing if it makes sense to go ahead and buy a nice coach or by a smaller decent class C now and then trade up in 4 years.?.?.?.?

Any other input is greatly appreciated!

[AllegroD]

willald wrote:
I won't argue that the diesel definitely has its advantages, not the least of which is how quiet it is being in the back. However, things changed a bit when Ford came out with the new F53 chassis and 7.3L big block V8 a year or so ago.

Before plunking down the $100k or more extra it costs for a diesel pusher.....One really owes it to themselves to test drive a gasser motorhome built on the newer F53 chassis with the 7.3 gas big block V8 and improved suspension setup.

It is a significant improvement over the old V10 chassis, and definitely closed the gap some with the diesel pushers. Engine is quieter, and body roll is noticeably less.

Having owned, driven a Georgetown built on a 2012 F53 V10 chassis for 9 years, and now own a 2021 Newmar built on the new F53 chassis....I'm here to tell you there is a huge difference, and Ford has come a long way.

Exactly why I said that it depends on their type of travel. I agree that the newer Tiffins are better built, well insulated and the chassis rides nice. Worth the consideration. What I did not talk about is floorplan. That is one of the first things we looked at when deciding on any coach, as well as how well it was organized and made.

[willald]

AllegroD wrote:
Let me first state that we have owned a 2013 Open Road 36LA and now a 2019 RED 37BA. Both have their advantages and IMO which is best is up to how you use it. The Open Road, with the V10 is a beast and gets 7 mpg. Great for the lower cost. The RED is a 360 so it gets up the mountain but some down to 50mph. It gets about 9 mpg. We went to the RED, as it is our retirement rig. We believe we should have gone to it earlier. Reason is, we will be traveling more and wanted the quieter front end. It is a much smoother ride and handles curves and corners better. It has air ride....

I won't argue that the diesel definitely has its advantages, not the least of which is how quiet it is being in the back. However, things changed a bit when Ford came out with the new F53 chassis and 7.3L big block V8 a year or so ago.

Before plunking down the $100k or more extra it costs for a diesel pusher.....One really owes it to themselves to test drive a gasser motorhome built on the newer F53 chassis with the 7.3 gas big block V8 and improved suspension setup.

It is a significant improvement over the old V10 chassis, and definitely closed the gap some with the diesel pushers. Engine is quieter, and body roll is noticeably less.

Having owned, driven a Georgetown built on a 2012 F53 V10 chassis for 9 years, and now own a 2021 Newmar built on the new F53 chassis....I'm here to tell you there is a huge difference, and Ford has come a long way.

[AllegroD]

jlrmfc21 wrote:

AllegroD wrote:
Tiffin Allegro Open Road 35QBA & 36UA.

Yes we have been looking at those too.

Is it worth it to buy the 38qba with the diesel if I can get a used one for almost the same price???

Let me first state that we have owned a 2013 Open Road 36LA and now a 2019 RED 37BA. Both have their advantages and IMO which is best is up to how you use it. The Open Road, with the V10 is a beast and gets 7 mpg. Great for the lower cost. The RED is a 360 so it gets up the mountain but some down to 50mph. It gets about 9 mpg. We went to the RED, as it is our retirement rig. We believe we should have gone to it earlier. Reason is, we will be traveling more and wanted the quieter front end. It is a much smoother ride and handles curves and corners better. It has air ride. The exhaust break and 6 speed Allison is great in the mountains. One of the problems of the RED is that it has 2 15kw AC with heat pump and 1 13.5kw AC. While this sounds good, this almost mandates a 50amp shore power connection, as 30 amp will not run 2 of the AC. We have an 8kw gennie and that will run 2 AC.

I can not say that diesel is better, without the details of year and packages. If things were equal, I would lean to the diesel.

Good luck in your research.

[jlrmfc21]

AllegroD wrote:
Tiffin Allegro Open Road 35QBA & 36UA.

Yes we have been looking at those too.

Is it worth it to buy the 38qba with the diesel if I can get a used one for almost the same price???

[AllegroD]

Tiffin Allegro Open Road 35QBA & 36UA.

[jlrmfc21]

So after more and more research, we are still torn.

Are the Winnebago class C Minnie winnies decent quality?

We are looking at the 31K. Seems to be a nice setup.

[dodge_guy]

I also have a Georgetown, a2012 350TS. Has 3 slides with bunks. The build quality is great. Georgetown is a mid level MH. Definitely stay away from the entry level class A’s…..imagine driving an entry level TT down the road!

I agree, Winnebago, Tiffin, Georgetown, and even the Bounder are good choices.

[jlrmfc21]

We are really looking at the tiffin allegro red open road 38 qbh. Has bunks. We are looking at years 2011-2016 and they are very nice and seem very well built.

May be making an offer on a 2011 allegro red 38qbh that I went and looked it.
They are asking $125k. Has 54k miles.