Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > MOTORHOME FORUMS > Class A Motorhome Discussions
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 05-31-2016, 10:33 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
Zoafan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 477
Buying a new Class A, looking for opinions On Winnebago,Forest River and Thor

Wife and I bought our first coach about 5 years ago, 2998 Fleetwood Discovery 36T DP. We loved the coach but it was just too much for us. We do 90% local weekend getaways, not once have we driven out of state. In the future we may do 1 extended trip, 1 week, a year if my work schedule permits. BUt most of our trips are Friday-Monday short and sweet local ones.

Must haves:
Bunks
Outdoor TV
Storage
Inverter

Would like it to have:
Side cameras

We have 1 daughter, she is 4. We also take a niece or nephew at times and he is 8. My wife is determined to have bunks, we went looking and these are the ones we are looking at:

Winnebago Vista 31BE, top of the wife's list right now
Forest River GEORGETOWN GT3 31B
Forest River FR3 32DS
Thor Motor Coach HURRICANE 34J

Once thing we learned with the Discover is it is just too big for us. We don;t do a whole lot inside the coach besides sleep, we are almost always outside.My wife won't drive it so I am always driving. And the little we use the coach a DP is just overkill.

We originally started looking at Class C's but then we were shown the Winnebago 31BE and we get more storage in the Class A and it's almost the exact same size as the Class C in size.

I have read and heard horror stories about Thor, we like the layout but the details worry me. The Winnebago has everything organized, thought out and nice. Thor on the other hand just has them there and seemed to just put things where they would fit.

Any thoughts or ideas? All are within what we want to spend and are all brand new 2016/2017 models.

We like the bunk idea because our daughter can sleep in the bunk and we can have the coach still usable. We can make breakfast, dinner, watch TV on the couch etc while she sleeps in the bunk. Plus it allows us to let her bring a friend as she gets older. The way our coach is now we lose the couch, or the dinette, when she is asleep.

When we started looking at 35'+ I see no reason to get rid of our Discovery. Our entire reason for selling the Discovery was to cut down on maintenance and size. Spending $2-3k a year in yearly maintenance was about what we spend camping a year.
__________________
1998 Fleetwood Discovery 36T Diesel Pusher
Zoafan is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 05-31-2016, 10:36 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Arizona
Posts: 1,134
I think Thor is the one to worry about. I read about lots of issues. Never owned one myself. The folks that run our RV Storage Lot used to work in Sales in Tucson, and said stay far away from Thor products.
Elwood58 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 10:39 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Zoafan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 477
Also another question, my worry was these units only having 1 AC unit.

Can these motorhomes keep an RV cool with just 1 unit? We do like to go to the river and it can be 110*
__________________
1998 Fleetwood Discovery 36T Diesel Pusher
Zoafan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 10:43 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Zoafan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 477
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elwood58 View Post
I think Thor is the one to worry about. I read about lots of issues. Never owned one myself. The folks that run our RV Storage Lot used to work in Sales in Tucson, and said stay far away from Thor products.
That is what I have heard also. But then you hear great things about them from owners.

Just looking at the units I can see quality differences:
__________________
1998 Fleetwood Discovery 36T Diesel Pusher
Zoafan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 10:48 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Zoafan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 477
Another dumb question that I can't find an answer to. We went to 3 dealerships and I hate going because all the sales person does is nod and say yes, lets talk numbers.

Do all Class A come with an inverter?

And why do none of them come with Satellite? Is this normal?
__________________
1998 Fleetwood Discovery 36T Diesel Pusher
Zoafan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 10:57 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 3,059
Where are you located. I would also look at the Newmar Baystars, they are really quality built and most models have two AC's. If you are talking about going to the Colorado River, I would definitely get one with two AC's for the summer heat. You may pay a few thousand more for the Baystar, but the quality will be well worth it. You can pretty much get a 25% +/- discount off msrp on a new one so build that into your pricing plan. If you are in the SoCal area go on-line to Tom Lindstrom RV and you will see some of the models available, and they will not be significantly more in price than what you are looking at. You get what you pay for so do your research and it will save you time and money down the road.
__________________
Mike & Charlotte
2014 Newmar Canyon Star 3610
Orange County, California
Mike and Cha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 11:08 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Zoafan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 477
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike and Cha View Post
Where are you located. I would also look at the Newmar Baystars, they are really quality built and most models have two AC's. If you are talking about going to the Colorado River, I would definitely get one with two AC's for the summer heat. You may pay a few thousand more for the Baystar, but the quality will be well worth it. You can pretty much get a 25% +/- discount off msrp on a new one so build that into your pricing plan. If you are in the SoCal area go on-line to Tom Lindstrom RV and you will see some of the models available, and they will not be significantly more in price than what you are looking at. You get what you pay for so do your research and it will save you time and money down the road.
I cannot find a Bay Star 3004 in stock anywhere to go see, this is the only model with bunks I believe.

Yes I am SoCal, went to GiantRV and Mike Thompson. Not impressed with either
__________________
1998 Fleetwood Discovery 36T Diesel Pusher
Zoafan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 11:52 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Zoafan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 477
Ok a new entry, just worked an awesome deal on a 2016 Coachmen Mirada 35BH.

Bigger than we want but it has everything we are looking for and an extra bathroom.

Thoughts on this coach>?
__________________
1998 Fleetwood Discovery 36T Diesel Pusher
Zoafan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 12:00 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Gordon Dewald's Avatar
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 14,885
Check out Lichtsinn RV for your Winnie. IMO they are a great dealership. Worth the drive to pick up you unit and take the factory tour while there.
__________________
Gordon and Janet
Tour 42QD/InTech Stacker
Gordon Dewald is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 12:08 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Smitty77's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Over the next hill, around the next curve...
Posts: 5,659
I'd also suggest Newmar. Even if you can't find a bunk model to walk thru, you can look at their site, ands till walk thru another non bunk model Bay Star.

On the three you asked about, well so much depends upon specific models.
General, I'd give the nod to Winnie. Then consider the other two a tie. Thor has made regular improvements on build and materials over say the last 5 years or so. Berkshire buying them and helped with the management team changes, as well as the financial backing to start turning things around.

But for sure, as you're writing the check, go kick your own tires get the one that you feel meets your needs the best!

Good luck to you,
Smitty
__________________
07 Country Coach Magna Rembrandt 45' ISX600
Roo II was our 04 Country Coach Allure 40'
OnDRoad for The JRNY! Enjoy life...
Smitty77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 12:31 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
computerguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: FT on the Road
Posts: 3,831
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoafan View Post
Another dumb question that I can't find an answer to. We went to 3 dealerships and I hate going because all the sales person does is nod and say yes, lets talk numbers.

Do all Class A come with an inverter?

And why do none of them come with Satellite? Is this normal?
Learn to politely say just looking to the salesperson. Learn to think that if a salesperson is talking there is high probability he is not being very honest.

Not all class As come with inverters

Not all class As come with satellite
__________________
I don't subscribe to threads I reply to so will not see your reply to my comment. Drop me a direct message if you want a reply from me.
Cheers!
computerguy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 12:33 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
computerguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: FT on the Road
Posts: 3,831
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoafan View Post
Also another question, my worry was these units only having 1 AC unit.

Can these motorhomes keep an RV cool with just 1 unit? We do like to go to the river and it can be 110*
If it is 110 I doubt 1 AC will cool any rv. Even with 2 ACs on the roof at 110 it will be a struggle. If you need two ACs then you need a larger generator to run both also. 5500 watts would not be enough to run 2 ACs.
__________________
I don't subscribe to threads I reply to so will not see your reply to my comment. Drop me a direct message if you want a reply from me.
Cheers!
computerguy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 12:39 PM   #13
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 4
Smile We also suggest Newmar

We also suggest Newmar. Over the years we have owned 9 MH and have found Newmar well worth the money. Also suggest checking with Midway RV in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Chad is a great salesman to work with and I am sure he will treat you right.
Anderson410 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-31-2016, 12:42 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 3,059
Quote:
Originally Posted by computerguy View Post
If it is 110 I doubt 1 AC will cool any rv. Even with 2 ACs on the roof at 110 it will be a struggle. If you need two ACs then you need a larger generator to run both also. 5500 watts would not be enough to run 2 ACs.
We have two AC's and the 5500 Generator, they both run fine at the same time off the generator, and keep the MH cool in 100 plus degree weather. I don't know where you come up with that advice, the generator supplies the same power as when we are hooked up to the 50 amp service at a full hookup spot.
__________________
Mike & Charlotte
2014 Newmar Canyon Star 3610
Orange County, California
Mike and Cha is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
class a, thor, winnebago



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Forest River Georgetown XL or Thor Challenger MeSteve Class A Motorhome Discussions 2 03-21-2015 12:01 PM
Buying a high mile Thor questions and opinions Outdoor_Girl Damon 10 02-04-2015 05:01 PM
Viewfinders, Forest River Apex, Flagstaff opinions? Liv4mor Expandables, Hybrids, & Lightweights Discussion 2 09-06-2014 09:14 PM
Most reliable-Jayco, Snow River,Forest River? ClintMyra Travel Trailer Discussion 11 04-26-2012 08:03 AM
2004 Forest River Georgetown 326 opinions HNA Forest River Owners Forum 9 03-04-2012 10:01 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:58 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.