Wanna be full timers

[Pamandbob]

Greetings to all. We are presently researching what is the best choice for full time mh living. We have made the choice that full time can be not only be a great fun lifestyle but seems to be as cost effective as the stix/brick choice, if you make the right decisions. We are looking at a 2 year time table to pull the trigger. The problem lies in what to purchase. Our decision process started with 5th's but frankly we don't see any cost savings over a ten year period. DP with the longevity of cummins is our choice. The $200,000 price range is our limit but wow there is so many choices. She loves the new fleetwood discovery 40x, my concern is quality durability with fleetwood. Family has a 2002 newmar that has had nearly 0 issues, which I love. Does the pre 2007 emmision engines have an edge over new mh's? This forum is great and very valuable in that people's opinions can vary but are very use full for this HUGE choice. I guess our question is, with your experience what would you buy if you were starting over?

[Barbaraok]

First, you have a great time frame and $ cap, so take your time. Personally I would look at 2-4 year old Foretravels and Newmars. Let someone else spend the first year getting all of the bugs worked out (and they all have gremlins that need to be worked out) and taking the big depreciation hit.

Second, when you narrow it down to a specific manufacturer, start reading the owner's group forum, either here or on some other forum. Great place to get information on the good and bad for a particular manufacturer.

And if you are going to fulltime, make sure you get on the Escapees forum and read the fulltiming sections and the "Graduating to Fulltime" section - -best information on fulltiming anywhere.

Barb

[JimM68]

Our '08 has the DPF system, but not the EGR or urea used in '10's and newer. It's no big deal. It regenerates maybe every couple thousand miles, lights a light on the dash for half an hour or so. Other than that I don't know it's there.

Agree to get something 2 or 3 years old. We paid about half new list for our knight, 3 years old under 20k miles. And (knock wood) it has been perfect. I search frantically for things I want to modify or make better... and mostly don't find them. I rarely find anything broken. Almost boring compared to the 10 year olf F53 pace arrow we started with.

[TDiGuy]

I bought my beaver because of several reasons. First I saw way too many cummins motorhomes with bad motors... never saw a bad cat. Second I liked the fact that the slide out had no awning. Ever tried to sweep below an awning?
Do you really want that stuff in your rv when you slide in? Third it has the best woodwork i have ever seen. 100 percent wood cabinets. I like the wood beams in what looks like a leather ceiling. Forth with the slide in you can totally use the rv
and still no feel cramped. In answer to you questions about diesels... I could not
afford a new one. But I have a diesel Vw or 3... With some 2007s you have to
use special oil which cost more and you may need a special ureatha to keep the
emissions going. My bug was a 99. Took no special oil. Did not smoke hardly at
all on the new uls fuels... only drawback is that I had to at 4oz of power service
which i do in all my diesels to keep the diesel from freezing. My brother who worked at Detroit diesel said to only buy a Cat... Some of the 07 and up don't
get as good of mpg as the older ones...
So... even if I had the money to buy a new one... I would buy an 2006 or later
for about $100,000 that was low miles and well maintained. You would save on
taxes, insurance, fuel and maybe repairs to emissions when the warrenty expires... plus your depreciation would be way less.