Community Forums

Shutterbug57 · 03-16-2021, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EasyRVing

... Tiffin offers "at the factory service" throughout the life of the coach.

You may want to check your facts. I believe, because I have been told by Tiffin personnel, that the factory service is only available for coaches under 10 years old from the in service date. THBS, you can get pretty much anything you want done to your Tiffin in Red Bay, even if not at the factory service location.

Sossage2t · 03-16-2021, 08:17 PM

2005 Country Coach Intrigue Serenade Kona Diesel Pusher RV Motorhome - $89,000 (Lathrop)

Check out his one

plumber64 · 03-17-2021, 06:38 AM

Our Tiffin 2006 Phaeton has a PRE DEF C-7 Cat engine in it. Purrs like a kitten and just runs great. Had only 68,000 miles on it when bought in 2017. Just broken in. Older higher quality coaches are probably where you should look. We did the same thing when buying our first gas motor home. Had it for 14 years before we just could not pass up the deal on our Tiffin. Good luck on your search.

beedub · 03-18-2021, 09:44 AM

First off loose the tier 4 or level 4 description. There is no such thing. As you have seen from the comments, this is probably someone’s opinion and is not used by anyone with any experience.
The first and formost consideration for buying an RV at this or any time is supply and demand. The deals are few and far between but the majority of advice is correct. For your budget, something older than 2008 is probably your target zone. Remember, many coaches built after the 08 crash are not the same level of quality and you best bet is spend a lot of time reading reviews. If newer is a must, consider a Tiffin Open Road gas job. Not only is this the best selling coach of all time, the used prices are generally not too steep, they are well built and will get you climatized to the Class A world.
After that, there will be no shortage of people willing to give you opinions and show you examples of other coaches at the RV parks you will be visiting.
Good Luck !!!

propchef · 03-18-2021, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DocHaley

I'm still trying to understand what a Tier 4 Class A RV is. Can you explain where this came from.
Stephen

From the same people that bring you “Four Season Certified” The marketing department.

clawsonbob · 03-18-2021, 06:31 PM

I’ve been reading this and agree with most of the comments regarding pricing and the need to consider older coaches. And as a Newmar DS owner, I also agree with the suggestions to look at Newmar coaches. They provide a lot of quality and features at a price point well below the top tier (what ever that is).

I also noticed you said you may travel “a month at a time, 4-6 times a year” and you could up the budget, if the benefits warrant it. Like others noted, I’d just get out there and see what you can get at the various price points between 100k, 150k, 200k etc. 4-6 months a year is a lot of RV time and as long as budget permits, get what you REALLY want. When we did our search, we upped the budget considerably because we wanted a coach that felt like a desirable get-away spot vs just a camper. I’m really glad we did.

helopilot880 · 03-19-2021, 03:54 AM

Since I'm in a similar situation as the original poster, I have a question that has me concerned about the purchase of a "older" MH. My concern is the availability of parts and service. Unlike cars, MHs do not seem to have a huge support system for parts and service, either from the MH manufactures or 3rd party part suppliers. I worry that if I buy a older DP and something breaks, wears out, etc I will have a very difficult time finding parts, and, I may be down for extended lengths of time awaiting parts and/or service. Is this a valid issue?

Traxless · 03-19-2021, 05:06 AM

OP appears to have changed plans.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f44/best...rk-527921.html

Roy-c · 03-19-2021, 05:34 AM

Nice of them to update. ( and maybe say thank you )

Prof_T · 03-19-2021, 05:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helopilot880

Since I'm in a similar situation as the original poster, I have a question that has me concerned about the purchase of a "older" MH. My concern is the availability of parts and service. Unlike cars, MHs do not seem to have a huge support system for parts and service, either from the MH manufactures or 3rd party part suppliers. I worry that if I buy a older DP and something breaks, wears out, etc I will have a very difficult time finding parts, and, I may be down for extended lengths of time awaiting parts and/or service. Is this a valid issue?

Your concerns are somewhat valid. I had the same concerns when we purchased our Wanderlodge. Age of coach is really the driver concerning parts availability versus brand even orphaned ones. All older units will have parts issues that are no longer available BUT those instances are fewer than you may think. In most instances options are available that work just as well. Most of the time it is the electronics and controls of those systems that may or may not be available. Right now I know of a couple of parts that are not available for my bus but in those instances other options are available. I am sure that there may be more. Fortunately our Wanderlodge was built very robust and concerns and issues are not that common for out dated parts.

The online resources of other owners of your brand of choice is invaluable. I would guess that the Wanderlodge brand has online support from other owners that is second to none. I personally have phone numbers out the wazoo from other owners that I can call at a minutes notice if I have an issue. To me this was a big consideration when purchasing our bus.

BruceDeville · 03-19-2021, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helopilot880

Since I'm in a similar situation as the original poster, I have a question that has me concerned about the purchase of a "older" MH. My concern is the availability of parts and service. Unlike cars, MHs do not seem to have a huge support system for parts and service, either from the MH manufactures or 3rd party part suppliers. I worry that if I buy a older DP and something breaks, wears out, etc I will have a very difficult time finding parts, and, I may be down for extended lengths of time awaiting parts and/or service. Is this a valid issue?

Older vs newer. Don't worry about parts for most coach related items. My refrigerator, Air conditioner, water heater, awning are all from Dometic, still very active and in business.

Problems can occur on specialty designed electronic conitorl & monitoring systems. In that event for example I replaced an 2000 era system with 2018 version using existing wiring & sensors but new controls and monitor.

Running gear: our first motorhome was on a 1996 Ford F-53 chassic, parts available at any auto parts store. The second was on a 1999 Chevrolet Workhorse chassic. Chevrolet still in business (they did sell off the Workhorse product line which is also still in business). Again any auto parts store.

Our current motorhome is a Cummins powered Spartan chassic. Both still very viable and in business.

Think about it this way, would you buy a 20 year old conventional home where the contractor was no longer in business and you were worried about replacing the AC, dishwasher etc?

Possibly your looking in the wrong places or asking the wrong questions.
Refrigerator goes, not economically repairable, get id pate info and call local RV parts store, ask for replacement. Then go to internet and do it allover again. Conpare local vs distance purchasing and go with it. Just remember in this case the motorhome manufacturer is immaterial.

When I needed work on my Workhorse chassic, I called the Chevrolet dealer and said I have a 1999 Workhorse chassic gave model number and VIN and can you repair the "Auto Park" brake. Never mentioned it was a motorhome.

Some folks don't like anything over a couple of years old thinking the motorhome is like an automobile, two - five years old and its history. I respectfully disagree.

Birdhunr2 · 03-19-2021, 09:08 PM

I have a 1992 foretravel u225 36 ft and a 2000 Fleetwood discovery.37 ft 2 slides. Neither fit your requirements but I can say I'm impressed with how the foretravel is built. You already have a lot of good suggestions of what brands to look at . Regarding aquahot. You might want to drop that from your requirements. If you have a combo gas or electric water heater you can use the camp ground power to heat water instead of your propane. Also you might be eliminating some good rigs without aquahot when you could probably do that conversion yourself later to add aquahot after you get the coach you want. Getting the right rig at a good price probably more important than only considering ones that have aqua hot. Or some other feature you could upgrade to later. Regarding gas or diesel. Consider how many miles you plan to drive. If you plan to travel 2k miles or less round trip 4 to 6 times a year then gas might suit your needs. But if you plan to move around a lot and average 200 miles a day for a 6 week trip or expect to do a fair amount of mountain range crossing and haul a toad then the gas RV is going to cost you a lot in fuel. Even with my cummings 5.9b foretravel with a banks turbo stinger , i can gets 9 to 10 mpg if I keep it around 60mph or 8mpg if driving 65mph, if I average more than 300 miles per day on a trip it can be more economical to just stay in hotels. So traveling in the RV can be mire of a personal oreference for other reasons than costs. But mpg would likely be significantly lower for gas so I suggest you consider gas only if you expect to have a low average miles per day of 75 miles per day or less. (<3000miles rt for each 6 wk trip.). With longer trips or a lot of wondering around you might be better off with a diesel.

plumber64 · 03-20-2021, 06:20 AM

Buying a quality older coach means less not more problems. Today's motor homes are IMHO are built with crap by crap manufacturers. They can't get parts or sub assemblies to finish what they are building and ship crap to the dealers to make right. In my profession-Plumbing & Heating- what we are getting as new stinks. If it is older we can fix it for a reasonable cost. Our 2006 Tiffin Phaeton has essentially been trouble free and if a part is needed Tiffin built it with quality normally available parts. It is the people behind the motor home that you should investigate. If you hear the name Thor- RUN.

plumber64 · 03-20-2021, 06:37 AM

As an aside- Our chassis is Frieghtliner and when we were up at the last Hershey RV show they had a stand alone booth staffed with factory experienced older experts who if you gave them make, model and year knew what you had and any quirks to that unit. If there were factory changes, fixes they would tell you straight to your face and give you the right part #'s. I believe that is called integrity in the product and the people behind it.