RV shows in Portland and Sacramento

[k8t]

Has anybody been to the "Real RV Show" in Sacramento or the "Portland Metro RV Show" in Oregon?
We are just starting to look around at Class B's and are very interested in those built on the Mercedes short sprinter. The Roadtrek Agile looks great but we need to see it. We have a lot of research to do and at this point would like to see as many as we can, in person. We have very few options where we live and there are RV shows in both Portland Oregon and Sacramento CA over the same week-end in March. We live sort of midway between those two places (6 hour drive to Sac and 8 hour drive to Portland). I'm wondering if anybody has been to either show and knows if one has more class Bs to show than the other? We're basically looking for as much exposure as we can get at this point.
Thanks for any input!

[Davydd]

In this day and age the RV shows usually have a website. Check and see. If they do they most likely will have a list of exhibitors. Find out who is exhibiting Bs and give them a call and see what they will be showing.

[k8t]

Thanks Davydd! That's my next step. Any additional opinions and suggestions are welcome!

[Davydd]

For the Minneapolis RV Show I called Lake Region RVs. They were Roadtrek, Leisure Travel Vans and Great West Van dealers. I talked to them and knew ahead of time they were showing the Roadtrek E-trek, The Great West Van Legend EX and the LTV Free Spirit SS (with slider). I made it a point to go. Last year they had an Agile at the show. This year they didn't. They had another Roadtrek RS Adventurous at the show which was kind of redundant considering the floor plan of the E-treks was an RS Adventurous. The E-trek maybe rubbed out the Agile.

Of course you can always just visit a Roadtrek dealer if or when they have an Agile to look at. Other than Sportsmobile they are the only converter selling a short Sprinter now.

[Rok]

Hi K8ty,

We just went through the same process you are going through. The Agile was on the top of our list initially, too, and despite the apparent convenience of driving a shorter rig (it is 19.5'), we decided against it because the normal size Sprinter based class B's (22' 9") have TONS more room for storage and/or amenities.

That being said, we've heard from a number of sources that it is a good seller for dealers and Roadtrek, so it must meet a lot of people's needs. Pleasure Way used to have a shorter model as well and they discontinued it.

We've decided on one of the normal sized one because they just feel better being inside one. A few days ago we went to a dealership and looked at the Agile "one last time" to make sure it couldn't fit our needs and it even seemed smaller than before. The bathroom is smaller, the bed is smaller, and storage is at a premium.

I don't know think I've test driven one, but I've test driven many of the 22' 9" models and they all drive great. The Agile has a 144" wheelbase vs. a 170" wheel base for the larger ones (IIRC). I can't imagine it driving any better than the standard length models. But I would imagine that it will certainly would park better.

One of the reasons we really wanted to make it work is that there are quite a few places that won't allow vehicles over 20'. Sunset Highway at Glacier National Park is one, and there are some roads in Sequia Natl. Park (the road to the caves is one) and I think Yosemite Natl. Park had some as well.

25' seems to be the next level of length where rigs get restricted, but I don't know of any Sprinter Based Class B that surpasses that length.

If you decide (like us) to go to the bigger size, please consider the Great West Legend series. I think they have the most bells and whistles for the money, and the owner appears to sincerely want to build a better product and develop relationships with his customers. We were impressed with the one we saw and we were even more impressed with the owner's attitude.

Beware of the RV shows, though. They tend to be very mercenary oriented in my opinion. WE went to the one in Seattle a little less than a week ago and we found it to be a bit of high pressure sales and lacking in real information. Luckily we were able to talk to the RoadTrek Rep and get a lot of information about Roadtreks. We also saw a Winnebago ERA again, and when you put the two of them nearly side to side you can see (and smell) a serious difference in quality between the two. (A difference that you will pay for, by the way.)

The previous Seattle RV Show that we attended (2 years ago) didn't have ANY Class Bs--not a single one. It was a waste for us, except to see the excesses in the larger rigs.

Here is wishing you luck in finding what you need.

.......Rocky

[Davydd]

Rocky,

I haven't found any public road yet where you cannot drive the 22'-9" Sprinter. Glacier's Going to the Sun Road says 22 ft. but they let you go on it as width and height are the more restrictive criteria that eliminates Class Cs and As. The most critical is going east to west and getting by an overhanging cliff. I've driven my Sprinter both ways. The park uses shuttle buses based on the Sprinter and in fact use the longer 24'-1" bodies so length really isn't the problem. There is a thread in this forum that discusses Going to the Sun Road in great detail.

I've deliberately taken some of the most challenging drives in the country. Haven't found one yet that is not negotiable.

[k8t]

Hi Rocky,
I've read through the entire 11 pages of the topic thread that you initiated, "Deciding on which class B to buy" (viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2431&hilit=sprinter). That thread alone is worth so much in terms of information shared by everyone who responded with such informative comments.
Have you made your final decision yet? Last I looked it appeared you were pretty close!
We are at the very beginning of our search and need to now see what my husband will fit in. He's 6"2" and we want a bed that's long enough for him to comfortably sleep in. We're hoping to see several options at an RV show. I'm hoping we can do the short sprinter for the stealth reasons. It will be our 2nd car and will be driven fairy regularly around town. I'm also looking into designing our own through Sportsmobile in Fresno but am open to the reality that we may need to go up to the next length in order to get the bed and bathroom in. The kitchen can be pretty simple. In fact most of the rigs out there have too many bells and whistles for us, so we'll see. We're headed out camping next week-end in our tent trailer so will take a really close inventory of what we actually use and what we'd like that we don't have. We're trying to find a vehicle to tour in as well as carry our tandem bicycle to rallies and various week-end cycling events. We can lock the bike outside at night but we want the option to carry/store it inside the camper during the day.
I'm looking forward to reading about what you actually bring home and then a follow-up telling how you like it! Wish us luck at our first round of RV shows.

[Rok]

Thanks for that good info Davydd. My wife called Sequoia to see if they fudge a bit.

K8t, I sent you an e-mail through this forum system. Hopefully it will help you with your choice. Glad you enjoyed "my thread"--actually it is the wonderful people here who provided the information, so it is more their thread than mine, and my wife and I are very thankful for what they provided. I can honestly say that this forum has been as important as anything else in our research in narrowing us down to our final decision.

We should have some information any day now about our final decision.

Thanks again to everyone for helping us out. Hmmm..........I guess I should post that on the other thread.

............Rocky