deuceandddoll
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Re: Anyone make a mistake buying first MH ?
Over 5 years ago we bought a "mechanics special" at an RV center in Texas. It was a Fleetwood Storm, 1994 on a P30 chassis, with a 454 and no slides. 30' long and it needed some TLC and a new set of tires, it was still running the original Michelins. It had 40,000 miles on it then and now has 80,000 miles. During the past 5 years and 40,000 miles we have replaced tires, brakes, batteries, and the Onan 4K generator. I could have saved the original Onan as all that went bad was the rotor, the problem was that Onan no longer made that part and it was going to cost half the price of a new one to buy the parts necessary to upgrade and repair the old one. I have a friend that bought a brand new $150,000 Winnebago 34' diesel pusher with two slides and he has spent more money than me and had way more problems with his new coach over the past 5 years compared to my old beater. So what is the lesson? It is a gamble no matter what you buy, and you can count on having some maintenance issues used or new. If you are a DIY type of person you can save money and have some extra pride in your coach by doing much of the maintenance yourself. We love our coach and will drive it till she drops, and then buy another one. Get out of the house and hit the road!445Views0likes0CommentsRe: Choosing Gasoline or Diesel Powered?
We travel with two other RVs... Ours is a 1995 Southwind Storm (Fleetwood) with no slides, 30', powered by a Chevy 454TBI with a 4-speed automatic. There are no performance upgrades and we have over 60,000 miles on her. Fully loaded she loves 70-80 miles an hour (and getting 8mpg) as the torque curve comes alive. Hills are no real problem to date. (Paid $13,900 used) One friend has a 2002 Winnabago 36', DP, double-slides, with a 330hp Cat and 6-speed Allison. They have about 36,000 miles with no performance upgrades. Nothing is a problem for this torque and horsepowered monster! I love to drive and ride in this one, just couldn't afford the $95,000 used price tag. 10mpg is nice, but with deisel being higher on average by .30 a gallon...with the added higher maintenance expense of a deisel, this was not affordable for us right now. The other friend has a 2000 Tioga Class C, 27', one slide, and powered by the Ford V-10 Triton, 4-speed trans, also with no performance upgrades. Very cramped feeling, but drives and tows great. This one cannot keep up with the other two on the highway though. ($29,000 used) So for our money ($13,900) we are more than pleased with our choice. I do plan on some performance upgrades as we will keep this one 3-5 years to depreciate as a band expense. Then...hopefully upgrade to a 32' DP with a slide or two!679Views0likes0CommentsRe: Anyone make a mistake buying first MH ?
We all have to learn and our needs do change over time. We started with a tent, then a popup, then a tag along, then a 5th wheel. This was over a period of 15 years being single, then married, then children. We now have a 1995 Fleetwoood Southwind Storm 30' Class A with a 454TBI. Purchased used with 58,000 miles on her. I perform in an Oldies Show Band that plays in the Southwest, so before purchasing a MH I checked with many friends (entertainers) to get their recommendations as we use RVs very differntly from the average consumer. I have read a lot of negative feedback about Fleetwood on this site. But some of my friends who own high dollar Winnegabos all the way to Prevost, Blue Bird and other buses all have good and bad things to say about their brands as well. All I can say about our Fleetwood is that we checked her maintenance history and current condition before purchasing. We knew that the four dual tires needed to be replaced and budgeted for that expense. In addition, we opted for the $2900 36 month/36,000 mile warranty to cover any unforseen problem that might develop. Total investment with purchase price, TTL, four new tires, and extended warranty was $18,785. My used Suburban cost twice that! This coach looks, drives, and performs like new. Our friends cannot believe she is 11 years old. I have all my band equipment including sound and lights, instruments, costumes, etc. stored on board. We have put several thousand trouble free miles on her. We drive 70-75 mph with a full tank of gas, full tank of fresh water, generator and air conditioning running, and average 8-9 miles per gallon. (Know your weight limits and DO NOT exceed them!) Deisel has many advantages and we may step up to a larger DP later on. But right now our 30' gas powered RV is perfect for what we are doing. The other band members have their own RVs. The only one who made a mistake is the band leader who bought a 27' Class C with a Ford V-10. His comments are that "it is too small, feels cramped, and lacks the underbody storage of a Class A." So he is shopping for a Class A after owning his Class C for only a month!514Views0likes0Comments
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