Community Forums

Grubmaster · 07-25-2019, 01:03 PM

Finally decided on buying a used Class A. It will be our first motor home. We currently spend 40-50% of our time on a houseboat and a motor home is the next step. Hopefully we can sell the bricks and sticks soon. We are in North Atlanta.
We are looking for:
something 36’ and under
Allison Transmission
Around 10 years old
With service records
2 slides that when retracted will allow access to the coach
The obvious, no leaks, good tread, clean, etc.

What else should we look for?
I’m not sure I understand the differences in frames and how important full body paint is.
Are there any gas motors to stay away from in the time frame (07-10) we are looking at? I’m not sure we need a diesel. While then long-term plan is to travel out west we will stay in the Eastern US for the next couple of years.
I saw someone post that you can call Tiffin and give them the vin number and get some feedback about the vehicle. Is this true and will other manufactures do the same?
A friend has a 04 Seabreeze that seems to have everything we are looking for (other than we would like a newer one) and they are happy with it. I realize it’s a base model but that’s ok with us. We’ve found one like theirs (05) in Fl. Before driving 350 miles I’d like to look at some in the Metro Atlanta Area.
Are there any good dealers locally that specialize in MH?
Is there a good, local inspector?
What should I expect to pay for an inspection?
Thanks for any imput.

Skip426 · 07-25-2019, 02:21 PM

Best of luck in your search .
I'll add a comment with the Allison transmission aspect , if you're going for a gas chassis , you'll be looking for a Workhorse chassis with the 8.1 L V-8 , a good choice .

HOWEVER. Any number of the Workhorse chassis coaches were built too long and heavy for the W-22 chassis and had LIMITED CCC ( Cargo Carrying Capacity ) and were easily overloaded due to the size of the compartments and the amount people would stuff in.

JMHO :Narrow your search to a W-24 chassis ; stronger chassis , probably with better CCC #. Or to the W-22 chassis under 30 '.
Learn to look for the RV weight sticker, pictured below, and check the CCC ( OCCC Ocupants +CCC ) numbers .
For your plans , I would be hesitant to consider any coach with a CCC under 2,000/2,500 lbs.
Check out the tow numbers too while looking at the weight sticker .

No standard location for the sticker , so you'll need to have a real search through cupboards and closets.

Wbonsell · 07-25-2019, 04:16 PM

I personally would not get a Workhorse over 36' because of the added length. Our W22 CT Coachworks Siena is 35+ with double slides and a residential kitchen. Mated to a 6 speed Allison it is serving us well. Not sure if any are for sale in the SE, but might be worth a look.

While ours is a 2010 it was one of the very last of the Workhorse platform. Personally I would take the Workhorse with the 8.1 over the Triton V10

MSHappyCampers · 07-25-2019, 04:27 PM

Monaco made some great coaches in the early 2000's!

vettenuts · 07-25-2019, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wbonsell

I personally would not get a Workhorse over 36' because of the added length. Our W22 CT Coachworks Siena is 35+ with double slides and a residential kitchen. Mated to a 6 speed Allison it is serving us well. Not sure if any are for sale in the SE, but might be worth a look.

While ours is a 2010 it was one of the very last of the Workhorse platform. Personally I would take the Workhorse with the 8.1 over the Triton V10

Not sure I understand why? Our 37’ Newmar on the Workhorse W24 is a great coach, plenty of carrying capacity and does a great job towing our Chevy Colorado.

BigEvi · 07-26-2019, 08:56 AM

Just be patient. I mean very patient. There is a lot of junk out there. I was looking for over a year to find our 2006 Fleetwood Discovery. Look for one that has been well taken care of by a retiree who is good with tools or has a blank checkbook mentality of maintenance upkeep and upgrades.

The first thing is floor plan probably. Your floorplan needs will dictate what models you can look at...for instance at the top of my list was opposing livingroom/kitchen slides with opposing couches/beds. So everything else was not even considered.

Are you going to tow a car or truck will likely push you into DP or gas. Towing and cargo and overall length pretty much decides that for you.

Once you have those figured out you can find the models that work. Then you begin the long and arduous task of inspecting them all...all over the place...I used my airplane to go visit dozens. I found the private sellers to have way better coaches than the dealers. The dealers seemed to have all auction purchased POSes with no maintenance records or manuals or documents or upgrades or anything. Some of these units for sale at dealers were just deplorable, disgusting, broken down, beat up junk. I didn't even want to walk into some selling for 70k+. I went and looked at lots of them.

As far as full body paint goes...if you want your older coach to look good, full body paint is required. The sun deteriorates the fiber glass and decals and everything gets chalky and runs down the side of the coach and looks not so awesome. Full body paint can be waxed several times annually and looks like new if taken care of.

-E

Purple Frog · 07-26-2019, 10:57 AM

For the best deals and the least rust...

Shop Craigslist across the I-4 corridor. Daytona, Orlando, the Villages, Plant City, Tampa Bay...

100s of thousands of gray hair retirees releasing their RVs.

If you know how to inspect one, avoid the dealers and save a ton.

When i was shopping for mine, one evening a Craigslist search offered up ~1,300 Class As.

brokenrule · 07-26-2019, 02:08 PM

You might want to look at tank size if you are going to boondock. I've seen tank size vary greatly on some brands within the same length. Nothing like having 36' class A with sleeping space for 6 and 70 gals fresh water and less than 40 each of black and grey to cut a trip short. Also, if the rig has two AC's you will want 50A service; some only have 30A and limit you to running one or the other AC unless you fire up the generator.

We picked ours because we do a lot of dog shows with only 20A power and no water or sewer connections - very small spaces. One AC and big tanks. If we give up on the dog shows and travel more than it's a different list - kinda like yours.

Grubmaster · 07-28-2019, 07:51 AM

Thanks everybody for the replies. This helped me not make a mistake yesterday when I was looking at a 05. The dealer had cleaned up the inside really good and even put new (cheap) carpet but forgot to clean the rusty bays out or detail the outside (not full body paint).

GRUBBS · 07-28-2019, 10:17 AM

First let me say, I LOVE YOUR HANDLE! And second your are in North Atlanta, ya must be the guy next door!

We started with an "A" in October of 2016, moved up from a Keystone Outback and bought a cheapie gas THOR 29M November 2018(new one!, don't do that), then we went back and got our present one a THOR 35M (Like a dummy went back and bought new again (a gluten for punishment...) We discovered that a short one with only one air conditioner wasn't our calling! Ours is on a 22,000 lb Chasis (best decision yet, handles like a dream!) We have learned a lot!
This one we didn't get sucked in to buying all the "superfluities" the dealer tried to sell us (coating protection, extended warrranty, gap insurance, etc. etc). We like ours fine! Plenty of power and enough TORQUE, it's plenty big, towing a car 4 down works like a dream, burns regular gas, BIG Onan, 2 A/C's! Finally after 6 months I am about done fixing the "bugs" that go with a new one... Stay with "used" the $ you lose are unbelievable!
I would like to tell ya more but not on here, what part of Atlanta?