didn't think we could actually do it (ie enjoy "living" in it and there just isn't enough room for the stuff we think we really want to bring!) and we were nervous on the maintenance and issues we'd read about on the Sprinter vans (the one we leaned toward because if you're going with small might as well get great gas mileage!). Our criteria has always been to have a short RV, we really enjoy "traveling" and stopping here and there and that's much easier in a short motorhome rather than a trailer or fifth wheel. We just loved our 27' motorhome so we figured we'd like just a little bit longer with a walk-around bed!
Here is the summary I posted to IRV2...
This is part 3 of a 4 part series giving our initial impressions of the 3009. I wanted to share this post before we do the final one because I think it's important you understand what we expected and desired before you hear more about what didn't meet or surpassed our expectations!
Why this one?
The short version: quality, length, carrying capacity and WINDOWS!!
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| Floor plan of the one we chose! |
The long version:
Basically the short version captures our "must have" list. That list eliminated MANY models. Eventually we got to the point of walking up to a motorhome at an RV show or sales lot and checking the CCC (cargo carrying capacity). If it was 3k or more, we were good to look further, if 2k or less it was a definite no. We actually had no idea how much we'd need so it was difficult to somewhat arbitrarily pick a cutoff but because we wanted to fulltime, we wanted to make sure we erred on the higher side.
Length basically eliminated most diesel models and we were fine with that. We were comfortable with gas based on our past experience and test drives of the newer models. We had the perception that the initial purchase, maintenance and fuel costs are all higher with diesel (although we did not do deep enough research to validate those perceptions).
We also by-passed many models because of our perceptions of quality. We knew we wanted a company with a good reputation for quality and service. So we concentrated on Newmar, Tiffin, and Winnebago. We loved the creativity and floor plans of other models and many appeared to have good quality but we'd be scared off by reports from others about their issues. So we just didn't want to take a chance - especially with slides - and again for fulltiming!
We basically eliminated Tiffin because they like dark colors and few windows especially on the passenger side which was on our must have list. We loved their basement storage though. Really roomy!
We felt most at home in Bay Star's. They had the quality and lengths we wanted. We loved the back window and the variety of floor plans. But most of the short models (30-32') had small passenger side windows (most of the time a small kitchen window) and full wall slides (we don't care for those for several reasons). So despite the variety, we skipped many due to the lack of windows on the passenger side. We like to camp in state and national parks and from our experience your campsite is on the passenger side whereas the drivers side looks into your neighbors camp (or the road or trees or bushes up close). We liked monitoring the kids from the motorhome windows while they are outside. We don't have kids with us any more but being able to see what family/friends are doing outside in the campsite when they travel with us was also important to us. But mainly relaxing inside while having a great view outside!
So, after a year of intense searching with the house sold and us ready to move into the RV that we didn't have, we were basically depressed that we couldn't find what we wanted. We had to admit defeat and figure out which of our "must have" list to compromise on. That was soooo painful! Should we look at 5th wheels again? If we can't have what we want, should we go for the most fun and economical (fuel wise) and look at class B's or B+'s? Should we go longer in length? Should we relax our quality requirements and hope for the best? The one criteria that we consistently didn't relax was passenger side windows. Long term I didn't think I could live without that and this is a lot of money!
So length was the easiest for us to relax (35-36'). But once we started looking at longer, the CCC dropped substantially on Bay Star's (for 2017 they finally put the longer ones on a 24k chassis!). So then we started looking at diesels but used shorter diesels are hard to find and we were nervous about assessing the quality of the care and maintenance in addition to having to learn all about diesels and what to prefer/avoid. But mostly we couldn't find shorter used diesels (new ones were priced higher than we wanted to pay).
So back to gas again. Over this last year of research and test drives, we decided we really preferred the new 6 speed V10 which was new for 2016 (VIN's with G in the 10th position only!).
So then we started to wonder if we could relax the CCC (and just carry less) and go with something that is 2000-2500 and a little longer than we initially wanted. Over this last year or two, we actually made 4 offers on various models and for different reasons they didn't happen. After the last one fell through, we gave up, rented an apartment (since we'd sold the house!), moved in and pondered what to do next.
About the same time we signed the lease on the apartment (6 months until retirement), we learned that the 2017 Newmar floor plans were coming out. Not expecting to find our ideal length and floorplan but hoping nonetheless, we got an advance copy of the floorplans and couldn't believe the shortest one had a floorplan that had 90% of what we wanted! Now what? Do we wait until we can see one in real life and test drive it? That wasn't likely to happen until October and we retire then and really wanted to be on the road. Do we trust that we have test driven and been in enough Bay Stars to know this model will work sight unseen? Will Newmar change things we've come to rely on in their earlier models? Will they implement the features in this floorplan in a logical way or will we hate what they've done? For example, this one had a large TV on the drivers side across from the sofa. Would they block the window with the TV? Or worse mount the TV on the wall and there is no window? We finally learned it was on an automated lift that dropped down behind the booth dinette and there was a large window there. So far so good but would they do something else we didn't like or expect? That happened to us last year when we thought the 3227 might be the model for us - we didn't like how the floor plan was implemented so we were afraid this would happen again!
So, because of our desired timing and confidence in the passenger side design, we decided to take a chance and order this model sight unseen. We were able to see the outside paint scheme and colors in pictures before we ordered but I did not care for the graphics nor the colors so we did a "special" and changed some of the colors which made it better (to us!). BUT was that a mistake? Would it look better on paper than in real life? What options should we choose? What specials should we ask for? We took our best guess and went for it.
That was May 2016 when we placed our order. We expected to pick it up in September but it was done a month earlier. So we had 3 months of wondering/worrying if we made the right decision(s). Overall, we are very pleased with it and the faith we placed in our experience of walking through many Bay Stars proved to be accurate. In my next post, I will share how reality compared to expectations - what we were pleasantly surprised with and what wasn't as good as we'd hoped!
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