2011 Great West Van Legend Mercedes Benz Sprinter - Page 3

Fastpaddler1 · 02-02-2014, 04:02 AM

Hi Davydd,
Lost track of you for a while. Happy 2014. Still looking at a replacement for my 06(07build) PW Plateau. My wife got me side-tracked with the 2014 Leisure Travel Free Spirit SS with that little slide-out. She is going on and on about the rear bathroom. What do you think of thatÉ
AL

Davydd · 02-02-2014, 04:01 PM

I'm pretty sure I've expressed my opinion about the Free Spirit SS in its message thread here. BTW, that layout is virtually the same as the new Winnebago ERA just introduced. I guess to recap in relation to a Legend here goes.

We don't use the bathroom as intensely as the LTV FS SS implies you can. We go to the bathroom, brush our teeth or do a showerless wipe down to clean up most of the time. One big reason is because B tank capacities would never let you take luxurious showers unless you camped with city water and sewer hookups and we don't do that often. So the bathroom becomes a major waste of space for a B that has little precious space. The Great West Van Legend with its door system to create an expanded bathroom can accomplish almost as much and you can shower poking your elbows out against the loose shower curtain not constrained by a door.

The slideout is a killer. It makes it impossible to overnight street park or have quick rest stops in a stealth manner. We actually sleep parallel parked at our son's house a lot. If you resort to a slideout you might as well buy something with more room like a small C.

Zoning is my biggest objection. You are in an either or situation. You are either up or you are going to bed in that FS SS. Most Bs have front and back zoning where one person can stay up with seating in the front while the other person sleeps in the back. If you are on top of each other 24/7 it can get pretty tedious.

I'll be going to the Minneapolis RV show this coming weekend. I hope to catch up on the latest B developments.

Fastpaddler1 · 02-02-2014, 09:54 PM

Thanks Davydd. Hmm. The slide-out could be a problem. Shower-wise, we mostly camp at RV parks or Provincial campgrounds where we have space and in most cases we use city water and use the shower daily. Interesting that the 2014 PW Plateau TS isnt all that much different inside than our little old 06(07 build) PW. The B market will be very interesting with the Ford & Fiat/Chrysler offerings.
cheers
AL

booster · 02-02-2014, 10:30 PM

We have to agree with Davydd about the bathroom (wasted) space use, only more so. We have the aisle shower with the toilet facing the aisle. The shower takes zero space as it is the aisle anyway, and it is just as easy to use as any other. The toilet takes considerably less than 1/2 the space of the enclosed bath models. We don't have any problems with using the kitchen sink instead of having another one 3 feet away. We aren't modest and have even removed the privacy door extensions to save weight. Works for us, and gives us a lot of extra space, without going to something bigger.

Rok · 02-05-2014, 04:26 AM

Hi Fastpaddler1:

My main objection to the Leisure Travel Free Spirit SS is the size of the bed (well my main objection might be that you can't stealth camp, but that has already been mentioned). Anyway, the size of the bed would be too small for my wife and I. Pulling it out of the dredges of my memory, I think the bed is 54" wide which is very narrow by even Class B standards. Now, for one person who wanted a really nice bathroom and who was going to stay in campgrounds all the time, it might be perfect, but that is a very limited audience, and I've heard that the SS is not selling well.

Since I had heard this I was stunned to see that Winnebago was putting out another Sprinter Based B that was nearly identical to the SS. Maybe they are selling better than I thought.

They also fit the niche of the soccer mom with more money than sense who just wants to have a private powder room when taking the young ones to soccer. The SS is a fairly nice toilet on wheels. So maybe the numbers have improved since I heard them (or maybe my source was incorrect). One would think that Winnebago wouldn't copy a poorly selling design. But, then again, you wouldn't think they would put a TV right in the middle of the kitchen counter right next to where you fry the bacon, either, and they did that.

Just my 2 cents.

...........Rocky Willson

Davydd · 02-05-2014, 02:00 PM

We did meet one young couple last year in Colorado who were temporarily full-timing in their new LTV Free Spirit SS and they liked it a lot. I believe they were about 4-5 months into the venture.

The 54" is full bed size. 40-50 years ago that was the norm and what we started out on in our home. The full bed is equivalent to two people sleeping on 27" wide beds (size of a cot) side by side. It is doable but I don't think I know many couples that still sleep in full size beds. Americans if they can afford it have adapted to queen and king size beds. Even our two spare bedrooms have queen size beds for guests. That Winnebago Travato is even narrower. It is a 46" wide bed with a notch taken out of one corner.

Fastpaddler1 · 02-24-2014, 09:25 PM

Thanks for those feedbacks. My wife prefers that rear bathroom setup and all the cupboards but I tend to like the PW & GWV rear folding couch/bed. I am 6ft 1inch 190lbs(not fat) and I was wondering how the two of us could manage the slideout fairly narrow bed since I get very little of the bed now in the PW--solved by using the single bed configuration without the cushions added for one big rear bed. As I have noted before, I am NOT going over 22ft9ins length. I am going to WInnipeg this summer so I will drive up to WInkler and see their models and also to GWV nearby Winnipeg at St Andrews. CHeers

laserman · 08-27-2015, 12:14 AM

Searchin for used Great WEst Legend. I undestand those units are built in Canada. Many websites indicate Milleage: XXXX . Are these in KM or in Miles?
I doubt GW would build a model for the US and another one for the Canadian market?

Davydd · 08-27-2015, 12:39 AM

When we bought our GWVan in 2011 it was being built in St. Andrews, MB a suburb of Winnipeg. At the time all their Bs were going to the United States as there were no Canadian dealers. In 2012 the production was moved to Winnipeg under new ownership. In 2014 that ownership moved production to Winfield, Alabama. Avanti got the first USA built Great West Van. To my knowledge most all Great West Vans were sold in the United States. Right now the company appears to be out of business and the more I am hearing about it, it could be rather permanent as I now know of one customer that got jobbed on their money.

If you see a GWVan offered for sale in the United States it was most certainly I think built for the US market. It is a good Class B. I felt it was the best on the market in 2011.

As for markets, yes they do build different vans for the US and Canada. US Bs have to come through South Carolina and be assembled and then shipped to Canada. Canadian vans come into Canada fully assembled. They also have different requirements. As I said I doubt GWVan built any Canadian models recently but Roadtrek and Pleasure-way still have that issue.

laserman · 08-27-2015, 10:32 AM

Thank you for these infos. So, if I understand correctly, all odometers on GWV are most likely all in Miles. If someone here in Montreal has a GWV for sale and indicates the units has 65,000 KM, he most likely is mistaken and it is more like in Miles ?
Thanks to this forum, my wife and I are moving quickly towards our first Class B purchase having owned a Class A a few years ago for just a few months. We are indeed looking at a GWV 2007 and are very impressed with the unit having seen a Roadtrek 2004 and a new 2016. Decision, decision decision... Thnaks again. I see you spend a lot of time on this Class B forum. You are helping a lot of newcomers in this Class B world

Davydd · 08-27-2015, 02:00 PM

I didn't say that. Canadian Bs will have kilometer advertising. The odometer shows both kilometers and miles on the dial. You can program your readouts to your preference in kilometers or miles as it's all digital with the Sprinters. I don't know how Sprinter vans that come directly into Canada differ from the US models so take what I say with a grain of salt. What I did say was from 2011 on that I know with some certainty Great West Van was not building and selling in the Canadian market since they had no Canadian dealers listed and they told me at the time at the factory there market was all in the US. However, if they had a Canadian customer they would have made one for them. Great West Van goes back some 40 years. You hadn't been specific about what model and year you were looking at. If it is in Canada I would believe the kilometers. In 2007 they very well could have been selling in Canada. By 2011 apparently not. As it was turning out in hindsight, the original ownership was probably winding down intentionally or unintentionally and sold the company in 2012.

laserman · 08-27-2015, 02:20 PM

Got It ! Thanks !!!

laserman · 08-28-2015, 12:37 AM

My wife and I just gave a deposit on our first Class B, a Great WEst Legend 2007. After visiting the Winnebago, Pleasure Way, Leisure Travel, Roadtrek dealers, we found the Leisure travel the very best machine, but we thought the used Great WEst will be a great transition towards a new Leisure Travel one day. We weren't ready to spend $160,000 for our first Class B. Thanks for your help and advises on this forum.

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