TIFFIN MODELS - DRIVING COMPARISONS

[Colbie_s_family]

I currently have a 2014 35 ft Tiffin Allegro RED. We travel appx 5-6 months out of the year so we are driving quite a bit. I'm considering upgrading to a Phaeton or Tiffin Bus but want to stay 36-38 ft length. I am actually very happy with our RED but I feel the wind and bumps or holes in the road quite a bit. I have 2 questions from other Tiffin drivers:

1. Is the ride significantly different when upgrading from a RED to a Phaeton or Bus?

2. For those who have driven the power glide chassis - is there a significant difference from that to the Freightliner?

Any feedback you can provide would be appreciated.

[Bob___Ann]

Carol
We have a 40' Phaeton on the Freightliner chassis as you can see in the below signature. We had a workhorse chassis previously and there is no comparison. The ride is close to silent and is very smooth. It takes a pretty good wind before you feel it. On the Workhorse chassis we could feel every wind gust that hit us and we had to fight the wheel to correct the situation. We have been very impressed with the coach. We had one issue with the freightliner chassis and we are very pleased with how we were handled. We had two defective airbags which they replaced without question at three years. You will notice a big difference in the 380 Cummins engine. I cannot tell you about the Powerglide chassis but I know that you can order one on the Phaeton. We are more then pleased with ours as is. I do recommend that you take your questions to the Tiffin RV Network where you can get the opinion of many owners. Go to a dealer and test drive one as that is the best way to know what you are buying. Good luck with your decision.

[mccsix]

FL per se is good to deal with, it's their franchised local dealer with their own rules that set me off.
Every comm truck has priority over my coach per the mgr "because they're working" and you're retired!!
You can be next in line for weeks, but never seem to get to the front.
FL Hdqtr just shrugs their shoulders and says that's a local policy they have no control over.
Then there's the matter of routine sched maint checks in the FL chassis manual, which the local dealership will do for you at an exorbitant price. I turned the problem bill over to FL and they called the local service ctr and "talked" them into cutting the bill cut in half!
Hate local Fl centers!

[kedanie]

Don't know who all those folks are that hate Freightliner are. Our experience with Freightliner has been excellent. Currently at their faciclity in Tolleson, Az. Great place for service. Our only issue has been with incompetence with the dealers. Bad dealer service is by far the biggest problem out there.

Keith

[dougrainer]

Mr.Mark wrote:
Doug, I know that you are 'in the know' but my brother didn't have trouble with Freightliner either.

Shame on Freightliner for doing that to their customers.

MM.

I have a customer that will drive to Texarkana Freightliner(500 mile round trip) for warranty and maintenance rather than deal with Ft Worth and Dallas Freightliner. I work for a Tiffin dealer (37 years) and trust me, we field calls all the time from our customers that give us hell about their dealings with Freightliner. A few years ago, one of our Salesman took his Allegro Bus to the new model year show at Red Bay for dealers. He had a small oil leak at the Engine and had BAD dealings with the DFW Freightliner dealers on the issue(not fixed). The Tiffin Freightliner rep set him up at Memphis Freightliner to have the issues resolved. The Salesman arrived at 6 am. He checked in and they told him to wait. At 11 pm, a so called mechanic came to the parking lot and since it was dark asked for a flashlight. The salesman handed him one. He crawled under the Engine, came back out at said it was just oil from the slobber tube. Then he was told to pay $175 for this "service". If he did not, they would not let him out of the secured parking lot. He paid, then called the Tiffin rep when he got home and Tiffin reimbursed him. This is the type issues my customers are always complaining about. Maybe other Freightliner centers are better with RV customers but not in DFW and Memphis. Doug

[Mr_Mark1]

Doug, I know that you are 'in the know' but my brother didn't have trouble with Freightliner either.

Shame on Freightliner for doing that to their customers.

MM.

[CrossCountryNom]

dougrainer wrote:

CrossCountryNomad wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
There is no real difference in ride between the Powerglide and the Freightliner chassis. The main reason Tiffin builds their own chassis was to get rid of the Headache the customer has when dealing with Freightliner. With Powerglide, you deal with Tiffin and the Engine and Transmission maker only. Doug

:h

Headache? What headache?

I've had two motorhomes using the Freightliner chassis. I've never had any major issues or headaches with either. The Freightliner chassis has performed very well for me. Freightliner service has been superb. I've only had a few minor issues and Freightliner covered those under warranty.

No complaints at all with Freightliner.

YOU are the exception. Most of my customers HATE dealing with Freightliner. Freightliner always seems to find anything is NOT a Freightliner issue. They always seem to have a charge regardless of warranty. Tiffin got tired of stepping up and reimbursing his customers for Freightliner charges that were bogus. So, Tiffin decided to build their own chassis and set up Chassis service centers across the nation to handle Powerglide issues. I have been in the service end of Motorhomes for 37 years and trust me, I would NOT want to have a Freightliner chassis due to the bad issues my customers have had. Doug

Wow! I must have been living under a rock for the last 14 years.

I have not heard about 'Most customers' hate dealing with Freightliner. I have four friends with Tiffins on the Freightliner chassis and I have not heard any complaints from them over the last 14 years.

Like I said before, both of our DPs on Freightliner chassis have been trouble free. Combined mileage of our DPs is over 100,000 miles.

Shame on me for being the exception!

Why not do some reading on the Tiffin Owners forum about the Freightliner chassis? Folks there share their honest experience with the Freightliner chassis. Sure you will find folks talking about maintenance and fixing things. But there is not an underlying theme of hating Freightliner.

Tiffin Owners forum - Freightliner Chassis

[dougrainer]

CrossCountryNomad wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
There is no real difference in ride between the Powerglide and the Freightliner chassis. The main reason Tiffin builds their own chassis was to get rid of the Headache the customer has when dealing with Freightliner. With Powerglide, you deal with Tiffin and the Engine and Transmission maker only. Doug

:h

Headache? What headache?

I've had two motorhomes using the Freightliner chassis. I've never had any major issues or headaches with either. The Freightliner chassis has performed very well for me. Freightliner service has been superb. I've only had a few minor issues and Freightliner covered those under warranty.

No complaints at all with Freightliner.

YOU are the exception. Most of my customers HATE dealing with Freightliner. Freightliner always seems to find anything is NOT a Freightliner issue. They always seem to have a charge regardless of warranty. Tiffin got tired of stepping up and reimbursing his customers for Freightliner charges that were bogus. So, Tiffin decided to build their own chassis and set up Chassis service centers across the nation to handle Powerglide issues. I have been in the service end of Motorhomes for 37 years and trust me, I would NOT want to have a Freightliner chassis due to the bad issues my customers have had. Doug

[CrossCountryNom]

dougrainer wrote:
There is no real difference in ride between the Powerglide and the Freightliner chassis. The main reason Tiffin builds their own chassis was to get rid of the Headache the customer has when dealing with Freightliner. With Powerglide, you deal with Tiffin and the Engine and Transmission maker only. Doug

:h

Headache? What headache?

I've had two motorhomes using the Freightliner chassis. I've never had any major issues or headaches with either. The Freightliner chassis has performed very well for me. Freightliner service has been superb. I've only had a few minor issues and Freightliner covered those under warranty.

No complaints at all with Freightliner.

[djedgar]

mikim wrote:
You may want to consider this option instead of upgrading your rig:

http://www.hendersonslineup.com/

We have a short (190" wheelbase) DP also and highly recommend Henderson's. We took ours up last summer for the road test. They identified that 3 of our 4 koni shocks were bad. We replaced all four plus had it aligned. Big improvement in overall handling, especially in wind or when hitting dips in the roadway. Disappointing they couldn't get Koni to stand behind the shocks, but the staff were all VERY NICE and they have electric hook ups (30 amp) for customer use.

[dougrainer]

There is no real difference in ride between the Powerglide and the Freightliner chassis. The main reason Tiffin builds their own chassis was to get rid of the Headache the customer has when dealing with Freightliner. With Powerglide, you deal with Tiffin and the Engine and Transmission maker only. Doug

[Mr_Mark1]

Mr. Colbie,

A couple of months ago, my brother traded his 2014 Tiffin Allegro RED (34 ft.) that he bought new for a slightly used 2015 Tiffin Allegro Bus (36 ft.). He says that the ride and handling is night and day. He and his wife are extremely happy with the upgrade

Also, the Bus has the Aqua Hot and heated floors.

Good luck,
MM.

[CrossCountryNom]

Never owned a RED, but our first mh was a Coachmen Mirada on a Ford F53 chassis. There is a major difference in handling and ride when going to a DP. Our current 2012 Phaeton's ride quality is far superior to the Ford F53 chassis on the Coachmen.

[carringb]

Part of the problem with your current coach is the wheelbase. A 198" wheelbase under a 35' coach isn't very much. This will most definitely make it more sensitive to wind, and can make bumps feel worse than they are (in terms of up and down motion.... harshness is caused by other issues).

[mikim]

You may want to consider this option instead of upgrading your rig:

http://www.hendersonslineup.com/