Class A Shopping - suggestions welcomed

[saddlesore]

Originally Posted by RoaminFree

My first question would be, are you a full-timer? Not all coaches are rated for four seasons or full-time use. When we were shopping, our research told us -
- Newman
- Entegra
- Tiffin

For "True-no excuses".. 4 season weather/conditions Motor Coaches..
Consider the Newell, Foretravel and the Prevost conversions, all which have the fully enclosed slides [including the mechanicals]with the

"Air Bladder Seal" vs the much cheaper multi-layer overlap seal systems.

[BayRunner]

Originally Posted by Fireairdrop

There was a 2023 Dutch Star at Tampa Show being sold by North Trail. Was a 4369 design with nice outside colors and the gray inside. Had everything we wanted and looks like you too. Would have been sold but I actually had a say on the gray color and didn't like it. So we are still looking. The walking isle when closed is going to be the same on the bigger rigs. Watch out for the big seam on the floor of some of the full wall slides. They don't cover a 1/2 inch gap. Newmar is good.

I saw that Dutch Star at the Tampa show with the gray. I thought it looked pretty good, but I do prefer our glacier white.

[milly59]

i would look at Entegra, or Newmar or Tiffin, forget fleetwood they are the cheapest and very flimsy built as are Holiday Rambler they are not what they were before they were bought out...

[glens]

Originally Posted by Mike n Marty

We have a 45' Tuscany. And also find it fairly narrow when slides are in. Because we have a half bath it can be accessed in travel mode. But fridge access is impossible. I guess it boils down to not being able to have and eat your cake. In order to get the advantages you have to put up with disadvantages. Good Luck.

That would be a deal breaker for me. Got to have an accessible pottie and Fridge. That's why we have these RV"s to use these 2 things running down the road.

[RVSRCOOL]

Wow!! Sooo many great responses while I've been away. I'm truly greatful for the awesome feedback and personal experiences. Our old coach has some great features as do the new ones. Our hope is to combine the two for a perfect (somewhat) coach for us. Newmar, Entegra & Tiffin are definately on the short list. I'm disappointed to hear that Fleetwood isn't building a quality coach. Although we haven't seen one in person, the Discovery LXE 44S seems to check most of the boxes on our wish list. We've been very pleased with the reliability of our 2008 Providence. It has weathered very well. Is the quality of the American Coach on par with Newmar & Tiffin?

I had a nice conversation with the folks at NIRVC in Dallas today. Very personable and took time to understand what I'm looking for. Super excited for our upcoming visit in late April.

Jeff

[harleyjt]

I’m not sure you should take one persons opinion on the Fleetwoods to be gospel. When I was shopping for a new coach I was seriously looking at the Discovery LXE. It checked all my boxes and from the ones I looked at, I felt they were a solid coach and a lot of bang for the buck. Owners were happy with them. As it turned out it made sense to me to go with a Tiffin since I live only a couple hours from Red Bay. If it weren’t for that, I’d have probably bought a LXE.
jt

[RVSRCOOL]

We have been very pleased with our Fleetwood and their customer service. Just recently we had an inverter fan stick and cause our inventer to overheat. Easy to diagnose. I could have repaired it myself but it was going to be a little tedious so I got a quote from Magnum's inverter repair service. It was very reasonable so why not let the pros handle it, right... Well, after building a wooden shipping container and packaging it VERY well, I paid $80 to have it shipped two hours away. When it arrived, the shipping container showed no sign of damage or impact but when the unit was removed the heat sink board was broken in half. It was totally destroyed and Magnum did not have the parts to repair. After endless enternet searching, multiple discussion with Magnum and the repair house, it was a dead end. No replacement part was available. My coach was going to require a retrofit to a current unit that was available. Again, I'm thinking let's leave that to the professionals so I call Fleetwood to schedule a factory service visit. They take the #s of my coach and tell me to hold tight for a few minutes. The pleasant lady comes back to the line and tells me they have three exact replacement units in stock and can ship one out same day. Two days later all is well again.

This is one of many pleasant parts related experiences I've had over the years with Fleetwood.

Sorry for the long post. Just thought it was relative to give them the flowers they deserve for saving my bacon!

We have a plant tour scheduled at Fleetwood in late June. This will give me a birdseye view of their build quality and attention to detail.

Jeff

[RVSRCOOL]

Just completed our visit to NIRVC & Motorhome Specialist, both in the Dallas area. Stay tuned for a detailed report!

Knoxville bound.... Wheels up in 5!

Jeff

[RVSRCOOL]

We visited Motorhome Specialist in Alvarado last Friday. We received a warm and welcoming greeting upon arrival. Our salesman, Ted, was awesome. He took the time to listen and understand what we are looking for then took us out for a tour of their inventory. Trust me, they have plenty... That said, it was scattered about their campass and somewhat hard to locate. Of the three units we wanted to see, one had been delivered, they were unable to find the 2nd, but the 3rd was there! As much as I had anticipated it being the perfect coach for us, it just didn't work. While the layout was great the interior finish, color, and decor didn't do it for us. The hard no's for us was the lack of a pantry in the kitchen area (literally no place to store our food items other than inside the fridge) the high gloss tile flooring, and the exterior wall finish. To us, the exterior finish appeared dull and had a tremendous amount of fiberglass laminate print through and distortion. We left after having a pleasant visit but disappointed in the Discovery LXE.

Today we visited with Kimberly at NIRVC in Dallas. She eagerly greeted us as we drove in. We exchanged some quick pleasantries then she finished up with an existing customer. This gave us time to tour their beautiful facility and take a look at the exterior finish of the Newmar Dutch Star. While I was skeptical this coach would fit our needs, we were blown away from the very first look. The exterior had a deep, rich, shine and the paint/laminate work was truly impressive. While the coach itself was locked, the basement was unlocked and accessible. With the slides out, the storage doors were easy to reach as were the slide out tray release latches. I was initially concerned that too many of the storage compartments contained mechanical systems but I was wrong. There's more storage than we'll need. I can't say enough about how easily the bay doors close and latch. The electronic "Lock/Unlock All Doors" is an added bonus.

By this time Kimberly had caught up to us. She was super pleasant, well spoken, and an encyclopedia of knowlege regarding Newmar, their coaches, and NIRVC. She's a great ambassador of each. She walked us through the Dutch Star 4369 and the floor plan layout is exactly what we are looking for. The number one must have on our list is a coach that we can easily access the 1/2 bath and fridge while in travel mode. This coach checks that box. There's no extra space BUT there's certainly enough space to walk down the isle putting one foot beside the other. There's only one small pinch point where the Euro booth dinette and kitchen slide meet. A slight twist gets you past this point and into the bath or fridge with ease. The premium woodwork and craftsmanship is a cut above the other coaches we've seen.

I could go on and on but I'll stop for now. The takeaway is this:
Kimberly is the real deal and could not have been more accommodating.
NIRVC is the most organized and impressive dealer we've visited to date.
We will be cancelling our Fleetwood plant tour in June.
We will be scheduling a Newmar plant tour and Design Center consultation instead.

If anyone reading this has any questions regarding either of these coaches, MHS or NIRVC please feel free to reach out to me. I'm happy to share what I've learned on this trip.

Thanks!

Jeff