Bounder: What I had to say after watching the Wynns calling our Bounders dinosaurs

[GOLDWINGER2]

Originally Posted by Gordon Dewald

It would seem to me from the Wynnes standpoint there is room for another builder in the business with a new niche market. If they are correct and successful they could become the next major manufacturer.

They would end up like Packard, Studebaker and Nash.
J

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by NRF

The Bounder went from being a middle-to-lower end, kinda goofy (with the kangaroo on it) to a much higher end look and feel over the past 20 years. Still affordable and with many options that make it a perfect coach for many. I think it's a great coach and it gives lots of options to many folks.

The Bounder has always been a good value for the price point they were trying to hit and served many people/families very well.

[jbrv]

Originally Posted by Brian W

Tell us how you really feel Mojo! Ha Ha.

If you want to keep the Bounder in a certain price range, then something has to go. What would go to offset the cost difference?





the gennie could go or be much smaller if you have some decent solar and lithium there is no need for that giant heavy gennie. Fired mine up the other morning for an hour only because it had been a month and the kid in the site next to me.......rare night in a campground......was feeding the seagulls and gettin on my nerves so i cranked it up to send the rugrat and the gulls away.

I could cut the propane tank size in half. I do not need all that propane. I run the fridge on electric most times and try to stay where i do not heat, just an extra blanket now and again. I could go with a smaller fridge and i really do not need a micro/convection oven but an out let in the kitchen wired to the inverter would be real nice.

I would also get rid of at east one of the three tvs and dump the blueray or whatever else they put in and just have one hdmi connection for my laptop that is wired to whichever two tvs left and what ever speakers i choose to use.

I am feeling the same frustration the wynns did. Yes all the stuff can be purchased aftermarket. It takes a lot searching to find the people who know what they are doing with solar and lithium. I know. I searrched for a year till i found the right installer and provider.

It might be only 10% the rvers right now who want or know what that stuff is. it might just be only ten percent have the will power to get past all the dinosaurs who tell them it can not and should be done and get it done.

In the next years there will be an increase of those who want these things in rvs and the older baby boomers who drive the current market will be getting out of rvs. A manufacture could do well to pay attn and get up to speed now not in 10 years when we all have already made the modifications we wanted to our coach.

[Brian W]

This according to the Wynne's blog:

Heavy: I want to power lights, run my fantastic fan, charge my cell phone, laptop, use an electric kettle, run my electric blender, run the microwave for 5 min and watch 2 hours of TV a day.Solar Guru Recommends: 12 volt Heavy Duty, (and we mean Heavy Duty) system; 6 – 140 watt modules, charge control, 25’ module cables, 10’ battery cables, fuses, fuse holders, 2000 watt pure sine inverter / charger, AC hook up wire, remote inverter controller, load center with breakers for inverter and charge control, charge control battery temperature sensor and simple module mount, (mount to roof fasteners not included).Average use per day rating – 3360 watt hoursCost – $12,708.00. (Recommend 600 AH minimum battery bank, not included.)

This will NOT allow you to power your air conditioners for any decent amount of time, a fact the Wynne's point out.

That's a whole lot of stuff that has to go for the price to remain the same, while still relying on the generator to run the a/c's.

While the Wynne's may consider todays MH's dinasours, they are far from it. The industry has kept up with the everyday technologies that MOST people use, and want. Power awnings, outside entertainment systems, HDMI cabling, not smaller, but bigger residential refrigerators, multiple inverters, outside kitchens, simulated flame fireplaces that do a decent job of warming, induction cooktops, frameless windows, keyless entry, coaches that now come with built in routers, satellite radio, convection microwaves, in motion satellite systems, GPS mapping, side mounted cameras, electronic systems for determing when you are to close to another vehicle. The list goes on and on.

The manufacturers have tried to give the consumer everything they want, sometimes at their own peril. Just look on the Newmar forum about a expensive coach having no cargo carrying capacity. Yep, they could have used a heavier axle, but there goes that price point out the window.

Consumers keep wanting more and more, but interestingly enough don't want to pay for all the extras. I see it every day where I work.

[JohnBoyToo]

Me thinks someone is a lil too sensitive about somebody calling 'their' bounder a dinosaur

but ya know, political correctness has gone too far - teeHee !

[nothermark]

Methinks there is a need for a dose of reality. It's one thing to load up with a bunch of freebie high tech to see what is possible and quite another to try to sell the added cost to most of the market. We can probably all recall running into places where need and want were way apart thus we needed to make some real decisions.

[jbrv]

Originally Posted by nothermark

Methinks there is a need for a dose of reality. It's one thing to load up with a bunch of freebie high tech to see what is possible and quite another to try to sell the added cost to most of the market. We can probably all recall running into places where need and want were way apart thus we needed to make some real decisions.

I think it might be important to remember most people who will be purchasing new rvs ovs over the next ten years want solar, larger (AH, not size....lithium) and to be able to be off electric post and still watch a few hours tv, make cofee in the morning and a smoothie in the blender for lunch.

Like someone said they have tried to keep up but it is fail most times. My bounder sound and tv wiring completly amazes me that anyone would think it was a good idea.............that is an example of how stuff is just kind of thrown in with no real thought....i have to have two sat boxes to make all three tv that are less than 33 feet apart work? how about one box located where the remote can hit it from both inside and outside and run one hdmi line from it to a splitter to the two other tvs.......the sound system is half assed...........why f i am playing the dash stereo are the speakers in the back bedroom playing but if i watch tv in bed i have to use the tv speakers not the ones located above my head?

There are few other things that were just slapped in to put on sales brochure to show how upto date they are but when you dig a bit it is clear it was fluff not thought out fully.

these kind of ugrades are not costly........a lot are simple design changes that are simple to correct on the factory floor and involve no realparts cost. adding panels and making space for lithium and should not cost the avg consumer much if anything, t will only cost the consumer who decided to go with that ugrade...........avg joe comes along and wants basic coach to hop from campgroud power post to campground power post he is all set.........someone looking for a little different should not have to take the same rig and spend a year rebulding it, no reason it could not be ready to go off the factory floor and pass the cost along to him.

How interested is fleetwood in keeping up? I called them and asked about them working with me at the factory one my rig on my dime to get solar and lithium and a few other things done..........i figured it would be good for them to see how it can be and good for me to have it done there with the folks who are supposed to know why things are like they are............."not authorized by the design team" ?????????????? Fine. i will do it myself. I did. fixed a lot of the audio vid mess, solar up top llitthium in the basement.

I like the bounder better than most others but lets not try to pretend it is all up to date and modern for the under 50 or under 40 crowd.............it is not. pretty much all new rvs around the price point of the bounder have a lot of room for improvment in this area

[pcurt23]

I'm with you. I have viewed some of the Wynns stuff and while entertaining I am not going to grind my poop anytime soon. If they want a self contained land rover to live in the bush, good for them. You really should not criticize a rig that was not designed to operate indefinitely in remote locations. But they, like most reporters, have to make a living and they do it by making others small.

[WILDEBILL308]

Wynns may come and Wynns may go but Bounders are forever.
When you need an upgrade take it to TCC Texas Custom Coach they will make it over to how ever you can dream it.
Bill

[nothermark]

FWIW - and then I will shut up. ;-)

We can already use electric as you describe with a couple flooded lead acid at considerably lower cost and without solar at considerably lower cost. The only problem is the smoothie as we do not have an inverter. OTOH we do have a generator. Fine for us. As you pointed out most of us are really power post to power post anyway.

The rest is the feature bloat we wish they would back off on as most of us are not looking for a party barge. If we want all the custom features all we need to do is talk to Newmar and be willing to pay for it. There are other custom builders out there but compare the price of getting those features compared to pushing a load of similar units down a modern production line. Most of us are not all that interested in the added cost for really minimal benefit.

[Jwhines]

This all sounds like personal preference to me. I have a 2003 Pace Arrow with 3 slides, which I love. It also has the power seat, and it already has a cup holder in the door, plus a power awning. I read a long time ago that when Fleetwood built this coach, it was to become the premier gas coach, however, it apparently was too pricey to complete with the other gas rigs, thus, Fleetwood eventually eliminated it from their coach line. If you want all the bells & whistles on your coach, expect to pay for them.

[NRF]

You have to understand what the Wynns are all about. A cute couple - not The RV Geeks on YouTube that are here to help you with problems. The Wynns are about.... (gasp)....the Wynns. Folks get suckered into thinking that the Wynns have some special knowledge of RVing. (I saw a video of Jason trying to inflate an RV tire with a can of fix-a-flat). It's fun to follow a young millennial couple living without a care in the world except posting about themselves online. Their knowledge about the Fleetwood product is no more than any others and their opinions are no more valuable than your own. Other than that, their video posts are far superior than those that I could produce. That's their strong point.

[LETMGROW]

I have never seen the Wynn's TV show and probably won't see it unless it is by mistake flipping channels. I'm sure this show was produced to provide a venue for advertisers who pay the network big dollars to play their commercials.
The Wynns can say anything they want to stir interest in the show which apparently they have done. I'm sure some folks will tune in just to see what they have to say next. No doubt the Wynns will be complaining about the boat they will be living on in a few months wanting more amenities. They will get them free of charge just so the provider's brand name will be mentioned. Not a bad gig for a young couple IMO. They are doing a fine job of merchandising themselves.
Maybe next they will be given a Chevy Cruze to drive around in and they can complain it just doesn't measure up to a Cadillac CTS.
If you are satisfied with what you have, like I am, that is fine. If not, shop around for a rig which fits your description of the perfect MH and shell out the cash and buy it. It's out there somewhere.
As for the Wynns, they are having a good time now. However this will be a limited time career. Sometime in the future they will have to get real jobs to support themselves. It'd be interesting to look into the future and see what they buy for a motorhome. Probably a used stripped Bounder. LOL
Lynn

[Sweetbriar]

I don't place much stock in what the Wynn's are selling. More of a solution looking for a problem. When they hit their 10th year full timing without the nearly unlimited budget I might follow them a little closer.