Newmar/Tiffin vs. Coachmen Miranda Select/Fleetwood Bounder

[Andy_F]

We are looking at higher end gassers and we are impressed with the both the Coachmen Miranda Select and Fleetwood Bounder floorplans, amenities, and resulting value. The Coachmen has a fiberglass roof. The Bounder has an upgraded awning among other nice upgrades. It's seems ridiculous to me that neither Newmar nor Tiffin have upgraded their awnings to the "horizontal" out-of-way support arms, such an easy upgrade for them to do if they claim to be worth their much higher prices. Instead, they both have their front vertical awning support arms right over the side passenger window. What in the world is that about???

Are these new type of awnings not the nice upgrade they would appear to be? They sure look like nice on the new Bounders.

It seems to me that the mega-size owners of Fleetwood and Coachmen are seriously threatening the higher end gassers market with impressive upgrades at a much lower price when compared to Newmar and Tiffin who seem to think they can garner a much higher price. Especially in the case of the Bounder which really only lacks a higher gross weight chassis, stack able w/d, and a fiberglass roof.

Thoughts or insights? We are probably 4-5 years away from upgrading up from our TT and 8 years away from a much yearned for law enforcement retirement. I think I am set on this higher end gassers market. Looking forward to 3/4 time RV'ing

[AllegroD]

We have a 2013 Allegro 36LA. The awning arm is over the passenger window. It is over the middle section of the window, where the frame of the window is. We have no problem with it. Vision is full and clear. As to why, I believe it is so that the very large awning covers the entry door. We are happy with this set up.

[Andy_F]

Update from me after looking at our local dealer's Coachmen Mirada Select model. Not impressed with the quality of the build of this motorhome at all. I saw a trim piece coming loose above the couch on the slide along with many other signs of lower quality like loose pieces of tile backsplash. It also didn't help that the dealer had allowed the coach's batteries to go dead so the salesperson was supposedly unable to provide any power during my walk thru and close inspection. In fact, the unique salon bunk bed that the Coachmen Mirada Select has was stuck in the halfway up/down position which made it hard to get a feel for head room while sitting in the dinette or couch. And the freezer door was missing off the refrigerator. Who would try and show a $100,000+ motorhome in that type of condition? The dealer did such a poor job of presenting the motorhome that they are eliminated from any future consideration of any purchase.

Our process of elimination and research continues. I think after our very recent experience dealing with Thor/Keystone for a defective decal issue on our travel trailer, we will stay away from the big 2 manufacturers Thor and Forest River anyhow. I have not been impressed at times with their quality of build and with their customer care in the long term although Forest River/Rockwood handled our previous travel trailer's manufacturing defect post-warranty much better than Thor/Keystone has so far with this faded cracked decal issue.

[Shot-N-Az]

Andy F wrote:
Our nearby Newmar dealer has a number of nice used Kountry Coaches in stock. May try to get up there to take a closer look. Starting to think used DP's now more seriously. Pretty nice looking 2007 in stock for $95k with 60k miles.

Andy, I assume you meant Kountry Star vice Coach. That 2007 can be had for less than 95K.

I bought a 6 yr old 40 ft Kountry Star DP a few years ago for significantly less than that from a private party. The deals are out there if you have patience and find the right seller.

[Bruce_Brown]

Andy F wrote:

xctraveler wrote:
Careful Andy F once you start looking at diesels it may be hard to go back to gassers 🙂 We found that interiors in diesels are generally much more substantial than in Gassers, more weight carrying ability to work with. Even within the Tiffin line the interior finishes are lighter in the gas units - no tile floors etc. I won't even go into ride and handling since we spend much more time living than driving.

The whole DP idea is coming on stronger and stronger. I drove school bus through college and had the opportunity to do some cross country trips to deliver buses from MN to Seattle. Those were front engine diesel conventional buses with spring suspension. Then I got the unique opportunity to fly down to LA and drive a rear engine Gillig transit-style school bus back to MN. The air suspension ride and the rear engine was quite a more comfortable experience. Then I drove transit bus for a while in college while waiting for my full time law enforcement opportunity. Those transit Gillig buses were a very sweet ride. I guess I hadn't seriously considered a DP. But buying one used brings the price down into our price range and I always buy my cars used anyhow.

Years ago we were debating buying a DP. Friends of ours own already owned one said, very seriously, do not drive a DP until you are ready to sign the papers.

They were right. :B

[Andy_F]

mc.cc wrote:

Andy F wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
I am not impressed with that type of awning and would not let it "kill" a deal for something else. do any of the others besides coachmen have a fiberglass roof? if not that would be my choice among these.
bumpy

Why are you not impressed with that type of awning? Seems higher-end to me but I am wondering how it handles the light winds and any rain? Can you lower one corner for draining rain?

Just bought a new Bounder last week. I am not impressed with the newer awning. A very light wind will cause it to retract automatically. I thought that wind was going to yank it completely from my coach before it started to retract. They are not suited for rain, as it cannot be adjusted on one side to let the water drain. The awning is very flimsy. I am now wishing I had one with arms for better support. Other than a sun shade for a day with no wind, the awning is useless.

Sorry to hear that about the awning but I appreciate you sharing it with us. Congratulations on that new Bounder regardless of any awning. Beautiful motorhome.

[mc_cc]

Andy F wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
I am not impressed with that type of awning and would not let it "kill" a deal for something else. do any of the others besides coachmen have a fiberglass roof? if not that would be my choice among these.
bumpy

Why are you not impressed with that type of awning? Seems higher-end to me but I am wondering how it handles the light winds and any rain? Can you lower one corner for draining rain?

Just bought a new Bounder last week. I am not impressed with the newer awning. A very light wind will cause it to retract automatically. I thought that wind was going to yank it completely from my coach before it started to retract. They are not suited for rain, as it cannot be adjusted on one side to let the water drain. The awning is very flimsy. I am now wishing I had one with arms for better support. Other than a sun shade for a day with no wind, the awning is useless.

[xctraveler]

Andy F wrote:

xctraveler wrote:
Careful Andy F once you start looking at diesels it may be hard to go back to gassers 🙂 We found that interiors in diesels are generally much more substantial than in Gassers, more weight carrying ability to work with. Even within the Tiffin line the interior finishes are lighter in the gas units - no tile floors etc. I won't even go into ride and handling since we spend much more time living than driving.

The whole DP idea is coming on stronger and stronger. I drove school bus through college and had the opportunity to do some cross country trips to deliver buses from MN to Seattle. Those were front engine diesel conventional buses with spring suspension. Then I got the unique opportunity to fly down to LA and drive a rear engine Gillig transit-style school bus back to MN. The air suspension ride and the rear engine was quite a more comfortable experience. Then I drove transit bus for a while in college while waiting for my full time law enforcement opportunity. Those transit Gillig buses were a very sweet ride. I guess I hadn't seriously considered a DP. But buying one used brings the price down into our price range and I always buy my cars used anyhow.

As I said 🙂 dangerous path to tread. Given your experience you might even look around and see if there are any Gillig conversions on the market. I have heard of people making them over into motorhomes.

[Andy_F]

xctraveler wrote:
Careful Andy F once you start looking at diesels it may be hard to go back to gassers 🙂 We found that interiors in diesels are generally much more substantial than in Gassers, more weight carrying ability to work with. Even within the Tiffin line the interior finishes are lighter in the gas units - no tile floors etc. I won't even go into ride and handling since we spend much more time living than driving.

The whole DP idea is coming on stronger and stronger. I drove school bus through college and had the opportunity to do some cross country trips to deliver buses from MN to Seattle. Those were front engine diesel conventional buses with spring suspension. Then I got the unique opportunity to fly down to LA and drive a rear engine Gillig transit-style school bus back to MN. The air suspension ride and the rear engine was quite a more comfortable experience. Then I drove transit bus for a while in college while waiting for my full time law enforcement opportunity. Those transit Gillig buses were a very sweet ride. I guess I hadn't seriously considered a DP. But buying one used brings the price down into our price range and I always buy my cars used anyhow.

[xctraveler]

Tiffin, Love 'em or hate 'em.

We have had several of the well known "issues" with our 2012. Tiffin took care of them without our even asking. They have had the parts I needed when stuff wore out and people to talk me through how to repair/modify stuff to my needs. The worst stuff has been self inflicted except the DS LR slideout floor and the roof rails. So we LOVE ours and would certainly own another should we manage to outlive our perceived usefulness of this one.

[Bruce_Brown]

Andy F wrote:

Shot-N-Az wrote:
Andy, I strongly suggest going to the factories of the brands you are considering and observing how they are constructed. The differences between them will become obvious.

We may just do that. We are planning a trip to Door County and Chicago next summer. It would be fun to get over to Indiana also for some factory tours. Tiffin would have to wait until our next Florida trip to St. Joe.

Having spent countless hours working on my parents Tiffin when they owned it, I would offer a Tiffin tour is something I could easily avoid. I have seen more then enough in my time in, around, and underneath theirs to know I'd never own one. This was also confirmed around the campfire with friends of ours and their now gone Allegro Bus. You may think maybe their repeated structural cracking in the slide was a bit odd, yet I passed another Allegro Bus on the Interstate last week that had a very large crack in the same spot. 1 may be a fluke, 2 is an issue IMO.

[xctraveler]

Careful Andy F once you start looking at diesels it may be hard to go back to gassers 🙂 We found that interiors in diesels are generally much more substantial than in Gassers, more weight carrying ability to work with. Even within the Tiffin line the interior finishes are lighter in the gas units - no tile floors etc. I won't even go into ride and handling since we spend much more time living than driving.

[Andy_F]

Our nearby Newmar dealer has a number of nice used Kountry Coaches in stock. May try to get up there to take a closer look. Starting to think used DP's now more seriously. Pretty nice looking 2007 in stock for $95k with 60k miles.

[Andy_F]

Shot-N-Az wrote:
Andy, I strongly suggest going to the factories of the brands you are considering and observing how they are constructed. The differences between them will become obvious.

We may just do that. We are planning a trip to Door County and Chicago next summer. It would be fun to get over to Indiana also for some factory tours. Tiffin would have to wait until our next Florida trip to St. Joe.

[Shot-N-Az]

Andy, I strongly suggest going to the factories of the brands you are considering and observing how they are constructed. The differences between them will become obvious.