Full body paint?

[WantaWinnie]

Are heat pumps incorporated into rooftop AC effective? Since heat rises, we wonder if they really work to heat the motor home. As with our previous post, we're trying to decide about options for a new [COLOR=#0072BC ! important][COLOR=#0072BC ! important]motor [COLOR=#0072BC ! important]home[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. We'd love to hear from those of you with experience.

[BigSkyBob]

[dons2346]

Yes they are however they will quit working when the outside temps get down into the 20's. Now someone is going to come along and say theirs work great at that temp.

Heat pumps are fine to take the early morning chill out of the coach but for sustained heating, they are noisy.

[WantaWinnie]

Well this is embarrassing!

Here's the question I intended to post last night under the title "Full Body Paint."

The motor home we are considering (Winnebago Sightseer 33C) comes standard with "deluxe graphics." That consists of white, gel coat, high gloss fiberglass with some areas painted for decoration (dealer says it's paint, not decals).

Full body paint is a $6,400 option. So we are inclined to skip that and go with the standard graphics. Any advice?

[Ed S]

I went with white this time...cooler in summer hot sun

[NLOVNIT]

Talking from experience (albeit Fleetwood instead of Winnebago), get the full body paint. Just negotiate that price down (we did) & get a light color to reduce heat absorbsion & make dirt less noticeable.

When we were looking at our motorhome, we had the choice of FBP or not. We first thought the FBP was too much of an extra cost, but I'm so glad we got it. The FBP will make for a higher resale later &, if it's anything like ours, with proper care & maintenance, it will look as good as new years down the road. Previous RV's of ours were white & they were a bear to keep clean. Our lt.grey shaded Bounder doesn't show dirt/dust hardly at all & it's so easy to wash/wax.

You won't regret paying a bit extra for the FBP, IMO.

Lori-

[Doug Sage]

I think you might be happy with painted stripes in stead of tape stripes. I have full body paint and like it a lot but it is expensive and I was disappointed in the thickness of the clearcoat. They really should have put on a second or third coat for the price. Tape stripes tend to curl on the edges and even crack in the heat so I would stay away from that if I could.

[go6car]

The great thing about this is that it is completely subjective and completely your choice. Just like the interior and the wood choices inside. Not telling you anything you don't already know. But, on looks alone, I'm not sure I could pass up that Dark Bronze Mist color that is offered! (Pewter would be my second choice).

Also, from what I've read, it costs much more than ~$6k to have a coach fully painted after-market (in the USA), so if you did decide to get this option, it would actually be cheaper out of the factory.

Look at a lot of actual photographs of all the colors (the brochure isn't even close to what they actually look like for some reason), and follow your gut feeling on what you like best.

I love the 33c, and it's on my list for when we're ready to move up to a motorhome!

Good luck!

[zippo]

The FBP is much easier to clean and keep looking good. And in case of damage easy to match the paint, much like a car repair. The FBP Winnebago has done, is not a first class job. You should not feel a ridge where one color meets another on a good FBP job. And as someone else said the clear coat is very thin. I have some spider cracks in the paint above the windshield. It's an easy fix but not low cost. If the body prep was poor before it was painted you can have peeling paint in time. Another problem as I see it is the unit is painted after all the windows and things have been installed. If you need a window replaced and the new window is slightly smaller than the original , you now will have a area that looks terrible because the paint no longer goes to the window edge.

[smlranger]

I would strongly recommend you go with the full body paint, especially if you think you will keep the coach for a number of years and if you will not be able to store it inside or otherwise under cover. The gelcoated fiberglass will eventually fade and is always more work to keep cleaned and looking good. We have a 2002 Winnebago that did not come with factory FBP and recently had the coach painted. It looks like a new coach and is so much more easy to keep clean. However, $6,400 now is far cheaper than having it painted later.

Also, while these things depreciate faster than a speeding bullet, IMO a coach with FBP will be more easy to sell down the road.

Regarding the previous post/s about the quality of Winnebago's paint jobs, they are painted by CDI in Forest City. They seem to do a pretty good job and use base coat/clear coat finishes. I will agree that some of the Winnebago paint jobs I've seen are not as 'slick' as some, including what I now have. However, I paid extra to have 4 clear coats put on over the base coats. Also, my painter wet sanded the edges of the various colors before applying the clear which makes a very smooth final finish.

Bottom line, $6,400 does not seem too high for FBP in today's market.

[Janjanjan]

We got FBP the first year it was offered in the Adventurer. It was about $6K then too, but I really wanted it. Even now, 5 years later, my subjective opinion of coaches with FBP is that they are more expensive. Some obviously disagree, note the See-Ya units, but we love it. Another consideration for us is that we park it on our property. We live in a gated community with 5 acre lots near Nashville. The MH is visible from the street but, because FBP is softer in effect than white, it doesn't stick out like an eyesore. We had thoroughly investigated covenants and neighbors' opinions prior to buying here, so we knew we'd be okay with parking any MH here. But it seems to me that ours is less obtrusive due to its color.

[RickO]

I'm another vote for FBP. Love it on our Winnie.

Rick

[FDchief]

I have an '03 Winnie without FBP. With a Porter Cable orbital polisher, I can keep up pretty well on the gel coat, but you should not use a polisher, or even any petroleum based wax (which is most) on the vinyl graphics. If your stripes are all painted on, I would go that route. But, if you will have vinyl graphics, spend the money, get the full body paint.

[tncruiser]

fbp is what sold us on our coach
brianj