2008 Winnebago View 24J - Anyone have experience?

[leviweaver]

Hey all -
So, quick back story; my family and I are going to (finally) be full-timing starting in February. The passenger list is myself, my wife, our 4-year-old son, and 3-month old daughter (she'll be 9 months when we leave.) I'm a musician, and all the time away from my family was killing me, so we're doing it. Finally.

We really had our hearts set on a nicely priced, beautiful used Itasca Reyo 25T, but someone brought up a fantastic point in another thread: strapping car seats into that thing is impossible with only the side-facing sofa. I'm a bit crestfallen, but you were right. I looked at the Reyo 25R, which has the Dinette option, but can't find one in our price range; they're like a phantom.

So after a somewhat exhaustive search, I think I may have found a suitable alternative. We're now looking at / researching a 2008 Winnebago View 24J. It has the dinette, and it's a class C, so the above-driver bed is (or seems to be?) more sturdy. The mileage is basically the same, which is important. It's a Diesel (I expect to put a lot. of. miles. on this thing), and it's in our price range. So I'm curious if any of you have experience with these particular vehicles.

(A perfunctory search of the board hasn't turned up any major problems, which is a nice bit of preliminary reassurance?)

Just a side note -- I know it's small for a family of 4. We're going to look at one in person on the 21st, just to get a better feel, but I grew up living about half my life with two brothers in a camper on the back of a Diesel truck, so I know small-space living is possible. (Hopefully the wife will be ok as well. That's the big adventure.). It's necessary for us to get something this small, because I'll be playing a fair amount of shows in cities where parking is an issue. While I'd love to get a nice 36' living space, it just can't work for what I'm doing. Also, the fuel consumption is important because I'm still playing smallish shows, and our budget is going to be somewhat tight. 15-17mpg is doable. 8-10 isn't.

Anyway: Let me hear your thoughts, VIew 24J owners. Love? Hate? Disasters?

 

[Oscar Mike]

The Winnebago View/Itasca Navion is on our list of motor homes to research. The View is a pretty small motor home, I would think too small for a family of four. We (my wife and I) are looking at the View because it is so compact.

Good luck in you search and enjoy the journey.

 

[leviweaver]

Yeah, we know it's going to be small (the ability to park is weighing heavily on the decision). We're going to check it out next weekend and see if it's just too small, or if we think we can do it. Living half-the-year in that camper as a kid probably skews my opinion towards "less space is fine". But we'll see how the wife feels. : )

So far, I haven't found any huge issues about the View that are causing me great worry. Far fewer than the Reyo, in fact, which... I did have my heart set on that thing, but this does look like a better fit.

I'll keep you guys updated as I go through the process. I can't really post anywhere "publicly" about it, since we need my wife to keep her job up til February when we leave. So it'll be a lot of Forum posting and asking for all the gems of wisdom I can glean.

 

[Oscar Mike]

We are down sizing from a Class A to a B+ or C because of several factors one of which is the ability to park in smaller camp sites.

 

[ru499]

4 people in a View?  Better look close before buying.  The View is a great M/H, but very limited storage.

 

[leviweaver]

Definitely planning on checking it out thoroughly before making a purchase. Driving to NC next weekend to take a look at one, spend some time in it, and see how it feels.

Usually when I tour, all my personal effects (clothing, laptop, shaving kit, etc) go into one small backpack, so I'm used to traveling very light. Whether in a View or another vehicle, it'll be fun to learn how to best maximize the space.

At any rate -- if it's too small, we won't get it, but does anyone have any non-space thoughts on the View?

 

[John Canfield]

Check out the View/Navion group in Yahoo Groups.

 

[CandyM]

The previous recommendation for the Yahoo board is excellent. You will be able to read volumes of information there about any potential problems and will be able to ask the large and friendly (6000 or so members) group any questions you might have. We have a View and LOVE it. It's easy to drive and park, comfortable, reliable, and gets respectable mpg. It's always a personal decision regarding space. I'm sure that people who need and love their larger RVs could never imagine themselves, much less a family in one, but I think it would be doable. We know several couples who full-time in theirs and I would think that if you guys are adaptable and adventurous enough, that it would be quite livable. We've never found a place we couldn't park ours although I guess there are cities where it might be tricky. BTW, I looked your music up and found you on Noisetrade (left you a tip). I love your songwriting! Wishing you much success!

 

[John Canfield]

Welcome Candy!

 

[leviweaver]

Oh man! I've been off the board for a few days, doing the necessaries that come along with this sort of a life-change... backing up all files to external hard drives, backing up those drives to bigger drives for storage, selling some things on eBay, filtering our whole life into Keep (small pile) / Store (still pretty small pile) / Sell (HUGE PILE).

All that to say, sorry it took so long to see your message, Candy. Thank you!!

I've signed up on the Yahoo Group, but had to leave the group because I couldn't get the e-mail notifications under control; I had it set to one-a-day, and I was getting 8-9 a day. Set to "no e-mail", continued to get 8-9 a day... I'll re-sign up soon.

In the meantime, it looks like the 24J is a go! If everything goes according to plan, the loan will be officially approved tomorrow, and I'll take a Greyhound from Nashville to Winston-Salem through the night Thursday and pick it up on Friday. I'll drive around a little bit in the nearest parking lot I can find, and then jump in the deep end; a 7+hour drive through the mountains back to Nashville.

I'm actually thrilled that I'll have it around from early October, giving me 4 months to learn the ins and outs in person, rather than in theory.

I'll definitely be picking the brains of people here and on the Yahoo group.

Thanks again!

 

[John Canfield]

Congratulations!  Fingers crossed that everything goes well, keep up updated.

 

[John Hilley]

Congratulations. Your kids will be living in a mansion compared to the pickup camper you lived in as a kid. What part of the country will you be touring?

 

[leviweaver]

Hey John -
Pretty much all of it twice or three times in 2014. We're looking at right around 200 shows, unless I get picked up to open for a larger act, which would mean more merch sales per show = fewer shows needed to hit our budget. The plan is to play shows on Tuesday-Saturday, and take every Sunday and Monday off for family outings.

The loan has been approved... buying a Greyhound ticket now, printing out all the checklists from the forum library... this is really happening...

 

[reyo owner]

Congratulations. Take a trip to the dollar store and get several of the collapsible 8x8 or 9x9 cardboard storage containers. They are perfect in the cabinets for storage of diapers, soft toys, plasticware, dry goods etc. Perfect for finding things fast while juggling an infant on your hip. Have fun.

 

[leviweaver]

Awesome advice. A Dollar Store run is in my near future.

 

[Auntie Doni]

@leviweaver, it's been a couple of months, what can you share?
DH and I have been looking and we've also concluded that either a Winnie or Itasca 24J would be perfect for us, what do you think? 
ALOHA, Auntie Doni

 

[leviweaver]

Well, so far, so good.

It handles incredibly well. If you've ever driven a U-Haul truck, this will be a piece of cake. If you've ever driven a 15-passenger van, this is somewhat comparable, except it handles a bit differently in the wind. To wit, it catches more wind (significantly taller) but is a bit less bothered by it (heavier, most of the weight is low). So it never feels like it's in danger of tipping over, but you definitely know when you're driving in the wind. Honestly, this might be the case with every RV, but this is the first I've owned/driven, so I notice it.

The gas mileage hasn't been quite what we expected. We heard 15-18, and I'm getting closer to 13-14, but most of the driving so far has been in the city and short trips... the one long trip was coming back from NC, and I was going up and down mountains in a headwind, so I didn't worry too much about the 13. We'll be hitting the road full time at the end of February, and I'll have a better feel for what it will get with all the highway miles, but either way, it's better than the 9 you might expect from a bigger gas rig.

the inside is small, but serviceable. With the slideout, it's pretty comfortable. The biggest inconvenience with the layout is that when I have any friends over to hang out, the dinette setup isn't naturally given to hangouts, especially when you have the kids' carseats set up (and consequently, the table down.) You have to take the carseats out and put up the table to really just hang out, and the seats are pretty cozy with the table, but it's not the worst thing. My 4-year-old loves it. He wants to spend the night in it every night. (the 6-month old doesn't care at all.)

The back bed is comfortable enough, though when I lie down, I can feel one of the support bars under the mattress, so we're considering putting on a second mattress top.

Otherwise, I'm happy. This has been a long time in the works, and we're borderline drunk on our own excitement.

If you have any other specific questions, let me know. I'll answer as best I can?

 

[John Canfield]

..The back bed is comfortable enough, though when I lie down, I can feel one of the support bars under the mattress, so we're considering putting on a second mattress top. ..

Try one of those memory foam mattress toppers.  Good report - thanks for the update. 

 

[leviweaver]

That's actually exactly what we're planning on. Good to know my instincts don't always fail me. : )

 

[ceemike]

We bought a Perfect Harmony Mattress Topper from Camping World 2 years ago & we love it.  It has a pillow top cover over memory foam & it's a short Queen so it fits our RV mattress perfectly.