What should I buy??

[captterry]

I'm a retired Alaska pilot. I have a small Dachshund and a young wife and we are in September 2013 going to purchase a RoadTrek,View or late model Rialta. Any for $50,000 or so.

I've researched the heck out of all three and just am not sure yet. Any help out there??

I need to be able to, once in awhile, sleep four. This is important. I WANT to get at least 16 MPG MOST of the time. Also important. I will airline down to Portland where my new purchase is stored every winter and drive to the East Coast to visit relatives and then rent a Oceanside condo for a few months and drive back to Portland.

We will NOT live in the motor home longer than a week at a time. I want a comfy vehicle for cross country road trips that is easy to get around in. A bathroom is necessary just for getting up at night for a whiz.

I'm a Senior in good health.

I'd much appreciate any "already been there" user help!!

Terry in Alaska

[captterry]

Thanks dixied...

As a matter of fact....I have a wonderful truck/camper rig in my driveway. S&S camper and 2000 Ford diesel with only 60,000 miles! It's a new rig in all respects except age.

There are about a billion Northern Lites around up here. Great, great rig.

I want something akin to a Motor Coach for long hauls. My truck is fine here but for long, long hauls it's too noisy and too thirsty at 11.5 MPG-13.0 MPG.

We like to go out at 9PM sometimes and watch the whales sometimes only 10 miles from home on the beautiful Turnagain Arm.

Thanks,

terry

[dixied]

Think I'll muddy the water a little here! Right now I have a 2012 Roadtrek Agile SS, my second one. I owned a View in between, which I hated, because it was too big to park anywhere I wanted, and it had dual rear wheels, which I did not like to drive.

However, the best and most comfortable traveling and sleeping camper I ever had was a Northern Lite truck camper on a quad cab 4X4 Dodge diesel truck. My late husband and I took it all over the west and Canada. It slept 4 comfortably, had a nice bathroom, and we could park it and drive it where ever we needed to. When we weren't camping, we took the Northern Lite off and used the truck. It got close to 20 mpg.

Alaska is certainly a place where a good truck would fit in!

[captterry]

Thanks SkiMore,

Good idea. I'm looking into that also. I just missed a low miles Roadtrek 210 Versatile for $40,000. Right in my Alaska backyard in Portland, Oregon.

[SkiMore]

It sounds like you are going to use it for only two weeks a year.

Have you considered renting a MH? Will they rent to you if you have a dog?

Can you rent a MH one way?
Rent on west coast and drive it east, visit family and rent again for the westward trip.
I don't know how much it costs to rent like that, but if you divide your annual MH costs by 2 weeks of use it won't be cheap either.
Rent a big rig when you have 4 people. Rent a small one when it's just the two of you. No dealing with storage or trying to start a rig that has been sitting idle for 8 months. This would also give you the option from starting from a new place every year.

[captterry]

Thanks RS in Iowa City....

I would not have know the difference in the two year models.

I'd sure like to lease one of these for a few months first. The ERA does seem perfect for us after all my research.

I'll check into all this further. I'm glad that you are happy with your ERA.

Terry

[RSchleder]

We have owned our 2012 170X ERA for about a year and a half and REALLY like it. We downsized from a Class A DP'er ( had 3 of them) and never looked back. We get 20mpg or so when traveling and the ERA has been trouble free. We bought ours new and paid just under $80K for it so I assume you'll need to increase your budget to buy a new one.
The 2010 ERA was a totally different animal than the 2012 as it was built on a 250 chassis instead of the current 350 chassis. Also, the 2012 model has a totally new interior design/layout that is a much higher quality than the earlier model. If you could find a used 2012 it would be a lot closer to your budget than a new unit, however, that may be difficult as the ERA is becoming a very popular class B. Good luck, Ron

[captterry]

Thanks again everybody! You are a wealth of good info.

The View/Navion is very successful in sales and satisfaction. People seem very satisfied with them. For me, maybe. I'm going to go to a dealer here today and again sit and look around.I DO like what I've seen online for the Winnebago ERA 170X. Thanks again all of you.

Terry

[Islandman]

If you are lucky you may find a used Chinook Class C RV, they are very well made and in my mind in a class all by themself. Think they quit making them about 2005 or so,the price for a nice one is near $50,000, but if you ever see one you can figure out why they are worth quite a bit. We own a Pleasure-Way Class B, but my mouth waters a little whenever I see a Chinook driving by.

[Chirpnchicks]

"I will very, very seldom sleep four. I very well might transport four for a road trip of a thousand miles."

In that case, get a B, it's nimble and way more fun to drive.
Jay

[tatest]

C owner here. For what you want to do, live in it for a cross country trip and occasionally sleep four, I would lean toward a small C. For fuel mileage approaching 16 MPH, this means a View/Navion, or one of the alternative Sprinter C's from Thor (FourWinds, Chateau, Dutchmen brands), Coachmen, Fleetwood (Tioga, Jamboree brands) or Gulfstream.

I would let the wife have a say about what the bathroom needs to be like, where you usually sleep, and how well the kitchen works for her. Not that there are many floorplan choices for the early View/Navion, but her wants could very well rule out a B (van conversion) or Rialta. Letting the wife have her say about the house was the key to getting her assent to the whole RVing thing, a factor not to be ignored if looking at the longer term. The RV I would choose for myself would be very different from the one chosen for the two of us.

[captterry]

I will very, very seldom sleep four. I very well might transport four for a road trip of a thousand miles.

Terry in Alaska

[captterry]

And I have recently discovered the Winnebago ERA 170X Limited. Thus far it looks perfect. Almost out of my budget but maybe workable.

Thanks all,

terry in Alaska

[jjrai]

I agree on the Vien/Navion. The neighbors have one. Nice unit. But, if you won't to drive the thing a lot a true B might work better.

[captterry]

Thanks ...!

Terry