Hi everyone. New member here, wanted to introduce myself. My wife and I live in Seattle with two grade-school kids. We are researching the purchase of an rv for family vacations and such. This forum has been a tremendously valuable asset for that research, so thank you all for sharing your insight.
Our rental of choice this far has been a 31foot Coachmen Freelander 28QB. Props to the folks at Brumbacks RV Rental in Spokane for running a first-class operation. The floor plan works well for us, with plenty seating options, and a split bath. The latter is critical for us, which eliminates many otherwise fine choices from our search. The length is right at the max of what's easily maneuvered in the towns and parks we visit.
Why not just buy one of these? A few reasons. The construction doesn't feel very solidly built, for one. For another, the interior designers of the unit seem to really love the color brown. That's not our cup of tea, in fact we'd love something with zero brown anywhere. Plus we would want a bunch of upgrades... Fans, jacks, solar, convection oven, the list goes on. Could go do all that stuff, or could just buy something with it already done.
The other thing I'll say about this coach is...The most scared I've ever been in a motor vehicle has been driving this guy. On the road from Butte to West Yellowstone, it's raining, narrow, rock wall on one side, drop off to Earthquake Lake on the other, and every time a big rig comes flying by the other way at high speeds, our entire coach feels like it's jumping all over the road. White knuckles every time. I pulled off at the visitor center to calm my nerves, but still we had places to go and a schedule to keep, so we needed to get there. For that reason alone I've been thinking 20k gvwr, just to have something that might be a bit more stable. I've driven a loaded Durastar box truck and those things aren't going anywhere
๐We will all be flying to Elkhart for a visit to NeXus RV in the near future to look at their Super C lineup. The customization options available at the factory are a big draw, as is a 20k gvwr vehicle that is shorter and less costly than a 39-foot Jayco Seneca.
That's it for me, and thanks again for such an informative forum.
JC
