Doug:
The good news is that we narrowed our search down from a multitude to just three:
The Kountry Star from Newmar, IFS, Spartan chassis, 330 Cat or Cummins, 7.5 kw Onan, 39 1/2 feet
The Mandalay from Thor, IFS, Freightliner chassis, 350 Cat, 7.5 kw Onan, 40 feet, 2 baths
The Beaver Santiam, Roadmaster Chassis, 350 Cat, 8.0 Onan, 40 feet.
The Santiam is the best built and most livable but toughest to drive.
The Kountry Star is easiest to drive, but slightly cramped and least expensive.
The Mandalay is also easy to drive, spectacular in looks, and best fulltiming floorplan, but falls apart.
You could say we have eliminated the Mandalay because everyone we have test driven has had something fall apart. Yet it is the one we "want" to justify buying and are still open to anyone who can convince us that it was just coincidence that we found 4 broken 2005 Mandalays.