Quote:
Originally Posted by Waynep117
I wanted to throw a few models out there, if anyone owns one of these...
Would love to hear your pros, and yes cons. Good and Bad- your exp.
*BOUNDER
**BAYSTAR
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My first Class A was a 34' Bounder gas unit on the Ford Chassis and no tag axle. It served us well for 3 years when we went to our first diesel MH. This was a new 1999 when we got it. I would say the biggest issue with it was that we were constantly having mouse problems. I would find entry spots under the coach that Fleetwood did not take the time to properly seal...like where wires or gas lines went from outside to inside the coach. Finally I got so irritated that one night I went and turned on every single light in the coach and bay compartments, then climbed underneath. EGADS! It still looked like a Christmas tree there were so many spaces showing light! One was actually between two bay compartments that were about 1" apart and they had nothing to close off the 1" wide by the depth of the compartments space at the top and it went right into the coach! I got everything all sealed up and while it cut the mouse invasions down to a trickle, I was still getting some. Finally I found that the rubber seal around the firewall was so flimsy I could easily push my finger through...so the mice had found that they could do it too. I sealed that all the way around and never had another mouse.
Newmar Baystar. Owned a 2010 that I purchased new in 2009 during the depths of the Great Recession. I had a quite a few problems, though most were with "appliances" and those were not Newmar's fault. One of the major items was the furniture quality/longevity. Mind you, we are not full time...just leisure camping and 2 week summer vacation types. The foam in the couches, dinette, and captain's chairs gave out in mere months and the stitching was also coming loose. I worked with Newmar and the furniture manufacturer and all were redone with a much higher-quality foam (Newmar spec'd the low-grade stuff....this is an entry-level coach) and recovered. It was still never very comfortable to us. The other thing was that we would get water flying out of the vent by the passenger seat when we had the air on. Turned out it was a very poor design with the condensation tube ending just above the vent. The dripping water would then blow out the vent soaking the carpet. Just bad design on that and an extension on the tube fixed it. We used that RV for 8 years with no other "Newmar" faults.
You have received a lot of good advice already on selecting your first purchase. I'll give my two cents. Look at construction FIRST...not floorplans. A nice floorplan built on crap is crap. Look for plywood vs OSB in floors and ceilings. How far is the spacing in floor joists, roof joists? What are the insulation values in the roof, floor, walls? Dual Pane windows? Did they spec a long-enough wheelbase for the length of the unit? Personally, I prefer a good fiberglass roof over rubber for durability, not getting branches you may scrape across the top poking into it, and ability to easily clean it. How has the manufacturer built onto the raw chassis to support the "house" on top? How heavy-duty? Did they spec a big enough engine and chassis GVWR for what they are putting on it? That was an issue with the Bounder I had and back then I didn't know enough to check it out first. The design put all the weight in the back basically overloading the rear axle if I had a full water tank and gas tank. Anyway...you get the idea. After you have selected QUALITY in manufacturing, then select a floorplan from those builders that will work for you.
Someone also stated that good deals won't last long. On my current coach I was keeping an eye on the internet every single day. Even at that, fantastic deals would pop up and be gone before I could get to them. Finally I caught one in a brand and model on my list with a dealer 1600 miles away. We negotiated a contract...I mean negotiated terms. I did not take the standard form contract that basically favors a dealer but made it much more reciprocal. My wife and I drove to the dealer and used my 3-page checklist to go over everything in the RV. She took the inside...I took the outside which included crawling under the unit and inspecting everything under the coach. Also getting on the roof and checking all sealants, etc. Every appliance was tested/checked. Going on two years now on a 10 year old coach with basically no material issues and purchased at over 25% less than the going rate based on what like units were selling for. Homework will pay off. Don't be in a rush and GOOD LUCK.
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