RV's to avoid - RV-Dreams Community Forum

osanmike · RV-Dreams Family Member

RV's to avoid

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Not really, if you research long and hard you will find glowing reviews, and horror stories, often referring to the same manufacturer...in addition many, if not all manufactureres have had bad years, that in and of itself creates confusion as to good and bad brands...let us know what you decide on, Aloha...

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

Be amenable to a convection/microwave oven. A lot more coaches will have that set up. Think older higher end coaches, look at Newmar Mountainaires, Country Coaches, Foretravels. Don't worry about engine, Cat or Cummins will hold up well, though I think Cummins have a nicer purr when they fire up. Go 36 ft or above.

Barb

osanmike · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have been looking into the convection/microwave ovens. We will give it a try if we have to and I can always add an oven later. I'm guessing that when the time comes to buy, I will be looking at something between 2000 and 2006 in the high end coach range.

allieoop · RV-Dreams Community Member

I am also actively hunting for the right RV for my needs. I have found the place to buy used luxury RV. They are a real neat family. They put new floors is all their rigs, check them out for the road and give you a 1 year warranty and most of the rigs get new tires which is a big expense. They may not get many in your price range but by keeping in touch with them they will let you know when they do. Their web page is www.bestpreownedrv.com

osanmike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for the link. They have some nice rigs there. I will be sure to check back when I am ready to buy.

Bill and Jodee · RV-Dreams Family Member

If you want a wider range of places you can stay - especially in state parks and more natural settings - I would be looking at 35 foot or less.

Jodee

jlb27537 · RV-Dreams Family Member

I second Bill's suggestion of 35' My M/H was a 35' and the present 5th is 35'.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

"Go 36 ft or above." "If you want a wider range of places you can stay - especially in state parks and more natural settings - I would be looking at 35 foot or less." The length you choose will limit your choices of campgrounds, yes, but not as much as you might think. Since you will be full-timing, you will be living in that coach. Everything you will want with you will have to be stowed in it somewhere. People who buy new Foretravel IH-45s or Newells understand that their tall coaches don't fit everywhere, and at 45' in length may be limited in that respect, too, but they are able to make do. Those who have 34' coaches understand that they fit in more places than the larger coaches, but they have chosen to give up living and storage space for that. How much stuff do you have to have, and how important is it to go to campgrounds with small sites?

Definitely look at high-end coaches, as you will find that they will stand up better to full-time use. Also, most owners of such coaches tend to take good care of their coaches, although there are some exceptions.

To answer your original question, I'd suggest that you avoid brands that are no longer made UNLESS there is an active owners' forum AND you are able to do much of your own mechanical work. An example is the Bluebird Wanderlodge. It is a high quality coach, but no longer made. The owners' forum, though, provides a LOT of expertise for those who are capable of doing their own work. I'd avoid any brand that requires you to own the brand before allowing you to join the forum.

shystywolf · RV-Dreams Family Member

i would absolutly love to go see Hawaii in person. but good luck

Talensnana · RV-Dreams Family Member

Our first RV was a 36' 1996 Safair Serengetti. Safari is no longer made but they are a quality RV and have a very active forum. It is a quality coach and very well made. Should be in your price range.

His_Hers_Alaska · RV-Dreams Community Member

Does the "perfect RV" exist?
I think it is all about compromises.
Ben

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Myself, I wouldn't play around................Go 40' or bigger. If you are fulltiming anyway, you can go wherever you like(if you can't go into a smaller site). That will be your only house so you'll need all the room you can get. The trick is to find something real worthy for 50K and be that large.

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

The length is always an issue - it seems.

The advice you are receiving to not go too small is good advice, in my opinion. One of the reasons that fulltimers switch out coaches within 5 years is often that they find they are too small for comfortable living. It IS your home, after all. And to stay on the road you need to be comfortable. How you will define "comfortable" varies among individuals....but ask yourself this - how many people upgrade their coaches and go smaller? Some -but VERY few. Many that do that are downsizing because they are now getting into a house or they have some other lifestyle they are choosing. But among fulltimers it is relatively rare to see people going smaller.

That said, only you know HOW you intend to fulltime.

We have been fulltimers for 15 years. We have a 45' trailer pulled by a 30' truck. While we do have to "consider" the size of our rig, we do not have any particular issues finding spots. And Howard and Linda have a 40' trailer, and they frequent state parks, etc without much issue. Can you indiscriminately go places with large coaches? No, you do have to do a little research. But do not limit yourself to a smaller coach because you "think" you need that.....because you may not.

osanmike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for all the inputs. looks like we will be starting our fulltime adventure a year early. I am planning on retiring and leaving Hawaii next June. We will start looking at RV's in person then. Right now I am just looking through craigslist, RVTrader and other RV site. I am looking hard for a Country Coach or Foretravel in my price range, but am not ruling out other brands. We aren't planning on having to much stuff and I think a 38 - 40' will be plenty of room for us. I am just hoping to get a reliable DP for under $50K.

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Keep an eye on crankyape.com and bid on one that works for you.
That's where I found mine. Some are junky but some are very nice.
They usually do a good description with lots of pictures but go check it out in person before bidding.
A lot of them are repo's. Mine was a consignment, original owner, after a womans husband passed away.

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

Even when you find one you like, it might be a good idea to have a decent sized contingency fund set aside to cover potential hidden defects and repairs. Better to have it and not need it, than to not have it and get yourself into a jam. Peace of mind is priceless. FWIW.

Brian

-- Edited by biggaRView on Tuesday 7th of April 2015 04:09:28 PM

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Speaking of things that can possibly go wrong......When the Allison MD3060 tranny quit in mine that was depressing. However I do all of my own mechanical work so I pulled it out and rebuilt it.....Simple but not for most. If had to have a shop take care of that it would have eaten up a $10,000.00 bill with ease.
So it depends a lot if you can do a lot of repairs yourself. Not only "Major" stuff but even the "Minor" maintenance. Minor little stuff with the coach can eat a hole in your wallet not just the big stuff with the chassis. One would be amazed at how some don't know which end of the screwdriver to hold.

osanmike · RV-Dreams Family Member

I am not worried about the minor stuff, I do all my own household and vehicle maintenance now. For any of the major stuff, my brother is a diesel mechanic and as long as I can get the rig to him he can help me out. We do plan on have a substantial reserve fund for things that come up, just want to find a rig that might have less issues than others.

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

We went with a 37' coach as we had heard the you'll never get in state parks with bigger and had thought that we would be using a lot of state parks. Wrong on both accounts. Lots of parks have room for bigger rigs. But even more important, state parks have gotten so expensive and hard to reserve that we don't even consider them any more. We still use COE parks whenever we can find them - but there usually isn't a worry about size with COE parks. But most state parks have gone to online reservations and thus the first week in January they are filled from Memorial day through Labor Day - - we don't know that far ahead where we are going to be. Plus, people reserve spots, things change and they don't cancel and thus sites end up not being used. Then there is the charge for a towed car - while they don't charge extra for a truck pulling a 5th wheel, many, many do charge for a car - as if the MH is a daily driver - unless you purchase their state annual pass. Now if we were going to spend several weeks/months in a state it might be worth it, but otherwise between the nightly charges & the extra for a car, we just find they are as expensive as a private park and more expensive than using membership parks.

If I was buying today, it would be 40' minimum. While our coach is fine and we have been happy with it, I would have enjoyed just a little more room the past 9 years with a longer coach.

Barb