Fleetwood vs. Newmar & HR/Monaco or Tiffin

[michguy]

I'm getting closer to purchasing a Used Diesel Pusher. I'm seeing a lot of Fleetwood Discovery & Expedition models. They look great, but how do they compare with Newmar, Holiday Rambler/Monaco and Tiffin ? We're looking at 2003 - 2006 models.
Michguy

[Bob (WA0MQE)]

Your question is too broad. You can't just compare manufacturer's, you need to narrow it down to specific models. Some models are built quite a bit different then other models. I personally like our Monaco over our last coach which was a Fleetwood. In my opinion the quality of the Monaco is much better. But on the other hand the Fleetwood had some neat offerings the Monaco doesn't, just like the Monaco has features the Fleetwood didn't.

["007"]

If you want to compare chassis's Spartan under a Newmar and with Comfort Drive on 2008's and above is the way to go.

[Route 66]

There's a lot of personal preference in quality perception.

My thoughts are from highest to lowest quality;

Tiffin and a very close second, Newmar,

Fleetwood, HR/Monaco.

[hardy1000]

I have purchased 2 new Monaco motorhomes and have been very happy with both. In 2007 myself and 2 friends ordered 3 new Monacos together and the only major issue we have had is my buddy's Dynasty. He had a steering problem which was corrected by an alingment. I had an issue with my convection oven that was replaced. I have called Monaco/Navastar support recently to ask some questions regarding adding solar and changing my coolant and like the old Monaco they were very supportative and answered all questions.

[Vegasdan]

Newmar.

[michguy]

Thanks to all of you. I know my question was quite broadly stated, but I guess I was trying to find out if the higher end Fleetwoods would be near the same quality area as the other brands that I named, overall.
The fun will start soon !
Michguy

[B Bob]

All of the makers you talk about build a wide variety of motor homes. When we were looking at motor homes a bit over a year ago we liked the Fleetwood Providence quite a bit. We loved the full wall slide. IMHO at the same price point each of the four you mention will be VERY close in build quality. And in MANY cases the components used to build the coach are not similar but identical. This includes drive motors, transmissions, furnaces, fridges, and so on. And you can get wonderful motor homes to lemons from any of the four you mention. Two very close friends of mine bought a new Dutch Star and Foretravel - both lemons. Both had to replace motors and much much more. Do not misunderstand I do NOT think that in general Dutch Star and Foretravel are bad motor homes. To the contrary I think both are very good ones. But my friends had lots of problems.

At an FMCA rally a few months back I sat in mid range coaches from three of the four makers you ask about. If you were blindfolded when getting in, likely you would not be able to tell that there was any difference the coaches were so similar. So my suggestion is go see-drive a bunch and take your time. Figure out what drives like you like it and has the floor plan that meets your needs. As you can see from the previous posts there are lots of varied opinions as to who makes the best coaches. The only opinion that really counts is your families.

We ended up buying a very high end coach that was a few years older. We got a motor home that I do not think could be improved upon. Quality, features, driving, are all above first class. We started in the mid range newer too. After driving 30 coaches we ended up in a higher end somewhat older one. BTW - Fleetwood owns American Caoch who makes beautiful motor homes that are worth looking at.

[Jim28730]

Floor plan....floor plan....floor plan!

[BABrede]

We looked at all those manufactures before buying our coach. We looked at 2000-2008 models in our price point. I'm a big fanatic on fit and finish and our American Eagle just seemed far better than a lot of the other brands. All our cabinetry is solid oak, complete smooth underbelly, IFS front suspension, heated floors, these are just some of the things we liked on the AE that wasn't on the other brands. We continue to look at all brands of coaches, but it seems our favorites are #1 American Coach, #2 Tiffin. Wish my lucky lottery numbers would pay off so I could afford a new coach. Until then, we are comfortable in our older model. Oh and we are full timers as well.

Good luck on your search!

Kerry

[Gary RVRoamer]

but I guess I was trying to find out if the higher end Fleetwoods would be near the same quality area as the other brands that I named, overall.

Yeah, but the Fleetwood brands you mentioned are NOT their high end ones. Just the opposite, in fact. In those years, the top Fleetwood line was the Revolution, plus Fleetwood also has the upscale American Coach set of brands (e.g. American Eagle and American Tradition) that are above all the Fleetwood named coaches in terms of quality, amenities and price.

[michguy]

Thank you Gary. I am aware of the American line. I also know that my budget won't permit serious consideration of those, unless somebody was generous to a fault or desperate.

[denochs]

You may not find the generous soul out there. But you may well find the desperate one. IF quality is higher on your list over features or floor plan I would encourage you to look at some older high end MHs. We bought our 03 about 2 1/2 years ago when used prices started to drop and have had no serious problems.

You may be surprised to find something with low miles and well kept in the 100K range or lower.

Dave

[michguy]

Thanks Dave. I'll definitely look at the higher quality coaches.