Motor home choices - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Motor home choices

Talensnana · RV-Dreams Family Member

I personally do not know about them, but when we were looking at various models we would check to see if they had yahoo blogs or facebook groups. You can get a lot of great information from them.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

We and many other fulltimers have Dutch Stars, since they have been built to last. Some friends just moved from a 40' 2004, which is what we have, to a 43' 2012 and are happy.

Neil and Connie · RV-Dreams Family Member

What it really comes down to is. . .do you want a class A or a 5ver. We love our NH and at this point aren't interested in a DP, mostly because of the "steering wheel in the living room" drawback. Later on when we get to old to easily hitch and unhitch and/or decide to become part time full timers we will establish a home base somewhere warm and Travel 2-3 times a year for a couple of months at a time. At that time we will get a mid 30s foot A or C that can pull the car. We have been in several Newmars and they are well built but didn't do a serious enough comparison to say whether they are better or worse built than a NH as the A was not for us.

-- Edited by Neil and Connie on Sunday 18th of January 2015 06:38:50 AM

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think i will be dumping my new DRV .. and going DP somewhere along the line..I hope.

Newmar is the guys I have focused on.. and where I will start my search.

-- Edited by The Junkman on Sunday 18th of January 2015 07:22:22 AM

Hdrider · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have seen and talked with a number of people full-timing in Dutch Stars and seem very happy with what they have.
As far as the steering wheel in the living room thing, I have heard that sooooo many time's and just chuckle. We bought a round table top at Camping world that fits on a steering wheel and it acts just like a behind a couch table in a sticks & bricks. We put a nice table cloth over it and have a nice lamp and picture or plant on it. No steering wheel in our living room. And it's a great place to put our shoes under it as we walk into the coach.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

I made my own steering wheel table - http://www.sacnoth.com/Information/WheelTable.htm. We did have small table clothes, but once our cat took ownership of the table, a friend now has those table clothes.

Jake62 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Did the Newmar Factory tour last year. Very impressed. Both Newmar and Foretravel are at the top of our list. Good luck!

jlb27537 · RV-Dreams Family Member

I had a Newmar 5th. Excellent product and factory support. If I was buying today, I would look at a Newmar, Foretravel, Tiffin. or a Alpine.

I have a soft spot in my heart for a 400HP Cummins L engine in a 36' Alpine. Same floorplans as some Safari's from years ago. They are out of business, but have a great owners forum.

From there a Foretravel, then a Newmar, and lastly a Tiffin.

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thank you everybody.
We have borrowed down the search of motor homes to Newmar dutch Star, we love the 4369 with recliners, Winnebago tour, or tiffin Phantom.
All are in the same price range. Only Newmar has the layout we love. We will keep researching and stay flexible.
Now plan A is the Dutch Star 4369
And A2 is the new horizon 5th wheel

HighwayRanger · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bob, this is interesting, since a Newmar Dutch Star or a New Horizon's fifth wheel are on our short list too. We are going to go full time, and want the best quality we can afford. In all my years of research, these two brands seem to be the best at our price point. We love the fit/finish of the Dutch Star very much. I have read a ton of positive reviews about Newmar products, and their exclusive Comfort Drive steering system sounds awesome. We are leaning toward the Dutch Star at this point for a variety of reasons. There have been quite a few negative comments about Tiffin (although their products do show very well at the dealer) lately and, while the Winnebago Tour looks very sexy, we haven't been overly impressed with the interior wood work (lack of fit/finish quality, staples showing on trim, etc.) We have not set foot in a New Horizon's fifth wheel, but they are very impressive from what we can tell, and we like the fact that you can customize a unit exactly the way you want it.

So, for us, it looks like we'll go with the Dutch Star. Newmar will also allow some tweaking to the RV, such as non-standard paint colors, interior treatments, and some other custom features. We hope to order our new coach about a year from now, after a visit to the factory.

Good luck in your search!

Roy

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Roy it looks like we are going through the same process. we just maybe ( hopefully) a little ahead of you , as we hope to sell our house this spring so that we can start the process.

We have seen the New Horizon show trailer and it was very impressive. what we are finding is the cost of the NH and the truck to pull it is about the same cost as a nicely optioned Dutch Star.
But IMO the Motor home is a little easier to handle on the road and the wife likes the idea of riding together ( if we have the trailer, we would still keep our Jeep for running around)
there are many pro's and cons to both.
our main problem with motors homes was the lay out for the entertainment area ( we want 2 recliner's facing the TV) this is not easy to find in a Motor home. so when we saw the 4369 Dutch Star we became very interested.
As everybody's here say's you need to stay flexible as thing are always changing.

From what i can tell for the price point the Dutch star looks very well made

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Most Motor homes we are looking at and a lot of high end 5th wheels are offerring induction cook top's ( new to us) what are the advantages of this
we are also seeing a lot of motor homes going to all electric ( No Propane) what are the pro and cons to this

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

All electric. Some friends have an all electric 2012 Dutch Star and were a bit worried about it when they bought used, but now love it. You do need a large battery bank, at least 6 batteries and they now come with at least 2800 watt pure sinewave inverters. You will need a larger solar bank to recharge the batteries or will be running the generator every day while boondocking. But these diesel pushers come with diesel generators so everything runs on diesel from the same tank.
The diesel hydronic heat (ho****er/furnace)is better by a long shot than separate LP hot water and furnaces. The hot water has no limit, the heat is quieter and works better with less battery power. These have been available for decades on many motorhomes, and longer on buses. The main downside is they require yearly maintenance with expensive parts replacement ($400 to $700), at least that has been true in the past. RVDude, who used to post here, had a Country Coach with an Aquahot hydronic heat system, and would boondock in ski areas in the winter with no problems staying warm or taking showers.
Now what is left to run on LP after heat and hot water, just a fridge, oven and stovetop. Many use a convection/microwave and do not have a gas oven at all. That was us. Now we have a countertop Breville Smartoven and use it for all oven uses. Many are going with residential fridges for all kinds of reasons, even when boondocking. The stovetop is the biggest problem since old fashioned ones need a lot of electricity. Induction uses much less electricity and there is no wasted heat, so the expense of getting some new pots and pans is the main hassle. This $63 set from Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GEYZ8S/, will get you started.

Above I said the engine, generator and hydronic heating all use the same diesel tank. The fuel intakes for the generator and hydronic system are set higher in the tank, normally around 1/4, while the engine pulls diesel from the bottom. That keeps those two systems from using all the diesel, allowing you to drive the motorhome to get more diesel when you accidentally run the tank low running the generator and hydronic systems.

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

bjoyce wrote:
I made my own steering wheel table - http://www.sacnoth.com/Information/WheelTable.htm. We did have small table clothes, but once our cat took ownership of the table, a friend now has those table clothes.

Hahaha, Bill you can tour down the road and have your dinner at the same time.

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill that was a great help and make me feel better.

i will note that i will need to order with extras as i don't believe they come through standard with 6.

not sure about solar at this time, really not sure how much extend dry camping we will do. right now i only see us doing 2-3 days at a time, but you never know!!!

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

TRAILERKING wrote:
bjoyce wrote:
I made my own steering wheel table - http://www.sacnoth.com/Information/WheelTable.htm. We did have small table clothes, but once our cat took ownership of the table, a friend now has those table clothes.
Hahaha, Bill you can tour down the road and have your dinner at the same time.

Nope, we have a Smartwheel and the controls for the cruise control and wipers are on the top of the steering wheel. We replaced one of those plastic steering wheel tables since our cat would jump on the top and collapse it.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bobc wrote:
Bill that was a great help and make me feel better.

i will note that i will need to order with extras as i don't believe they come through standard with 6.

not sure about solar at this time, really not sure how much extend dry camping we will do. right now i only see us doing 2-3 days at a time, but you never know!!!

Right off the Newmar website, http://www.newmarcorp.com/motor-coaches/diesel/dutch-star/standard-optional-features/, "All Electric Maytag® 22 Cf. Refrigerator, Flush Induction Cooktop, Four Extra Batteries, & 2800 Watt Inverter".

Edit: I would not be surprised if they change to the 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter/charger in the future, since it is not much more money than 2800 watt Magnum they are already using. They are also open to options, when we bought in 2004 it was a $200 upgrade to get a 2000 watt pure sinewave inverter/charger instead of a 2000 watt modified sinewave inverter/charger. An upgrade not on the brochures, but there if you asked.

-- Edited by bjoyce on Tuesday 20th of January 2015 08:49:25 AM

-- Edited by bjoyce on Tuesday 20th of January 2015 11:18:54 AM

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

bjoyce wrote:
TRAILERKING wrote:
bjoyce wrote:
I made my own steering wheel table - http://www.sacnoth.com/Information/WheelTable.htm. We did have small table clothes, but once our cat took ownership of the table, a friend now has those table clothes.
Hahaha, Bill you can tour down the road and have your dinner at the same time.
Nope, we have a Smartwheel and the controls for the cruise control and wipers are on the top of the steering wheel. We replaced one of those plastic steering wheel tables since our cat would jump on the top and collapse it.

What? Bill, your rig doesn't have autopilot so you can go sit at the table and eat while on the road???? biggrin biggrin We now return you back to the thread biggrin biggrin