Allegro vs Bounder?

[DLoy1324]

We are narrowing our search down to either the Tiffin Allegro 31SA or Fleetwood Bounder 33C.

Any thoughts on which coach may out weight the other in terms of quality of build? Company soundness? Warranty claims? Dealer network? Other?

Thank you for your thoughts.

Dirk

[ByeTheWay]

Comparing Tiffin to Fleetwood is like comparing Apples to Bananas. I would go w/Tiffin

[jfran304]

Tiffin has been in business a long time and has a lot of loyal customers. Check out the Tiffin RV Network to see what the owners have to say.

You can go the factory and take a tour to see how they are made. If you order one you can go and watch it being built.

[tizzyfit]

I'm not sure how you'd compare a fleetwood product to an Allegro. The fleetwood just isn't in the same league.

[vsheetz]

Tiffin.

[TonyDi]

Tiffin......

[sterns]

31SA is a great floor plan, we love ours.

[Smitty77]

Sure seems like the Tiffen is getting all of the votes!

My advice would be to go with the floor plan that you feel best serves your needs.

Bounder's have many happy owners.

Tiffen has been around for along time. They for sure have loyal owners. Many are owners form the older days, that have stayed with Tiffen over the years. Tiffen did, as do all manufactures, have some problems with some models. And some coach owners I know today, not driving a Tiffen, were former Tiffen owners. (A few, had had multiple Tiffen's over a few decades.) Many grew tired of having to go back to the mother ship in Alabama to have problems resolved. And many complained about the turnaround, as in long, on waiting their turn in line for help. Two owners were also upset that after the long wait for their turn, only some of their items of concerns were addressed. All that being said, Tiffen is one of the few RV manufactures that provide the level of after warranty assistance, and I suppose I should say in warranty too, for their owners.

Fleetwood has been around along time too. Recently purchased by a new owner. They're I believe they're still the largest manufacturer, but admit with all of the purchasing and or combining of RV manufactures - I could easily have got that wrong. I believe they have one of the largest dealer networks.

ALL COACHES WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE FRUSTRATION IN OWNERSHIP!

Pick the coach that best meets your level of quality, budget, and living needs. Then carefully document the new ownership experience. One other tip, especially if you're not near the factory support area of a manufacture. Don't be afraid to pay a few thousand more at purchase, for a dealer near you with a good reputation. On a new coach, the first year of ownership can be much easier - with a good dealer helping you.

And my intent on this post, was to not knock Tiffen or Fleetwood. It was to point out that the livability of a coach is often more important then the manufacturer. And that having a good local dealer is worth as much, or more, as having good factory support.

Best of luck on your decision,
Smitty

[DLoy1324]

Thank you all for your thoughts.

Not surprisingly Tiffin is the overwhelming choice. It has been our plan for the past few years of looking to buy a 2-3 year old Allegro 31SA. However, we toured a new Bounder yesterday with a similar floorplan and were impressed with the build.

But as the old multiple choice exam saying goes; 'never change your original guess'. I think we will stay with our search for a used Tiffin.

Thank you all again for your thoughts.

Dirk

[Betr2Trvl]

My post #32 in this thread provides some details to consider comparing the Tiffin 31/32SA to the Bounder 33C.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f107/33c-...-316976-3.html

As I've said in many posts, our 31SA is our first RV, and we are very happy with our choice, no second guessing ourselves, now almost 2 years in, 16,000 miles, and about 10 months of RV travel, including 4 trips from 1 to 3 months in length.

The Bounder was our second choice, once we decided to bust our initial budget with either the Bounder or Tiffin (a new Bounder would have been about $10k or so less at that time). We simply liked the Tiffin better, and spent the extra money which at this point, think was money well spent particalrly since we ordered it exactly as we wanted; including the larger 24k chassis, which of course is standard on the 32SA and if important, would be much easier to find in a used 32SA than finding one the few 31SAs that have been ordered with it.

Floor plan wise, we really like the split bath set up with the large (for a coach this size at least) lavatory across from the shower.....

Not disssing the Bounder by any means, it really became the only true contender in our decision.

Good luck!

[wildeflowers]

Originally Posted by Betr2Trvl

including the larger 24k chassis, which of course is standard on the 32SA and if important, would be much easier to find in a used 32SA than finding one the few 31SAs that have been ordered with it.

This is one of the reasons we went with the 32SA instead of the 31. The larger chassis and king bed were no brainers for us and it's only 1 foot longer (33 vs 34, I believe). it gives you 2000 more lbs of CCC, and a more spacious bedroom, which is nice.

I prefer a split bath in rvs this size as well, and I love that the sofa is directly across form the tv/fireplace. The floor plan just really works for us, and I felt that I could see an uptick in quality compared to just about every other rv we toured.

[DGundy]

We took a 2013 Fleetwood 35 ft gas powered out for a test drive and found it underpowered and the noise level from the engine difficult to talk over. I ended up with a 2015 Winnebago Vista 30T after driving the same route as the Fleetwood.

[harleyjt]

Originally Posted by DGundy

We took a 2013 Fleetwood 35 ft gas powered out for a test drive and found it underpowered and the noise level from the engine difficult to talk over. I ended up with a 2015 Winnebago Vista 30T after driving the same route as the Fleetwood.

Interesting as they both would have the same powertrain.

[Cranemec]

Originally Posted by Smitty77

Sure seems like the Tiffen is getting all of the votes!

My advice would be to go with the floor plan that you feel best serves your needs.

Bounder's have many happy owners.

Tiffen has been around for along time. They for sure have loyal owners. Many are owners form the older days, that have stayed with Tiffen over the years. Tiffen did, as do all manufactures, have some problems with some models. And some coach owners I know today, not driving a Tiffen, were former Tiffen owners. (A few, had had multiple Tiffen's over a few decades.) Many grew tired of having to go back to the mother ship in Alabama to have problems resolved. And many complained about the turnaround, as in long, on waiting their turn in line for help. Two owners were also upset that after the long wait for their turn, only some of their items of concerns were addressed. All that being said, Tiffen is one of the few RV manufactures that provide the level of after warranty assistance, and I suppose I should say in warranty too, for their owners.

Fleetwood has been around along time too. Recently purchased by a new owner. They're I believe they're still the largest manufacturer, but admit with all of the purchasing and or combining of RV manufactures - I could easily have got that wrong. I believe they have one of the largest dealer networks.

ALL COACHES WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE FRUSTRATION IN OWNERSHIP!

Pick the coach that best meets your level of quality, budget, and living needs. Then carefully document the new ownership experience. One other tip, especially if you're not near the factory support area of a manufacture. Don't be afraid to pay a few thousand more at purchase, for a dealer near you with a good reputation. On a new coach, the first year of ownership can be much easier - with a good dealer helping you.

And my intent on this post, was to not knock Tiffen or Fleetwood. It was to point out that the livability of a coach is often more important then the manufacturer. And that having a good local dealer is worth as much, or more, as having good factory support.

Best of luck on your decision,
Smitty

+100!

Go with the one that best fits your needs and budget. You won't go wrong with either one.