Deciding on a class B and what is a reasonable price

[Brodie66]

I have a 2017 Okanagan Adventurer (Van conversion) It's a 6 cylinder gas Class B, built on 2016 Ford Transit van. I bought it last year & drove it out west from Kingston, Ontario. Love it, but I'm looking to sell it as my circumstances have changed. It's great to travel in, camp in & for boondocking as well. Much lower priced than the Roadtreks & such. Let me know if you'd be interested in seeing pictures etc.

 

[Ridenfun]

My advice as an owner of a 2000 Okanagan on Dodge chassis would be to look used, especially for your first unit. This will give you a chance to try it out, and figure out what is important to you in terms of layout, sleeping configuration etc. Your usage type will likely change over time (short vs longer trips) which will effect your desires and needs.
Many used Class Bs are previously owned by older folks, as there just isn't realistic room for more than 2 people, so they are usually in pretty good shape due to limited and light usage.
Check all appliances are working properly. Has it been used to tow. Finally, I'd strongly suggest a 1 ton chassis vs 3/4 ton particularly in the older unit.
Enjoy the "Hunt"

 

[mikes47]

If you haven't rented a B class RV yet, please do so. It can be a bit pricey, but it is well worth the investment. That's the only way to be sure you can live with each other in the confines of the van. It will also give you an opportunity to actually use things. We rented before and developed a 2-page list of things to clarify as we went to the next step of considering vans for purchase.

 

[604eholston@charter.net]

Popular or not, I love my Winnebago Era (2016) on the Mercedes chassis. I bought used and I would encourage you to consider that option especially with your budget.i was downsizing from a Foretravel Diesel pusher.

 

[Nature-ClassB]

Welcome to the forum pattyottawa!

Any of the vans you've mentioned should serve you well. However, with Roadtrek's recent receivership and subsequent asset acquisition by Westfalia, there would be no factory warranty on the Zion (or any other Roadtrek or Hymer model) for new models sold after February 15th.

I just bought a new 2019 Roadtrek Simplicity and finished our maiden voyage in it. We are pleased with it. We did not find any loose screws as some have suggested. My only comment is it is wise to get along well with your spouse/ partner in pretty tight space.

We got about 30k taken off the original price, because of the warranty. We feel good about the numbers on the deal w/o a warranty. We paid about $70,000.

We bought a third party warranty. Some have said other warranties are not a good deal though.

 

[cbrown3822]

I have a 2003 Roadtrek 190 Popular. It only has 30,000 miles on it and because it’s a Chevrolet it’s easy to get serviced. The manufacturers are pushing bigger and bigger motorhomes and I’ve noticed that the bigger the motorhome the more cheaply it’s built unless you get to astronomical pricing. I had a 1999 Rialta that I really liked, but it was grossly under powered. There are lots of Roadtreks for sale out there if you look on RV trader.com. If they have a few years on them they go for less than half the cost of a new one. That way you can try it before you invest $100,000 in something you might not like.

 

[rowiebowie]

I just bought a new 2019 Roadtrek Simplicity and finished our maiden voyage in it. We are pleased with it. We did not find any loose screws as some have suggested. My only comment is it is wise to get along well with your spouse/ partner in pretty tight space.

We got about 30k taken off the original price, because of the warranty. We feel good about the numbers on the deal w/o a warranty. We paid about $70,000.

We bought a third party warranty. Some have said other warranties are not a good deal though.

Nature, glad to hear you picked up your Simplicity and are happy so far. "My only comment is it is wise to get along well with your spouse/ partner in pretty tight space." So true.

Loose screws may come after more miles on the road or not at all, but they are just a minor inconvenience. Your Simplicity is pretty basic so it should be durable and not too hard to fix things when the time comes. Enjoy your travels.

 

[gksmith-ClassB]

I would second many of the suggestions. Knowing that we definitely wanted to travel once we retired, we searched all alternatives, mostly used, from Class A diesel pushers down to a popup camper small enough to be pulled by a large motorcycle. We had a large popup camper, but no vehicle large enough to handle it, but we knew we liked the camping lifestyle. We liked the Class B concept, but we were concerned about the space issue, especially in light of their extremely high cost per square foot of space. We saw one parked at a used car dealer's lot, I wanted to look at it, but my wife refused to consider doing so, due to the space issue. So our search for the perfect vehicle continued for several months. Later, by happenstance, we drive past the same car lot, and the Class B van was still there. This time, my wife consented to look at it. I contacted the absent dealer, negotiated a price, and we decided to give it a try. We could not be happier with our decision! It is a 2002 Leisure Travel unit, built on a Dodge 1-ton chasses. As you can tell from some of my posts on this site, we have had some issues, but nothing super serious. However, one must be able and willing to troubleshoot and be willing to ask for advice. Remember that a motorhome is a combination of a house and a vehicle, both of which give problems at times.

The comment was made that you must get along well with your spouse. I whole heartedly agree with this. It is a very close environment in which very intimate situations exist. There is no personal space in the coach. Perhaps the situation is more extreme in our coach in which we have what I seen called a "transformer" bath where the shower, if used, is in the middle of the hall with curtains and a drain, plus the toilet is with the clothes closet and when used, the closet doors are opened and if more privacy is desired, slides are extended. BUT, we really like this arrangement and we wish it were more common in more modern coaches as it really gives us more space for other purposes. We would choose that arrangement again, but it is not for everyone.

A couple other considerations, not previously mentioned in the thread, is the bed orientation--is it length wise or crosswise? Ours is crosswise, being a potential sofa, but we leave the bed down all of the time, which is very convenient. We would hate to have to make up the bed everyday and have to have a space to store the bedding. But it does mean that the person on the outside has to crawl over the other person when needing to get up in the night. And the width might not be enough for a tall person. Length wise beds probably means you will have to have a longer coach to have space for other purposes. Longer coaches are not quite as convenient for parking.

One feature that my wife wishes for, would be an eyelevel refrigerator. Ours is under the counter and requires one to get on hands and knees to see what is in the back. But it is surprising how much it can hold. Most refrigerators are under the counter for Class Bs.

We are really glad we "took the gamble" on a Class B and love it for our current purposes, which is mainly traveling and sightseeing. We have not done any extensive camping in one spot. We do feel that if we started to do that, the allure of a Class B would diminish. However, with the relatively low cost of our used Class B, I envision the possibility of even keeping the Class B after purchasing a larger unit to have the best of both worlds. I've even imagined towing the Class B behind a Class A instead of another vehicle!!

Good luck with your search. Find something that you are comfortable with, financially speaking, and take the plunge. By purchasing used, you will have the freedom of learning your likes and dislikes and being able to someday trade for your ideal unit, if that truly exists, without suffering major depreciation loss.

 

[rowiebowie]

I would second many of the suggestions. Knowing that we definitely wanted to travel once we retired, we searched all alternatives, mostly used, from Class A diesel pushers down to a popup camper small enough to be pulled by a large motorcycle. We had a large popup camper, but no vehicle large enough to handle it, but we knew we liked the camping lifestyle. We liked the Class B concept, but we were concerned about the space issue, especially in light of their extremely high cost per square foot of space. We saw one parked at a used car dealer's lot, I wanted to look at it, but my wife refused to consider doing so, due to the space issue. So our search for the perfect vehicle continued for several months. Later, by happenstance, we drive past the same car lot, and the Class B van was still there. This time, my wife consented to look at it. I contacted the absent dealer, negotiated a price, and we decided to give it a try. We could not be happier with our decision! It is a 2002 Leisure Travel unit, built on a Dodge 1-ton chasses. As you can tell from some of my posts on this site, we have had some issues, but nothing super serious. However, one must be able and willing to troubleshoot and be willing to ask for advice. Remember that a motorhome is a combination of a house and a vehicle, both of which give problems at times.

The comment was made that you must get along well with your spouse. I whole heartedly agree with this. It is a very close environment in which very intimate situations exist. There is no personal space in the coach. Perhaps the situation is more extreme in our coach in which we have what I seen called a "transformer" bath where the shower, if used, is in the middle of the hall with curtains and a drain, plus the toilet is with the clothes closet and when used, the closet doors are opened and if more privacy is desired, slides are extended. BUT, we really like this arrangement and we wish it were more common in more modern coaches as it really gives us more space for other purposes. We would choose that arrangement again, but it is not for everyone.

A couple other considerations, not previously mentioned in the thread, is the bed orientation--is it length wise or crosswise? Ours is crosswise, being a potential sofa, but we leave the bed down all of the time, which is very convenient. We would hate to have to make up the bed everyday and have to have a space to store the bedding. But it does mean that the person on the outside has to crawl over the other person when needing to get up in the night. And the width might not be enough for a tall person. Length wise beds probably means you will have to have a longer coach to have space for other purposes. Longer coaches are not quite as convenient for parking.

One feature that my wife wishes for, would be an eyelevel refrigerator. Ours is under the counter and requires one to get on hands and knees to see what is in the back. But it is surprising how much it can hold. Most refrigerators are under the counter for Class Bs.

We are really glad we "took the gamble" on a Class B and love it for our current purposes, which is mainly traveling and sightseeing. We have not done any extensive camping in one spot. We do feel that if we started to do that, the allure of a Class B would diminish. However, with the relatively low cost of our used Class B, I envision the possibility of even keeping the Class B after purchasing a larger unit to have the best of both worlds. I've even imagined towing the Class B behind a Class A instead of another vehicle!!

Good luck with your search. Find something that you are comfortable with, financially speaking, and take the plunge. By purchasing used, you will have the freedom of learning your likes and dislikes and being able to someday trade for your ideal unit, if that truly exists, without suffering major depreciation loss.

Love your story. We purchased a class b ten years newer than yours and we've had to replace:

- Leaking kitchen faucet
- Two dripping lower drain valves
- Coach batteries
- Furion 30 amp receptacle and cord (an issue inherited from previous owner)
- Coleman roof ac (see receptacle problem above)
- Thetford macerator
- Rear TV & swivel bracket
- Flojet Water pump
- Maxxfan gear set
- Solar Charge Controller
- Fresh Water fill tube
- Every Exterior Hot Water tank 110v switch & temperature limit switches
- Flexible Solar panel (in progress)

In addition, I've chased and fixed more rattles, tightened more screws, added additional drawer catches, reconfigured doors, and relocated switches to usable locations than I can list.

Each time I learned more about my rv, and provided I don't start replacing the above items a second time, it has only lightened my wallet and not reduced my enthusiasm or enjoyment. I must be getting weird in my old age.

 

[searangered]

We bought a 6 year old Roadtrek 10 years ago for what’s it’s probably still worth today. It has 188000 miles now and never missed a beat or had a breakdown. Find one that’s been taken care of and do the same. Happy travels!

 

[JGMarcotte]

Look at Panoramic RV they are made in Chambly near Montreal not very far from Ottawa.You can see a review on you tube made by Ultramobility see the review at

or go to the web site: Panoramicrv.com they have a nice unit very hight quality at a very competitive price.

 

[Cully-ClassB]

Class B sales

As much as it pains me, I have to agree with Avanti on this one.

In the big scheme of the 400,000 new RV units delivered in 2018, only about 5,000 of them were Class B coaches.

There IS however a significant demand for lower-priced (under $50k) B-Vans, and the demand far outstrips the supply. It's truly a seller's market there.

Can this be true, only 1% of RV sales are Class B vans?

 

[avanti]

Can this be true, only 1% of RV sales are Class B vans?

Supply and demand is a different thing from absolute popularity. It is possible for there to be little demand for something in absolute terms, but for it to still be scarce and thus expensive. There just may not enough used B-vans to go around. This was the point of my much-maligned post.

 

[hepcat]

Can this be true, only 1% of RV sales are Class B vans?

Less than 1% actually. Cumulative total RV shipments to April '19: 140,219 units; Class B shipments: 1,103.

https://www.rvia.org/news-insights/rv-shipments-april-2019

 

[booster]

Supply and demand is a different thing from absolute popularity. It is possible for there to be little demand for something in absolute terms, but for it to still be scarce and thus expensive. There just may not enough used B-vans to go around. This was the point of my much-maligned post.

Yep, if nobody ever bought a product, there would not be any in used market.


So some of the worst and/or unpopular products ever made would be most scarce to find used, in reality, but that doesn't make them popular.

 

[jean-louis]

Have you seen b my Roadtrex 190 2010 for sale on kijiji Ontario all locations or kijiji quebec all location
Jeanlouiscaron1@ gmail.com