Newbe to the RV world

[exacto]

Greetings, I am new to the forum looking to gain some knowledge from the experienced. I am in the market for a class A motor home for full time living. I could use some information about brands and models, which to avoid, which are considered to be of good quality etc. My budget dictates that I purchase a previously owned unit. Any help would be appreciated.

[smlranger]

Slides can be problematic but choosing a coach that is well built using a tried and true slide mechanism is important. HWH is a company that makes hydraulic slide mechanisms and they seem to be pretty reliable. I'm on our second coach with the HWH systems, and problems were few. My current rig has 3 HWH slides and one made by Power Gear and they all work fine. Keeping the rubber slide seals clean and coated with talcum powder or maybe dry silicone is about all the routine maintenance they need. IMO, I would avoid a coach with what is called 'full wall slide/s'. They are large and heavy.

[exacto]

Monaco Montclair wrote:
Now not to for get, the larger the size, not as easy to get in some places. So I have been told,so far I have not had any yet.but ours is a29ft, by Monaco . Three slides, two queen beds, full body paint, drives like a dream for us. Lots of head room, I m 6ft tall.a really nice unit. And now it's all happy-camping

I like the idea of shorter with more slides, the two queens sounds good. How much of a maintenance problem are the slides, are they prone to leaking.

[Daveinet]

There is another question you need to ask and that is if you require new or not. Most folk think that want new, but don't realize how little there is to gain by purchasing new. Assuming a price of 130,000 give or take 20, try comparing a brand new gas Fleetwood product with a early 2000s Foretravel. Both would be similar priced, but the FT will have it all over the new Fleetwood. Lower quality is with you forever. You also can factor in, that a high end coach has probably been fairly well cared for.

As far as brand quality, your Chevys and Fords of the industry are Newmar, Allegro, Holiday Rambler, and basically in that order, all though the differences between the quality of each runs more with the line within the brand, rather than the brand its self. Below that, you are talking about Fleetwood and Thor products. Within those brands there is overlap in quality depending on the individual product line.

[Monaco_Montclai]

Now not to for get, the larger the size, not as easy to get in some places. So I have been told,so far I have not had any yet.but ours is a29ft, by Monaco . Three slides, two queen beds, full body paint, drives like a dream for us. Lots of head room, I m 6ft tall.a really nice unit. And now it's all happy-camping

[oldmattb]

We learned tons by going to the RV shows and a consignment lot (PPL in Texas). It was an eye opener to see new motorhomes at the shows with doors off the runners, showers a 6-foot person could not stan up in, and little piles of sawdust under the cabinets where they had been rubbing together.

If an RV can't last 2000 miles to go to a few shows, it will be a wreck in 30K miles.

At the consignment lot we saw what brands looked nearly new after 10 years (in our observation, the Foretravels and Bluebirds and the like), and which had body delamination, cabinets falling of the walls, electrical patches, etc. Appliances are pretty much the same in a price range, most chassis are pretty consistent. It is the body build that is so variable.

I have never been afraid of a bad appliance if the overall care of the coach looks good. You account for the defect in the purchase price and go get a new one.

Matt B

[Ivylog]

Click on "Class A Motorhomes" above on the left. Read the info/stickies by Johnny T. For full time (FT) Buy more MH than you think you need... one time.

[Mr_Mark1]

exacto wrote:

PapPappy wrote:
I think the best advice you could get would be to rent a unit for a trip.
It is a very large investment, even for a used unit, if you have no previous experience with an RV.....especially to consider going Full-Time in it.

There are also lots of questions about your own particular lifestyle and desires that will help you with your search.
First of course, is probably the amount of money that you will have to invest in the unit....as this will narrow down the playing field considerably, depending on the number.

Where do you want to travel, and where do you plan to stay? If you want to go to places that may not handle a large "A", you may want to look for a smaller unit, or even a "C" to allow you to stay some of the places that an "A" may be to large for. On the same note, if you plan to stay in some of the nicer (and more expensive) RV resorts, an older RV may not be allowed.

How many are there going to be using the RV? If it's just you and a spouse, that should be no problem, but if you have a bunch of kids, the sleeping arrangements may become an issue with the "A"

Diesel or gasser? Not really an issue, but it will be something that you may want to consider. The diesel will give you more power if you are climbing the mountains out west.....but you will pay more for a diesel than a gasser, both initially and at the pump. Yes, the diesel will typically get better mileage, but when fuel is $0.50 more than gas, I don't know if the savings is actually there?

Have you ever driven a large RV or truck? It isn't hard, and practice makes perfect, but if you just spent thousands, and then you find that you are afraid to drive it, you wasted a bunch of money......another reason to rent one first.:)

I'm sure others will chime in with other suggestions. I am not trying to turn you away from a wonderful experience, but you do need to understand as much as you can. There is lots to learn on this site, as well as on-line or in magazines. Learn as much as you can, and learn which questions to ask.

Good luck, and welcome to the Forum:)

We are retirement age, no children at home. We have some experience with full timing in an airstream in the Blue Ridge for a couple of years on some property we bought on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Roanoke. We now live in the home built on that property, have been here since 1993. We love it here but we are anxious to get on the road to see some new ground before we can't. I have experience driving a large truck, but never a motorhome. We will sell the property to purchase the motorhome, or trade the equity in the property for a unit of equal value, I don't know if the latter is feasible or not, but worth a try. Thanks for the info.

Exacto, now we know a little more to your story and what you are trying to do.

I see that you want to buy used. If your budget is $100,000-$200,000 (you said equity so I'm assuming that you will have a mortgage to pay off), buy a top of the line older unit, the newest that you can buy with your budget.

If you are wanting a class A which would be a good choice for full timing because of the extra room (mostly likely at least two slides), I would go with the a higher end diesel of the year that you can most afford.

What has me worried a little is that you are selling your home to buy an extremely depreciating asset that will need maintenance and repairs pretty much all the time. If it's not tires, batteries, oil changes, etc., it's other things that break from normal use.

Do you have an exit plan once you are too 'mature' to travel by RV?

Good luck,
MM.

[cbr46]

I noticed the Fleetwood website has their full product line with (new) MSRPs listed. That will give you an indicator of where individual models stack up within the company lineup. Other manufacturers might do the same. And only a reference for feature set, not build quality.

Good luck with your hunt.

Best,
- bob

[exacto]

smlranger wrote:
As noted, the advice given to your question can get overwhelming. I certainly agree with the suggestion to rent an RV to get an idea of what might best serve your needs.

I also agree that carefully shopping for a well cared for used coach is a great ideal. The three class A's we've bought were used and have served us well. With any of these things, it pays to be handy with tools and be able and willing to do at least minor repairs.... just like with a stick house.

Where in VA are you? We are in Bedford County on Smith Mountain Lake. If we were possibly close, I would be happy to meet you and give you some tips, hints, or otherwise share the mistakes I've made lessons learned.

We are twenty minutes from Roanoke on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We spent about two years in an airstream when we came here in 1993. We built two houses on this property and we love it here, but we now want to move on with the ability to select the kind of weather and environment we want to stay in. I would either have to sell the home, or trade the equity for a motorhome of equal value, and either might take a while. In the mean time, I know there is much to learn about full timing and I thought the forum would be a good place to start. Thanks.

[exacto]

PapPappy wrote:
I think the best advice you could get would be to rent a unit for a trip.
It is a very large investment, even for a used unit, if you have no previous experience with an RV.....especially to consider going Full-Time in it.

There are also lots of questions about your own particular lifestyle and desires that will help you with your search.
First of course, is probably the amount of money that you will have to invest in the unit....as this will narrow down the playing field considerably, depending on the number.

Where do you want to travel, and where do you plan to stay? If you want to go to places that may not handle a large "A", you may want to look for a smaller unit, or even a "C" to allow you to stay some of the places that an "A" may be to large for. On the same note, if you plan to stay in some of the nicer (and more expensive) RV resorts, an older RV may not be allowed.

How many are there going to be using the RV? If it's just you and a spouse, that should be no problem, but if you have a bunch of kids, the sleeping arrangements may become an issue with the "A"

Diesel or gasser? Not really an issue, but it will be something that you may want to consider. The diesel will give you more power if you are climbing the mountains out west.....but you will pay more for a diesel than a gasser, both initially and at the pump. Yes, the diesel will typically get better mileage, but when fuel is $0.50 more than gas, I don't know if the savings is actually there?

Have you ever driven a large RV or truck? It isn't hard, and practice makes perfect, but if you just spent thousands, and then you find that you are afraid to drive it, you wasted a bunch of money......another reason to rent one first.:)

I'm sure others will chime in with other suggestions. I am not trying to turn you away from a wonderful experience, but you do need to understand as much as you can. There is lots to learn on this site, as well as on-line or in magazines. Learn as much as you can, and learn which questions to ask.

Good luck, and welcome to the Forum:)

We are retirement age, no children at home. We have some experience with full timing in an airstream in the Blue Ridge for a couple of years on some property we bought on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Roanoke. We now live in the home built on that property, have been here since 1993. We love it here but we are anxious to get on the road to see some new ground before we can't. I have experience driving a large truck, but never a motorhome. We will sell the property to purchase the motorhome, or trade the equity in the property for a unit of equal value, I don't know if the latter is feasible or not, but worth a try. Thanks for the info.

[smlranger]

As noted, the advice given to your question can get overwhelming. I certainly agree with the suggestion to rent an RV to get an idea of what might best serve your needs.

I also agree that carefully shopping for a well cared for used coach is a great ideal. The three class A's we've bought were used and have served us well. With any of these things, it pays to be handy with tools and be able and willing to do at least minor repairs.... just like with a stick house.

Where in VA are you? We are in Bedford County on Smith Mountain Lake. If we were possibly close, I would be happy to meet you and give you some tips, hints, or otherwise share the mistakes I've made lessons learned.

[mike_brez]

Newell,Foretravel,Country Coach,Fleetwood American line.

[PapPappy]

I think the best advice you could get would be to rent a unit for a trip.
It is a very large investment, even for a used unit, if you have no previous experience with an RV.....especially to consider going Full-Time in it.

There are also lots of questions about your own particular lifestyle and desires that will help you with your search.
First of course, is probably the amount of money that you will have to invest in the unit....as this will narrow down the playing field considerably, depending on the number.

Where do you want to travel, and where do you plan to stay? If you want to go to places that may not handle a large "A", you may want to look for a smaller unit, or even a "C" to allow you to stay some of the places that an "A" may be to large for. On the same note, if you plan to stay in some of the nicer (and more expensive) RV resorts, an older RV may not be allowed.

How many are there going to be using the RV? If it's just you and a spouse, that should be no problem, but if you have a bunch of kids, the sleeping arrangements may become an issue with the "A"

Diesel or gasser? Not really an issue, but it will be something that you may want to consider. The diesel will give you more power if you are climbing the mountains out west.....but you will pay more for a diesel than a gasser, both initially and at the pump. Yes, the diesel will typically get better mileage, but when fuel is $0.50 more than gas, I don't know if the savings is actually there?

Have you ever driven a large RV or truck? It isn't hard, and practice makes perfect, but if you just spent thousands, and then you find that you are afraid to drive it, you wasted a bunch of money......another reason to rent one first.:)

I'm sure others will chime in with other suggestions. I am not trying to turn you away from a wonderful experience, but you do need to understand as much as you can. There is lots to learn on this site, as well as on-line or in magazines. Learn as much as you can, and learn which questions to ask.

Good luck, and welcome to the Forum:)

[WoodGlue]

I'd start with a list of Class A's and then start watching videos at YouTube. You can learn quite a bit by reading between the salesmen s lines on their sales videos. Watch videos for new as well as used units.

WoodGlue