Downsize from A to C?

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by MPH

We are still undecided as of now, Sarah. In a way, I wish we'd gotten a C in the first place. But, I was persuaded by some guys who are in love with their A's. There are many things we absolutely love about our coach, and it has a great layout for full-timing. I guess the verdict is still out.

We should hear something from Freightliner tomorrow about the oil leak. We have reservations for next weekend at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, so I hope we get Bow back tomorrow!

And to everyone who has replied, thanks so much.

Mel

Hey. I resemble that statement.

[MPH]

Originally Posted by flaggship1

Hey. I resemble that statement.

Roflmao. We have decided to stick with Bow for the first year on the road. Wish us lots of luck!

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by MPH

Roflmao. We have decided to stick with Bow for the first year on the road. Wish us lots of luck!

It's a good plan. And it's your original plan. The cost of entry was higher than anticipated but second guessing yourself is rarely productive.

[Ludmilla]

We are going through this thought process right now. We have a 39 foot Newmar diesel pusher with three slides and are considering a Navion 24J or 24M. This is a huge change and costly as well. We want to make sure we make the right decision. The Newmar is a great coach and well built. Here is the list of pros and cons we have come up with. Please tell me if I have missed something:


Pros of the diesel pusher:
Very comfortable to drive down the road.
Very quiet with the engine in the back.
Large holding and water tanks.
Washer and dryer on board.
Lots and lots of room with the opposing slides.
Better insulation.
Large refrigerator
Large convection microwave
Residential walk around queen bed
Lots of storage
Sits high with a big windshield for a great view


Cons of the diesel pusher:
Low gas mileage
More stressful to drive
Need to plan fuel stops - need places with lots of room
Cannot get into some camp sites
Need to be very careful where you go for height and length reasons.
More costly to maintain
It is a 2004 so I worry about having to replace things like refrigerators, etc.
Less freedom to go anywhere
More maintenance items with the air system, etc.


I am most concerned about the loss of room and refrigerator space. I am also not real pleased with the short corner bed. Does anyone have any advice for me? Greatly appreciated.

[WayneLee]

Ludmilla: I can address two of your concerns. If you look around, you will find many Class C's with a 4 door Norcold 1200 just like A's. Also, many Class C's have a regular queen-sized bed with room to walk around.

And, yes, these are mainly found in the larger Class C's. On my Forest River that's on order, I opted for a 2 door refrig instead of a 4 door because we never used all of our refrig before. Plus, it has a normal sized queen bed with room to walk around. It is a 30 footer which means it's only 6 feet shorter than my Class A was.

[CampDaven]

Originally Posted by Ludmilla

We are going through this thought process right now. We have a 39 foot Newmar diesel pusher with three slides and are considering a Navion 24J or 24M. This is a huge change and costly as well. We want to make sure we make the right decision. The Newmar is a great coach and well built. Here is the list of pros and cons we have come up with. Please tell me if I have missed something:


Pros of the diesel pusher:
Very comfortable to drive down the road.
Very quiet with the engine in the back.
Large holding and water tanks.
Washer and dryer on board.
Lots and lots of room with the opposing slides.
Better insulation.
Large refrigerator
Large convection microwave
Residential walk around queen bed
Lots of storage
Sits high with a big windshield for a great view


Cons of the diesel pusher:
Low gas mileage
More stressful to drive
Need to plan fuel stops - need places with lots of room
Cannot get into some camp sites
Need to be very careful where you go for height and length reasons.
More costly to maintain
It is a 2004 so I worry about having to replace things like refrigerators, etc.
Less freedom to go anywhere
More maintenance items with the air system, etc.


I am most concerned about the loss of room and refrigerator space. I am also not real pleased with the short corner bed. Does anyone have any advice for me? Greatly appreciated.

Yes. Keep what you have, you are ahead if the game!
Up-dollaring for smaller is always a loss, and depreciation is a killer, along with the pluses of your class A that you already noted.
Cons of the diesel pusher: (revised)
Low gas mileage on an A vs C is myth. They are near even with an A about 1/3 heavier than the C.
More stressful to drive and A is also a myth. My 42 ft is much easier, and I had C's and short A's.
My A with toad gets into the darndest places....practice parking!
Cannot get into some camp sites? Not enough to call it a negative.
Need to be very careful where you go for height and length reasons? Ain't happened yet. Trucks go there, so.....
More costly to maintain? A bit. Mine is about $500/year.
It is a 2004 so I worry about having to replace things like refrigerators, etc? That's small change in the scheme of things.
Less freedom to go anywhere? Not!
More maintenance items with the air system, etc? Only if you fear them.
You are "most concerned about the loss of room and refrigerator space. I am also not real pleased with the short corner bed."
Your best position is....with what you have!
Happy Trails

[flaggship1]

I will suggest that the biggest concern is math. Capacity is the issue. Every pound counts. If you don't carry much or tow much OR see many grades a C may be for you. Be sure yours isn't at or near capacity before it's loaded up. Some A's fall into this category too. I see lots of overloaded folks. I don't think anyone wants to be overloaded but many are. Some even brag about it.

[Beabop]

We did it, sold the pusher in 2014 and put a park model on a lot we owned. I cried but he was tired of all the maintenance and doing all the driving. He said if I wanted one, go buy it so I found this little one in June. I have driven it 900 miles, don't like the corner bed but the cab over is a king. This one had been ordered w/o an oven but we and our bike will be traveling rather than staying in it long term. Got hit with a stone going to the Hershey RV show, new windshield 250 as opposed to 1300 a piece for each side on the Journey. I can take the great grand kids to the amusement parks by myself, sleeps 6 and has 6 seat belts. 10 mile to gal towing and very little maintenance. No carpet, I can just sweep it out. Good fiberglass roof and if we use it 10 years till he is 92, we'll give it to the kids. Good Luck whatever you decide.

[Ludmilla]

Thanks for the input. I should have stated what Class C I am looking at. I am considering the Winnebago Navion diesel. It has a lot of CCC and the MPG are about twice what I am getting now. On the negative side, it is only 25 feet long. My current coach is 39 feet long.

I need to decide whether to upgrade the current coach or get something else. I do not want to put a bunch of money into this coach if it will be too much trouble long term.

It seems there is always something that needs to be done - mostly small stuff. If you purchase a smaller RV, is that the case?

Does anyone have the Navion? How does it handle in the mountains? I do most of my driving out west and I am always going over high mountain passes.

[Camper Ken]

CampDaven;2751302 said:
Yes. Keep what you have, you are ahead if the game!
Up-dollaring for smaller is always a loss, and depreciation is a killer, along with the pluses of your class A that you already noted.
Cons of the diesel pusher: (revised)

Low gas mileage on an A vs C is myth. They are near even with an A about 1/3 heavier than the C.
-- We downsized from a 32' class A (Newmar Bay Star gas Ford F53 chassis) to an Itasca Navion 24J - Mercedes Sprinter turbo diesel 6 cyclinder. So for the gas mileage issue, I'm now getting 15-16 mpg vs. 7 mpg with the class A.

More stressful to drive and A is also a myth.
-- I find the Navion musch more relaxing to drive, more like driving a van than a motorhome. The hill climbing and acceleration is way better than the A

Cannot get into some camp sites? Not enough to call it a negative.
-- That's one of the reasons we downsized. We can go to some of those smaller Forest Service campgrounds we used to visit.

I'm not trying to dispute your reasoning. It's all a personal thing, just sharing my perspective.

[Camper Ken]

Originally Posted by Ludmilla

Thanks for the input. I should have stated what Class C I am looking at. I am considering the Winnebago Navion diesel. It has a lot of CCC and the MPG are about twice what I am getting now. On the negative side, it is only 25 feet long. My current coach is 39 feet long.

I need to decide whether to upgrade the current coach or get something else. I do not want to put a bunch of money into this coach if it will be too much trouble long term.

It seems there is always something that needs to be done - mostly small stuff. If you purchase a smaller RV, is that the case?

Does anyone have the Navion? How does it handle in the mountains? I do most of my driving out west and I am always going over high mountain passes.

We downsized from a 32" class A (gas) to a new Itasca Navion 25J and love it. It's so easy to drive and we also live in the west (Oregion) and going over the passes is no problem at all. The 6 cylinder turbo diesel has plenty of power and torque. I was actually surprized how well it does on the hills. Plus 15-16 mpg! Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know.

[frankdamp]

We started out with a 26' Class C to see if we "liked the lifestyle". Loved it, but soon came to hate that Class C. After only a season and a half, we essentially gave the thing away. Most of what we hated weren't specifically Class C related (pedestal tables on 3" steel tube that went into raw holes in the wooden floor and a very poor living/sleeping layout that meant DW and I slept in separate beds)! Neither of us could live with the claustrophobic overhead bed, and its windows all leaked! The biggest disadvantage to us was the cramped, standard van cab section. Almost every time I went from the house to the cab, I'd hit my head on the overhead bed. Th cab wasn't part of the living area, whereas our Class A had swivel front sets that made the driver area an integral part of the living area, once you'd moored.

We waited a couple of seasons looking at a large number of Class A rigs util we found a pristine 8-year-old Georgetown 325 being sold by its original owners due to medical issues. We had three enjoyable seasons with it, but when we did the Oregon Coast in our final season, the $4.25 a gallon gas and high CG fees ($30 at state parks and up to $80 at private resorts) were too much.

When your hobby starts eating into your IRAs, it's time for a review! We sold it on consignment with local dealership and got royally screwed - another hit to our finances. Overall it was an enjoyable lifestyle, but way too expensive. We miss the travel but not the cost!

[Ludmilla]

For those of you that said they have the Nation 24J, can you answer some questions for me?


Have you found the corner bed uncomfortable in any way?
How comfortable is it to sit and watch TV?
What mileage do you get pulling a toad? We will either pull a Honda Fit or a Rubicon that weighs 4500 pounds. Would pulling the Rubicon be a problem?
Do you have problems with storage?
What kinds of problems have you had with the Nation?


Thanks!

[CampDaven]

A perspective:
We are fulltime. Our average move is about 200 miles and costs about $63. Our MH gets about 8,000 miles/year, the toad about 18,000 miles/year. So, most of our miles of touring with the toad are at great MPG, while we move everything we own for a mere $63. And they are both paid off AND easy to drive. If I went up-$ and down-size, well we simply couldn't justify it. A loan would be out of the question for us.
For those with enough cash flow to manage it, I say.....
Happy Trails