Quote:
Originally Posted by Winemaker2
C.Martin
Can you elaborate a little more about the options you (luckily) have and why you like them?
We're in the market for a 33-35 ft DP and considering a 2013 Ventana 34 that looks like a layout we like and is reasonably priced (at least on first look)
We are on our 3rd MH - current one is '03 Winnie Adventurer 31Y gasser - It has served us well and like the layout separate shower, booth dinette, queen bed - looking to move up to a DP for driving / riding pleasure.
My impression is that the Cummins 360, Allison 3000 and Freightliner chassis are a good combo.
Any insights / comments appreciated.
Don
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We were moving from an entry-mid level 5th Wheel. It was a bit overwhelming to see how many options could be added. When we chose the floor plan...we may have made a few comments like - "ah, we really don't need that, or I really don't like that". In the end we fell into a coach that we really didn't fully understand how great is really is until we started using it.
A for instance. Bath and 1/2... seems like a waste. Wow, do we ever like that feature. I balked at the raised platform the toilet in the half-bath was on...thinking a flat floor would look better. Well they do make them with dual macerator toilets. Lucky for us...we have a macerator in the full bath, and a gravity valve toilet in the half-bath. This is so handy when you camp with a partial hook-up, or no hook-up. The macerator has two water use levels. In the normal mode...two people can fill the black tank in just 2 or three days. It does slightly better in water miser mode. We did the Tampa SuperShow with the NKK this year and stuck with the gravity toilet. At the end of the week our black tank was 1/4 full. So, something like that --- it wasn't a stroke of genius on my part. We lucked into having that flexibility.
The AGS is such a great investment. We live in Florida and travel with our pets. Oftentimes we'll go find a local diner, or go out biking or kayaking during the day. Our Sammies are happy taking a nap. But if an electrical outage were to happen...the temperature inside the coach would get pretty hot. Having purchased the AGS...we can set it to respond to the Dometic thermostat. If the thermostat say "Cool" but the shore power is absent...when armed...the AGS will crank up and run the a/c units...once it's cooled down..,the generator will turn off. Earlier revisions of AGS will run for a user set period of time...if the coach is cool, it will shut off, if the coach is still hot...it will run another user set time period. In addition...there are three fantastic fans with thermostat control. You could set them to ventilate the coach if a certain temp is reached. Unless they've added it. The coaches above the Ventana level loose this feature because of a different control pad. Lucky me again.
We opted for the fiberglass roof. It just made installing solar a breeze. I used the VHB tape mounts. The higher level coaches have the beautiful surround on the roof...and Girard awnings. They hide the A/c units from view. I admit...the look is astounding, the awnings are gorgeous. They also cast a lot of shadows on your solar panels and make it harder to find shade free real estate up there. So, there is a trade off.
We like having a washer and dryer.
We actually like the opposing couches that convert to sleeping arrangements.
We actually like the all-electric option with residential fridge and Oasis system.
We like the entertainment system.
We like the two bathroom arrangement.
I like the towing capacity.
You can always use more storage, but we went with only one slide tray, in the pass thru compartment, and no tray in the half bay. Glad we did...our folding bikes wouldn't have had enough clearance with a tray in that bay.
Hose reel, and power cord reel...what a difference that makes. Wow.
Remote power locks...makes it so easy to load, or service the coach...enter my pin a click. Open. Saves a lot of fumbling with keys.
Actually, with tile floors,,,that Dirt Devil central vac is very nice. Just sweep into the kick plate and dirt is gone!
We thought some of this was unnecessary...and other things we thought we might like. But, as it turns out, everything works together and we are really really happy with this coach.
Oh, and before getting off the highway on a 177 mile journey...I was reading 9.2 mpg going 62 mph, pulling a Jeep Wrangler 4-dr. I don't know how accurate it is...but I have no reason to doubt it. I would have spent almost the same driving two keeps as I would the Jeep and the Motorhome. Not bad. So, the Cummins 8.9L 400hp ISL with Allison Transmission does pretty darned well. I lucked into that as well.
Each person will have a different list of happy things, and they will use thier coaches to do different things. I just hope whatever floor plan and options you choose...will may you as happy as we are with ours.
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