I have < $100,000 to spend on a Class A Diesel Pusher. Recommendations?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
G

GTHill

Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2008
Posts
20
Location
Searcy, AR
Greetings all,

It appears that I will be purchasing a coach soon and have become very overwhelmed at the different coaches for sale. So, I am hoping that you all can help me given some guidelines.

- < $100,000 (I would be very comfortable in the low to mid 90's preferably)
- Class A Diesel Pusher
- Sleeps at least 6 adults, 8 if possible (8 is not a high priority if that severely limits my choices)
- Prefer higher power motors, 400+ HP. I don't need to exceed the speed limit but I do want to keep up with it as best I can
- Be able to tow my 4000lb vehicle
- Diesel Generator
- Mobile Satellite TV (for the kids while driving), DVD and GPS all would be great
- Slideouts
- Year and mileage aren't huge factors to me as long as maintenance has been performed
- Build quality of the coach is very important to me
- Ability to sustain a small family for 5 days without hookup (if this is possible)

I am in my mid-thirties and do well for a living. I have a wife of 11 years and two children, 7 and 5 years old. I travel around the country about 30 weeks out of the year and would like to take them along with me as much as possible. We, like many others share in the dream of traveling this great country. Why not get paid while doing it? :)

Any suggestion of brand, model etc would be very helpful. If you or someone you knows has one for sale, feel free to let me know about it. Thank you very much for your time in helping me!

GT Hill

 
I'm not sure about the "Prefer higher power motors, 400+ HP" criteria; The 350hp Cummins in our 38 foot Monaco DP does quite well towing our 7,000 lbs Suburban.

I'm kinda curious on the "sleeps 6 or 8 adults", criteria since you mentioned wanting to take along your wife and two young children.
 
Tom,

Thanks for the response. I subscribe to the "more power is better" rule, although I have never driven a coach so I don't have any frame of reference. Will 350 HP be enough? Probably, I just thought if they offer more power I'd take it.

As far as sleeping 6-8 adults, it wouldn't be just for my immediate family. My in-laws will travel with us some and I will most likely let some of my family members borrow it when I'm not using it. In that case, sleeping 6+ adults would be great. Thanks!

GT
 
GT

You may have a problem with the sleeping arrangements. There are two maxims in motor homes; cocktails for 8, dinner for 4, sleeps 2 and the number of sleeping positions is inversely proportional to the price of the coach (higher price, less beds) :-\ A coach as you describe would probably have a queen/king bed in the bedroom and a convertible sofa bed, the rest will need sleeping bags, been there done that.
 
The engine in a motorhome is selected based on the gross combined vehicle weight and should be about 1HP/100lbs.  Most models will have one or two engine choices only.  I wouldn't use HP as a criteria when shopping as long as it meets the above minimum.

Bernie's comments on the sleeping positions will be a major limiting factor.  Large class A motorhomes just aren't made for large groups unless they're custom built, like a band bus, and those generally aren't suitable for long term living or boondocking.  As for boondocking for 5 days with a small family, the biggest obstacle is educating the family on conservation.  The holding and fresh water tanks just aren't designed to support more than 2 or 3 people for any amount of time.  Plan on trips to the water supply and dump station every few days, in my experience.  We even know some couples that can't get more than a day or two out of their holding tanks :)
 
Mistype, Lou.  I've corrected it.  Thanks.
 
Very interesting on the sleeping issue.

Let's get away from the sleeping issue for now... can anyone tell me what to look for (coach brand, model, engine, generator etc) and what to stay away from? Thanks!

GT
 
Wouldn't it be great if we knew whom we were chatting with? Location etc? etc?

  Sounds like it is a put-on. Pardon me if I am wrong.

carson FL


 
carson said:
Wouldn't it be great if we knew whom we were chatting with? Location etc? etc?

   Sounds like it is a put-on. Pardon me if I am wrong.

carson FL
Click to expand...

Sorry to give you that impression Carson. I know forums can be that way. I participate in quite a few of them under the same handle. You will quickly find out I am a car guy (Ferrari's) love photography and make my living as a Wi-Fi instructor and implementer. I have searched many "RV's for sale" web sites and I find something that looks good for a good price, but just don't know what to look for in a coach. I have updated my profile with my location (Searcy, AR).

Any recommendations that could be given would be appreciated. Thanks!

GT
 
You won't get much advice specifically as to make and models to look for or avoid as there as many opinions on that as there are members here :)  You will find some helpful articles here in our library related to buying an RV.

However, if you have some specific models that you're considering, we can probably tell you what to look for in those.
 
Thanks a lot guys.

One that I am seriously looking at is a 2003 Alpine Coach 40FD with a 400hp Cummins.
It is local to me (sort of). Any opinions on this coach and its price?

http://www.rvt.com/rvdetail4185710.htm

Thanks!

GT
 
Ok, have a look at 07-08 Coachmen/Pathfinder MH's. I think you'll find some even new with new machine warrinties. Depends on what you want. I know 100k is your max, but you may be surprised at what's available in late model left over new today Check here.
http://shorewoodrv.com/SearchOurInventory/SearchbyMFG/Sportscoach/tabid/4451/Default.aspx

And elsewhere as you see fit.  Remember that listed pricing is just a suggestion in todays market.


We allmost bought that white pathfinder, but bought a Tiffin instead. Various reasons. 
 
Alpine makes a nice coach. Check the NADA Price Guides. Don't add any options, and look at the low retail price. Since this is a buyer's market, you should be able to buy at less.
 
I suggest a  workable floorplan for your family in a A class diesel pusher would be: Queen or Kingsize bedroom, sleeping couch in living area and a dinette booth which can be transfered into a bed for the kids. The dinette booth would also be a convenient place for them if they want to watch TV while in motion and a place they can play games. Just remember that for each passenger is a seat belt required. Kids get pretty soon bored on long trips  unless they have a safe space to do other things then looking out of the window.
There should be plenty of motorhomes available in the price range you want to spend. Recommending brands a lot of times would be somebodies personal choice.
On of the things you have to consider  with the motorhome business in trouble is that a considerable amount of manufactures have gone out of business and it's your choice if you want to purchase such a coach considering major replacement parts in the future.
Good luck with your shopping.

You may want to upscale from Ferrari to Lamborghini :)

chris


 
Chris,
      Upscale to a Lamborghini? Now you are hitting below the belt. :) Lamborghini makes for a good poster on the wall.

On to the coach thing... I really wish someone would just post a link to the best deal for what I am looking for. How hard can that be? :)

GT
 
GT:
On to the coach thing... I really wish someone would just post a link to the best deal for what I am looking for. How hard can that be?
Click to expand...
I have read the thread from beginning to end.....
You are lucky man to be where you are at in life, but, I wonder how you got there? Why do you think someone should "just tell" you anything? Each individule must "do his own homework" so to speak.
Ok, I might be a little judgemental here (maybe the start of a critical day for me), but this is my reaction to your last comment.

Good luck in your search....

Mr. Bojangles (70 yrs young)
 
GT,
I guess I must ask, why a diesel?  I've got nothng against them but I don't want all of the work that seems to come along with them regarding motor maintenence.  I've been looking for a while and I have decided that a gasser is best for me.

On another forum I collected data from 668 members.  Of the 668 there were 392 diesel owners.  Of the 392 diesel owners 124 owned Monaco products (Monaco, Holiday Rambler, Beaver, Safari), 55 owned products by Fleetwood, 43 by Winnebago/Itasca, 43 by Newmar, 24 by Tiffin, 14 by National RV and 14 by Country Coach.

As you can see the Monaco line was the most popular.  Is it the best?  Well, most of their owners think so.  However, I think that most owners feel that way about the coach they own.

The information above should provide you with plenty of choices for a good coach.  I think the main thing is floorplan.  Do you want a table and chairs for dining or will a booth dinette work?  Is television part of the entertainment? Where is the television located?  Is the toilet in a seperate room or is it all part of the bathroom?

Lot's of things to consider.  Good luck in finding your Class A DP.

In the thumbnail below you can see the results of the poll that was taken.
 

Attachments

  • Capture.JPG
    Capture.JPG
    94.7 KB · Views: 41
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,207 (members: 28, guests: 1,179)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,968
Posts
1,388,413
Members
137,721
Latest member
Dmac3003
Back
Top Bottom