New Rv'r looking for advice on class C's

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sclaudius

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Feb 12, 2007
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I live in Northern California (Sonoma County) and plan on buying a used class C in the very near future. Any advice on good or bad experiences with specific dealers, brands, models, and features would be appreciated.

Thanks and happy camping!
 
Sclaudius,

Welcome to the RV Forum!

As a Californian you might want to check out the Lazy Daze Class Cs.  They're down in the Montclair/Pomona area.  Lazy Daze is still a family-owned company that makes a quality product.  They have a surprising amount of storage when compared to many other Cs.  They only sell factory direct, but their web site is WWW.LAZYDAZE.COM where you can check them out before making a trip there.  We had both a 22-footer and a 30-footer and were very pleased with both.  Incidentally, you don't often see used Lazy Dazes for sale; their owners hang onto them forever!  ;)

Also, I recommend going to an RV show where you can walk into a wide variety of RVs.  Sit on the chairs, lie on the beds, stand in the shower, sit on the toilet, etc. etc.  Imagine how you would use it.  Is the galley too small, do you have elbow room in the shower, will two people fit on the bed, etc.  Only by going through a large number of RVs can you really begin to get a feel about what will work for you.

Hope you have a great new lifestyle coming your way!

ArdraF
 
sclaudius said:
I live in Northern California (Sonoma County) and plan on buying a used class C in the very near future. Any advice on good or bad experiences with specific dealers, brands, models, and features would be appreciated.

Thanks and happy camping!

My PMB is in the Rocklin area of NCall. I owned a Tioga 29 foot Class C for a number of years. Here are some of my thoughts:

o If you go over 24 feet, find one with a heavy duty chassis (mine was on a Ford 450).

o If you find one with a slide, note the GVWR. Earlier models on lighter chassis had only 5/600 pounds carrying weight after having to deduct around 1500 for the slide. You should find that info on the inside of one of the cabinet doors. Mine was in a bedroom closet.

o Would imagine and hear that the rear corner bed would get old pretty quickly -- though you will find it a very popular model, especially with rental agencies.

o Try to get new enough to get a Ford V10 -- I think they started with Fleetwood in '98. That's the year of the one I had and I loved that engine in that rig.

o A rental agency that I was well acquainted with told me that they only rented Winnebago Class C's. That was because they held up better than others under the heavy strain imposed by renters.

o Try to rent a few weekends to get used to living in a Class C for awhile. The longer time you spend in one, the more confined you might feel. Some rental agencies will apply rental fees to the unit you buy from them. Happy Daze on West El Camino in Sacto has a large rental fleet that you might want to check out. Some rental agencies take better care of their fleet than a private owner would.

o Last item -- I grew to "hate" the rubber roof on my Tioga.

Good luck and please keep us informed as you look at different units.
 
I currently own a Lazy Daze & what you were told about them is right.  They are a small family owned & operated business.  The owner & only salesman (aside from the coach owners) cares more about the company he hands his progeny than about buying a bigger house.  He's there everyday, talking people out of options he doesn't think they need.  His son Steve is there everyday, working on the engineering of the next upgrades.  Lazy Daze actually made the very 1st Class C RV.  They made truck campers & Ed got the idea of permanently mounting one on a truck chassis.

One thing I would add about looking at RV's.  Find the weight sticker, by law every RV has to have one; but they hide them pretty good sometimes.  Look at your CCC.  You might have to find out the weight of some options, like generators... yes, in order to give any CCC at all, some RV's are making generators an option again.  (I believe that the view that gets that amazing 22mpg has the generator as an option.  To get that mpg, they do the calcs on a stripped model.)  Figure out what YOUR CCC would be, w/ all your heavy options.  If you are over weight... you are, by definition, unsafe.  You are going to put more stress on your frame, on your engine, on you brakes, etc.....  What's your insurance company going to do when you can't stop in time (these things weigh 7+ tons) & you were overweight?  I haven't heard yet of an insurance claim being turned down, but I don't want to be the first!  And... lastly there's safety.  I don't want MY children in an RV that is unsafe. I love my children & hope they'll be around & in good health for years to come.  There's nothing more important (to me) than safety!  Lazy Daze makes it easy to find their stickers.  My LD has a CCC of 1705 pounds, w/ 6 people in the coach @154 each.  You won't find many LD owners that don't know their CCC.  To me, it's the most important # an RV has.  I've seen Rv's at shows that actually had a negative # for CCC.

Good luck on finding the RV that's just right for you.  We're all different & we all want something different.... THANK THE GOOD LORD!!!!
Look with an open mind and open eyes/ears to match & you'll find what's right for you!
eveyn
 

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