If You Had A Third Choice

[saddlesore]

Originally Posted by BigD629

Foretravel. Why?, because they are a well built, quality coach. Still in business, with great support. Also because it was my first choice and what I own. Yes, I'm biased, but also very happy as we live full time in ours.

We looked at many many new and near new DP's to replace our Thor 34H.
We were disappointed @ the build quality of the new coaches that were in our price range and the lack of factory support from the mfg's.
But just for gits and shiggles looked at a 14 year old Foretravel single slide coach. the build quality and awsum factory support is just beyond amazing... and a big enough engine to "scoot" if needed no excuses
have never looked back and see no reason to look for a replacement coach.

[Lisablue85]

American! Build, Floorplan, quality inside & out & customer service that is outstanding!

[vito.a]

We narrowed our search to 2003-2009 model years (not necessarily in order):
Monaco
Country Coach
Travel Supreme
Entegra
Newmar
American Coach


We also made a list of "Must haves" and "Nice to haves". It really helps to put things in perspective. After looking for a while, we further narrowed the list to only certain models in the above lineup.
You will learn something (positive or negative) from every coach you look at.
Best of luck!

[Gordon Dewald]

Find the floor plan that best fits your needs, wants, dreams and desires that fits within your budget. If you are buying use the quality could be a crap shoot if the unit was ill maintained or used hard.

Get maintenance records and have the unit house and chassis inspected by knowledgeable tech and mechanic.

IMO the quality of all manufacturers is similar. If you look at the number of units produced and the number of complaints on the forum the failure rate is very similar.

Higher "quality" units will be more costly to repair and in many cases more difficult to repair as well.

[THenman]

Different way to look but look at dealers. You can read any number of problems people have had with different dealers and you can also find the ones that have good support perhaps even ones part of a wide area network to provide support while one is on the road.

For us, I eliminated Tiffin because we live in central IN and are near a number of factories but not theirs.

REV group (American Coach, Fleetwood, Monaco, Holiday Rambler) has 3 factory locations that I am aware of. One near the plant in Decatur, IN, one in TX and one on west coast. So for us that was also a plus on top of the dealer.

Anyhow, plan for problems and how/where you will be getting things fixed. Some coaches have more problems than others and some have more serious ones as well but I really don't know of anyone who has had a coach for very long and been problem free. May be something wrong with build or something the owner accidentally does. It does not really matter if you want to get it fixed and you don't want to do everything yourself. Nothing wrong with doing a lot yourself but it's not for everyone and there are just some things best left to those who have done it a number of times and/or have the tools.

So just a thought you may want to look closely at the dealer to help narrow down brands.


Tom

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by THenman

So just a thought you may want to look closely at the dealer to help narrow down brands.

As full-timers, we never returned to the selling dealer. No issue with a good manufacturer who backs you up.

[THenman]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

As full-timers, we never returned to the selling dealer. No issue with a good manufacturer who backs you up.

While taking plant tours we ran into some folks who had trouble getting service due to where they bought/where they had to take coach for service. Then reading in forums here I have seen reports of people having trouble getting service.

I am glad to hear that may not always be the case. Being new to this I have had to learn what I can from talking to others or reading about things.

Tom

[twogypsies]

There are many people who buy RVs out of state. You only hear about the few that have dealer problems. You don't hear about the thousands who don't. It's just typical for forums. Those that have problems post. You never see a post starting out "I never had a problem with my RV". The manufacturer was great... I got great service, etc."

[Peter M]

Thanks all for all the great suggestions and information. I was told by more than 1 RV dealer they are hesitant to service the coach if bought elsewhere. Poor business model in my book, especially up north when the sales season could slow down.

[Dutch Star Don]

Pete.....to stay in the years you're looking at and the level of coach, I would add American Coach and Integra. These two will be slightly higher in price and harder to find.

The Tiffin is good, but have several recalls that need to be done. Tiffin will gladly do them, but check with Tiffin before you buy to make sure they've been done and willing to do them.

[Vanslam]

For me it was Newmar, Tiffen then Fleetwood. But I was looking at a gasser. I am very happy I found a Newmar. Also this was based on floor plan and quality of build and service.

[Peter M]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

Pete.....to stay in the years you're looking at and the level of coach, I would add American Coach and Integra. These two will be slightly higher in price and harder to find.

The Tiffin is good, but have several recalls that need to be done. Tiffin will gladly do them, but check with Tiffin before you buy to make sure they've been done and willing to do them.

Hi Don , If you check post # 1 the info is there,
Tiffin 33 AA Red 2014- 16 W / 360 motor or Numar 2016 vantana 3409

Tanks in advance.

[Peter M]

Originally Posted by Vanslam

For me it was Newmar, Tiffen then Fleetwood. But I was looking at a gasser. I am very happy I found a Newmar. Also this was based on floor plan and quality of build and service.

No doubt you have a great gas coach , newmar adds a little more beef for sure

[rkf]

Nix on the Tiffin, I own one and the only thing I like about it is the Freightliner chassis.