Class A diesel pusher w/ bunks

I am relatively new to this great forum, but I have been scouring it for days and learning a _lot_. Many thanks to all of unselfish, informed, and considerate contributors!

Here is what I have focused on for our own needs: a 30 to 40 foot diesel pusher, with a nice bathroom (preferably at least 36" x 36" shower), that has a queen and bunk beds (as well as the standard fold-out queen sofa--thus sleeping for at least six adults). I prefer a smaller package, just hoping that it might give us a little better fuel economy. I am _not_ looking for high-end luxury, but it must be comfortable for an elderly passenger who does not suffer long, rough rides well. So let's say that our upper limit is $250k.

So far, I have only been able to find the following choices to meet our criteria:

1)  Tiffin Allegro RED 38 QBA

2) Fleetwood Bounder Diesel RED 36B

3) Damon Astoria 3776

4) Newmar Ventana 3942

Am I missing any other manufacturers or models?

Finally, I note that our options would open up some if we were to consider FREDs (e.g., the Tiffin Allegro 35 QBA). In that I am trying to make the ride as comfortable, quiet, and even cool (temperature wise) as possible for the sake of an elderly, front-seat passenger, am I correct to steer away from the front end diesels?

TIA for any thoughts or suggestions.

Take a look at the Winnebago Journey Express 39Y. Two sofa beds, Bunks and a Queen.
http://www.winnebagoind.com/products/winnebago/2010/journey-express/floorplans.php

What about the Coachman Cross country: http://www.mhsrv.com/2010-coachmen-cross-country-385-bunk-house-rv-w2-slides-new-rv-for-sale-TX-i197748 or the Monaco Cayman: http://www.mhsrv.com/2011-monaco-cayman-40pbt-w3-slides-new-bunk-house-rv-for-sale-TX-i190985?  They are both fairly luxurious, have bunks, and the website I linked has a lot of information and the best prices I have seen.  The monaco though is a bit larger than what you wanted at just over 41'.

Thanks!

In fact, I had seen the Winnebago, and forgot to include it in my original list.

The Monaco is certainly nice, if expensive.

The Coachmen Cross Country is very interesting, at least in terms of features/price. The dealer you list has very substantially discounted this unit--a much higher percentage than one finds for either the Winnebago or Monaco. Is there some kind of quality issue or problem with this model or manufacturer?

Well, you tend to get what you pay for in an RV. Superficially they may look at lot alike, i.e. have similar eye candy. But the quality of materials, care in construction, design features for future maintainability, etc., tend to go with the higher priced units.

Getting what one pays for does make sense.

But the list price of the Coachmen Cross Country is only slightly lower than the Winnebago.

The sale referenced by AlexT is for a new 2010, with an approximate 33% discount on MSRP. That's a far deeper cut than one sees in the sale ads for the Winnebago (or Monacos).

This is what I was trying to understand, wondering if the company was going through bankruptcy or if there were well-known problems in construction/operation.

I have owned a Coachmen, (not a DP), sold Coachmen until my dealership dropped the brand.  I say sold, only 1 and the customer traded it in on a Tiffin within a year.  Without saying anything bad, and adding onto Gary's comments, need we say more? 

I also know many folks who own the Coachmen and will defend them till the cows come home.

On the one I owned I had a lot lof leak issues and delamination issue. 

Also consider the Fleetwood Discovery, but it will be just a little fancier than the Bounder you mentioned.

Best bet, decide your budget, cash or finance, if finance, consider the max amount down with shortest terms, this will help put you in an equity position if you decide on something different in a few years. 

All things considered, once you decide on the $'s, find the best fit for you, then ask to sit in it for an afternoon to try stuff out, sit in different seats, watch TV, faux-cook, etc.  If something doesn't quite fit for you it should turn up at this point.  Take a long test drive, get highway and secondary roads.  Then consider the price.  At this point the dealer and you have made a time investment, and they won't want you to leave.  Be prepared to leave.

Good luck.  Oh, 33% tells you something, Tiffin has a low margin, expect 18 to 22% tops on Tiffin, maybe 25 to 28% on Monaco and Fleetwood.  Just depends on when in the month and how many they have.  (end of month, but be prepared to commit to buying before end of month.  IOW, don't go on the 30th.  25th will leave you enough time for finances and dealer to prep.

From what I've read, it seems that the coachmen is built more with families in mind, with family friendly floorplans and ease of use, but don't necessarily use the highest quality materials throughout but it has the features none the less.  It's like the minivan of RVs.  It can have some nice features but you're not going to get the quality of a true luxury SUV.  If you look around on that site you'll see that most of the listings are discounted about the same.  The Monaco is actually well within your 250k budget.

-lol I probably sound like a dealer by now but I'm not.  I'm actually in high school and have always wanted an RV but that hasn't happened.... yet.  For some reason I just enjoy browsing these forums and other websites thinking about my future (I actually do this for a couple other hobbies as well).  The website I linked has the best listings and prices I've seen on the internet.

Though I wish it were, $250K is not our budget. It is half that (and even that is pushing it). Not that I wanted to mislead anyone, but I was thinking that if something went new for $250K I might be able to find a used version for half price.

So now you see my attraction to the Coachmen link you provided, which just might squeeze into our budget. Though I had first wanted a pusher for the sake of the ride and economy, I had almost given up. I had thought our requirement for a bunkhouse made a pusher impossible, as I can only find them on models from the last the last couple of years (hardly ever sold as "used").

Anyway, for now the Coachman seems to be the cheapest bunkhouse pusher, by far. I continue to study the other Class A's.

I take everyone's advice to heart, with gratitude. I am especially appreciative of the strong counsel to take some time to "live" in a vehicle, as much as that is feasible at a dealership.

Now to find some bunkhouses in the Pacific NW (see my new thread)!

Look at the Fleetwood Encounter.  Class A gas, bunks, made with family in mind.  Below your 125k budget new.  Better built than Coachmen DP. 

http://fleetwoodrv.com/encounter/

I was trained on these coaches, great ideas and layouts.  Plenty of sleeping space, easily converts to living space.

Thanks for the tip about the quality of the Encounter, which is indeed intriguing. I will make every effort to find one.

Since you indicate some history with this line, do you happen to recall the depth of the 32BH model shower, which is shown as rectangular? The Fleetwood website floorplan does not give specs, and I hesitate to extrapolate from other measurements they do provide (http://fleetwoodrv.com/brandtomodel/models.aspx?brand=encounter&m=32BH).

Not to be indelicate, but one in our group is vertically challenged, as he likes to say. Based on the showers we have seen so far we decided that 27" was an absolute minimum for the short dimension of a shower. Every extra inch helps.

Ugh.

We just blew up the Encounter floorplan, working from Fleetwood's PDF brochure. IF the plan is accurate and to scale, the shower interior is about 22" wide.

That would be a deal killer.

Off the top of my head, I just don't remember.  When it is a tub-shower the width is never usually very big.  How does vertical challenge equate to horizontal measurement?

As he says, that is a state secret and he would have to kill you if he told you!

But his current shower measures 32" square, and he is happy with it. Again, I think a rectangular shower has to be 27" or bigger on the short dimension.

I just contacted a Seattle area dealer looking for the Tiffin Allegro, and they had a (Thor/Four Winds) Hurricane 34B used, listing for $80k (which I assume is highly negotiable). The floor plan (and shower dimensions) looks good.

Do you have any cautionary remarks about Hurricane/Thor?

Thor is one of the biggest mfg's of motorhomes going.  Hurricane is one of the best selling motorhomes.  There are 2 levels if I remember correct, one has trailer style storage doors, the other is taler, has ore room in the storage bays and is typically full body paint.  The lower priced is gel coat and decals.  If it is the full body paint version, it is at the similar level to Bounders. 

However you look at it, it is not on a par with the Tiffin Allegro.

PancakeBill said:

Thor is one of the biggest mfg's of motorhomes going.  Hurricane is one of the best selling motorhomes.  There are 2 levels if I remember correct, one has trailer style storage doors, the other is taler, has ore room in the storage bays and is typically full body paint.  The lower priced is gel coat and decals.  If it is the full body paint version, it is at the similar level to Bounders. 

However you look at it, it is not on a par with the Tiffin Allegro.

Click to expand...

And the prices also are not on a par, so I guess it is clearly a "get what you pay for" situation. But am I correct that you are NOT implying that I steer clear of this brand, as you were for the Coachmen?

my fiance wanted a bunk rv & we looked at a few of them.  My issue with bunk RV's is that the bed for the bunks is to small for adults to sleep in, seems like every one we looked at would work great for her 3 kids age 7-10 yrs old but when/if they get close to 6ft tall they would be way to cramped in there.  I also thought bunks were kinda wasted space due to the room they take up.  Great for sleeping but to me they really limit the room to use when inside the rv.  We looked.... & looked & she decided against bunks so we considered a used DP or a few new class A gassers.  We ended up with a bounder 38p (the model I wanted from day 1) which we purchased new as a leftover previous year model so we saved about $55K off sticker.  Part of our reason for going new & also over $100K was the interest rate was lower & the term was also able to be extended for 5-8yrs longer then under $100K. 

There are definantly times I wish I had the torque of the diesel engine pushing me along but other then that I am completely happy with my RV, I just purchased it from a horrible dealership. 

We can sleep 6 adults comfortably with a king & twin bed, jack-knife sofa & U shaped dinette. 

I wouldn't stay away, but I would be sure to get the one with the full body paint, quite a difference between them.

To the previous poster, some bunk models are better designed than others.  One of the advantages of the Fleetwood Encounter is that the bunk space convets to a play table when not a bed.  Othes like the Allegro it can be a wardrobe.  Some are just bunks.

The conversion of the dinette and sofa is a put off by many. 

Tudpuddle said:

I just contacted a Seattle area dealer looking for the Tiffin Allegro, and they had a (Thor/Four Winds) Hurricane 34B used, listing for $80k (which I assume is highly negotiable). The floor plan (and shower dimensions) looks good.

Click to expand...

Just food for thought; I believe Hurricanes just like Damon Daybreaks and Challengers are commonly used by rental agencies and therefore you may want to inquire if this was a rental. Not that it's the worst thing but most would be apprehensive about purchasing a used rental unit.
Good luck in whatever you decide!
DAr