Community Forums

APGraffeo · 11-06-2022, 03:46 PM

I am in the market for my first B van. I’ve narrowed my choice based on features to four vans: Coachman Beyond; American Coach Patriot Ford; Pleasure Way On Tour 2.2; and Midwest Auto Design Foed Passenger. Any advice on which would be the best choice and why?

Rocinante440 · 11-07-2022, 12:33 PM

The same company makes American Coach Patriot and Midwest Automotive Design. In the same factory. That's not a bad thing, just a data point you may want to keep in mind when deciding between these.

Danny969 · 11-08-2022, 10:42 PM

The pleasure way is by far the best built, however, I don't know if they offer a four seasons insulation package or if they're offering more than 200ah of lithium batteries. If those items aren't important to you, get the pleasure way. Check into it.

JonMN · 11-10-2022, 08:30 AM

If you have access to see all of these models it would help a lot. I am pretty limited in what I could view. Once you look at them you will have an idea which floor plan you want. In our case, we REALLY liked a rear bathroom, but this limited the options of what to buy.

Finally, I would weight the decision also based on the local dealers you have available. I wish I had done this--really unhappy with dealer; takes a lot of the fun out of the purchase.

FYI, we went with a 2022 Coachmen Beyond Rear Bath. We like the RV and have had just two really minor glitches with it. Since we live in the really cold state of MN, I am pretty happy to have gas rather than diesel.

Rocinante440 · 11-10-2022, 08:46 AM

When we were thinking of selling our current Airstream Interstate class B van so we could get into a new one, we had narrowed our choices down to the Coachmen Beyond Li3 AWD, or the Pleasureway OnTour 2.2. The units from MAD / American Patriot are gorgeous inside, but there are a few small things about them we weren't crazy about, so they didn't make our short list.

In the end, we weren't able to sell our existing unit for a price we liked which would mean we'd have to put a lot more money into a new unit than we wanted. So, we decided to keep our existing van and make a bunch of upgrades such that it has most of what we wanted in a new unit anyway, and at a far lower cost.

Actually, that previous paragraph should give you some hope for better prices on the used market in case you're considering a gently used Class B vs. a new one. If you're not, you should probably at least take a look at that possibility.