Sea Breeze purchase

[tps0424]

I am looking at a used 2005 Sea Breeze 1341. It has the V10 and under 10,000 miles. Is ther anything specific on this coach that has been a problem that I should be looking more closely at? I understand that National is bankrupt but, I don't imagine I would get much if any warranty support from them on a 3 year old used coach anyway.

Thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

["007"]

If you have any chassis related problems they should still be covered. Check this LINK for recalls.

[tps0424]

Does anyone know if this model comes with seat belts at the dinette or couch? I can't remember seeing them but, maybe they were pushed down?

[Richard S.]

By law the sofa and foward faceing dinette seat require belts. They may have been tucked under the sofa and dinette, thats what I do when not in use.

[KTM Camper]

My 2007 Seabreeze 1321 has two seatbelts in the forward facing dinette seat and two at the sofa.

[tps0424]

There were no seatbelts. The dealer is going to install some for us at the sofa. He said it wouldn't be safe at the dinette.

[Glenn and Kathy]

I had'ta go n look. No seat belts on any of my dinette seats. Is that a state or fed law, and when did it go into effect?

Glenn

[Richard S.]

Every vehicle, by federal law, must post certain weights pertaining to that vehicle. All Class A RVs have such a label (federal data plate), and it is supposed to be in the driver's area for powered RVs; and in the front left quadrant of towables.

Class Bs, Cs, and towing trucks or towed vehicles, it's on the inside of the front door. It will always state the gross vehicle weight rating, which means the most it can weigh fully loaded, with passengers.

Gross combined vehicle rating (GCWR) is the total of the towing and towed vehicle -- such as truck plus fifth wheel; or Class A plus a tow car.

Gross Axle Weight Rating -- not perfectly suited to RVs. Commercial trucks usually are fairly even across the four corners. But RVs get loaded in odd ways. RVSEF has found that 10% of all RVs exceed a tire rating without exceeding the gross axle weight rating.

Unloaded Vehicle Weight -- Essentially the weight of the RV before accessories.

Sleeping Capacity Weight Rating -- Pertains to motorized vehicles only. If it has four sleeping positions, it means you need four seat belts.

Cargo Carrying Capacity -- Tells you how much of your stuff you can put in that RV. Average full timer carries 3,000 pounds; average extended time RVer carries 2,000 pounds.

The bottom line to all this is that before you fall in love with a new RV, first look at the carrying capacities that are needed for your intended use. It's the responsibility of the buyer to do so.



In close rating situations, be sure to know your RV's weight distribution -- especially fresh water and holding tanks. A front mounted fresh water tank and empty gray and black water tanks in the back, the weight will gradually, but significantly, shift from front to back as you use up the water.

[tps0424]

Guess what? I couldn't fathom why there would be absolutely no seatbelts other than the driver and passenger in this motorhome that has listed as 5 person sleeping capacity and 7 on the title so... I went back to cheeck for myself. As Richard knows from another forum, my 7 year old found the seatbelts! They had slipped down behind the couch!!!

We should be picking it up shortly. I can't wait for spring!

[Richard S.]

Sure glad everything worked out ok

[Richard 34A]

Quote:

Originally posted by tps0424: I am looking at a used 2005 Sea Breeze 1341. It has the V10 and under 10,000 miles. Is ther anything specific on this coach that has been a problem that I should be looking more closely at? I understand that National is bankrupt but, I don't imagine I would get much if any warranty support from them on a 3 year old used coach anyway. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

I stopped by my local National RV dealer this morning; total blow-out pricing on new 2008 models. They had a 29' for $63k, a 32' for $68k and a 35' for $88k. The first two were Surf Sides and the last one is a Dolphin. They also have a few Dolphin LX's and a diesel or two. The bad news is that there is NO factory warranty (other than the chassis) and who knows what kind of factory suppot there will be: assume 'none'.

For the most part, that's probably not a big deal but I have to wonder if you wipe out a cargo door or two, then what? Sure were nice looking units though...

[Blue Ribbon]

Caution:
Basement doors may be delaminated. They can be fixed, but with a lot of work.

Door removed, outter panel removed, and edges bedded with epoxy. I think this will work. I will know later this summer.

Four of our doors 100% edge delaminated. The rest, no less than 25% delamination.

We only have 18000 miles on coach. You would think we would have been running across Jeep trails (or the Penn Turnpike) but no such rough travel.

Yes, we would buy another National product, but would take into consideration such fairlures in the pricing.

[Rick 2005 Dolphin 5376]

We have a 05 Dolphin 5376 in the Aruba color scheme. I've got 3 basement doors delaminating from the inner backing. There seems to be a seam right about where the hinges are attached. I'm going to support the whole mess with some aluminum sheet and some 3M epoxy that we glue some F22 Raptor parts together with. I've done a test and it seems to work pretty well. Short of that and a few other "nagging" manufacturing issues, we are very happy with our purchase. Bought as new 05, (untitled) in 7-06. MSRP was 156,000, we paid 115,000. Now that they are "giving" away all the margins, I think ours has dropped further than it would of had NRV stayed afloat. Our plan was to upgrade to a DP this year but I think we'll ride out some more depreciation first. The W24 chassis has no problems towing our 07 Wrangler Unlimited and life aboard is pretty darn nice.

[tps0424]

Quote:

Originally posted by Blue Ribbon: Caution: Basement doors may be delaminated. They can be fixed, but with a lot of work. Door removed, outter panel removed, and edges bedded with epoxy. I think this will work. I will know later this summer. Four of our doors 100% edge delaminated. The rest, no less than 25% delamination. We only have 18000 miles on coach. You would think we would have been running across Jeep trails (or the Penn Turnpike) but no such rough travel. Yes, we would buy another National product, but would take into consideration such fairlures in the pricing.

Bill... You posted this after I had picked up my Sea Breeze but, thanks to you, I knew to look for this and the dealership is repairing nearly all of my doors. I think only two had no signs at all of delamination. The service manager told me they have known of this issue for a while and have fixed many of them. Hopefully, mine turn out well, thanks to all of their experience with this particular issue.
They gave me 30 days bumper to bumper and a 2 year service plan with my Sea Breeze. I'm glad I found this in the first 30 days as a 'warranty company' may not have covered the delamination.
Thank you for pointing out an issue that I may have missed. I would have just let it sit until spring!