Advice on Class B purchase process

[Drf63]

…”There just is no simple answer as to what RV meets your needs. You have to experience it and ask every RV owner about their machines, why they chose them and what are their likes / dislikes. So here goes my OPINION”

“It is your job to learn your own machine and fix it when you can. You will do a better job especially with the info you get on these RV clubs.”

“Customize it, replace unwanted seats with dressers or wardrobes. Turn power sofas into permanent gel memory foam beds, ect... Make it yours according to your current needs and wants”.

“Address issues as they arise. Never and I stress NEVER allow a water leak in your RV. Fix that right away.”

Now THAT is a well-reasoned response free from commonly seen dogmatic viewpoints expressed AS IF unarguable fact! There’s lots of room for individual opinions, and a mind is like a parachute; “It works best when it remains open”.

Too often the enjoyment and benefit of sharing ownership experiences in discussions …is lost because of childish ‘my way or the highway’ ultimatums. Some of the best advice I’ve ever seen on this topic!

[Hatteras Jim]

The advice to concentrate your purchase on the vehicle chassis itself is the best so far, IMO. The vehicle chassis is what is going to leave you sit waiting for a tow truck and perhaps days in the repair shop while they wait for parts. That is if they can get you in a reasonable period of time.

Stuff that breaks in the coach section, is usually an inconvenience with a workaround. Not days in a motel because your house is on a lift somewhere.

Often, the chassis reliability is overlooked because the van has a floorplan to die for. Avoid the sprinter blutec diesel. I have subjected the readers on this and other forums many times about my disdain with this product. If you want to know more, look up my submissions or message me and I will tell you of my experiences with MB. Good luck and welcome.

[RossWilliams]

Buy used was the best advice we got. RV's are built rather than manufactured. Like most new homes, they will have a punch list of things that were missed, faulty appliances, etc.

Be clear about why you are buying an RV and whether you are looking for a hobby/project or just a tool to use to travel. If you are going to rely on having other people fix stuff understand that you are at best basically hiring an experienced handyman even at dealers. Like your house, your rig is unique and they will have to figure stuff out. They may be competent, they may not be.

If you are planning to do things yourself make sure you understand what the regular service requires. Ours requires crawling under the rig to winterize/de-winterize. And the clearance is low, I had to be pulled out from under it a couple times when my heavy winter clothes got caught. If you are doing it once a year that isn't really a problem. If you are traveling in winter and have to do it because the local weather turned cold it is a bit of a pain. But that low clearance also means any repair under the rig is going to be a project. If you are a DIY guy that isn't going to be a problem, but if you really just want a vehicle to go camping you may want to go with a major brand that has multiple service centers in your area. That said, I would avoid Thor/Hymer brands.

The chassis is manufactured, there are differences from year to year but they are fully documented and there are trained repair people to work on them. We have put 80,000 miles on our used Roadtrek Mercedes Sprinter over the last 5+ years and have never had a major chassis breakdown that took us off the highway. The stuff that has broken has all been RV stuff, heater and macerator system. That may be luck, but it may also be that we keep our def tank full, do scheduled service at professional shops and drive it long distances on highways rather than a lot of short trips.

Consider how much time you will spend driving versus sitting at campgrounds and how important the driving experience is. Whether you will mostly be in developed campgrounds with full services or camping in rustic campgrounds and boon docking. Are you going to live out of the RV when on the road or live in it. For some people an RV is a warm, durable, convenient tent. A place to sleep and get out of the weather. For others it is a place to relax, dine, socialize and watch TV.

We never use our shower, we go to campgrounds that have them. For some people the sometimes primitive showers at campgrounds are a no go. When traveling we tend to buy food that requires limited preparation and cleanup. We have a convection microwave and a single burner induction stovetop for cooking. Other people will want to prepare full meals from scratch in their RV. A single burner is probably not going to work for them. We have a couch that folds down into a bed and use sleeping bags instead of sheets but we still usually leave it down. The mattress is certainly better than sleeping on the ground ... but you may have higher standards. We don't have enough storage, but you will never have enough storage. We considered replacing the second set of seats with storage but have found having a second seating area is really more useful. But it means we have a very small refrigerator.

In short, there are a lot of details that you should look at and consider in terms of your plans for using it. But you may find your actual use varies from your anticipated use. So consider how flexible both the space and you are.

[bobojay]

Originally Posted by SteveJ

Poor quality on most anything from Thor is legendary.

I second that...

[bobojay]

Also in the RV world, you need to have basic homeowner repair skills to take care of the RV side of the vehicle. Best to fix yourself mostly if possible.
My advice being a 6 year owner of a Winnebago Travato 59K, stick to one of these. LOTS of owner knowledge over in Facebook. Relatively easy to work on the RV stuff.
Promaster advice, get maintenance records if possible, 5k mile synthetic oil changes, 40k mile trans fluid changes if the 6 SPD. We've got 65k miles on ours with nary a chassis issue. One small RV side problem when new

[jeana]

Originally Posted by N147JK

That's good advice. Let's see, I paid 1/10 the price of a new van, and it's 10 times more reliable and much better built than the new ones. Knowing that makes it fun to own and use, instead of a worry and a financial sinkhole.

agree agree We are no people who fix much ourselves either This group is full of people who understand electricity We bought a used well cared for van 30,000 miles for under 15,000 needed new tires and soon after that oh a window got stuck down and we needed new brakes Nothing CLOSE to cost of new one The bathroom door fell off last summer when we were driving we thought it very funny and left it off Installed curtain Which frankly is better as on a munchkin could fit int here with the door closed We took out the third seat we love it we added a trailer hitch and high quality bike rack but the thing has been great

[sbslider]

Originally Posted by jojobafanzi

So many questions! jumping into the RV market is a hobby. Please let us know your life experience with owning and using RV's?

Great question, I wish I could edit the OP. This will be our first class B RV owned. I drove my father in law's ~30' rig back in the 90s for a few weeks, and we've owned a tent trailer for 25 years. The tent trailer hasn't moved our of the driveway for 10+ years, as backpacking has been the preferred mode of exploring.

[sbslider]

Lots of great advice, I appreciate you all taking the time to share it.

[mkguitar]

"bathroom in the back"- there are few things better than backing up to a beach, opening the rear doors wide and laying in bed with the breeze, the salt air and the sound of the waves.


A center bathroom will also tend to put the tanks and the weight ( 8 pounds per gallon, 1 kilo per liter ) central to the van. rather than hanging behind the rear axle


the more units you can look at the more you will figure which features you like.


Build /conversion quality: lift cushions look at the back of cabinets at the quality of the build


electricity: "magic energy to run the planet from a potato" research real world experiences from users vs sales promises.
Managing energy becomes your new part time job.


Figure out parking will it fit at home, and any costs with having to store ( like if you have an HOA )

[jojobafanzi]

Originally Posted by sbslider

We are considering buying a class B vehicle. To narrow things a bit, our primary focus in a vehicle is 18-22', bathroom in the back, and possibly new but more likely 1-3 years old.

Partial list of models on the top of the list are:

Entegra Coach Ethos 20T
Jayco Swift 20T
Thor Dazzle / Twist 2LB
Thor Sequence / Tellaro 20L
Winnebago Travato 59K

What's the difference between the four Thor models (besides $10K of MSRP)? The floor plans all look the same

Thanks!!

I personally don't have experience with the specific brands you listed but I continually read in multiple places that Thor brand seems to suffer issues. May be a good idea to follow suggestions to avoid that brand. Also, if you have the time and funds, you could find and purchase a used Class B. Once they hit a certain age, they really don't depreciate so there is very little risk to you. You use the old RV for a few months and you will quickly learn what you like and don't like. Make a list and you can now search for your perfect RV. Sell the old one. You will most certainly get what you paid for it and any repairs you can consider it like a cost of a rental. Also, I recommend purchasing a RV built by a certified RV manufacturer. Avoid home builds. Nothing wrong with them but for insurance purposes, the insurance company considers it as the platform vehicle and not an RV. Also, a certified RV was built to some manufacturing standards such as electrical. You sleep well at night knowing the RV has little risk of catching fire and killing you. When shopping for a Class B, you really have to experience using it for what you intend or have a great imagination. For me, I had one for 13 years so I knew exactly what I wanted. For example, the first 13 years, I only used the RV for overnight sleeping and I used the toilet. I made coffee on the hob and that was pretty much it. I never used the shower. Then I discovered traveling and using it for what was intended. That changed my needs and I began searching for a replacement. I started a Thread called "Likes and Dislikes" so people can share their experiences and you can get some ideas from their info. Cheers! Joe

[jgmarcotte]

Look at panoramicrv.com a very nice RV with a different floor plan an a warranty of 5 years on their workmanship. You can go on you tube and see ultra mobility Neil Balthasar comment on this rigs. Theres also other video as well.

[Dave-DJ]

Hi,
Thor Dazzle / Twist 2LB is the lost cost units. No TV, no Wifi on roof, and other small things. Some Thor Dazzle / Twist 2LB come with an awning, most do not.