Downsize from A to C?

[SarahW]

Originally Posted by WayneLee

SarahW:
The tank sizes in the larger C's are getting close to the A's. For example, with my new Forest River Sunseeker, my gray and black tanks are rated at 39 gallons each and my fresh water tank at 50 gallons. My Holiday Rambler had gray and black tanks at 42 gallons each and the fresh water was 100 gallons.

At these tank capacities, I envision that my camping "off the grid" should not really change.

That's good to know, Wayne. Thanks.

[MPH]

Originally Posted by SarahW

Hi Mel (and Kate!) I'm sorry you are having such problems with your moho; that can be so discouraging...and expensive. I have recently been looking at Class C's myself, though I will have my work cut out for me to convince my hubby to downsize. (He might talk Super-C, though. )

I really like having the additional doors as on a C, plus airbags and better dash air. I also like the improved maneuverability of a smaller RV. I'm afraid tank sizes would be the deal killer for us. We enjoy staying at COE parks and others that don't have full hookups, so having larger black and gray tanks is very important to us. That said, we are "vacationers" and have no plan to ever full-time, so a smaller RV with less storage would not be an issue; we haul too much stuff as it is.

You might consider a Class A gasser in your search. The Ford V10 is not as quiet as a diesel, but will take you anywhere you want to go and is much cheaper to maintain. Good luck!

We are still undecided as of now, Sarah. In a way, I wish we'd gotten a C in the first place. But, I was persuaded by some guys who are in love with their A's. There are many things we absolutely love about our coach, and it has a great layout for full-timing. I guess the verdict is still out.

We should hear something from Freightliner tomorrow about the oil leak. We have reservations for next weekend at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, so I hope we get Bow back tomorrow!

And to everyone who has replied, thanks so much.

Mel

[SarahW]

Originally Posted by MPH

We are still undecided as of now, Sarah. In a way, I wish we'd gotten a C in the first place. But, I was persuaded by some guys who are in love with their A's. There are many things we absolutely love about our coach, and it has a great layout for full-timing. I guess the verdict is still out.

We should hear something from Freightliner tomorrow about the oil leak. We have reservations for next weekend at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, so I hope we get Bow back tomorrow!

And to everyone who has replied, thanks so much.

Mel

My best wishes to you for a good outcome (as much as possible). I know it is small consolation, but probably 95% of all RV owners have had some regret with their purchase at one time or another. It's easy to second-guess ourselves, especially when things go wrong.

Have fun at PD; it's a beautiful place.

[clyon51]

We had a 29' C no slides to a 33' A with one super slide. Then to a 38' A with 3 slides. Since we FT, would never go back to a C.... unless we had to financially. I never saw any more or less maint cost across the 3... I do all my own maint. I also never had any manuvering problems from a 29 to a 38. We pulled a 16' trailer with the C and our first A. We now pull a Chevy Equinox with our 38'.

[SarahW]

Originally Posted by clyon51

We had a 29' C no slides to a 33' A with one super slide. Then to a 38' A with 3 slides. Since we FT, would never go back to a C.... unless we had to financially. I never saw any more or less maint cost across the 3... I do all my own maint. I also never had any manuvering problems from a 29 to a 38. We pulled a 16' trailer with the C and our first A. We now pull a Chevy Equinox with our 38'.

Mel's current coach is a DP; my reduced maintenance cost reference was comparing gas to diesel.

[MPH]

Originally Posted by clyon51

We had a 29' C no slides to a 33' A with one super slide. Then to a 38' A with 3 slides. Since we FT, would never go back to a C.... unless we had to financially. I never saw any more or less maint cost across the 3... I do all my own maint. I also never had any manuvering problems from a 29 to a 38. We pulled a 16' trailer with the C and our first A. We now pull a Chevy Equinox with our 38'.

My issues are not with driving and manueverability. My issue is maintenance and repair costs. If you do all your own maintenance, then of course you wouldn't see any difference in maintenance costs in your A or C coaches. I can't do maintenance or repairs on a coach, so my point is the Class A 37.5 ft DP is ridiculously expensive to repair and maintain. We are not sure that when we retire we can afford to FT in an A, primarily due to the high costs of repairs and maintenance. We love our coach, but may not be able to afford to keep it.

Originally Posted by SarahW

Mel's current coach is a DP; my reduced maintenance cost reference was comparing gas to diesel.

Thanks, Sarah. You're absolutely right. Barb has told me what her repair and maintenance costs are and I can tell you that she could take care of her C for 8 years on what we have spent in the last 3 months.

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by MPH

I'm thinking of the possibility of downsizing to a C, simply because I think the repair and maintenance costs might be considerably lower. True or not?

....just some random thoughts

But be careful of the $$$$ lost when doing the trade......if you lost $20-30 K in doing the switch ....that would have paid for A LOT of repair/maintenance on what you have now.

Also you know about the history of what you have now.....repairs done in the past are not likely to need doing again for a long while.....with another vehicle it's a crap shoot.

Also some people "over maintain" their vehicles.....you don't need this vehicle to last you a million miles or 25 years in the future.......examples - Very small oil leak is not worth $$$ in tear down/new gaskets, etc..... Just keep an eye on it and add a quart or two of oil when it needs it..... Money saved ! Places like Speedco change oil cheaper than dealers or truck shops usually, etc. instead of Michelin tires, try the less expensive brands......most RV owners age out the tires long before they wear them out.

😃

[WayneLee]

Some meanderings over maintenance costs.

The DP engine manufacturers suggest an oil change every year or at 10,000 miles. If you have your annual maintenance done at a dealer, you are looking at $800.00 to $900.00 including the generator. Now, if you would do this yourself, you are looking at gallons of oil, not quarts, gallons. Then, there are two or three filters that should be changed at $25.00 per filter. So, you are looking at probably over $100.00 in parts alone! I'm not sure how much my C will cost for similar service, but I don't think it will even approach the DP.

Tire cost.... I believe that I need to buy the best tire that I can for my coach. My life, my DW's life, depend on good, safe tires. I am willing to buy the best tire I can to ensure our safety. When looking at tires for a Class A, you are faced with a perplexing issue. Do you want to put on some "china bombs" that might fail quickly, or do you want to buy more expensive tires. Last year, I replaced all 6 tires on my DP. Even using the FMCA Michelin discount, I paid around $3,000 for six Michelin XZA3 mounted and with Equal in the front tires.

Let's face it, I loved my DP. It drove like a dream, had plenty of room especially with 4 slides, and it was a great coach. That was until it had to go into the dealer for some maintenance work. And the insurance and DMV fees were sky high.

[oldsmasma]

Almost exactly two years ago we went from a 30' fifth wheel and F250 4x4 to a 28' triple slide Lexington 283GTS motorhome. We love it. Just the two of us and a large dog. Love the three doors. Love the ease of set up and my two new-to-me knees love the lower steps. Hubby finds it much easier to drive too. We spent two months in Florida last winter and never found we were without things or felt cramped. We didn't bother with a toad but easily could pull our VW. We just called Enterprise when we wanted a car or just toured with the MH. We have had just about all forms of rv's over the years including trailers hard top tent trailers the fifth wheel and a couple of motorhomes. Very very pleased with this one.


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[Joanned]

we just bought the view too. Ordered and should be delivered in December
Will be interested in all your stories and experiences since this is our first rv.

[eldonc]

About one year ago we downsizes from 41 foot DP to a 30 foot Cambria. We had been living in the winter in our big coach. Then we bought a almost new mobile home in the park we had been at for three years. Sold the big class A and got our Cambria for summer camping trips. It is much easier to park in most parks compared to the class A It has lots less capacitiy to haul "junk" than our class A. However for what we need on shorter trips it is okay. It has two slides which seem adequate on our trips this year. Maintenance is way less than before. We like the two extra doors and lower to ground entrance. Also the ford has plenty of reserve power to pull our toad. The only thing we don't like is the smaller grey water holding tank. It has averaged 9mpg pulling our toad this past year. Actually more mpg than the big DP ever got for us. We just got a new toad and took a 700 mile trip with it behind the Cambria all wheels down. It is a Sonic LTZ turbo automatic hatchback . My wife really likes to drive it. It weighs 2700 pounds and pulls easy behind the Cambria.

[Camper Ken]

Originally Posted by jpf

also driver and passenger airbags on class Cs.

That was something my wife commented about when we downsized back to a class C. She finally admitted to me she never felt safe riding in the front passenger seat of our class A.

[crh97]

We downsized from a 38 foot front diesel allegro bay after buying a 2nd stick house in Florida. We now have a 2015 30J Cambria and it has more plusses than minuses. All motor homes have some of both.

It drives like a car without a tow vehicle. With my 5000 lb explorer it still drives well but when I trade cars, I will downsize to no heavier than 3500 lbs. My wife is taking 2 hour stints behind the wheel for the first time in our 12 years of motorhoming.

It doesn't have a washer and dryer which is a pain.

The Ford V10 shift pattern is a screamer. When you are in mountains you have to be patient and it's fine. If you want to pull out of Salt Lake City toward Park City at 55 mph towing a 5000 lb tow vehicle, it won't do it. At 40 mph with the flashers on and the cruise turned off it's fine.

The best thing about the chassis, I'm getting an oil change done Tuesday morning at my Ford dealer for under $50 and it's only 1 mile from home.

My black tank will go at least 5 days with no conservation. My gray tank will probably go 3 days with conservation. We never go more than 2 nights anyway.

[MPH]

Originally Posted by crh97

We downsized from a 38 foot front diesel allegro bay after buying a 2nd stick house in Florida. We now have a 2015 30J Cambria and it has more plusses than minuses. All motor homes have some of both.

It drives like a car without a tow vehicle. With my 5000 lb explorer it still drives well but when I trade cars, I will downsize to no heavier than 3500 lbs. My wife is taking 2 hour stints behind the wheel for the first time in our 12 years of motorhoming.

It doesn't have a washer and dryer which is a pain.

The Ford V10 shift pattern is a screamer. When you are in mountains you have to be patient and it's fine. If you want to pull out of Salt Lake City toward Park City at 55 mph towing a 5000 lb tow vehicle, it won't do it. At 40 mph with the flashers on and the cruise turned off it's fine.

The best thing about the chassis, I'm getting an oil change done Tuesday morning at my Ford dealer for under $50 and it's only 1 mile from home.

My black tank will go at least 5 days with no conservation. My gray tank will probably go 3 days with conservation. We never go more than 2 nights anyway.

All good info, Crh. Thanks. We are still weighing pluses and minuses.