Help us choose: Great West, Roadtrek 210 Popular or Pleasureway Plateau

(Sorry this was posted before in the wrong place)

Yesterday we spent 3 1/2 hours at our nearest dealer who showed us everything (Class B) except Pleasureway which we understand will not be sold on the same lot as Roadtrek.
We are torn between Roadtrek 210 Popular (gas) and Great West (diesel) Classic King. We haven't seen Pleasureway yet.

Useage: 2-3 day trips 8 times a year and 1 or 2 long trips each year.

Important: private toilet (open door for shower OK), sleeps 2 comfortably, front seats swivel for additional seating when at destination, quality workmanship, van styling rather than cab front (we hit our heads  a lot on cab-type 25' RV we rented).
Not important: diesel or gas (unless someone has a good point on why one is vastly superior). We did note that diesel had better foot area for front seat passenger.

We are committed to Class B and to van styling not cab-type.

We see very few comments from Great West owners. Is that good or bad?
Our closest dealer is 1 1/2 hours away (Pleasureway is closer 30 minutes).

We would really appreciate any input because all our research can't beat an owners hands on experience.
Thanks in advance.

Well I'm not an owner, but...

For several years my wife & I thought that a Roadtrek 190 Popular was the RV of our dreams.  We almost came to blows on the forum with a lady who had a Pleasureway.  She found some of the features of the Roadtrek unacceptable.  The Roadtrek appealed to us and the Pleasureway left us cold.

I think that your choice between those two would be which one had the layout and features that you like. 

Like you, I haven't seen any feedback on the Great West.

Diesal/gas?  The advertized 22 mpg of the Sprinter Chassis is appealling.  The size and floorplans are not (to me).  Not sure if that's what you're taking about.  One of the big three's diesals in a Class B seems to be gross overkill.

Joel

drdelong said:

(Sorry this was posted before in the wrong place)

Yesterday we spent 3 1/2 hours at our nearest dealer who showed us everything (Class B) except Pleasureway which we understand will not be sold on the same lot as Roadtrek.
We are torn between Roadtrek 210 Popular (gas) and Great West (diesel) Classic King. We haven't seen Pleasureway yet.

Useage: 2-3 day trips 8 times a year and 1 or 2 long trips each year.

Important: private toilet (open door for shower OK), sleeps 2 comfortably, front seats swivel for additional seating when at destination, quality workmanship, van styling rather than cab front (we hit our heads  a lot on cab-type 25' RV we rented).
Not important: diesel or gas (unless someone has a good point on why one is vastly superior). We did note that diesel had better foot area for front seat passenger.

We are committed to Class B and to van styling not cab-type.

We see very few comments from Great West owners. Is that good or bad?
Our closest dealer is 1 1/2 hours away (Pleasureway is closer 30 minutes).

We would really appreciate any input because all our research can't beat an owners hands on experience.
Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

You probably haven't seen a lot of comments from Great West owners because they just aren't out there.  Not because it doesn't sell will (it does in Canada, where they're manufactured), buy rather because they don't have a large dealer network in the lower 48.  Great West has excellent manufacturer's support, plus the unit we owned was very well built.  Excellent fit and finish.

Having said that, our experience was with a 2002 model (sold recently 'cause we wanted the larger size of a Class A).  Therefore we don't know very much about the current models or the current state of affairs of the quality of their units.  But I wholeheartedly recommend Great West based on my experiences with them, from 2002 through 2005, when we sold our Great West Classic Van.  In some ways, we still miss it.  We could drive it anywhere, park it anywhere, and not have to worry about "RV restrictions."  We pay $90/month for storage now for our Class A, and whenever I write that check I think back longingly about our "bright green pleasure machine."

Irv

we were in the same boat as you and after looking for about a year in the uk i became the proud owner of a great west van classic supreme 4 berth yesterday its a 1998 with abour 40000 miles and my wife and i think its the business! we did look at roadtreks aswell but to be honest i think the great west has the edge. its got a 5.2 v8 and drives very smooth its on a dodge ram van, if u want to know any more please ask. good luck alan

Thanks everyone for your replies.
Here's an update: We headed to the dealer with the intention of looking at just the two we had narrowed it down to after doing spreadsheets of bed-sizes, etc, etc.
Well 3 and 1/2 hours later (after a 2 hour drive there) our heads were swimming with RV visions. The only one we didn't see was Pleasure-Way because either they or Roadtrek won't be sold at the same dealership. (Our salesperson pooh-poohed PW as being fibre-board cabinetry but we took that with a grain of salt).
Conclusions: Great West has a gorgeous product as does Roadtrek. We narrowed it down to between the diesel Great West and the Roadtrek Popular 210 (gas). Each had it's pluses and minuses but when we left we were leaning toward the Popular.
When we got home and for the next 4 days we went back and forth and then discovered we had overlooked the RT Versatile which looked very good on paper (bed, bathroom, etc). The problem (if it is one) is that the Popular bed has 76" length on one side and 74" on the other. In the Versatile you sleep the width of the RV instead of the length which gives both sides 80".
That meant one of us headed back to the dealer to see the Versatile in person. And re-examine the Adventurous which was appealing on the first visit but not a top choice then.
Long story short (not) the Adventurous won and we started negotiations with the dealer.
We take delivery Thursday and I will post more info later if anyone is interested. Too superstitious to do it until the deal is complete.

I am not sure if you purchased one or not. Quality wise they are all about the same, for an RV, very good. The one you want is the one that meets your needs the most. If somebody tells you one is better then the other, my answer is they don't know jack. I have a 2003 Roadtrek 170, the short version of the 190. Other then a refrigerator problem which was not Roadtreks fault, I have had no problems at all. I have never had to go back to the dealer.

Steve

Sounds like you got the Roadtrek built off of the Sprinter?  From the ones I have looked at that does look like a nice unit.

I have had several camper vans in my 40 years of RVing, and decided that I wanted to downsize to one again.  The bigger RV's just become yard ornaments, most of the time.
So I bought a very nice low mileage, 'new to me' Merry Miler, with genny, even though the floor plan wasn't quite what I wanted. 
Then I saw an American Cruiser on eBay, with a real 6' back door on the back, and no side doors, except driver and passenger, of course.  Then I knew that was what I wanted.  The side doors are a pain for me with my older legs, and what camper van needs five or SIX doors ?  Three should be enough, and less dafty.
So now I am looking for an American Cruiser that won't cost my great grandkid's inheritance.
Any American Cruiser owners here ?  Are they really as lovely as they look in the pictures ?
Happy Trails, Penny,TX