Purchasing a new class A

[rapidrrk]

Looking to purchase my first class A motorhome. Any thoughts as to which are the best value and which mfgs. to stay away from?

[kjburns]

rapidrrk wrote:
To clarify:
My wife and our three small dogs are shopping for a used gas, 30' to 35' class A for weekends or 3-4 day trips within 200 miles and towing a vehicle. Our budget is $75-100K. Previously looking at Itaska/Winne or Tiffin. Are we going in the correct direction?

In that price range, you're very close to new 2015 gas coaches. We just picked up a 2015 HR Vacationer 36DBT that's a little longer than you want and the price was slightly north of your budget. You'll find lots of choices in recent gas coaches to fit your price. You might even find some new ones with more features that you want.

[smacdiesel]

RayChez wrote:


I did not rate Tiffin higher then Foretravel. Read the whole post before you make such a statement.

The sarcasm is not so much the order of the coach builders mentioned, but rather you didn't include some other reputable builders in your list. What happened with Entegra and Winnebago for example.

[Effy]

RayChez wrote:

Effy wrote:

Gjac wrote:

RayChez wrote:
There is no guarantee that so so brand is not going to give you problems. I have seen real expensive coaches that are a piece of trash, and then again I have seen entry level coaches that have come out to be pretty good coaches. So there is no real formula as to which is better then?

Now there are some real nice coaches manufactured now days. They look nice and expensive, but it is mechanical and they do break down.

If money is no object I will give you some brands that have a history of having a good reputation because of the owners to these companies.

1. Tiffin
2. Newmar
3. American coach lines (Fleetwood)
4. Foretravel
5. Monaco
6. Forest River
7. Thor

Now these are not necessarily in order as to which is best because like I posted before that the best would be the one that does not give you much problems.

Just about everybody here in this forum or any other forum will be biased towards what they own. So I would take their recommendation with a grain of salt.

What I suggest is for you to do your own research and buy what you like, not what Joe wants you to buy.

This post makes the most sense. You develop opinions base on what others are saying about the MH's or the problems they are having with the MH's which is very subjective. I don't see any objective postings that explain why one MH is better from an Engineering perspective. Does brand A have a better drive train? or better adhesive in the outer wall that won't delaminate? Does brand B use better tooling or NC equipment to make more repeatable parts,window apertures etc so they won't leak? Does brand C do a better job with weight distribution or suspension to give you a better ride? If you are looking at a gas MH between 30 and 35 ft the chassis will be the same the components will be the same. The discriminators will be what I mentioned above which are hard to find. I would rather be able to sit with a salesmen or go on their web site to understand how the MH is designed or the Mfg processes used rather that for them to show me a fireplace or outdoor TV.

Except that you put Tiffin Newmar and FW above Foretravel.

Foretravel, Newell and Prevost are in a whole nother league and you'd have to go back longer than a decade to get close to your price.

I did not rate Tiffin higher then Foretravel. Read the whole post before you make such a statement.

Apologies. A little " ready, shoot , aim" on my part,

[dcbopp]

Dennis, is there something wrong with Newell's older than 2009 per your post?

David

[RayChez]

Effy wrote:

Gjac wrote:

RayChez wrote:
There is no guarantee that so so brand is not going to give you problems. I have seen real expensive coaches that are a piece of trash, and then again I have seen entry level coaches that have come out to be pretty good coaches. So there is no real formula as to which is better then?

Now there are some real nice coaches manufactured now days. They look nice and expensive, but it is mechanical and they do break down.

If money is no object I will give you some brands that have a history of having a good reputation because of the owners to these companies.

1. Tiffin
2. Newmar
3. American coach lines (Fleetwood)
4. Foretravel
5. Monaco
6. Forest River
7. Thor

Now these are not necessarily in order as to which is best because like I posted before that the best would be the one that does not give you much problems.

Just about everybody here in this forum or any other forum will be biased towards what they own. So I would take their recommendation with a grain of salt.

What I suggest is for you to do your own research and buy what you like, not what Joe wants you to buy.

This post makes the most sense. You develop opinions base on what others are saying about the MH's or the problems they are having with the MH's which is very subjective. I don't see any objective postings that explain why one MH is better from an Engineering perspective. Does brand A have a better drive train? or better adhesive in the outer wall that won't delaminate? Does brand B use better tooling or NC equipment to make more repeatable parts,window apertures etc so they won't leak? Does brand C do a better job with weight distribution or suspension to give you a better ride? If you are looking at a gas MH between 30 and 35 ft the chassis will be the same the components will be the same. The discriminators will be what I mentioned above which are hard to find. I would rather be able to sit with a salesmen or go on their web site to understand how the MH is designed or the Mfg processes used rather that for them to show me a fireplace or outdoor TV.

Except that you put Tiffin Newmar and FW above Foretravel.

Foretravel, Newell and Prevost are in a whole nother league and you'd have to go back longer than a decade to get close to your price.

I did not rate Tiffin higher then Foretravel. Read the whole post before you make such a statement.

[RayChez]

smacdiesel wrote:

RayChez wrote:
T

1. Tiffin
2. Newmar
3. American coach lines (Fleetwood)
4. Foretravel
5. Monaco
6. Forest River
7. Thor
.

This should be a sticky so we all now the order. LOL!!!!

You see you are posting without reading my post. I stated that this list was not saying that number one was better then number seven. I just posted companies that have nice coach, but not necessarily in the order they are posted. C'mon read before you throw sarcasm towards a person.

[smacdiesel]

RayChez wrote:
T

1. Tiffin
2. Newmar
3. American coach lines (Fleetwood)
4. Foretravel
5. Monaco
6. Forest River
7. Thor
.

This should be a sticky so we all now the order. LOL!!!!

[Effy]

Gjac wrote:

RayChez wrote:
There is no guarantee that so so brand is not going to give you problems. I have seen real expensive coaches that are a piece of trash, and then again I have seen entry level coaches that have come out to be pretty good coaches. So there is no real formula as to which is better then?

Now there are some real nice coaches manufactured now days. They look nice and expensive, but it is mechanical and they do break down.

If money is no object I will give you some brands that have a history of having a good reputation because of the owners to these companies.

1. Tiffin
2. Newmar
3. American coach lines (Fleetwood)
4. Foretravel
5. Monaco
6. Forest River
7. Thor

Now these are not necessarily in order as to which is best because like I posted before that the best would be the one that does not give you much problems.

Just about everybody here in this forum or any other forum will be biased towards what they own. So I would take their recommendation with a grain of salt.

What I suggest is for you to do your own research and buy what you like, not what Joe wants you to buy.

This post makes the most sense. You develop opinions base on what others are saying about the MH's or the problems they are having with the MH's which is very subjective. I don't see any objective postings that explain why one MH is better from an Engineering perspective. Does brand A have a better drive train? or better adhesive in the outer wall that won't delaminate? Does brand B use better tooling or NC equipment to make more repeatable parts,window apertures etc so they won't leak? Does brand C do a better job with weight distribution or suspension to give you a better ride? If you are looking at a gas MH between 30 and 35 ft the chassis will be the same the components will be the same. The discriminators will be what I mentioned above which are hard to find. I would rather be able to sit with a salesmen or go on their web site to understand how the MH is designed or the Mfg processes used rather that for them to show me a fireplace or outdoor TV.

Except that you put Tiffin Newmar and FW above Foretravel.

Foretravel, Newell and Prevost are in a whole nother league and you'd have to go back longer than a decade to get close to your price.

[KarenS144]

There are a lot of options for you. Look at all of the online sale sites. Some of them let you filter by budget and you can chose gas or diesel & a lot of other options. Most will show floor plans but if not, you should be able to see floor plans on the manufacturers site. As mentioned, floor plans are so very important and making sure it fits with your style. If you like to enjoy watching TV in the evenings, having a TV located where it can be seen comfortably is really important. Having room for your pups is a must too. One of the reasons we chose the coach we did was because of the room up front. Plenty of room for the boxer beds and still be able to move around. Of course, most of the time, they're piled up on the couch & not on their beds.

Our new to us coach has a residential fridge with ice maker & I don't know how we managed without it. I gave up my gas oven which I NEVER turned on in the 3 years we had our gasser and don't miss it. I do the majority of cooking outside when we're camping (not traveling...there's a difference ya know!) either with the tripod & grate or a dutch oven or both but you may prefer an oven.

You will need to be conscious of weight and how much you can put in a gasser. They usually do not have the CCC that a diesel has and being overweight an happen pretty quickly.

Once you zero in on a manufacturer/model then you can do a more extensive search for reviews and known issues. Good luck with your search and keep us posted!

[Gjac]

RayChez wrote:
There is no guarantee that so so brand is not going to give you problems. I have seen real expensive coaches that are a piece of trash, and then again I have seen entry level coaches that have come out to be pretty good coaches. So there is no real formula as to which is better then?

Now there are some real nice coaches manufactured now days. They look nice and expensive, but it is mechanical and they do break down.

If money is no object I will give you some brands that have a history of having a good reputation because of the owners to these companies.

1. Tiffin
2. Newmar
3. American coach lines (Fleetwood)
4. Foretravel
5. Monaco
6. Forest River
7. Thor

Now these are not necessarily in order as to which is best because like I posted before that the best would be the one that does not give you much problems.

Just about everybody here in this forum or any other forum will be biased towards what they own. So I would take their recommendation with a grain of salt.

What I suggest is for you to do your own research and buy what you like, not what Joe wants you to buy.

This post makes the most sense. You develop opinions base on what others are saying about the MH's or the problems they are having with the MH's which is very subjective. I don't see any objective postings that explain why one MH is better from an Engineering perspective. Does brand A have a better drive train? or better adhesive in the outer wall that won't delaminate? Does brand B use better tooling or NC equipment to make more repeatable parts,window apertures etc so they won't leak? Does brand C do a better job with weight distribution or suspension to give you a better ride? If you are looking at a gas MH between 30 and 35 ft the chassis will be the same the components will be the same. The discriminators will be what I mentioned above which are hard to find. I would rather be able to sit with a salesmen or go on their web site to understand how the MH is designed or the Mfg processes used rather that for them to show me a fireplace or outdoor TV.

[Mr_Mark1]

Dennis, he mentioned his preference was a gasser with a $75-$100K budget.

The Newell wouldn't work but they are nice!

MM.

[Executive45]

Buy a 2009 or newer Newell...you'll not be disappointed.....Dennis

[KarenS144]

We have 2 boxers that travel with us & have no issues with leather either in the coach or the S&B. The couple that we bought our DP from traveled with at least one dog and the leather is fine.

[enblethen]

I would stay toward the shorter of the rigs. Then develop some idea of what you would want to upgrade.

Itasca/ Winnebago and many of the Fleetwood products, Southwind and Terra. I would stay away from leather interior your canine friends may damage it.