Recomendations for a new gasser

[trashguy]

This has probably been beaten to death but Ive searched and really haven't seen much recent posts on this. My wife is retired and I am going to in a couple years. We plan to travel at such time. My budget will have to be under 100k. We have a 95 31ft Aerbus with no slides. It's been a good rig but at 80,000 miles and almost 20 years I'm not sure I'd trust it to do any long traveling. We've been looking at the Thor Ace, FR3,Jayco Allante,all in around the 31ft range. I have a garage for it that limits me to 35ft. Are there other rigs that are in that range I should be looking at?

[DallasSteve]

trashguy wrote:
For layout and size this is our favorite so far. We can get it for 102k. What is everyones thoughts of this?
http://www.demartinirv.com/vehicles/detail/1944

I've also been Windows shopping for Class A motorhomes and it's hard to beat the combination of price and quality of a Forest River. I'm not an expert in brand quality but I know:

1 - Forest River is about the largest maker of motorhomes in the US
2 - Warren Buffet thought enough of it to buy the company
3 - You don't get to be a market leader if your vehicle falls apart when it leaves the dealership (people talk)

I've also been considering buying new, but I'm having second thoughts. I can afford a new one, but if I buy one about 10 years old I can screw the tax collector out of about $4,000. It's hard to pass up a deal like that. I know I'll have to spend more on repairs, but I really like screwing the tax collector out of money (legally). Plus, you'll probably save a lot on insurance, too.

[alarmingfriend]

Ranger Smith wrote:

trashguy wrote:
For layout and size this is our favorite so far. We can get it for 102k. What is everyones thoughts of this?
http://www.demartinirv.com/vehicles/detail/1944

I am not a big fan of forest river. We got our 2016 Tiffin 36LA bath and a half for 114k

Looks like a nice unit Our 2018 Challenger 37LX looks similar, the floorpan is a bit different.
Retail I believe was $197,000. We ended up paying $139,000.
Some issues but after a month of finding things like loose screws on electrical outlets and loose terminals on the inverter which the dealer had to replace the inverter. Everything is fixed now and the rig seems to be perfect. There also is a connection for the Gas Grill on the Rig that no documentation tells you about. Nice convenience to just plug a hose to the grill and not have to have a tank just for the grill.

[Ranger_Smith]

trashguy wrote:
For layout and size this is our favorite so far. We can get it for 102k. What is everyones thoughts of this?
http://www.demartinirv.com/vehicles/detail/1944

I am not a big fan of forest river. We got our 2016 Tiffin 36LA bath and a half for 114k

[trashguy]

For layout and size this is our favorite so far. We can get it for 102k. What is everyones thoughts of this?
http://www.demartinirv.com/vehicles/detail/1944

[tropical36]

trashguy wrote:
This has probably been beaten to death but Ive searched and really haven't seen much recent posts on this. My wife is retired and I am going to in a couple years. We plan to travel at such time. My budget will have to be under 100k. We have a 95 31ft Aerbus with no slides. It's been a good rig but at 80,000 miles and almost 20 years I'm not sure I'd trust it to do any long traveling. We've been looking at the Thor Ace, FR3,Jayco Allante,all in around the 31ft range. I have a garage for it that limits me to 35ft. Are there other rigs that are in that range I should be looking at?

I guess I just can't help myself for asking this age old question, but why does it have to be new and especially with the monetary hit, along with It's first year problems and with owning an entry level unit for the same dollars spent?
I mean it's nice, that you're willing to help out all the used buyers out there, with someone having to buy new, but it doesn't sound like, money is no object with you. Putting it another way, if buying new on a $100K budget, you're going to be driving an inferior product, compared to many others that are out there.
Don't mean to offend anyone with that statement, but let's face it and there's no way to get the same quality with a new 100K product, than there is with a 200K new product.

[Dog_Trainer]

We went from DP no slides back to a TT 3 slide and now we are quite happy with our 2 year old Newnar BaySatar 1 full wall slide and bedroom slide. We bought the Newmar used with 560 miles right at the price point of your budget. I spent about 1700.00 to upgrade the suspension. As another mentioned get a 2016 chassis or newer to get the 6 speed transmission. Good luck.

[timjet]

TrashGuy, you didn't say how long you intend to stay on your coach after you retire. I think this is an important question to answer. If your intended use after retirement is occasional trips for a week then the size coach you'll be comfortable in will likely be different than a coach that you spend a lot of time in.

We retired a couple of years ago and got a higher end 10 yo DP that was well taken care of by previous owners. Our intention is to use it for 3-4 months a year to escape the summer heat in FL. The ride, noise and storage is a big plus for us and we've been very happy with our decision. However not all campgrounds are suitable for a 40' coach and we have to pick and choose accordingly. So far we've done that and not had a problem.

However if our intent was to use a RV for just a week every once in a while then I think a gently used gasser in the 32-35 ft range from Newmar or Tiffin would be a good choice.

Personally I would never buy new, the depreciation and higher sales tax coupled with the issues to be worked out on a new one would seem to me to be a waste of money and then the aggravation of dealing with the new maintenance issues would really bother me.

[vjstangelo]

My 2 cents. We have a Winnebago, most would consider a higher end manufacturer. But the problems we have are with the components made by others and installed by Winnebago (both Coleman heat pumps failed within a year of ownership). My recommendation is to focus 1st on floor plan, not so much brand. Good luck.

[Gjac]

trashguy wrote:
The Aerbus has been good to us but with no slides there is no way Momma and I can spend an extended period of time in it. What are everyones thoughts on this one.
http://www.mhsrv.com/2017-coachmen-pursuit-33bhp-bunk-house-rv-for-sale-at-mhsrv-w-2-15k-a-c-new-cla...

. It does not have much basement storage. Does your Aerbus have full basement storage now? That outside TV uses one whole bay.

[Solo]

Ranger Smith wrote:
You can get a nice used Tiffin or Winnebago in your budget range. The bugs are generally worked out of a slightly used rig. I would not buy a Thor Ace if you gave me the money to buy it. Just my opinion

To the original question about gasser and under 35', you are going to get a lot of opinions but, Ranger Smith's post pretty well sums up what you get for your $. You need to determine how you plan to use your new motorhome, how many miles a year, how much time spent traveling vs. being parked, where you want to travel and what type of conveniences onboard do you require. Higher end motorhomes will have different build qualities than lower lines. Manufacturers build their coaches to meet a price point and the quality of fixtures, cabinets, chassis, and appliances are built/used to match that target.

My recommendation, look online at some of the various sources that allow you to search on price, amenities, and lengths. Get an idea of what your budget will allow new and used and then go look at some of the motorhomes you've narrowed the search to. If a lower-end motorhome meets your needs, then your budget will get you into some new units that are 35' and under. If you need or want a different build level, then the used market opens up a lot of possibilities. Take a look at higher end diesel rigs or high-end gassers to get some idea of build quality and appliance differences as you look at motorhomes. Even though you think that you would never want something like that, you will get an idea of what type of quality you are wanting by comparing different price points. If you spend some time looking, you will understand that there IS a difference.

[johnwalkerpa1]

Ranger Smith wrote:

alarmingfriend wrote:

Chainwright wrote:

alarmingfriend wrote:
Very true, my $79.00 registration fee went up to $3,600.00 and Insurance went up from $500.00 per year to $1,500.00 but after 2 years of headaches we just decided since this is going to be out last home what the heck. My Monaco Monarch needed Transmission work, front end work, just replaced a fuel pump and 6 new tires. Probably would have been worth the effort but now we are comfortable in the new rig and thats the key. Miserable and cramped or lots of storage with a whole wall slide and a bedroom slide so flip a coin, pros and cons we are happy and glad your bounder keeps you happy.

Sooo, How does a $79 registration fee go up to $3600?

Fee goes up when you trade a 17 year old Monaco Monarch in and buy a 2018 Thor, the positive side is the fee goes down 10% every year HAH. Actually we are very pleased going from 32 feet to 37 feet. 30 feet of it is one slide and the Master Bed has its own slide. This morning I found a connection for my propane grille.

Did that $3600 registration include sales tax. If not that is robbery

Agreed! I was fuming (sort of ;)) when my annual registration went up from $81 to $112 a few years back.

[Mommalu]

We purchased a used 2014 Jayco Precept 31 UL with 3900 miles that was what we felt reasonably priced at 85k.Previous owner had to sell due to health. It works for us because it has 3 slides, and is 32' long. Quality is ok, but so many others appeared worse. The Ford chassis needs help if you wish to enjoy your drive, we added a Blue Ox TruCenter to the front and a Blue Ox TigerTrack to the rear which has improved the road manners tremendously. It was a well spent $2500. We also replaced the standard tankless water heater with 6 gal Atwood which works far better when camping with no hook ups.
Good luck with your search!

[alarmingfriend]

As far as storage, the wife and I went from 30 years collecting **** in our 1700sq ft home with 2 car garage to our 32 foot Motorhome and a 5X5 storage unit, now that we are in the Thor 37LX the storage unit is gone and everything fits in the basement with 2 extra bays. Interior storage isn't like when we were in the house, things like Mop/bucket, 6 foot ladder, cleaning supplies,Crock Pot, air compressor, TP and paper towels all live in the basement. It broke my heart to give away the majority of my tools but Harbor Freight is always near by.

[Ranger_Smith]

alarmingfriend wrote:

Chainwright wrote:

alarmingfriend wrote:
Very true, my $79.00 registration fee went up to $3,600.00 and Insurance went up from $500.00 per year to $1,500.00 but after 2 years of headaches we just decided since this is going to be out last home what the heck. My Monaco Monarch needed Transmission work, front end work, just replaced a fuel pump and 6 new tires. Probably would have been worth the effort but now we are comfortable in the new rig and thats the key. Miserable and cramped or lots of storage with a whole wall slide and a bedroom slide so flip a coin, pros and cons we are happy and glad your bounder keeps you happy.

Sooo, How does a $79 registration fee go up to $3600?

Fee goes up when you trade a 17 year old Monaco Monarch in and buy a 2018 Thor, the positive side is the fee goes down 10% every year HAH. Actually we are very pleased going from 32 feet to 37 feet. 30 feet of it is one slide and the Master Bed has its own slide. This morning I found a connection for my propane grille.

Did that $3600 registration include sales tax. If not that is robbery