Community Forums

RVSRCOOL · 03-19-2023, 08:11 AM

My wife and I are shopping for a new or slightly used Class A pusher. Here's a list of must haves:

Tag axle
Bath & half
450hp minimum
Fully electric
Booth dinette
Dual Girard awnings
Porcelin floor with matte finish - Wifey does not like glossy floors
Grey scale interior
Adequte walkway through center of coach when in travel mode. This one is important to both of us.
Generous basement storage with optional pull out trays

We've owned our 2008 Fleetwood Providence 40E with a 380 Cummins since 2010. We've loved it and taken many features for granted. Now that we're shopping for our pre-retirement coach we're learning that having an adequate walkway in travel mode isn't so easy to find. We like a couple American Dream floorplans but basement storage is very limited and the interior walkway is non-existent. Similar experience with the Dutch Star

We're located in TN but flying to TX soon to look at a Fleetwood Discovery LXE 44S. It appears to meet a lot of these requirements but we've never seen one in person and can't find any photos of it in travel mode.

We're open to anything so please share your opinions of what we should consider. Would love to hear from any 44S owners for some first hand feedback.

Longtime stalker of this IRV2 community. Thanks for allowing me to participate!

Jeff

DC21 · 03-19-2023, 09:14 AM

I'd recommend giving NIRVC in Nashville or Atlanta a call. Tell them your requirements and they will help you find a unit, new or slightly used.

RVSRCOOL · 03-19-2023, 11:17 AM

Thanks DC21, excellent advice! We have visited the new NIRVC in (Nashville) Lebanon. It's an impressive place and the staff is super helpful. We went there to see the American coaches and left a bit disappointed. Not with NIRVC, but with the coach itself. I've watched so many of Angie's videos my wife thinks we are dating...haha!

We're visiting Motorhome Specialist in Alverado and NIRVC in Lewisville next month. Really looking forward to the vast inventory they have. I guess everything really is bigger in Texas!!

Bagger97 · 03-19-2023, 02:18 PM

Fleetwood has a you tube video of a 2021 closed. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...uIiZTENn_owYQO

Dutch Star Don · 03-19-2023, 02:52 PM

The Newmar Dutch Star from 40' and above have all the items you're looking for, many of them standard equipment or popular as an option. The grey scale and matte flooring will probably be the toughest thing to find in a used coach. Many people ordered their Dutch Stars with the King Air wood look tile flooring, which had a flat finish. The Dutch Stars are ALL tile, no carpet on anything.

I don't know what you expect in a walkway, but I'm 6'2" and 300 pounds, I can traverse the center of our coach easily when closed up. I do have to suck my gut in to open the refer.

You're not going to square dance down the center aisle but works well for us. Keep in mind, the wider the aisle the smaller the slides. It's always a tradeoff. Driving is a very small percentage of the trip, so I would rather have the bigger slides than a wider aisle.

NIRVC is a Newmar dealer.

**Lt Dan** · 03-19-2023, 04:29 PM

Check out the Tiffin 44OH model or the 45 Allegro Buses. All of them have the larger basement storage with the raised rail chassis. All of the options you listed are either standard equipment or available as options.

RVSRCOOL · 03-19-2023, 07:00 PM

Bagger97, thanks for the link! It appears there is plenty of room through the kitchen and down the hall to the master. The video doesn't give a clear shot of the amount of space between the sofa and dinette but I'm optimistic it is adequate. In the American, we looked at, you could barely wedge one leg between the opposing sofas. Certainly couldn't stand with one foot beside the other or sit on the sofa and comfortably put your feet on the floor while traveling.

RVSRCOOL · 03-19-2023, 07:10 PM

Good points Dutch Star Don. There's certainly a cause and effect to most everything when it comes to the layouts of these machines. While I haven't measured the depths of any of the slides, I have noticed some slides extend further out than others. I will have to research the sizes to be more specific but I like the slides that extend slightly less than the others. I find that it's much easier for me to reach/open the bay doors and unlatch the slide out tray on the shorter slides.

RVSRCOOL · 03-19-2023, 07:26 PM

Thanks for the suggestion LT Dan, much appreciated. I'll check out the Tiffin 440H. We walked through a 45 Allegro Bus yesterday at our local Lazydays. It goes without saying that it was a super nice coach. This particular coach didn't have a booth dinette so was hard to determine what the walkway would be. My wife loves the Euro booth dinette so it's a must have. The bay doors were easy to reach with the slides extended and the raised rail chassis made way for a TON of storage.

Jeff

RVFunlovers · 03-19-2023, 07:56 PM

Jeff - You are off to a great start by identifying some specifics about what you want.

I second the NIRVC suggestion.

RVTrader is a good place to look as well.

You are likely looking at a 42ft or longer.

I went through this process a few years ago. I narrowed my search down to Tiffin, Entegra, and Newmar. They are all good coaches in the price range I was looking at. We ended up going with the Cornerstone. I like the Spartan K3 chassis and 600Hp engine. You get that on London Aire and up in the Newmar line as well.

Getting a price range will help you as well. Example: Real price difference in Newmar Essex vs Dutchstar or Entegra Cornerstone and Aspire.

The right floor plan layout is key for many buyers. Smart to look at the coach folded up in travel mode as well. The space in travel mode will vary by floor plan.

Good Luck.

RVSRCOOL · 03-19-2023, 09:04 PM

The cornerstone is a beautiful coach, Hal. It's certianly in thr running. When we first visited NIRVC in Nashville the Entegra wasn't on our radar so we didn't look at it. We will explore it more when we get to Dallas.

We're enjoying the shopping process, for now, but are quickly realizing we're more barn wood than we are Hollywood. The more we inch our way up the luxury coach ladder the more polished the interior finishes become. No question they are beautiful but not our preference.

Not ready to start the chassis debate just yet... I have a Freighliner factory service scheduled for our current coach in June and have scheduled a plant tour as well. I'm intrigued by the V-Ride, Passive Steer, IFS Freightliner but just beginning to study the Spartan K2 & K3. Is it safe to assume I'll be happy with either?

Thanks!
Jeff

harleyjt · 03-19-2023, 09:54 PM

Here’s my .02. You’re located somewhere in TN, so you are probably much closer to Red Bay than Decatur or Nappanee. That was the reason I decided to go with a Tiffin rather than another Newmar. I’m two hrs away from Red Bay so it’s much easier to obtain service. Red Bay has a fantastic vendor network to handle anything you need to have done to your coach. I ended up with a Phaeton 40 IH. For what you are spec’ing you are looking at a 44Oh Phaeton or a 45 OP Bus. Great floor plan. Bath and a half and loads of storage. Good luck on your search.
jt

Angie Morell · 03-20-2023, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RVSRCOOL

My wife and I are shopping for a new or slightly used Class A pusher. Here's a list of must haves:

Tag axle

Bath & half

450hp minimum

Fully electric

Booth dinette

Dual Girard awnings

Porcelin floor with matte finish - Wifey does not like glossy floors

Grey scale interior

Adequte walkway through center of coach when in travel mode. This one is important to both of us.

Generous basement storage with optional pull out trays

We've owned our 2008 Fleetwood Providence 40E with a 380 Cummins since 2010. We've loved it and taken many features for granted. Now that we're shopping for our pre-retirement coach we're learning that having an adequate walkway in travel mode isn't so easy to find. We like a couple American Dream floorplans but basement storage is very limited and the interior walkway is non-existent. Similar experience with the Dutch Star

We're located in TN but flying to TX soon to look at a Fleetwood Discovery LXE 44S. It appears to meet a lot of these requirements but we've never seen one in person and can't find any photos of it in travel mode.

We're open to anything so please share your opinions of what we should consider. Would love to hear from any 44S owners for some first hand feedback.

Longtime stalker of this IRV2 community. Thanks for allowing me to participate!

Jeff

Hi RVSRCOOL!

I’m thrilled to hear you are shopping for your pre-retirement coach. Thank you for stopping our Lebanon location. We are so excited to be in our new dealership. I would love to meet you or set you up with one of our team members when you come to Texas. We have a lot of late model high quality coaches for you to see.

Angie

RVSRCOOL · 03-20-2023, 08:43 AM

Great point, JT. I've always heard good things about Bob Tiffin and his team in Ray Bay. Is Bob still at the helm or has it transitioned over the years? I gave them a hard look in 2008 before buying my current Fleetwood. Back in that day they only had a high polished white tile floor and my wife wasn't having it. Their exterior base color had an olive hue that I wasn't crazy about and they wouldn't allow customization. Other than those two points, we loved their Pheaton.

We're located in the Knoxville area.

Thanks!
Jeff