Posts
338
Joined
9/9/2010
Location
VA
US
Fantasy
3706th
Edited Date/Time
9/1/2020 12:04pm
Well on my way into researching motorhomes, including a few stops at dealerships with no luck. They seem to be flying off the lot as soon as they hit the websites.
What are you guys running, pros and cons? Did you buy new or used?
Thanks!
What are you guys running, pros and cons? Did you buy new or used?
Thanks!
1. The diesels are better than the gas. My dad has always claimed he would take a 15 year old diesel over a brand new gasser.
2. Not all chassis are the same. Cant off the top of my head remember which chassis has the most storage. Spartan chassis sounds right?
3. He is not a fan of the new diesels with emissions. Just a head ache. One gave us problems on the way back from high voltage gncc a month or two ago.
4. These air ride class A diesel pusher motor homes hand very well. Takes a little getting used to them. But they can go fast and not feel sketchy, they stop on a dime, etc
5. Every time I bring up the idea of us having a toy-hauler or fun lover to him he says they just don’t compare to a diesel pusher and an enclosed trailer.
If your interested I can give you his number. We’re just off I-85 in upstate Sc. He runs a small outfit by himself selling mostly diesel pushers so no dealer will ever be able to compete with his prices (he actually sells some to other big dealers)
And I don’t know if you are including you haulers in your surcharging but imo every toy hauler I’ve seen come though my dads fleet has always had some form of water damage, build cheap, and just don’t seem up to the task of racing every weekend.
Very happy with this setup and it was much cheaper than the new toy haulers we were looking at.
Choose some features you must have, then be prepared to compromise on less important stuff.
I found a coach with the chassis, engine, and transmission I wanted, plus low miles and original owner.
Those were must haves for us, however it is much larger than I need and that can be an issue depending on where you want to go.
Spent 50k on the coach and 9200 on a trailer I custom ordered.
I wanted no emissions and no payments, also did not want to lose a couple hundred grand in depreciation.( we paid 25% of what the coach was new)
If you have a lot of cash to spend or want a lot of payments, the new ones are very nice.
In the afternoon of 08/17/20, while traveling on US-395 near the Secret Valley Rest Area, the driver of a motorhome, for unknown reasons, allowed his vehicle to drift to the left off the roadway. The vehicle struck the hillside bordering US-395. The impact caused the entire body of the motorhome to separate from the chassis. The body of the motorhome, including the driver who was still seatbelted in the driver's seat, tipped over on its side onto US-395. Both the body and chassis continued sliding on the roadway before finally coming to a stop in the lanes of US-395.
The Shop
We've had 30ft C; 35ft A gas; 36ftA pusher. From a driving standpoint nothing touched the pusher. The gas motor homes did great and were easy to work on but they got pushed around in the wind by bigger trucks. The diesel pusher is almost on auto pilot. Nothing moves them on the road. A really big difference as well is not sitting on the gas engine and having the engine noise while you drive as well.
There are pluses and minus's to all of them but I'd say do what you can to get your self in some type of diesel rig. You'll never win the battle with gas mileage but the power difference of the motors makes them worth every penny. Our rigs had the ford v10, chevy 8.1 and International 9.3lv6 pusher.
Not sure what you're looking for, but you can squeeze a two parents and three kids in something you can tow, especially if it's a 5th wheel, and then you down own two rapidly depreciating drivetrains.
Bought a 2500 cummins and a toy hauler for now.
I suspect the OP is very much set on an RV, but just sharing perspective a little, I agree with you.
Pit Row
The toy hauler has been nice but there are some things we don't like. For one, the layouts are janky to accommodate the garage and not very comfortable to hang out in at the races. Ours is admittedly small and the bigger ones seem pretty nice. They get super dirty not having a truly separate spot for the gear. The build quality has been pretty bad on our Forest River, mostly little things we easily fix but still annoying. Also, I'm tired of having to pull over all the time for my kids to go to the bathroom, not having my wife free to move around and make dinner, do homework with the kids, etc. Anything longer than 3-4 hour drive to go racing gets pretty tough.
5 years ago I bought a then 15 yr old 38ft Class A diesel pusher. What a difference!!! I bought a Safari Zanzibar, it has a Cat diesel engine and the Allison 6 spd, it had about 54k miles on it. It is so much more comfortable in every regard, both driving and when set up. Yes, you have to learn to drive them, but after about 5 miles your brain gets wrapped around it and away you go. I get 8 mpg........the only thing that effects that is head winds or speed. I usually try to tow at 70 and it seems ok at that.
I found mine on RVtrader and did a fly n drive. Great experience, and if you can find one with the original owner they are usually babied as they cost more than their house.
I agree, in a year or two, there are going to be a lot of current rigs available cheap, however,........I don't think based on what I have seen they are screwed together as well as some of the older ones.
Ask yourself how often you will use it. If you use it 6 or more times a year, might be worth it. Consider storage, does HOA allow them, and maintenance costs. Other wises plan ahead and rent. So many of these RV's just sit around and are the worst investments you will ever make.
Don't buy/share with other families with someone else, you will lose your friends this way.
Don't purchase based on gas mileage on either diesel or gas unless you can afford the Mercedes chassis. They all eat gas so just plan on 11 mpg to 15 mpg depending on towing or how you drive it and live with it. They all suck gas is the reality and will not make a huge saving on this factor using your RV a few times a year. Buy for functionality and whos going with you.
Class C's affordable, but ride/drive rough. Passengers' comfort while in motion is not good.
Class A's more comfort, more expensive to maintain. Class C tire about $99 per tire, Class A tire about $500 a tire.
Anyone will wrench on a gasoline engine, diesel mechanics expensive and hard to come by while traveling if you break down.
I'm happy with our Class C. I would not buy new. I've been to many RV shows and they all have the same things, just decorated differently to look new. Maybe some new info entertainment.
The main reason you would want a toy hauler would be if you want a vehicle at your destination. But can't ride in the trailer in motion. Well, not suppose too. In the RV, your all-together, and my wife will make our coffee and lunch while we are in motion. People can go use the bathroom in motion.
Using an RV to leave camp and back is a pain in the butt. So consider this so you not unhooking and hooking back up to go to say the grocery store or go to town to eat if you plan on using it for camping mainly. If you don't want to trailer, I use the hitch rail, and works great for up to 3 bikes.
We came out really well on the diesel and sold it for a 40' Fleetwood Revolution pusher with a 400 CAT on a spartan chaises. Hands down best motorhome we've had.
We are always towing something with ours, either the bike/sxs/boat so we always have a game plan to deal with getting around, even if it's just a mountain bike. Uber and Lyft are great too if they serve where you are at.
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