High Quality Motorhome

[sunlinefamily]

My Parents are looking for ideas regarding their 1st RV for retirement and are wondering what brands they should look at. They mentioned a class A type and something that is well built w slideouts, very comfortable, and will ride and handle nicely. I want them to get something that is safe if possilbe (Maybe one of those larger class c's that have the protection of a truck cab?) They usually don't mind spending the money for nice stuff but my Mom thought that a used moderate to higher end unit may be the way to go in case they don't like it so they don't have to take a huge hit when they sell.

I don't know a lot about motor homes and thought somebody here might have experience.

[Sunline Fan]

Hi Rod,

I've always liked the Tiffin products...Allegro Bay, Allegro Bus, Allegro, Phaeton, and Zephyr. The newer Newmars are pretty nice too. I didn't care for the older Newmars much because they looked very dated (early '90s ish) up until about 2003 or so. They they seemed to catch up to the times.

For something brand new or only a year or so old, I'd add in Entegra Coach. The people at Entegra are great and some of the best. They only started in '09, but they have built a ton of them already and have strong backing, so they should make it in the long run.

I'm not sure where your parents are at, but if they're interested in Newmar, A&S in Auburn Hills carries them. General is supposed to carry Entegra, but I don't think they have any in stock. Some of the west Michigan dealers carry everything, like Holland Motorhomes and Veurinks.

For looking, have them visit Lazydays' website. They have many brands and good pictures of real units, not just a bunch of sample pictures. This is rare because most dealers don't photograph the new units.

Monaco/Holiday Rambler I think is pretty good, and price wise they should be pretty good for used ones. I just think that some of their new retail prices are a bit high and they come with a lot of features. Fleetwood, now that they're back in the game, I've thought they've always looked somewhat modern in their motorhome styling and design. Tiffin and Newmar are much more traditional. But used Fleetwoods should be fairly cheap now since the original company closed.

Personally, I'd stay away from a used Super C. I've heard of many problems with the GMC chassis ones. The big manufacturers of Super C's are Jayco and Gulf Stream. Now that GM has discontinued the Kodiak chassis, the manufacturers are having to come up with redesigns around a Freightliner chassis instead. I know the feeling about having protection up front...we have a friend with a class C on a Ford E-450 and he thought about moving up to a Kodiak unit, because he'll never drive a bus. But honestly, it isn't that bad, it may be just a little shocking initially, but once you get over that, it's a real pleasure to drive. I've seen pictures of motorhome accidents and the only fatalities I've seen occur when the motorhome runs into the rear end of a semi. Otherwise, it pretty much just eats a car and the passenger compartment barely has any damage.

I know with the whole post 2007 diesel emission stuff, I heard the motorhome chassis have been affected, but I haven't read any mileage reports to hear if people suffer from the same bad mileage like Super Duty owners have. If so, that's a good reason to look for something pre-2007. Expect around 8 to 8.5 highway mileage not towing anything, for an 8.3L Cummins anyway.

After April 1 is a good time to start looking, especially after April 15th. Many of the snowbirds leave right after Christmas and go down south for three months (January, February, March), so they will start coming back around Mid April. If any of them had some sort of argument where they don't want to do it again, they'll want to sell their unit.

Jon

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by Sunline Fan

Hi Rod,

After April 1 is a good time to start looking, especially after April 15th. Many of the snowbirds leave right after Christmas and go down south for three months (January, February, March), so they will start coming back around Mid April. If any of them had some sort of argument where they don't want to do it again, they'll want to sell their unit.

Jon

Now THAT is funny! And probably terrific advice.

[JohnB]

Tweety, I see you picked up on that too..... I must admit I laughed last night reading Jon's response but I'm sure this happens.

[rrwayne]

If you are still looking contact me. No one mentioned Foretravel. they build a monocoque chasis for safety. Used units with one slide are fabulous bargains. I can tell you a lot more. This is not the place.

[sunlinefamily]

Thanks for your help. We finally made it out to start looking. They just went to the RV show in Novi and really liked the Mountain Aire by Newmar. Still looking though.

Rod

[pwb01]

Originally Posted by Sunline Fan

After April 1 is a good time to start looking, especially after April 15th. Many of the snowbirds leave right after Christmas and go down south for three months (January, February, March), so they will start coming back around Mid April. If any of them had some sort of argument where they don't want to do it again, they'll want to sell their unit.

Jon

You're so right. It all sounds good at first but as big as they are, any engineer who thinks steel doesn't shrink in the heat and rain never spent 4 months in a 300 sq ft motor home.