Winnebago Travato

[Terrenski]

Went to the RV Show in Boston today and was excited to see the Winnebago Travato up close.
I've been reading about it for months and to see it finally was worth it. I do not own an rv yet and this looked to me to be just the one for us. It did not disappoint. It was interesting because I think people either loved it for its size and amenities, or hated it for its size. I like that it gets 17mpg, looks easy to drive, is wide enough but the front is as wide as the back, has everything you would need (though no exterior storage) and was comfortable.
My only floorplan issue was the seat by the door with the water tank underneath. It just seems they had no where else to put it and this limited space a bit. I wonder if they will tweak this if the model sells well.
I do believe this rv is a two person rv, more geared for shorter trips then a two week stay at one site. With that said, it would be comfortable driving on a long haul if you can deal with it not being spacious. The price was $69,995. Wondering what the future will be for them.
We will probably have to decide whether to buy a new rv like this or buy a used one (I like Chinooks, Starflytes, etc) and pay for upkeep. An interesting dilemma.
Would love to hear what people think of the Travato.

[My_Roadtrek]

To .Class B_Like_Banana, Your post is a tough read, and the lack of punctuation, and coherency. is why you have received some neg. comments, which I have deleted.
If you go to the the Forum Tech Support forum, there are tutorials on how to post active links, photos, etc. As far as the use of punctuation, I can't help you with that, and don't be surprised by a few more neg. comments.

Forum Moderator

[stan909]

I saw one in person at the dealer. I may even buy one used ten years from now when the price will be lower and the pros and cons are revealed. I liked it a lot but???

[mlts22]

That is an interesting read. I have been comparing the Travato to European offerings as well, mainly on the class B forums. There are three main differences which keep Winnebago from just cloning a popular floor plan. One is that here in the US, we use black/grey tanks and not the European style of cassette toilets. So, this requires the commode to be right on top of the black tank. Two, US rigs have air conditioners and generators, which both take up a lot of space, especially underneath.

Third, the US doesn't have access to Truma's products, heaters which far outdistance anything sold on this side of the pond. Combination furnaces/water heaters that are less than the size of the four gallon Atwood.

Hymer sounds interesting. We had ~850 "B"s sold in the US sold last year. If a company can get in the US market and start making them, it would be those guys.

As stated previously, this is uncharted territory for US RV makers. The Ducato has been in Europe for almost a decade. So, it will take a while before the US makers get up to speed with this platform. For a "version 1.0" van, the Travato is a good start. It will only improve from here.

[2112]

I actually read down to

ClassB_like_Banana wrote:
...This is the first bone tossed to the dogs, and its us low-aptitude dogs that are gonna chase this first bone...

and had enough.

Welcome to the forum Banana. I'm sure you will fit right in.

[ClassB_like_Ban]

Ist post:
Had a ticket waiting in Hartford last weekend but missed it and see the Travato. Well, Winnebago 4Q EPS are up and the economy is one thing; product value another. Not impressed, at least no yet. List $89k, show $69k; $20k thrown around like birdseed. What's it worth? Well, what the competition in Ducato based RVs? 4.5 million built in Euro. 50% of their van-based RV industry uses this platform, which includes Peugeot and Citroen as Fiat makes their vans too so RV'based P' and C's are both Ducato, or ProMaster as we know it here, now, the same. Domestic competition for pricing/value comparison. Just found 'Eko' last night while beat'n up the web. New, I'm guessing. Dearler network-'call us.'
Quality-looks nice. Hymer quality. But to see Ducato based Hymer you gotta search:
http://hymercar.com/
For other comparison of builds, the youtube of 2013: well, find it. 29 minutes of comparo, but the winner is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAGE5FI3K0E
Ah, found it. Half-hour comparo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-h8ruMKBog
In fact, you your industry search and you'll find Hymer is planning on US entry limited to ClassB only. Think they did 24,000 B's in Euro last year ALONE.
As for hot water, think I read that the room allocated for it in the travato will fit the Atwood OD-50, and of course they'll upgrade (less your 4gal $$)for a fee and then unlimited hot water. Water? What would it take to hang a length of 8" PVC pipe to the underside, sticks out beyond the rear bumper about the size of a filler cap on top, spigot to the bottom. Hide it best you can cause you don't need the camp-rats peeing in your water. Another? On demand, the large 5-gal water jugs at the supermarket for weekend water whatever. Under that bed, that I'm not impressed with either. See the above vid for the double bed bunk bed set-up, or find the vid with the electric up/down bed like Winn has to offer, but not here. This is the first bone tossed to the dogs, and its us low-aptitude dogs that are gonna chase this first bone. Remember now, THIS VAN has been running around Euro in many RV configs for years now, and THIS is what we get from our leading domestic name. Do some homework and you'll begin, my guess here, is to see what detroit was putting out to us in the 70's; worldwide automotive embarrassment IMHO. Find the Adria Twin GT at the end of the 29min vid. Price in UK pounds, do a $/L conversion, and I came up with $78k; just can't get it, yet. $89k? Heck no. $69K? genset delete? What is not there now I'd like to know for $69k, but not worth my time to search as I am not impressed with this first bone thrown. West Vans is, I read, in the ProM game and did FL but I have not found any info much less a pic. Eko? More work to do here as I just found it about 2am+. Oh yeah; double bed? At 46", quoted elsewhere at 48" Wiki says:
Twin
39 in × 75 in (99 cm × 191 cm)
Full or double
54 in × 75 in (137 cm × 191 cm)
Queen
60 in × 80 in (152 cm × 203 cm)
King
76 in × 80 in (193 cm × 203 cm)
A king-sized bed may have a king-sized box spring (foundation), or, more commonly, two smaller box-springs (each the size of a Twin XL bed) under a king-sized mattress.

I' also curious if any forum reader sat at that dinette? Your thighs fit under that table in the non-expanding double-seat? And Winn takes CR for being the first domestic with shoulder passenger belts. Heck, contact any Euro-source parts supplier for the Ducato/ProMaster and buy ready-made at volumn discount with future sales abroad coming from (ta-DA)WINNEBAGO, and biz is good for all, 'cept us first-bone buyers with nil-comparo to utilize. Sell that to your spouse.

[mlts22]

One concern I have about the bed (and this could be -completely- unfounded) -- the rail it rests on doesn't seem to be that thick. If there is some play between the hinge part of the bed, the bed could fall down on that side, and possibly snap the hinge, as well as provide a rude awakening to whomever is on top of it.

This probably isn't an issue, as Winnebago does a very good job at engineering, but it got me wondering about that. Not hard to fix -- add a 2x4 every couple of feet before putting in the bathroom fiberglass.

[Fastpaddler]

2112 wrote:
I have been looking at the Travato as a possible entry to a B. For the price and size this looks like a great versatile touring/DD vehicle. However, the WH issue is a concern to me as well.

Fastpaddler wrote:
...The real negative feature for us would be small pull down rear bed--sideways... AL

What do you mean 'sideways'? The bed appears to run lengthwise, north - south if you will.

Sideways/longways.Good point as you would probally sleep longways if my size. The problem for us would be a not very wide bed which you cannot walk around and to crawl across your partner in the middle of the night--it would be most inconvenient and, disruptive to your partner. The pull down bed would be fine therefore if there was enough room to walk around it like in the Leisure Travel FreeSpirit with the slideout and pull down (electric)bed. But you have the nice bathroom unit taking up the right side of the rear end. The Travato 59G otherwise isnt all that bad and does have the upfront 'lounge'.

[bobojay5]

I'd definitely have to investigate the on demand water heater issue which is the biggest negative I see so far.
Knowing Winnebago after owning 2 of them now, they will tweak things over the next year or 2 and get these niggles straightened out. You'll see at least one more floor plan on this van chassis in the next year too, (opinion there)

[2112]

I have been looking at the Travato as a possible entry to a B. For the price and size this looks like a great versatile touring/DD vehicle. However, the WH issue is a concern to me as well.

Fastpaddler wrote:
...The real negative feature for us would be small pull down rear bed--sideways... AL

What do you mean 'sideways'? The bed appears to run lengthwise, north - south if you will.

[Fastpaddler]

Two good first hand reports. Thanks. Price IS very good. The real negative feature for us would be small pull down rear bed--sideways. We had a Trail-lite with gaucho bed and climbing over my wife to visit the toilet was not acceptable. Same would apply with Travato in current config. Too bad.Some might not mind or be single.
AL

[erip]

I saw the travato at the Hershey show and as stated by others the HWH was a deal breaker for me. I have no idea why they didn't use a 6 gal lp/electric hwh. The hwh is located under the dinette bench and there is plenty of room for either a larger hwh or 4 gal gas/electric (or even an on demand hwh like so many used in european conversions) Since the fridge is on the same side, there would be no problem running the gas line a few feet farther. The Hwh at the show was not wired to be operated by the generator either. While i like the size of the bathroom the layout of the tanks requires a pump to pump the water from the shower pan into the gray tank.. that's a recipe for disaster. Additionally the cushions and angle of the dinette seat were very uncomfortable and the bed is not a full 40 inches wide, it narrows to 28". With the size and location of the fresh tank inside the bench behind the front passenger seat, the front passenger seat doesnt swing all the way around making it very tight to move around. The fresh tank fill is on the opposite side of the fresh tank. Rapido in europe makes the v56 which is the same layout with a little better use of space. I also thought the fit and finish of the one at the hershey show was unimpressive, but that could be that they rushed to get it ready since it was the first one out the door. The window coverings were of really poor quality. I understand that winnebago is now going to add a sliding screendoor (like leisure travel) which is a great feature. The price of 69995 you got quoted is actually quite impressive, as the best price i was offered was 72995.
I like the extra width of the promaster and hope that more manufacturers will get into the game.. I am looking forward to seeing what great west introduced this week at the tampa RV show

[I_am_still_wayn]

My only issue is the 120 volt only 4 gallon water heater. I may not want to, and perhaps in some places not allowed to, fire up the generator just to have hot water. The capacity is a concern, too.