Winnebago Era no longer in production

[booster]

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

Wow! Now that Roadtrek is gone, I wonder why they'd leave the Mercedes market. Unless they made the decision before the excrement hit the fan at RT. Wonder if they will reconsider?
.

Maybe they are just waiting to make a purchase and come out with the new Roadtrek Adventurous!

[avanti]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

Sure doesn’t look like a temporary production stop until the new sprinters are being used...

https://winnebagoind.com/products/cl...5/era/overview

Yes, but if you click on "See our current models -> Similar models", you get to this:

https://winnebagoind.com/products/cl...9/era/overview

which appears to be fully available.

[4Season]

The Paseo is also shown as a product offering on Winnebago's website. I spoke with a high volume dealer and was told you can't order an Era. It would be nice not to have to worry about having an "orphan" product, especially if you plan on owning the vehicle a long time. At the very least, it might make sense to avoid products with expensive proprietary systems. I am new to RVs but find the lack of geographically accessible dealers, limited access to and uneven quality of servicing, and unwillingness by manufacturers to stand behind products via meaningful warranties a major concern, especially given the high cost of a RV. The small size of the class B market might suggest the industry will not get appreciably better. I guess owning an RV takes a leap of faith.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by TygerMark

Winnebago website says Era is "no longer in production. "

http://www.classbforum.com/forums/me...icture1062.jpg

Interesting only the mobile web page, checked on my iPhone, says:
"NO LONGER IN PRODUCTION"

The regular web page on my desktop PC doesn't have the same message.

I wonder if this is a temporary suspension of production due to delays in getting new Sprinters. The delays see to be widely reported, with hints of problems at the new factory in SC. Who knows what lucks behind these announcements.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by 4Season

The Paseo is also shown as a product offering on Winnebago's website. I spoke with a high volume dealer and was told you can't order an Era.

Has Winnebago announced that they have discontinued the Paseo? I know they aren't taking orders, but that isn't the same thing. It does not seem strange that there could be a hiatus for a model either due to supply chain issues or excess inventory. Space on the production line is precious, and setting up a run for a specific model involves significant overhead.

I am no Winnebago expert--I am just saying that "not accepting orders" isn't the same thing as "discontinued".

[gregmchugh]

Where are the resident Winnebago experts who have an inside source of info so we can get this straightened out?

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by 4Season

The Paseo is also shown as a product offering on Winnebago's website. I spoke with a high volume dealer and was told you can't order an Era. It would be nice not to have to worry about having an "orphan" product, especially if you plan on owning the vehicle a long time. At the very least, it might make sense to avoid products with expensive proprietary systems. I am new to RVs but find the lack of geographically accessible dealers, limited access to and uneven quality of servicing, and unwillingness by manufacturers to stand behind products via meaningful warranties a major concern, especially given the high cost of a RV. The small size of the class B market might suggest the industry will not get appreciably better. I guess owning an RV takes a leap of faith.

Really doesn’t require a leap of faith just some homework to separate the good choices from the bad ones. If you are buying a new Class B there are owners forums for each reasonable option where you can get real experience info from owners. With the current Roadtrek issues your options are limited even more unless you are interested in getting a bargain on a possible orphan...

I would start with Winnebago as a base for study and expand from there. Each owners group can provide leads on the best dealers.

[Boxster1971]

Not sure what Winnebago is doing or who is messing with their web pages. But on a closer look the pages linked above discovered the difference on both regular and mobile web pages.

The old 2015 page < winnebagoind.com/products/class-b/2015/era/overview > has the "NO LONGER IN PRODUCTION" message


The new 2019 page < winnebagoind.com/products/class-b/2019/era/overview > does not have the message.

This was true on both the 2015 and 2016 model pages, but 2017, 2018 and 2019 pages don't have the message.

Will have to contact Winnebago for the real story...

[BillsPaseo]

The theory on the Paseo facebook group is that the reason for the suspension of production on the Paseo is the huge popularity of the Travato and the lackluster sales by comparison of the more expensive Paseo. Winnebago really needs to provide a floorplan with twin beds similar to the Crossfit if they want the Paseo to be successful. We are very happy with our Paseo, but the floorplan just won't work well for anyone much over about 5'8" tall with the 72" long bed.

[4Season]

Thanks for the feedback on the Paseo. I also like the van and think it would do well for us. (We are both under 5' 8".) There are a few around for sale. Have you had any major problems with it? Has the lack of an inverter or low clearance been a problem?

[BillsPaseo]

The only issue real we've had with our Paseo was that it was missing caulk around the base of the toilet that caused the shower to leak. It was such a simple fix that I did it myself (10 minutes and a tube of white bathroom silicone sealant). We spent 42 nights in it in our first year of ownership, and absolutely love it.

Another thing, we have occasionally had our awning stick when opening. A slight tug on it frees it up and then it will open just fine. This has happened maybe 3 or 4 times. There is a fix available from Carefree (the awning manufacturer) that consists of a couple of plastic bumpers that you stick on the lip of the awning. It just hasn't been enough of an issue yet for us to bother with the fix.

And one other thing that isn't a quality issue, but a design issue... The strainer in the shower drain is too small, requiring removal and cleaning after about every two showers. There is a fix for this - eliminate the strainer completely and replace with a much larger inline strainer in the line between the shower drain and the drain pump (located under the wardrobe cabinet). There are detailed instructions on how to do this on the Paseo facebook page. I now have all of the parts to do this and am planning to install them this weekend. Looks like it won't take more than about 20 minutes to do it. The new strainer has about 50 times the surface area of the tiny thimble size strainer in the drain, so this should completely eliminate this issue.

And Winnebago really should install SuperSprings helper springs and SumoSprings bumpstops on the rear axle from the factory. When loaded up close to max GVWR, the rear of the van sags a bit, and the trailer hitch makes contact with the ground on every little bump and driveway entrance. We added these to our Paseo since we are usually towing a trailer and carrying a full load of water/propane/etc, and it made a huge difference. Now the hitch never drags, and the van feels a lot more solid at highway speeds when you encounter crosswinds or passing tractor trailers.

All of the above may sound like a lot to someone new to RVs, but really it isn't. We have overall been very pleased with the quality, comfort and capabilities of the Paseo.

[BillsPaseo]

Forgot to comment on the lack of an inverter... We have not found that we need one. If we are boondocking and we need to use the microwave, we just fire up the generator for a few minutes. Everything else in the van runs on 12V. We have 12V chargers for phones, and I have a small portable inverter that plugs into a 12V outlet which will run my laptop. We have made it 8 consecutive nights without plugging into shore power (we did add a second 100W solar panel on the roof), but to go that long, we have to run the van's engine for about 30 minutes a day. Running the van will charge the batteries way faster and with much less noise than the generator. We run the van for about half an hour each morning to get the batteries quickly back up to where the solar can take over and charge them the rest of the way. I think with another 100W (for 300W total) we wouldn't need to run the van at all.

If you need a hard-wired inverter, any RV service center can install one for you, or there are YouTube videos to walk through doing it yourself.

[Phoebe3]

Originally Posted by 4Season

Thanks for the feedback on the Paseo. I also like the van and think it would do well for us. (We are both under 5' 8".) There are a few around for sale. Have you had any major problems with it? Has the lack of an inverter or low clearance been a problem?

There's a really good Paseo Owners FaceBook group (Winnebago Paseo Owners & Wannabees). You might consider joining and looking through past posts.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/196392857439348/