Why does anyone buy a Class A?

[09 harley]

Because we are dreamers. Even with problems we want to explore this great country.

[Payson Dave]

Originally Posted by 2cyber71

Well, it’s not what you think.
I bet most of the 20+ year Class A owners will tell you this.

It how we travel, we take the motorhome everywhere vacation, day trips, weddings, family visits. It’s just how we travel, just it’s bigger than a car or van. Most new RVers would not comprehend this because they jumped into RVing as a solution to Covid.

We have owned our Fleetwood Fiesta 26y for twenty years. I think we have spent about 7k on repairs and upkeep. Still going strong. Only had a few problems the first week. Everything still works fine. Too many stories about poor workmanship today. They don't make them like they used to.

[MBrant]

I bought a Coachmen Pursuit in early April, and still haven't been able to use it. It goes back into the shop on Thursday for more major safety issues. I have no idea how it even GOT to California with all the safety issues. It ought to caught fire, had the dry differential lock up, and had the wheels fall off on the road.

Look, I can fix a LOT, but should I HAVE to rebuild a new differential? Should I HAVE to fasten down the dashboard? I had an outlet which was splintered and glued back together - at the factory! (Who DOES that?)

I've put 300 miles on this since April, and it's all going to and coming from the dealer and Ford for warrantee safety issues!

Yeah, a little discouraged....

[RoadTrip2084]

Originally Posted by MBrant

I bought a Coachmen Pursuit in early April, and still haven't been able to use it. It goes back into the shop on Thursday for more major safety issues. I have no idea how it even GOT to California with all the safety issues. It ought to caught fire, had the dry differential lock up, and had the wheels fall off on the road.

Look, I can fix a LOT, but should I HAVE to rebuild a new differential? Should I HAVE to fasten down the dashboard? I had an outlet which was splintered and glued back together - at the factory! (Who DOES that?)

I've put 300 miles on this since April, and it's all going to and coming from the dealer and Ford for warrantee safety issues!

Yeah, a little discouraged....

Wow, that is really upsetting to hear. You might want to explore your local "lemon" laws and look for a refund.

[Roadrunner]

It is a lifestyle we want to experience and you should realize the cost before going into it.

[RM Art]

MB - I feel for you! Was it a brand new Coachman?

Best luck in resolution to this most unfortunate situation.

As mentioned above - The Lemon Law might be an avenue to traverse.

[Iceman-31D]

Back to the original question: why a class A? Because of the experience! We have used class C, class B, and trailers over the past 30 years, and travelling in a class A is far superior. Sitting 10 ft. in the air, seeing over all other cars and guardarails, surrounded by 50sq. ft of glass is priceless! We did a trip from Montana to south Texas in our class A, travelling with friends who were in their 5th wheel. Every evening we sat around and told them about all the cool things we had seen, that they did not because they were down "in the trenches" sitting in their pickup!

[gjbales]

This post reminds me of my first job out of college. I worked at a Plymouth/Dodge dealership as Office Manager and all I saw coming in for repairs day in and day out were Chrysler products. Every day -- a Dodge would come in, then a Plymouth, and they just kept coming. I swore up and down that I would never own a Dodge or Chrysler product because of that. Then, years later, it finally dawned on me that those people that were HAPPY with their Dodges and Chrysler products that didn't have any problems weren't coming in to the dealership. DUH! No need to come in and have any repairs done if nothing is wrong, right?

Same here -- there are probably more people out there that own Class A's that do not have any problems (or very few to mention) and we don't hear from them. That's what these forums are for -- to help others who DO have problems and questions.

Just because there is a problem listed on this forum doesn't mean that ALL OF US have problems with our Class A's.

[JedClampett]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Substitue for Sex, drugs, rock-n-roll

I wasn't aware that there was any replacement for those three.

[Flyer15015]

There isn't, but as we get older, the order may have to be changed.

Mike in Colorado

[arlenerhine]

We had a 39 foot Winnebago Journey for years.....few problems. Decided to downsize to a new trailer.....problems started when we pulled it out of the lot. We sold it three months later. Now we have a 2014 Fleetwood Bounder. It is so much more solid and comfortable. Yes, some problems, but with all that shaking going on, what can we expect?

[Max Headroom]

Originally Posted by RV_Lee

Personally I think the RV world as you know it is about to finally come to a close. Look how many new ev car companies have started up, well, the same thing will happen with RV's. Literally any day now one of the new RV companies is going to drop a concept RV that will obliterate everything currently on the market.

I envision something between a class A gas and diesel pusher (no need to weigh 35000lbs), electric motors, 650hp, 1800+lbft, 800+ mile range, all built in-house like a Newell, slides that don't break, 80% self driving and other trickery, whole roof solar etc. They will be luxury DP priced initially but will come down in short order.

Where this is a fail is where you're saying, "no need to weigh 35,000lbs"
While that is technically true, you can't have all you desire in a coach that weighs much less unless you sacrifice quality. There is a reason that gassers are falling apart after 5 years, and mid to high end DP's are in reasonably good shape after 20 years, and the reason is real wood, quality amenities are heavy. You want quality amenities, you're gonna have to have a chassis that can hold some weight. As of right now, only the DP has the power to haul that kind of weight on a regular basis.

On a second point, what do you think a battery bank that can haul that kind of load for 800 miles is going to weigh?
I can go 800 miles easily in my Monaco DP
200 gallons of fuel, 1,200 pounds (actually more than enough for 800 miles)
Cummins M11, 2,100 pounds
Allison 4060 transmission, 892 pounds
Total 4,192 pounds

I'm going to venture a guess that the 'unicorn' electric coach battery will weigh a lot more than my combined drive train and fuel. This guess is based on the fact a Tesla battery weighs about 1,200 pounds, as does an EV1 battery.
Both of these batteries weigh more than the entire drive train and fuel supply of the IC engines they are trying to replace. Again, that is just the battery, and not even counting the rest of the electric drive train.

For example
Honda B16 performance 4cyl IC engine 309 pounds
Transmission 110 pounds
20 gallons of fuel 160 pounds
Total 579 pounds

The Tesla 'fuel' supply alone weighs more than double the comparable IC engine, transmission and fuel combined weight.

So let's just say my combined (wet) drive train and fuel supply weighs 4,500 pounds, which is about 1/8th my GVW. If you ask me, that isn't very much given the utility of being able to fuel up in about 15 minutes, after driving 800 miles.
I would guess the electric bus drive train capable of going 800 miles hauling a 'live in' quality coach body would be well in excess of 12,000 pounds. That is almost half the GVW of the 35,000 pound coach. Not going to leave much for the coachworks and cargo.

How long do you think that 800 mile battery would take to charge?
You can charge a Tesla in about a half hour using a 'super charger', but they don't recommend doing this on a regular basis.
Using the recommended normal charger takes 8-12 hours @ 240V, and 20-40 hours @ 120V.
Best case scenario 150 miles of driving, 8 hours of charging.
That works out to 1 hour of charging for every 19 miles driven.

Let's apply that to the electric 800 mile unicorn coach. An 800 mile trip would require a 42 hour charge cycle. Remember that is based on the best case scenario for a Tesla.
If we take the average on the Tesla (10 hours), that is one hour of charging for every 15 miles driven.
When we apply that to the unicorn coach, we're looking at a 53 hour charging cycle. While there may be people out there that this type of travel workflow might be OK, it is far from ideal for the average user, which means far from ideal for a manufacture.

Things are, the way they are for a reason. If you want a live in coach, built well enough to last for a reasonable amount of time, and want the most efficient, convenient and flexible source of power, diesel is the winner. The whole point of the coach is the box you live in. As soon as you try and go electric to move that box, your trip, your life, all of it has to revolve around the drive train. In a diesel you can change you plans mid trip, go farther, go somewhere there isn't electricity, etc without fretting about the batteries.
It will likely stay this way until there is some huge break thru in batteries, and that doesn't seem likely anytime soon.

[MinntoMich]

Originally Posted by gjbales

I worked at a Plymouth/Dodge dealership as Office Manager and all I saw coming in for repairs day in and day out were Chrysler products.

Best cars I've ever owned were either Mopar (pre-Cerebus and Fiat) or Fords. I gotta ask... What were you expecting to drive into a Plymouth/Dodge garage for repair?

[MinntoMich]

Originally Posted by gatorfan1

Or any RV for that matter! When you read the thousands of complaints on here it is painfully clear that RV makers do not have the technology or ability to produce a product with a defect rate similar to cars & trucks. I understand that part of the problem is using cheap components to save money. Also the lack of suppliers is an issue. And finally its a house subjected to earthquake conditions over and over again. Obviously we are far from having the ability to produce a rock solid RV. Having said that my Class A units have been the best in the "service calls per year" category. The worst was my Class B followed by Class C.

Buy used and save thousands+++. Be handy and save thousands more. Buy old and be reassured that the chassis manufacturer made millions of them and all the problems and all of the solutions are out there.

Buy a Class A RV because you like to see the country, you in laws think it's neat, your son likes to go anywhere in it as does your dog, every trip is an adventure and it's fun to take road trips in. Wherever you go regardless of how remote you always have a kitchen and restroom.

I suppose it depends on what you want to spend your money on. For me this beats about any other vacation or leisure option out there.