Build Quality & Tech vs. Cost

[dhuff]

Maybe this is a particularly newbie concern, but I really haven't seen it addressed much.

Are there any brands of Class B RVs that combine truly good build quality and reasonably recent technology, but without eye-watering prices ? Certainly the first two requirements are covered quite well by Advanced RV - but I hear they're now going for around $300K, which is WAY beyond our price range (by roughly 3X). I thought Sportsmobile might do the trick, but after reading a very detailed diary of a build at their Fresno, CA facility documented over on the Sportsmobile forum website, I almost got PTSD from comparing it to the death march of mistakes and poor quality we went through building our first home. Ain't going through THAT again...

So now I'm stuck. Am I doomed to mediocre construction quality and/or old fashioned tech to get something affordable ? (roughly $100K) That seems a lot to ask for spending that much money.

[MsNomer]

Third option: do it yourself. You don't have to be experienced or have a shop to make a high-quality build that has what you want instead of what they sell you. Check out the Promaster forum, the Sprinter forum and the Transit forum for a wealth of ideas. Some folks with no experience draw up what they want and have the work done locally to them by someone they can trust. For myself, the process has been so enjoyable I hate to see completion in sight. The satisfaction factor is huge.

[Ron J. Moore]

You can also check out the B+ or another Model that may have the build quality you want, in the price range you seek. There are some very fine B's out there, people on here drive every brand or model and can give you any info you need to decide the brand and model you you choose. Ron

[Bruceper]

I would suggest you check out Pleasure Way. Well built units that last.

[jrobe]

I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of Class B owners from Sportsmobile and most of the major companies are pretty satisfied with their purchase. In fact, Class B’s seem to me to be built better than a lot of the other RV’s that are sold in this country. I wouldn’t be dissuaded by a small minority of internet posts. Look up the nicest hotel you have ever stayed in or the fanciest restaurant on the internet and it will have 5% terrible ratings. Most of these are people that didn’t do their homework or had unreasonable expectations.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by dhuff

Are there any brands of Class B RVs that combine truly good build quality and reasonably recent technology, but without eye-watering prices ? ....

No.

Even if you end up with a smattering of better tech here or there, the bulk of the vehicle will consist of low-end components, and as a result, the rig will be reliably unreliable. This is a sales tactic that Class B builders intentionally leverage, and it is formally known as "misdirection". They might crow about a particularly nice inverter, for instance, in order to distract you from making the inevitable observation that the bulk of the build still consists of mass-market crap.

My husband and I got around this issue by buying a half-decent Class B, and then spending 3 years of part-time hobby work upgrading and hardening its components. Functionally it bears no resemblance to the original unit (blog here, although our largest projects such as our lithium upgrade haven't yet been described).