Recommendations for Retiring In-laws

Hello All,

It has been some time since I've been to the forum.  I hope this note finds everyone well.

As some will recall, we sold our Sightseer 35J last fall and have been sans RV for a while.  My In-laws, who often travelled with us in the Sightseer, are now looking for a unit just for them and I thought I would reach out to the forum for some insight.

First, a little about them.  They are in their mid-60s and very active.  Grandma just finished 2nd place in her age group for a sprint triathalon, and Grandpa walks 25-40 miles a week as well as bicycling and cross country skiing.  They have homes here in Virginia where they plan to live during the Spring and Fall, as well as in Idaho, where they plan to live in Summer and Winter. 

Grandpa is looking for something he can take his grandsons (3 and 5) camping in comfortably, but is small enough for him and Grandma to drive comfortably, and that doesn't require as much "work" as our Sightseer did.  Grandpa is not terribly mechanically inclined, although I plan to help handle the routine maintenance issues for him.  They are also looking for a vehicle they can use to shuttle between their Virginia and Idaho residences 4 times a year (2 round trips).

I suggested they look at the crop of diesel Class-C's on the Mercedes chassis'.  Currently they have looked at the Winnebago View, and a Fleetwood Jamboree DSL, but I know there are others out there...

Any thoughts that folks can offer on the pros and cons of these units?  Any experiences or limitations (other than size) that they should be thinking through that I havent considered?  How about high-mileage durability for these units?  They would be looking to post 12-18k miles per year for the next 10 years at a minimum.  I know the chassis is designed by Mercedes as a commercial truck, with a supposed design life on the 3500 chassis of 500,000 miles, but what about the rest of the rig?  Am I overlooking another option that I should be dismissing?

Anyway, I have rambled along... any thoughts would be very welcome.  Thanks for your time.

Best,
Christian

One thing I would be looking for is something that the kids will be able to see out of from their seats.  Not all have much of a view other than the front cockpit.  Kids get restless if they cannot see.

I wouldn't worry much about the chassis in any case, but any coach is going to need more than a little maintenance and repair over 10 years. And that means the house systems/appliances and furnishing as well as the chassis.

When an engine builder talks about a 500,000 mile engine, he means the time between a complete tear down for rebuild of the basic engine (block, pistons, cams, etc).  It does not mean 500,000 trouble free miles for the whole power train and related gear. Alternators, starters, radiators, fuel pumps, hoses and belts, etc. will all fail in that time, some of them more than once. Even in the 120k-150k miles your Grandpa will go is going to be subject to failures of those things.

Gary,

Absolutely agree that 500,000 is the "design" life, not the "maintenance free life".  I guess I was looking for insight on typical durability relative to the gas engine/chassis combinations.  I am very familiar with the issues associated with an F or E-series gas chassis, but I have no experience with the Mercedes chassis.

Part of me thinks a small E-350 based C or even a B-plus would be more than sufficient, and I know they are much cheaper to maintain should something go wrong... that's really where I am coming from.

Too bad Ford doesn't offer the power-stroke in the e-350 chassis (or at least the raw chassis sold to MH manufacturers).

The Sprinter based motorhomes are great on mileage and many couples find they can travel in them. Their down side is payload and that they require meticulous following of the maintenance schedule for all items.

While it also has limited payload, look at the Rialta QD's from 2002-2005 --all are on the same '02 chassis. The QD has 4 seats with good visibility. It would enjoy running from VA to ID and exploring the USA & Canada. Until the PO of our '93 Itasca DP dropped the price significantly, we were searching for an HD to purchase.

Another food option is a used Super C with a diesel. Here's the result of a quick Google search: http://tinyurl.com/3o86qf5 and from our own four, this just appeared: http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=47641.0  It has a 300 Cummins diesel with Allison 6 speed. and here's a db covering all Tiffin Diesel Bus coaches: http://www.motorhomefinds.com/tiffin-allegro-bus-motorhomes-for-sale.

Good hunting!

Well, the in-laws got itchy trigger fingers and made a deal.  I believe they got a very good price on a 2011 Fleetwood Jamboree DSL... approximately 68% of MSRP.  I couldn't really find many used units that beat the price they got, so it would seem they came along at the right time (doesn't hurt to be a cash buyer in this market either I guess).

Anyway, I haven't seen the unit in person yet, but I think they will be happy with it.  Apparently they drove a few b-class sprinters (ERA and Pleasureway), and decided they "MUST" have the sprinter chassis, but wanted more space than a B-conversion had to offer.  I'll keep you posted once they take delivery (I'm going to the PDI so I can make sure there's no issues, again they aren't very mechanically inclined).

One concern I had/have with the unit, is that it has the LP generator, not the diesel generator.  They really aren't dry campers and will have hook ups pretty much wherever they camp, however, with the long haul trips, I worry about them having enough LP to make it from Virginia to Idaho.  I guess they'll have to plan to stop and fill-up along the way if they plan to run the generator much.  My research suggests the LP tank will hold about 11 gallons on that unit, and the Onan website suggests the unit will consume 0.6 gallons/hour at 50% load, giving them about 19 hours on a tank... 

There are probably 25,000 LP gas dealers, Ferrilgas, Amerigas, etc., within 20 miles of any route they take from VA to ID. All these locations are available online and sell to RVers.

Many elec/gas refrigerators of that era have a 12 volt setting that they can switch to while moving. Keeping the door closed most of the time keeps it cool until they get to the next CG as well if they stop in one every day. I have a propane generator and haven't run out yet and use it with the refrig a lot in weather when the auto air is enough to keep cool. When it was 105 in western KS, and NE I ran the roof AC via genset and the 110 kept the refrig cold as could be.

They probably won't be at 50% load, though. Even if its a 4000 watt genny, one a/c is still only about 1500 watts or 37%. That should stretch it out to around 24-25 hours.  Much depends on the weather - the a/c may not be 100% duty cycle.  Besides, the dash a/c should do a pretty decent job in a 25 foot Class C, so they may only need house a/c for a few hours in mid afternoon on the hotter days. The cab area of a "C" tends to contain the cool air from the dash better than the open cab of an "A".