New Essence

[wmpbauer]

My wife and I stumbled into a 2008 Essence in June 2009. It had sat on a dealer lot for a year. Damon has been pretty good at working through a whole host of issues....some big ones and a lot of little ones. Ihope once we work through all the punch list from sitting for so long, that we'll have a great coach. I was curious what kind of mileage youre getting?

We love the design too!

[deaton]

wmpbauer -

Looks like a real nice coach!

I'm not familiar with the Essence, but I checked it out on Damon's web site (in the archive section) and it appears to be somewhat similar to my 08 Monaco Camelot. Mine has the Cummins 400 ISL, while it would appear yours may have the 425.

Like you, I bought a 2008 model (December 2009), which had been sitting unsold on the dealer's lot for about a year - actually 14 months. It had the 2200 delivery miles on it, plus another 2000 from when the dealer took it up to the RV show in Louisville in early December, plus a few hundred more "demo" miles. So I picked it up with 4994 on the clock.

After adding over 3000 since December (still working full time), I'm getting 7.6 mpg average pulling a 4 door jeep. And that includes mostly flat terrain, with some up and down across the Texas hill country.

Issues have been few with my coach other than a leaky hydraulic pump that powered my two front slides and needed to be repaired. And I'm now chasing down a minor electrical problem. But there's always something.

It sounds like you are getting some support from Damon. Monaco answers the phone, but there is NO warranty there on these orphan coaches other than what you can extract from the OEM's for failed parts - like my pump.

[DBOL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmpbauer my wife and i stumbled into a 2008 essence in june 2009. It had sat on a dealer lot for a year. Damon has been pretty good at working through a whole host of issues....some big ones and a lot of little ones. Ihope once we work through all the punch list from sitting for so long, that we'll have a great coach. I was curious what kind of mileage youre getting? We love the design too!

we have a 2008 tuscany i got 7.3 or 8.0 depending on calculating use of genny while driving.

What where the issues you had with unit and what where the big ones?

We really like the floor plan 4055 and the ride.

Dbol

[wmpbauer]

Replaced Navigation Unit, Jack hydraulic pump, Step motor, House batteries replaced, kitchen cabinet bracing was strengthened, basement door repaired, dash air fixed, entire cooling unit in norcold refrigerator replaced, premature regeneration on Cummins 425 paid, wiper seals inborn rear slides replaced, cracked diode on energy management board replaced.

We're pretty new, and I don't know I'd this is a long or short list, but both Damon/Thor Insustries and the OEM's have been absolutely solid in servicing our complaints and Lazy Days in Florida has handled all the work. Repairs have been slow but solid. In the first year, our coach was out of service for about 9 if the 12 months. Damon is still supporting the product.

We are currently on our first long journey and we're doing ok. Currently in Waco, TX, we've discovered that cooling the coach in bright sun at 102 degrees does not work well (we got to 89 degrees). Otherwise doing well.

So far, we are averaging 7.9 mpg towing a Ford Edge toad.

[powerboatr]

your not the only one with cooling issues,

congrats on the essence, they are pretty nice

[doc]

We have the 08 Essence as well. Tow a Honda Element and get about 8 to 8.5. Drive around 60-68 mph. In this terrible heat we are having here in the South, we are running the house air off the genset almost constantly while on the highway.
Just had the 10K service done at Gaffney. Hope it gets a little better.

[wmpbauer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doc We have the 08 Essence as well. Tow a Honda Element and get about 8 to 8.5. Drive around 60-68 mph. In this terrible heat we are having here in the South, we are running the house air off the genset almost constantly while on the highway. Just had the 10K service done at Gaffney. Hope it gets a little better.

We left Tampa and had the dash air go out....fixed that and then had a regeneration fault with speed limitation as we were climbing out of the I-10 tunnel in Mobile, AL. Had that fixed in Baton Rouge at GM Varnado & Sons. They found it and fixed me right up. Damon, Cummins, and Freightliner are fantastic. We're a 11K miles.

Now doing the college tour in central Texas with our granddaughter. Parked in the sun w/100° heat and couldn't get below 89° until after dark. We're going to try using the "dry" setting and hope that works better.