Looking at buying my first MH

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by eddndee

My take is buy used for great savings. Buy Winebago/Itasca for a quality motorhome and if I was to buy a newer Class A, I would look at the new 'Retro Brave' with the king size bed. I have had 2 Itasca class As and loved them.
EdD
1998 Safari 2620 Class C

I agree with EdD about buying used. Can't on Winnebago/Itasca any more. One of the biggest complaints we have with the models years of 2005 on to date is quality control. And the Winnebago service center in Forest City, IA was once considered a top notch place to go for a guaranteed correct fix for one of there motorhomes. Not so any more. I am on my second W/I class A coach. Can't say the build quality is any better than the competition. I have experienced the deterioration of quality service from the factory folks first hand.

A good rule of thumb to use when getting ready to buy is this.

What are your plans? Full time or week-end trips.

Full-timer's seems to do better with class A diesel pushers. Week-end adventures are great in a gasser of any class, depending on family size.

Floor plan. This covers a lot of territory. Things like where the main TV is located or the galley layout are important things to consider. Bath & 1/2? Bunk beads? You have many choices.

A residential refrigerator may be important to you. A washer/dryer is a great feature.

The gassers have special problems to be considered. It is best to view them withing the forum. DP's have the myth of being expensive to maintain. I have not experienced this. When things go wrong this could be a good argument. But I think most of us buy to expect long service and not lots of shop time. The majority of the DP's will be on the road for many many fun miles.

These are just a few of my thoughts. Buying used is probable the wisest advise we all can pass on to a new into RVing camper.

Happy trails,
Rick Y

[AKIQPilot]

The first thing you need to decide is your budget. How much do you have to spend. How much do you have to put down and how much will you finance.

The next thing you need to ask yourself is how mechanically inclined are you. Will you be able to make some or most of the service/repairs yourself or will you rely on a repair shop to evaluate your problem and perform the work.

Floorplan is one of the next things you need to decide. Many of the 2000-2010 coaches use a very similar floorplan with a medium sized bedroom slideout on passenger side and a larger livingroom slideout on the drivers side. If you are comfortable with this style floorplan there are hundreds of very nice used coaches out there for a good price.

If you want a more modern floorplan with 3 or 4 or full wall slideouts you may need to look for a newer coach. Recognize that additional slideouts and full wall slideouts are more complex and come with their share of potential issues.

If you decide on a unit with more than 2 slides you need to decide what is more important to you, opposing slides in the bedroom for a larger sleeping space or opposing slides in the livingroom for more living entertaining space.

Another consideration is the placement of the living room TV. RV builders have been known to put the main TV in all sorts of kooky places. Do you want a big TV sitting right above the drivers and passengers heads? Do you want a TV that is viewable from the couch as well as the driver and passenger captains chairs? Do you want a TV that is mounted mid coach where you have to look through the kitchen and dining room (and all the activity that goes on in that area) to see it? We don't watch much TV in our RV's but the placement of the TV was still an important part of our choice when purchasing our coach.

Liquid holding tank capacity is also a consideration. Proximity of the water heater to the kitchen sink is an important consideration. The longer you have to wait for warm water to show up at the faucet the faster you run out of water and the faster your gray water tank fills up. Obviously that point is less important if you will always be hooked up to utilities.

There are a huge number of things to consider when purchasing your first RV. Most of those things only the buyer can answer. Winnebago quality is fairly consistent with the other mid range coaches on the market. There was a downturn in quality with all mid range manufacturers between about 2010 and 2015 but that seems to be improving. Although it doesn't take much reading on this forum and others to see that they all are still having some quality control issues.

[Heating man]

Originally Posted by eddndee

My take is buy used for great savings. Buy Winebago/Itasca for a quality motorhome and if I was to buy a newer Class A, I would look at the new 'Retro Brave' with the king size bed. I have had 2 Itasca class As and loved them.
EdD
1998 Safari 2620 Class C

can't buy a new brave they are out of production.