We have narrowed our motorhome selection field to a handful, and I am following "NorCal Dan's" advice and listing them here to seek your opinions: (all are diesel pushers)

2003 Winnebago Journey DL 39WD for $61,700 has 330 hp  on Freightliner chasis w/ 41,000 miles.  VERY well equipped in excellent condition.  2 slides.

2001 Newmar Mountain Aire 40' for $65,000, has 330 hp CAT on Freightliner XC chassis w/ 35,500 miles.   Very well equiped in excellent condition.  2 slides.

2001 Newmar Dutch Star 38' for $61,000, has 300 hp CAT on Freightliner chasis (side radiator) w/ 38,400 miles.  Well equipped in exc. condition.  Auto Satellite.  2 slides.

2000 Newmar Dutch Star 38' for $60,000, has 350 hp Cummins on Spartan chassis (side radiator) w/ 57,000 miles. One owner.  Very well equipped in excellent condition. Beautiful dark cherry woodwork and beautiful interior overall.  ONE slide.

2001 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40' for $59,900, has 350 hp Cummins on Roadmaster chassis w/ 42,000 miles. One owner, well equipped in nice condition. No washer/dryer. 2 slides.

2001 Newmar Kountry Star 37' for $51,000, has 300 hp Cummins on Freightliner chassis w/  43,000 miles.  Well equipped in nice condition. Auto Sat. No Wash/Dry. 2 slides

& finally, 2001 Bounder 39Z for $49,000, has 275 hp Cummins on Freightliner chassis w/ 22,000 miles. One owner, well equipped in good condition. ONE slide. Needs new house batteries, and we would need to replace sofa.

All have 7.5 Onan diesel generator & most of the usual features of the class.

We can afford the more expensive ones, but are they better enough to justify the costs above the Kountry Star or the Bounder???

I'm guessing it all will come down to the one my wife likes the "feel" and "look" of !!!

Hope it's ok that this post is so long, and appreciate all opinions and feedback.

Thanks MUCH!!

Bob


-- Edited by Lightfin on Thursday 16th of July 2009 07:08:25 AM

What year is the HR you listed? Have you looked at newer coaches with more than 2 slides? Mine has 3 slides, but one side is a super slide, ie. the entire drivers side is a slideout. Really open up the interior. Take a look at some with more than 2 slides to compare living space. The only coach you listed I could comment on is the HR. I have the 400 ISL cummings engine and my coach weighs just over 32k lbs. I also flat tow a Jeep Wrangler. I have driven over the Sierra and Siskiyou mountain passes and managed to maintain at least 50 mph at the top. So 400 hp seems like plenty to me. And mpg has been between 8 and 12 with the overall avg just below 10 mpg covering 10K miles.

I would buy the one the wife liked best.

Mallo

Of course you must be happy with what you buy so I would also advise going with the one the wife likes best, but of the ones you mentioned the Mountain Aire was probably the higher line coach when they were new. It would be probably the better buy assuming all other things were equal. Also Newmar is still in business. Monaco has stopped production on the Holiday Rambler line perhaps never to be opened again. Who Knows? Fleetwood, the maker of the Bounder is also in bankruptcy. JMO

DeMartini RV lists some newer (used) coaches if you want to do some comparisons.

I didn't mean to imply that the coaches you listed were under-powered...but I know that for the weight of my coach and toad, my 400 hp Cummins does a great job of getting us over the hills and gets decent gas mileage.

One thing I don't like about our coach is the exhaust brake.  I have been disappointed with it's performance when coming down mountains.  Seems I was always gaining speed and needed to hit the brakes to slow us down.  However, I recently read online at rv.net about a guy and how he uses his exhaust brake and I am going to try his advice when we move to our next job.  His idea was to slow down at the top of the hill, I do this already, and get the transmission downshifted before heading down the mountain, I wasn't doing this...he mentions if you get the transmission downshifted the coach should be able to contain your speed.  I have a feeling he is correct, at least I hope so, I am always worried about over-heating my brakes and losing all speed control.  I always tap my brakes, but with this much weight I have heard you can over-heat the brakes in a matter of seconds.

I have had minor problems with the coach that my dealer fixed.  The black tank "cleaner" was not spraying much water and it was taking a long time to get the tank clean, so they enlarged the holes in the sprayer in the tank and it works great now.  The water pump, while it did work, was a cheap model, 1.2 gal I think.  We don't use it except when on the road, so not a big deal, but I am going to replace it with one of the new models than do not require the accumulator tank and put out 5 or 6 gal/min of water. 

I have had 2 items added to the coach after purchase, the combo washer/dryer and the HD satellite dish.  Both were added by my dealer about 1 year after purchase.

FWIW, when shopping we also were looking at Holiday Ramblers.  Other than paint and interior colors I saw no difference from the Monaco coaches.  We were going to purchase the HR Endeavor but liked the color scheme on our Diplomat better.  Both had the same floor plan and added options.


-- Edited by NorCal Dan on Friday 17th of July 2009 01:10:01 PM

Wife chooses the interior and I choose the drivetrain and storage. If we choose two separate RV's, her choice trumps mine. Yes dear..... Luckily each of the RV's we've purchased we both liked. Yes dear, you're right, I like it too...

All the MHs you mentioned are good products. The Newmar is an excellent coach. The Spartan chassis is a good one and I think you would like the 350 Cummins. We have owned two Endeavors and loved the Roadmaster chassis but as was already mentioned Holiday Rambler is not in business any longer. Check the age of the tires. If you have to purchase new tires that can add bucks to the purchase price. After that, the two of you decide which one you feel more "at home" in. Good Luck!!