Dealers versions of "realistic probable mpg" ???

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WhiteEagle

WhiteEagle

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Joined
Sep 4, 2009
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349
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Wisconsin
Today I drove a 2011 Win Journey 40U with Cummins 380 DP (DEF system) on Maxum Freightliner chassis - Allison 6 speed 3000 ...... Salesperson says if I travel at 55 and 62 on freeways, I should expect to average 7mph ... seems very low..
Tomorrow I'm driving a 2008 Allegeo Bus 43ft with Cummins 425 HP ( Pre emissons stuff)  I believe on Spartan chassis with tag axle and Allison 6 speed  3000 - different dealer location - salesperson tells me at 55 and 62 on freeways that I should expect 10- 12 mpg...really ?.... 
Am I missing something ? Asking to talk with previous local owners...
Last week I drove a 2011 Phaeton with the Cummins 380 / DEF / powerglide chassis / Allison 6 speed 3500 and they "Thought" I'd be 9-10 mpg.......
For those of you with one of these, midwest slopes and rolling hills, towing 4500# Jeep - what might be reality ?
I'm looking to decide to trade soon .. but FMCA show is coming up second week of August near here.... Do the exhibitors do all that much more dealing / price reductions at these shows/conventions ?
 
Every salesman has an answer. Figuring out who has the right answer is the challenge. :)
 
They know you can't sue, so what difference does it make to them?

I use the number 7; that way I am always tickled to death and never disappointed.  ;D

I have gotten much better, never worse.

p.s. never more than 62 mph, unless downhill...  8) It's hard to push a 32,000 pound box, anyway....
 
Don't expect 10-12 with a 42 footer, or even 40. 8 is good, and that's interstate cruising at 62. secondary road traffic can knock that down to 6-7 in a heartbeat. Older diesels in the 36-38 foot range got 10 in cruise conditions, but the engines had less emissions stuff, the coaches were much lighter and had a smaller profile (less drag).

Figure that the salesman is (a) nearly always unknowledgeable and (b) going to give the most positive answer he can rationalize. Discount it accordingly.
 
Or have it put in the contract.  10,000 miles @ 6 MPG and $4 per gallon will consume $6000 in fuel.  10,000 miles @ 12 MPG will use half that amount.

I'd say a rebate of, say, the cost of the extra fuel consumed in the first year's driving if the motorhome doesn't deliver it's promised MPG would be about right ...  :)
 
Thanks.... Hear what you're saying and agree...drove a 2009 Allegro Bus 40 QSP today with Cummins 425 HP DP, Allison 6 speed 3500, Powerglide chassis ... sales person again after questioning still claimed I should get 10-12 with it ay normal highway 55/62 and normal driving habits....
I'm expecting to be given former owners contact info to double check on it and maintenance schedule status, etc.... If it's close to reality, I'm making an offer.... If not, offer discounted by another $6,000 - $10,000 with that as the reason.
 
My 2009 Fleetwood 36DP with Cummins 350 is getting between 7-8 with the average so far at 7.8. I am towing a Jeep Liberty. I have heard the DEF is getting slightly better economy but I am not sure if it is much more.. I tend to drive around 62-65 depending on traffic. I like to set the cruise control where I may pass someone on occaision but most traffic is passing me.
 
WhiteEagle said:
I'm expecting to be given former owners contact info to double check on it .... If it's close to reality, I'm making an offer.... If not, offer discounted by another $6,000 - $10,000 with that as the reason.
Click to expand...

Realistically, do you trust the owner much more than the seller? That owner owes you nothing.

So, have them fill the tank. Drive the coach your way for 150 miles. Fill the tank again. Compute the fuel burn.

If you like it, buy the coach, pay for the fuel. If you don't like it, pay for the second fill up, say "no, thanks" to the deal.

If fuel mileage is your last sticking point, a confident and knowledgeable seller will make that deal. Make them put their money where their mouth is. It's a cheap price to pay to get your answer with that much money on the line.
 
All RVs get lousy mileage.

If you are concerned about the gas mileage of an RV then I think that this may be the wrong endeavor for you to engage in.

There is more to life than gas mileage.
 
Boy do I agree with Seilerbird! I also agree with the 7 mpg figure-if you get better, wonderful! We find that we average around 9 mpg. Mpg is a WIDE variable in an RV; it's a big box punching a hole in the air. I have had high winds literally murder my mpg average. Nothing you can do about it. I like to figure my cost to operate based on a daily overall average. I always seem to come out ahead versus the cost of renting a hotel room, eating out, etc.
 
All RVs get lousy mileage.

If you are concerned about the gas mileage of an RV then I think that this may be the wrong endeavor for you to engage in.

There is more to life than gas mileage.
Click to expand...

Right on!

A case in point - in our neighborhood there sits, in the RV storage lot, an almost brand new motorhome of the well over $250,000 class. I talked to the owner just before we left for Wyoming and he told me they were not planning on going anywhere this year because of the fuel cost. In the meantime, a rig sits there depreciating at the rate of huge dollars per month and getting soaked in the Arizona sun.

Makes no sense to me.
 
Have some fun.
Using Excel assume 5000 miles for trip.
Enter fuel price that was tolerable.
Enter current fuel price.
Enter MPG avg.

Divide miles by MPG multiply by each fuel price individually, subtract.  This is the saved cost of not going on your trip, compare that with the dereciation, adjusted by saved miles on the rig.

Seems to me, you are losing way more staying at home.  PLUS, when you stay at home and 'savng that fuel cost, you are likely to go to the movies, restsutants etc feeling a little smug.

At 5000 miles, assuming 7 mpg and going from 3 to 4 buch=ks a gallon, you 'save' $714.  Is $714 worth missing a trip of memories?


(OK, not factoring camping fees etc, but the argument was the fuel)
 
PancakeBill said:
Is $714 worth missing a trip of memories?
Click to expand...

Nope, not over the course of a season. Nope, not anyway.  ;D

However, with all due respect to the OP, we all focus on some justification for doing/not doing something and make our decisions based on some arbitrary boundary. If his is fuel, it is not up to me to criticize.

Using something similar to Bill's ciphering, $5.00 fuel is my boundary. And even when that hits, I will slip another boundary to make up for it.

The point - if you really want to do something bad enough, you will find a way to make it work. If you don't, you won't, regardless of the "facts".
 
Thought I'd just add - what a shame the position we find ourselves in. Cheap fuel is no more...but that's another subject; isn't it?
 
Voyage gets around 8 under "normal" driving around midwest / to FL and back - without towing... 7.5 towing... approx 7.5 to SD/yellowstone and back to midwest...including some generator use...
obviously headwinds and speed has impact....
Would hope diesel even on 40 ft would do better..... finding however opinions all over the map with ranges from 7+to 11.... 
Certainly not the major decision maker but is as much of a cost viarable as any option added or left of on a MH ....
Most likely performance known best by those with similiar units / size / etc  - would have good experienced estimate...
 
WhiteEagle said:
Most likely performance known best by those with similiar units / size / etc  - would have good experienced estimate...
Click to expand...
Fuel mileage stories can be like fish stories. :) My old 454/3sp gets pretty much the same as yours, now when the winds whip up..... :'(
J
 
My 2004 40 foot DP with a 5000 lb toad weighs in at about 37,700 lbs as we normally drive it. Cummins ISL in the 370 hp version. MPG is 7.7-8.2 in highway cruising and 6.6-7.2 on secondary roads and towns. Few, if any, 40-45 footers will exceed that and most recent models (post 2007) will be less due to emissions control requirements.
 
It all the threads I have read on fuel mileage, it always seems to work out to about 7-8 mpg, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less, regardless of make or size, diesel or gas.

If mpg is going to be a such big factor for you, then, as Tom (Seilerbird) said, perhaps you are not cut out for RV ownership!!!
 
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