Looking for Advice on Class A Diesel

Hi,
I am looking for some advice / help on choosing a class a diesel. This would be our first RV. We have traveled the country extensively, in a pick-up truck, and love camping in National Parks and KOA's. We are always towing something, boats or cars, which is why I want a diesel, we also tend to put allot of miles on. Unfortunately I'm on a very tight budget. I've really fallen in love with the Winnebago Journey, but they are at the top of my budget, I've found a couple 2000 model year ones I think I can afford. There is also a '99 Winnebago Chieftan for sale in my area that looks nice, and is the same price as the Journey. Both have the 5.9 Cummins in them, which I want for the fuel millage, but for some reason it seems that the Journey is rated at less HP. Is that true ? I would think they would both be the same HP being similar years ect. The owner of the Journey says it has the 4 speed Allison, but the Chieftan has the 6 speed, which I read is better, but I'm not sure how to verify if it is the 4 speed or 6 speed ?
Altenatively there are a couple 2003 Coachman Cross Country's for sale near me. They have the 5.9 + the 6 speed as well as low miles. They are priced the same as the Winnebago's, but are newer, which seems to be a good thing, but I've rear they are a lower quality RV, so that concerns me. There are also a couple '98 Fleetwood Discover's for sale with the 5.9 + 6 Speed. They are $ 10,000 less which would really help the budget, but don't have a slide, and are more dated looking.
As you can see I've got a million questions / concerns. I need a RV to drive from the east coast to the west coast, a couple of times a year, so we would be living in it for a couple / few weeks at a time, as well as towing cross country, and I'm on a tight budget ? Any suggestions ?
Thanks
Michael

The 5.9L Cummins was available in various horsepower ratings, and some chassis did have the less expensive 4-speed auto. In the years you mentioned, I've seen the 5.9L with ratings from 250 hp, 260 hp, and 275. Earlier ones were typically 230 hp and later ones were 300.  The same engine is offered with differing hp ratings to let the RV makers differentiate price levels among multiple models. Lower hp ratings are used in other applications as well, primarily to improve longevity/reliability. Motorhomes are considered light duty for these engines, so they generally get higher hp ratings than dump trucks or buses.

The standard engine for a 2000 Journey was a 275 hp Cummins 5.9L coupled to a 4-speed automatic and included an exhaust brake. Yes, the 6-speed is a significant improvement. You can find brochures and tech info on Winnebagos back to 1969 at https://winnebagoind.com/product-resources/product-information

Most people rate the Journey & Chieftain to be of better build quality than a Sports Coach, but in a 15+ year old rig the condition is more important than the brand name.

It would not be too unusual to find RV's with the same model year but perhaps different engine/transmission arrangements. It might depend on the model year of the CHASSIS itself, which is often 1 year and possibly 2 years earlier than the the model year of the RV. Chassis are bought in bulk by the RV manufacturer and stored until needed. The VIN of the chassis from the plaque on the dash (and showing through the windshield) may reveal enough info by using a VIN decoder found on the internet.

Diesel pushers and tight budgets are mostly incompatible.  Almost all maintenance items on DPs are more expensive.  Same with anything that has to be replaced.

In my humble opinion I'd be looking at a newer V10 powered coach if budget were my primary concern.

used motorhomes come in two basic categories.....Newer ones,  and older ones.

then there is a bunch of sub categories.  like Diesel or Gas,  and Slide or No-slide.    condition is everything,       

IMO.... a good motorhome is right under a good roof.

I'm glad 8Muddypaws said it, because I don't like being the only person who seems like they're trying to talk someone out of going diesel. I'm not. We have one and we love it, but we've also owned two gas coaches, so we have a pretty realistic perspective on owning both. I've found that, sometimes, new RVers are unaware of some of the real life differences between gas and diesel coaches.

If you're going to be carrying a lot of weight, or towing a heavy vehicle or trailer, a diesel coach may indeed be the best choice, especially if you plan on doing a lot of driving on mountain grades. Diesel coaches often (but not always) enable you to climb steep grades faster than a similarly sized/loaded gas coach, and an engine brake (like a Jake Brake) really helps when descending steep grades.

There are misconceptions, however, on just how much faster a diesel coach can climb steep grades. Our 43 foot coach is pretty lightly loaded, and we get passed all the time by V-10 powered gas coaches. Of course, they're a lot lighter than us too - even some that are towing.

When you consider that our diesel pusher costs between 4 and 5 times as much in annual (scheduled) maintenance as either of our gas coaches did (and that's if nothing is wrong) you can start to see what 8Muddypaws was saying. Diesel coaches just cost more to buy and maintain. An older diesel coach will likely be even moreso.

Kev

Kevin Means said:

There are misconceptions, however, on just how much faster a diesel coach can climb steep grades. Our 43 foot coach is pretty lightly loaded, and we get passed all the time by V-10 powered gas coaches. Of course, they're a lot lighter than us too - even some that are towing.

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The speed you can climb a hill is entirely dependent on your horsepower/weight ratio.  It doesn't have anything to do with whether you have a diesel or gas MH.  If you have a large DP powered by a smaller diesel engine your ability to climb hills won't be all that good compared to some gas MHs.

docj said:

The speed you can climb a hill is entirely dependent on your horsepower/weight ratio.  It doesn't have anything to do with whether you have a diesel or gas MH.  If you have a large DP powered by a smaller diesel engine your ability to climb hills won't be all that good compared to some gas MHs.

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That's pretty much what I was trying to say - at least partially. The point I was trying to make is... just because a MH has a diesel engine, doesn't mean it's going to climb mountain grades faster than gas coaches. New RVers often don't know that and assume that if a coach has a diesel engine, it's always going to out-perform a gas coach.

Our 8.9 Cummins has 450 HP & 1250 ft lbs of torque, which isn't bad for a 43 foot coach, but even so, we still get passed by some of these newer gas coaches. Like I said though, they certainly don't weigh as much as us, even though we're pretty lightly loaded for a 43 foot coach. Fortunately, I don't worry too much about how fast I get up the hills. It is what it is.

Kev

  In my opinion (everyone has one),,speed is not a factor when climbing, period..there are many more importand items like cooling,,safety,,,trans heat,,other slow traffic,and passing/being passed.>>>Dan

What kind of expensive maintenance repairs are required of a diesel engine?  I am also in the market for a Motor home and will be towing a small car.  I think if I went gas vs diesel my fuel costs would triple, not?

"Service" and "repairs" aren't necessarily the same thing. Our chassis and generator receive their annual required service at an RV dealer/maintenance facility. It's required service, because we have an extended warranty, and failing to comply with Freightliner's service requirements will void our warranty.

As a frame of reference, it was costing us an average of about $250 to $300 a year to have our 32 foot gas (V-10) motorhome serviced each year (filters, lube, oil change etc. - chassis and generator.) Last September, it cost us amost $1200 to have the same service performed on our diesel pusher, and there was nothing wrong with it. Labor rates have climbed since we bought our diesel coach, but that only accounts for a small portion of the higher costs.

They have bigger reservoirs, more filters, the filters cost more, an air-ride system... it goes on and on. A lot of diesel owners service their RVs themselves, which would save a fair amount of money. I do 99% of the house maintenance, but I like having an experienced diesel mechanic looking at the drive-train each year. It gives me some peace of mind.

If something does need to be fixed, I can just about guarantee that the replacement part for a diesel coach will cost more than the comparable part for a gas coach. And in the worst case, a Ford V-10 overhaul/replacement would probably run $7000 to $10,000, but our 8.9 Cummins diesel would be closer to $25,000 to $30,000.

Forgot to address your mileage concern. There's a guy who has a Youtube channel, who has an identical gas RV like we had - a 32 foot, 1999 Tiffin Allegro, and he tows a trailer with a few thousand pounds of "stuff." He said he averages about 7.5 MPG. I think he's right, because we were getting about 8.5 MPG not towing. In our diesel pusher, we're averaging 7.3 MPG when we're not towing, and 7.1 when towing our Jeep or Accura.

Kev