Community Forums

hondo122 · 11-29-2010, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B Bob

All of the makers you talk about build a wide variety of motor homes. When we were looking at motor homes a bit over a year ago we liked the Fleetwood Providence quite a bit. We loved the full wall slide. IMHO at the same price point each of the four you mention will be VERY close in build quality. And in MANY cases the components used to build the coach are not similar but identical. This includes drive motors, transmissions, furnaces, fridges, and so on. And you can get wonderful motor homes to lemons from any of the four you mention. Two very close friends of mine bought a new Dutch Star and Foretravel - both lemons. Both had to replace motors and much much more. Do not misunderstand I do NOT think that in general Dutch Star and Foretravel are bad motor homes. To the contrary I think both are very good ones. But my friends had lots of problems.

At an FMCA rally a few months back I sat in mid range coaches from three of the four makers you ask about. If you were blindfolded when getting in, likely you would not be able to tell that there was any difference the coaches were so similar. So my suggestion is go see-drive a bunch and take your time. Figure out what drives like you like it and has the floor plan that meets your needs. As you can see from the previous posts there are lots of varied opinions as to who makes the best coaches. The only opinion that really counts is your families.

We ended up buying a very high end coach that was a few years older. We got a motor home that I do not think could be improved upon. Quality, features, driving, are all above first class. We started in the mid range newer too. After driving 30 coaches we ended up in a higher end somewhat older one. BTW - Fleetwood owns American Caoch who makes beautiful motor homes that are worth looking at.

I must admit in all my time reading many posts on rv sites that I saw anyone mention a Foretravel lemon. What was the year, model?

B Bob · 11-30-2010, 12:53 PM

Our close friends have a 2005 38 ft 2 slide. They bought it new from the factory in 2005. In fairness it was the Cummins motor that blew so not really Foretravels fault. When I type these messages I do it fast. If possible I would like to retract now the word "lemon" from my previous post. The problem is I indicated that Foretravel and Dutch Star put out lemons. But that really is a much too general comment. The Cummins motor failed. But that does not mean Foretravel made a lemon. What it means is Foretravel had the misfortune of installing a motor they no doubt did not know was going to fail at 15,000 miles. Our friends still like their coach and they drive it all over the USA. They have about 70,000 miles on it now. I have looked at their coach carefully. It has about the same level of high quality as our Country Coach.

My experience with motor homes and boats is that they are complex and stuff goes wrong.

hondo122 · 11-30-2010, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B Bob

Our close friends have a 2005 38 ft 2 slide. They bought it new from the factory in 2005. In fairness it was the Cummins motor that blew so not really Foretravels fault. When I type these messages I do it fast. If possible I would like to retract now the word "lemon" from my previous post. The problem is I indicated that Foretravel and Dutch Star put out lemons. But that really is a much too general comment. The Cummins motor failed. But that does not mean Foretravel made a lemon. What it means is Foretravel had the misfortune of installing a motor they no doubt did not know was going to fail at 15,000 miles. Our friends still like their coach and they drive it all over the USA. They have about 70,000 miles on it now. I have looked at their coach carefully. It has about the same level of high quality as our Country Coach.

My experience with motor homes and boats is that they are complex and stuff goes wrong.

Thanks, Foretravel is at the top of my favorites list."My experience with motor homes and boats is that they are complex and stuff goes wrong" As I've seen posted it's like an earthquake on wheels.

powerboatr · 11-30-2010, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim28730

Floor plan....floor plan....floor plan!

agreed. We searched for a Floorplan that made us happy, then looked at brands
our fiver spoiled us with a dedicated study type desk and area.

tiffin nor fleetwood made a floorplan like ours, 6 slides and a layout that makes three rooms.
biggest plus is a HUGE desk area for my studies and surfing, complete with two huge drawers for files and tons o storage of my research books.
monaco.......to many variables with things falling off.... the new ones may reclaim the lost prize.....but only time will tell

Jimmyzw22 · 11-30-2010, 05:54 PM

What we did was to look at those brands and then find one that we could make our own. I found a 2002 HR Endeavor forty footer with three slides, 52k miles and in great shape except the carpet. We decided to get it at a discount because the guy needed cash quick we paid 65k. 330 Cummins and a great layout. We immediately gutted it and laid down laminate flooring and got rid of the booth and couch and put in two custom couches in the slide Built a nice table that can be moved against the couch and seats 6. Made a doghouse under the bed for our dogs, put in a real flush toilet, tore out the small shower and put in a full size house Swanstone shower and walla it was to our liking. You will never find one that fits everything you like but if the bones are good and you are handy you can do a lot with them. Always check it thoroughly for water damage. A leaky toilet that you cannot see will utterly destroy the flooring. Being most floors have a base wood of OSB water destroys them. Try driving different ones to feel how they ride. There is a big difference in chassis and if you live in Kalifornia or are going through it you want one that rides nice. the RR8R eight bag chassis with Koni FSD'd added makes for a nice ride. Next is to get rid of the tube TV up front and put in a 32 inch flat panel LCD. I love my RV and best of all it is ours, no other like it on the road. Keep your eyes open now is the best time to buy a DP with all the foreclosures going on.
Happy Trails
Jim

Graybeard · 12-01-2010, 08:09 AM

Truly NOW is a great time to buy! We just got back into RVing in Oct with an '01 American Eagle 40 w/ 350hp Cummins, 16K miles, 336 hrs on genny. The dealers 'sticker' was $129,000.00, we bought for $40K under that. Expand your horizons, there are some great deals around right now.

B Bob · 12-02-2010, 02:14 PM

American Eagle's are beautiful coaches. I would have bought one except my wife had to have the custom interior of our Country Coach. I really like the wood work on the inside of them.