Community Forums

ScotS · 10-18-2021, 06:47 AM

Congratulations on the new Ventana, she is a beauty.

Been there, seen it, done it, and the wife handed me the t-shirt. We had a HR Admiral 31A for less than a year. I was OK with it, but it was missing a washer / dryer (which I needed for work) and the wife was not happy with the ride, heat, and noise while driving it. I was trying to save some money by getting a gasser, ended up costing more in the end. I was going to add insulation and sound deaden the cab area. Then we went to the local RV store to look at and test drive the DPs, that was all it took. She selected the Ventana that we have now and we picked it up on her birthday. We don't plan on trading it anytime soon. For us, it's an excellent size and has what we need. If I had it to do over, I would have gotten the 37' for the extra basement compartment, we have to be careful with storage and what we take. Happy wife, happy RVing life.

Enjoy your new coach and hope you have a lot of happy miles in it.

RVStitchy · 10-18-2021, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R.Wold

The transmission will have a manual mode accessed by pushing in on the end of the stalk enabling up and down shifting. One of the reasons I didn't buy new was that I wanted the shift pad. After reviewing stalk shifting operations, and hearing from others with this version, I think I would quickly get used to it and maybe prefer it.

Now that you mention it I believe there is a procedure for manually shifting when you push the stalk forward. I never used it so it didn't stick in my mind. Have not spent much time in the mountains yet.

MattSiegel · 10-18-2021, 09:19 AM

Our stories seem quite similar - I bought a gas Class A in April 2021 and live in NJ. I hated the driving experience.

I tried adding steering control and was actively researching enhancing the suspension when someone on this forum told me that, "You can't change physics." In other words, if you want the better handling, sound, etc., go buy a diesel pusher. So, I did.

This month, I picked up my DP and couldn't be happier. A bit poorer, but happy. Good luck to you!

Dutch Star Don · 10-18-2021, 04:46 PM

"YANKEES31".....congrats on the Ventana. We bought a used 2004 Fleetwood Terra in early 2005 and. It was suppose to be out interim coach until I retired in 2011 and we would buy a DP. A year later, we hated it because of braking issues and some other things. We ended up selling it and buying a new end of the year 2005 Monaco Diplomat. It was a few years earlier than we had planned for a DP, but then the recession hit and many RV companies went out of business and downhill for a few years. So.....it ended up that the timing worked out. We kept the Diplomat for 10 years.

PaulTNaples · 10-19-2021, 06:08 AM

We started with a Isata 3 Sprinter. 5 months later into a BayStar 3124. 14 months later we purchased our 2018 Ventana 4037. 3 years and 43k miles later we still love it! Never an issue in the mountains. And we have driven through Appalachia, Rockies, Laurentian. We are currently looking for a “post covid” London Aire or King Aire. It’s not that we need to, it’s that we want to.[emoji41]

YANKEES31 · 10-23-2021, 08:35 PM

Well delivery day came and went....

We drove 500 miles to pick her up and 200 miles in we got the dreaded phone call, we found some chips and scuffs on the rear engine cover and we need to get them fixed in our body shop. After a few calls and checking around while continuing forward we agreed that they would pay a local shop to do the work...so we pressed on.

after spending the night on there lot we woke up ready for delivery. The scratches and chip was not as bad as they made them out to be so we continued to the inside. Everything seemed perfect until I looked down and found a cracked tile. That was it I was not going to take it with this added to the list.

The people at General RV were awesome. We finally decided they would rent us a car and deliver the rig to us Thursday when completed

New2road · 10-24-2021, 07:02 AM

Congrats! Enjoy. We held on to our 2019 Canyon Star for almost two years before moving to our DP. Got past the sticker shock and focused on what we wanted out of RV experience, the answer became clear quickly.

Now we wonder why we waited.

cheers,
j

engineire · 10-24-2021, 03:19 PM

We're doing the same with our 2021 Montana High Country 5ver as newbies. Just need something slightly bigger and we're dialed in to where we want to be in size. Just wish we knew that when we purchased in April 2021.

Roadyacht1 · 10-24-2021, 03:21 PM

Yes, very nice.
Guys, please keep buying new coaches. How else am I going to get to buy them used 5,10 or 20 years down the road.
Just keep them maintained. And they will sell well.

Seriously, I appreciate it.

Cherylmcaloo · 10-24-2021, 03:54 PM

Beautiful and lovely and nice choice.

MidMichHunte · 10-24-2021, 05:44 PM

Ordered a 2020 Baystar 3609 in Oct’19 and took delivery June ‘20. I wanted a Ventana, but the boss wasn’t hip at writing a check that large, so the Baystar it was. Haven’t used it as much as we planned, COVID, a death in the extended family where my DW was the executor and I had a hip replacement, so now I’m kinda glad we went the BS route. We really like the BS 3609 floorplan. Haven’t hit any mountains yet, but plan once we retire in 3-5years, our plan is to move up to the Ventana 3709 then. Hope you enjoy your upgrade, it sure is a nice looking rig.

nbluesky · 10-24-2021, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roadyacht1

Yes, very nice.
Guys, please keep buying new coaches. How else am I going to get to buy them used 5,10 or 20 years down the road.
Just keep them maintained. And they will sell well.

Seriously, I appreciate it.

+1

MarcM · 10-24-2021, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MidMichHunte

Ordered a 2020 Baystar 3609 in Oct’19 and took delivery June ‘20. I wanted a Ventana, but the boss wasn’t hip at writing a check that large, so the Baystar it was. Haven’t used it as much as we planned, COVID, a death in the extended family where my DW was the executor and I had a hip replacement, so now I’m kinda glad we went the BS route. We really like the BS 3609 floorplan. Haven’t hit any mountains yet, but plan once we retire in 3-5years, our plan is to move up to the Ventana 3709 then. Hope you enjoy your upgrade, it sure is a nice looking rig.

We purchased a 2018 Ventana LE 34'. (Does the floorplan matter in this discussion ;-) and traded in our much loved Itasca Class C.

We have towed a Kia Soul, and now a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. We travel from upstate NY to Myrtle Beach and also a 5 week trip to the mountain west each year. In spite of the many "break in" breaks we do love our Ventana LE.

The diesel compared to the gas engine is wonderful. Better mileage (~8.3 mpg avg vs. less than 8) and the fact that the power plant is 34' behind me makes all the difference in the world. Having the air ride is wonderful as well.

But the best thing by far is that the maximum torque (used when climbing hills) is in the 2200 rpm range vs. 4200 rpm in a gas powered V10! Yes, much quieter and much more fuel efficient.

Now the reason that I write all of this is that before purchasing our 34', we also looked at the 37'. It has a second bathroom and an additional full pass through storage compartment underneath. These things may matter to some people which is why I write this. When I drove the 37', I was not impressed by the weight to power ratio. Over a few minor hills, towing nothing, it was, shall we say anemic. Yes, diesels are not perky!!! LOL. I get it. But you should definitely drive both before choosing especially if you are going to tow or climb real hills.

That's it. Hope it helps.

Mle75749 · 10-26-2021, 03:41 PM

Congratulations! It’s beautiful. I’m laughing reading your post because our First RV was a used Baystar. When my husband drove it home through the mountains from California he got out and said ‘we’re getting a diesel or I’m never driving through the mountains again😂😂😂. We researched and settled on a Dutchstar 4054. Blocs it and you will love yours too. Enjoy!!!!