Community Forums

manderson2228 · 03-11-2017, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WDW

You didn't mention it, but another writer did, the FR Georgetown and Coachman divisions. They fall in the tween to upper tween categories in the gas series. Personally we are partial to the / our Miranda series. You can get a full-bodied paint 2017 Mirada for around $110 K.

I just got a 2018 for less than 110k with almost all the add-ons. Prices are going up next year though. The georgetown was the biggest competition for the mirada for us too.

Dan McMartin · 03-11-2017, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harryn

Which show is it - do you have a web link? At the staples center?

edit - this one at Cal - expo?

The Real RV Show |

We were at the Cal Expo show in Sacramento.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cruzbill

Head up to Grass Valley-

DeMartini RV Sales - New and Used Motorhome Dealer | Index

Way ahead of you. Heading there tomorrow

Quote:

Originally Posted by WDW

You didn't mention it, but another writer did, the FR Georgetown and Coachman divisions. They fall in the tween to upper tween categories in the gas series. Personally we are partial to the / our Miranda series. You can get a full-bodied paint 2017 Mirada for around $110 K.

Honestly, we we're in entry level mode a few months back and at the time dismissed these tween MH's. They are back on our radar now. We really like the Georgetown 5 Series 31L5. A bit long at 34' 11" but checks a lot of boxes for us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyDi

I may be a bit biased but you owe it to yourself to check out the Newmars. Look at used MHs 2-3 yrs old and you'll be very surprised at what your budget can buy.

If we find some, we will look.

Quote:

Originally Posted by manderson2228

I just got a 2018 for less than 110k with almost all the add-ons. Prices are going up next year though. The georgetown was the biggest competition for the mirada for us too.

There are several dealers offering 2017 GT5's for $99K right now.

And for the record, we aren't opposed to used but we've come the the conclusion that wouldn't go back further than about 5 years. We've got our reasons (some of which are irrational but...

). We aren't set on anything. This is just the first step.

Highway 4x4 · 03-11-2017, 03:14 PM

Thanks for the great report. I am quite a ways from the new market. But can spend 60-75K on the right used one. Everywhere I go there are steep grades and pulling a 4500 pound Jeep is not what I am looking forward to. I want to keep length at 30 feet so no DP. At 65 now hope I don't look back when 75 and regret things.

Dan McMartin · 03-13-2017, 11:43 AM

We drove over the hill and visited DeMartini and La Mesa RV. We wanted to see the Georgetown GT5 and the Winnie 30T. La Mesa didn't have the 30T. My bad. I looked on line and ended up confusing a couple they had in Florida for being on the lot in Davis

Anyway, the salesman was great. No pressure and very friendly.

DeMartini was a great experience too. We looked in different MH's for two hours and we're never given the hard sell...in fact, the salesman, Richard, never once discussed a sale except in the abstract. He answered all our questions, let us look at whatever we wanted and was pleasant and friendly the whole time. Great first impression!

Anyway, we really like the Georgetown 5 Series 31L5. Great floor plan with quite a few upgrades over the FR3 or GT3. The biggest downer was the dinette. Very tight fit but the dinette table in the 31R5 model is a bit skinnier and Richard said they could order that table to make the dinette more usable. A few other minor annoyances but a lot to like. King bed, double fridge, two air conditioners, better outside storage doors, etc., etc.

The MSRP was $147K. They we're asking $110,000 but that included the motorized loft bed for $2500 which we wouldn't order. Their asking price was 25% off so not a bad place to start. Hopefully we could squeeze a few extra percent out of them and Richard said ordering would probably result in a better price anyway.

We're leaning towards new. We're aware of the downsides of that (depreciation, new coach issues, etc.) but we've got our reasons. First off, keeps the wife happy

Seriously, she's got asthma and no worries about previous smokers or pets. It's new with warranties. No long, stressful search for the perfect used coach along with all the inspections and anxiety. Plus, we get exactly what we want.

Nothing is set in stone. We might (probably?) will change our minds 47 more times before we pull the trigger. But we feel like a new GT5 would check off a lot of boxes for us.

lanerd · 03-13-2017, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan McMartin

That Tiffin wasn't as low as it could go. I think it MSRP'd for $170k-ish and they were selling it for $143k. Should have been closer to $130k. Still a stretch for our budget.

You know that the marked down "sale" price is still negotiable? For instance, our coach had a MSRP of 339K and at the show it was marked down to 289K. We negotiated and eventually bought it for 245K.

Ron

Dan McMartin · 03-13-2017, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lanerd

You know that the marked down "sale" price is still negotiable? For instance, our coach had a MSRP of 339K and at the show it was marked down to 289K. We negotiated and eventually bought it for 245K.

Ron

Oh yeah! Especially as you go up in price. More meat on the bone. We haven't really looked for deals on the Tiffin but probably should. But we need to get to about $100k and that might be a stretch new and used, late model Tiffins aren't super common.

cruzbill · 03-13-2017, 06:24 PM

Not sure if this was on your list, but I did a search on RV Trader and came up with this:

https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/201...36LA-121318606

DWRichard · 03-13-2017, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cruzbill

Not sure if this was on your list, but I did a search on RV Trader and came up with this:

https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/201...36LA-121318606

And you won't find a better floorplan on a Tiffin gasser than the 36LA (IMHO).

Dan McMartin · 03-13-2017, 10:33 PM

Hate that floor plan...just kidding. A bit pricey and a bit too long.

And we're not buying until summer at the earliest.

gosman · 03-17-2017, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvlabs

You looked at the best first and it was too expensive?? Winnebago, Newmar, and Tiffin all build good, solid gas class A coaches. Then there are all the rest of them that you mentioned. These are "entry level" coaches. Not as robust or as well finished as the ones from Newmar, Tiffin, and Winnie.

And yes, the Sprinter chassis coaches are pretty neat. We downsized simply because we didn't need that much coach anymore.

But if she is worried about cargo capacity, the sprinter vans have very little. Very unsafe and will barely hold two people.

luvlabs · 03-18-2017, 08:54 AM

Yes, Sprinter vans have limited CCC but we have found out that we don't need to carry all of that stuff when we are going to a 3-4 day rally. Downsizing is just that - taking less stuff. And there is only two of us.

Unsafe? Please explain your comment. If overloaded, any coach is unsafe. If your tires are not inflated properly, any coach is unsafe and so on.

gosman · 03-18-2017, 10:41 PM

Unsafe? Please explain your comment. If overloaded, any coach is unsafe. If your tires are not inflated properly, any coach is unsafe and so on.[/QUOTE]

If the sprinter has a 1000 lb carrying limit, two people, a tank of water, and a few items will top off the 1000 lbs quickly. Anything over that is unsafe. And most people carry more than a 1000 lbs.

Dan McMartin · 03-19-2017, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvlabs

Yes, Sprinter vans have limited CCC but we have found out that we don't need to carry all of that stuff when we are going to a 3-4 day rally. Downsizing is just that - taking less stuff. And there is only two of us.

Exactly. We just took a trip over the weekend and during the drive we discussed what we would take with us. Obviously, more cargo capacity is better than less, all things being equal. But our list isn't long. We already downsized from a 2400 sqft house into a 900 sqft apartment so we've shed a lot of stuff and we can already see stuff we kept and aren't sure why.

It's not for everyone but getting rid of all our stuff was liberating. No more expensive toys gathering dust and making us feel guilty. No more abandoned hobbies or projects. I know lots of full timers take everything but the kitchen sink and need a 45 foot DP to carry it. That's not us.

Is a Sprinter a real option? I doubt it but I know if we decided it was, we'd make it work. The adventure is our dream, not simply living in a motorhome. That's a means to an end.

BigHomey · 03-19-2017, 08:55 PM

Something I have not seen you mention is whether you have test driven any of these MHs. Once I had my list narrowed down to about four (based on floor plan, quality, price and selling dealer), I made arrangements to test drive them all. Something else I had done in my research prior to buying was to check the forums to see what people with the MHs I was considering had to say about handling/driving issues. If considering a new gasser, you will have a Ford V10 on a F53 chassis and there is plenty of information on suspension upgrades for it. Based on what I found, I budgeted for about $2K in suspension upgrades on a new 2016 coach. And if you are planning on a toad, there is a whole bunch more research to do.

AL