Community Forums

trebot · 02-02-2018, 06:04 PM

Will soon be in market for our first Class A. Need to stay 28-31' due to parking limitations at house. Want 1 or 2 slides. Chev or Ford chassis, 2006 or newer. Any suggestions as to brands to look for or stay away from? Thanks

zekethomas · 02-02-2018, 06:43 PM

We bought a 2015 31' Winnebago Vista in the past year. Ford F53 with 7,400 miles when we bought it. One slide (I have slide-a-phobia, afraid they won't work) and the largest kitchen counter space we found in a coach of this length. We have the loft bed over the drivers area. Also we found room at the corner (passenger side) of the queen bed to put a portable washing machine which makes DW happy to have her own.

The F53 is stronger than I had expected and the coach is better than expected and somewhat forgiving as I have made more than 1 newbie mistake.

The systems work, but the fit and finish and trim fall apart and have to be monitored as you go, but that is true of most coaches I think in this price point. Screws, screws and screws. Win uses the smallest possible screws and most of them over time do not hold. We spend quite a bit of time putting real wood backing behind press-board fascias and put longer screws through into the real wood. Still have not completed them all. Plastic faucets and shower components leak in use, but not when closed. They are the next replacement parts.

We knew the Vista was the bottom end of the Winnebago line so we did not expect too much, but it has delivered good service to us. We say that having spent 5 of the 7 months of ownership in it and covered about 8,000 miles, so the sample size is small, but the results are pretty good at this point.

Of course, all depends on your price point... and BTW.. cash in king!

my $0.02 FWIW ....

Bosunmate · 02-02-2018, 07:08 PM

We have a 2017 Winnebago Vista 29VE, coming in at 31’. It has the V10 Ford engine. All is good so far. Few little problems that I was able to handle and we have about 8K miles on it. It has one full length slide on the drivers side.

Good luck in your search.

Patrick

Stuff-Happens · 02-02-2018, 09:05 PM

... Purchased a 2007 Safari Trek 28RB2 that's 29.5 feet with 8.1 Chevy & 6 speed Allison Transmission & NO slides...They also make the same model with 2 slides... The bed drops down from the living room ceiling so, LOTS of kitchen space & BIG bathroom... With the drop down bed one needs a step stool for getting in / out of bed , so probably not for feeble folks...Its our home as we full-time and we really enjoy it after doing mods to make it ours... There's a website for owners & prospective owners ... Trektrax.com..... It's very maneuverable & we tow a car also... Not for everyone!!!!! Wish they still made them, sigh, as we would be interested in a new one!

jlreeves · 02-03-2018, 06:14 AM

Take a look at the Forest River FR3. We bought a 30DS which is just the right length to get into any of the Florida state and county parks. We had a 40+ 5r which we could only take to bigger parks and wanted to get off the concrete. Thor also has the ACE product line. Good luck.

knightstorm · 02-03-2018, 06:35 AM

Newmar has a few short floor plans in the Bay Star and Bay Star Sport.

wildtoad · 02-03-2018, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knightstorm

Newmar has a few short floor plans in the Bay Star and Bay Star Sport.

Our BSS is doing great. Had some “New coach” issues but all is good now.

purrin along · 02-03-2018, 08:07 AM

We are very satisfied with our small coach, floor plan works good for us.

WhatsHisName · 02-03-2018, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knightstorm

Newmar has a few short floor plans in the Bay Star and Bay Star Sport.

We really like our 2903 Bay Star Sport. It has a nice open floor plan - no narrow hallway due to a bathroom wall.
We also thought the cabinets and counters were better and it had a higher max load weight than the others at that size.

JBDALHB · 02-03-2018, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlreeves

Take a look at the Forest River FR3. We bought a 30DS which is just the right length to get into any of the Florida state and county parks. We had a 40+ 5r which we could only take to bigger parks and wanted to get off the concrete. Thor also has the ACE product line. Good luck.

X2 for the FR3, we also had the 30DS. Plenty of power to tow our CrV and we loved the king bed. We had good experiences albeit the rise was noisy and rough to be expected for the gas chassis.

DryCreek · 02-03-2018, 07:11 PM

I would suggest that you browse through as many models as you can. Go hound all of the RV sales lots around you - and take notes. Take lots of notes.

If you live in Texas, a ride to any of the PPL stores would be a good idea as they typically have many units in stock for the size range you are interested in.

Our 2006 Winnebago Sightseer 29R fit our needs very well. I liked the next size up better (the 30B), but we got a much better deal on the 29R we found.

tkolsky69 · 02-04-2018, 06:54 AM

Winnebago has a new Class A Intent 30 feet Ford v10 and Ford chassis. Considered it but bought the Sunstar LX 35 ft. for the extra bathroom and room.

joelminer · 02-04-2018, 09:11 AM

We bought a Baystar Sport 2812 in January 2017 and have already driven it 15,000 miles, including a trip to Alaska. The coach comes in at 28'11" and has three slides. We had a few "new coach" issues that have been resolved. It was a little more expensive than some other competing brands in this size range, but we felt the fit and finish was worth it. We would definitely consider buying another Newmar product. A lot of people will suggest that you pick the floorplan you like and that the brand does not really matter. I don't entirely agree with that philosophy.

How long do you plan on keeping the coach. If you are planning on keeping it a long time and storing it outside, a full body paint job will hold up much longer.

Take a long test drive in any of the coaches you are seriously interested in. Even though all of the gas class A motorhomes are all built on the same chassis, the engine noise, cabinet rattling and handling can vary a fair amount between coaches, even within the same brand. This is more important if you plan on driving a lot of miles like us. The tank capacity, wheelbase to total length ratio (higher ratio is better) and CCC (cargo carrying capacity) are also important things to look at as well.

Happy Hunting

LSC9901 · 02-04-2018, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DryCreek

I would suggest that you browse through as many models as you can. Go hound all of the RV sales lots around you - and take notes. Take lots of notes.

If you live in Texas, a ride to any of the PPL stores would be a good idea as they typically have many units in stock for the size range you are interested in.

Our 2006 Winnebago Sightseer 29R fit our needs very well. I liked the next size up better (the 30B), but we got a much better deal on the 29R we found.

We need to get together. We have the 30B and would like the 29R !!!

Either model is a fantasic choice for the 30 and under needs.