How many of you decided getting a "new" Class B was more important than a late model?

[ClassB4Me]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

I would strongly recommend you avoid the Etreks and Ecotrek coaches on the used market. Many were never got to work properly, or have obsolete systems, or are due for battery replacements which could be pricey. If you are a tinkerer, and can do things yourself and understand electronics, then maybe it could be a good option for you - otherwise avoid them.

Will Winnebago be offering a separate and longer warranty on your Lithium Ion batteries in the Travato GL (ala the automotive industry)?

[hepcat]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

I'd be more concerned about the chassis than the house as far as warranty goes.

I would strongly recommend you avoid the Etreks and Ecotrek coaches on the used market. Many were never got to work properly, or have obsolete systems, or are due for battery replacements which could be pricey.

I have a 2010 Toyota Prius with 204k miles on it that I bought new. The lithium-ion battery begins to weaken substantially about 130k miles. Toyota is more than happy to replace it for about $6k +/-. However, there are places who can recondition them, and they appear not to have a limit to the number of times they can be reconditioned. I took my Prius to a shop in Madison, WI in 2015 to have mine done, and it was brought back to about 97% of new efficiency.

There's a taxi company in Madison that uses Priuses, and at that time the 2010 Prius taxis all had over 400k miles on them and were on their third battery reconditioning and had also been returned to over 95% each time.

The Prius reconditioning takes 72 hours and cost about $1700. That experience makes me wonder if something similar can't be done with the Li Ion batteries in the Roadtreks at a substantially reduced cost over replacements?

[Doneworking]

Originally Posted by BBQ

.

This is all you need to make your old RV smells like new

I know that several dealers use those fresher upper sheets designed for clothes dryers. They put several of them in inconspicuous places in the rig and by golly they permeate the whole place with a very clean, fresh odor that mostly covers age, a little dog smell, etc. Of course, that assumes a good deep cleaning of the unit prior to putting them in there.

[hepcat]

Originally Posted by Doneworking

I know that several dealers use those fresher upper sheets designed for clothes dryers. They put several of them in inconspicuous places in the rig and by golly they permeate the whole place with a very clean, fresh odor that mostly covers age, a little dog smell, etc. Of course, that assumes a good deep cleaning of the unit prior to putting them in there.

I've found that regularly cleaning the carpet and upholstery using a Bissel "Green Machine" cleaner does the most to keep my van "fresh." I use my van a lot. I've put over 30k miles on it in the three years I've had it, and I travel with two dogs. I try to clean the carpet and upholstery quarterly.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by hepcat

I have a 2010 Toyota Prius with 204k miles on it that I bought new. The lithium-ion battery begins to weaken substantially about 130k miles. Toyota is more than happy to replace it for about $6k +/-. However, there are places who can recondition them, and they appear not to have a limit to the number of times they can be reconditioned. I took my Prius to a shop in Madison, WI in 2015 to have mine done, and it was brought back to about 97% of new efficiency.

There's a taxi company in Madison that uses Priuses, and at that time the 2010 Prius taxis all had over 400k miles on them and were on their third battery reconditioning and had also been returned to over 95% each time.

The Prius reconditioning takes 72 hours and cost about $1700. That experience makes me wonder if something similar can't be done with the Li Ion batteries in the Roadtreks at a substantially reduced cost over replacements?

We have a 2009 with 77,000 miles on it.... thanks for the heads up on the battery...

So far so good...no problems.....in California the battery is warranted for 10 years or 150,000 miles... we'll run out of time before mileage....

It's been a very reliable car...... except for the tires and shocks....had replace tires every 30 to 35,000 miles and shocks at 63,000...

Otherwise, 43 to 50 MPG depending on air conditioning use...our city car....

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by hepcat

I have less than half the cost of a high-end b-van in my Coachmen, my Super-C AND my '16 Jeep towed. My Super-C alone lost $110,000 in value from new in nine years' depreciation. My B-van lost about $70k in value in nineteen years. I DID buy the Jeep new in '16 but I bought a lifetime Chrysler warranty for it. I plan to have it a long time, and it hasn't depreciated much, and will only depreciate about 40% in ten years.

I'm not interested in the latest and greatest, I'm interested in traveling comfortably and preserving what little wealth I have to spend on travel rather than 'stuff.'

$180k in depreciation I didn't have to eat buys a LOT of repairs and a LOT of travel.

I understand... that's WHY... I kept my 1995 Honda Accord for 19 years.....no car payments at $400 per month saved a lot of cash......

Seems like your Super C... really depreciated a lot... much faster than the Class B....

I love the extra space and comfortable front seat in your Super C.... but the fuel consumption must be a "show stopper"....Do you have a lot of miles on this???????

Still, that's another reason why I decided to buy my RS Adventurous used....a lot of people think it's newer than it is.... Here's a picture of the rig for you....

The RS Adventurous is 23 feet almost 10 feet tall and 80 inches wide.... gets 18 to 20 MPG.... small turbo diesel engine...V6.... remarkably quiet and smooth....got it in May 2017 with only 26,000 miles at the time....

[hepcat]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

Seems like your Super C... really depreciated a lot... much faster than the Class B....

I love the extra space and comfortable front seat in your Super C.... but the fuel consumption must be a "show stopper"....Do you have a lot of miles on this???????

Still, that's another reason why I decided to buy my RS Adventurous used....a lot of people think it's newer than it is.... Here's a picture of the rig for you....

That's a lovely coach! I can see why you like it.

Yes, the Kodiak Super-Cs have depreciated, primarily I think because Chevy dropped the Kodiak in '09. There are some KILLER deals to be had on Kodiak-based Super-Cs, which may just be THE best Super-C chassis out there for motorhomes (once the handling issues are tamed.) And no, the fuel isn't a show-stopper. The Born Free gets driven about 3k to 6k miles a year on average... I get 8 to 10 mpg with it, depending... but the expense isn't enough, say even over 15 mpg, to be concerned about. I bought the Born Free with 32k miles on it and this is the fourth season with it. I've got about 54k on it now... it's a half-million mile chassis, so it'll last me as long as I choose to own it.

[Doneworking]

2006 Born Free. That was back when the company was at its zenith. Prior to the 2008 debacle from which many if not most small rv companies failed or shriveled and back when Born Free was still family owned. Like you said, it will last a long, long, long time.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by hepcat

I have a 2010 Toyota Prius with 204k miles on it that I bought new. The lithium-ion battery begins to weaken substantially about 130k miles. Toyota is more than happy to replace it for about $6k +/-. However, there are places who can recondition them, and they appear not to have a limit to the number of times they can be reconditioned. I took my Prius to a shop in Madison, WI in 2015 to have mine done, and it was brought back to about 97% of new efficiency.

Toyota delivered the 2010 Prius with a lithium battery?

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by ClassB4Me

Will Winnebago be offering a separate and longer warranty on your Lithium Ion batteries in the Travato GL (ala the automotive industry)?

For the Volta System, WGO provides an 8 year warranty for the battery only. The WGO warranty for the remainder of the system, i.e. alternator, regulator, converter/inverter and DC-DC converter is for one year. Whether Volta will provide any warranty themselves beyond the one year period seems to still be up in the air.

The Xantrex lithium package in the Galleria has a three year warranty covering all the system components.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

Toyota delivered the 2010 Prius with a lithium battery?

Our 2009 Prius has the nickel metal hydride battery.... See below

Plus, there's a problem with the inverter on the 2010 to 2014 Prius....



https://www.reuters.com/article/us-t...-idUSKBN12U0ZH

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by ClassB4Me

Will Winnebago be offering a separate and longer warranty on your Lithium Ion batteries in the Travato GL (ala the automotive industry)?

Volta warranties its system for 3 years, battery for 8 yrs.

[hepcat]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

Toyota delivered the 2010 Prius with a lithium battery?

Duh. My bad... of course it's NiMH. Disregard everything past 'hello.' Sorry.

[604eholston@charter.net]

Always, buy used. Get an independent expert PDI! A new RV depreciates 25% the minute you drive it thru the dealers gate, regardless of what kind of discount you managed. I have owned 6 RV's, a 29' class A on a Chevy P 30 chassis, 2 Foretravel U 240's, a 36' Foretravel U 320, a 38' Foretravel U320 and now a 24 ' Mercedes Sprinter carrying a Winnebago Era. All bought used, OK, the first was a " dealer demonstrator" but it had a couple thousand miles and was a year old model. Anyway, I have spent some money updating and improving them but overall, I have saved mega bucks in mark-up, and depreciation.
The important thing is that pre delivery inspection.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by 604eholston@charter.net

Always, buy used.

This is good advice, but only in the absence of dramatic model changes from year to year. MY2018 Sprinters are essentially unchanged from MY2017, so I wouldn't think twice about buying used. However, MY2019 is a major refresh of the platform. It will almost certainly be safer, more convenient, more comfortable and generally more up to date. That makes it a much more difficult decision.

[Lakesidemn]

Used... with warranty.

I purchased a 1 yr old RoadTrek with 15,000 miles. It was in excellent one owner condition, and it saved me $30,000 off the price of a new one. Since this was my first Class B RV, I especially liked the 6-yr RoadTrek warranty. Thank God I had the warranty! The end of my 2nd season, the inverter went out. No problem, replaced for free. Stored it for the winter in heater, indoor, storage. Just 5 hours into my next adventure, the inverter started smoking and was gone. Again, another warranty replacement. This one is running great. These inverters are major league expensive, so the warranty saved me thousands.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Lakesidemn

Used... with warranty.

I purchased a 1 yr old RoadTrek with 15,000 miles. It was in excellent one owner condition, and it saved me $30,000 off the price of a new one. Since this was my first Class B RV, I especially liked the 6-yr RoadTrek warranty. Thank God I had the warranty! The end of my 2nd season, the inverter went out. No problem, replaced for free. Stored it for the winter in heater, indoor, storage. Just 5 hours into my next adventure, the inverter started smoking and was gone. Again, another warranty replacement. This one is running great. These inverters are major league expensive, so the warranty saved me thousands.

What's the year, model and battery profile of the Roadtrek? It will be interesting to see if this problem is entirely resolved. A single inverter failure could be strictly an inverter issue but with two failures in a row, consecutive failures could be a symptom of some other electrical problem. Did these failures occur during the presence of heavy loads like the AC? Did you ever get an explanation of what was going on?

[Lakesidemn]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

What's the year, model and battery profile of the Roadtrek? It will be interesting to see if this problem is entirely resolved. A single inverter failure could be strictly an inverter issue but with two failures in a row, consecutive failures could be a symptom of some other electrical problem. Did these failures occur during the presence of heavy loads like the AC? Did you ever get an explanation of what was going on?

We have a 2015 CS Adventurous, with a 2,500w inverter. It has a 200w solar panel with 2 additional AGM batteries, for a total of 4 batteries. Just to make sure, we replaced all 4 of these batteries in conjunction with this 2nd inverter (3rd if your count the original). If there were anything funky with the batteries, that problem would be solved. As far as failures, it did not have a pattern. The first unit seemed to go in and out of service. I would shut everything down, reboot, and it would work. Finally just died. The 2nd unit behaved differently. There was a seriously loud whining coming from the unit, then came a small amount of smoke and the smell of burn rubber. I don't know if those 4 batteries could have affected the inverter, but so far so good. I've run the rear air, fridge, Alde, quite a lot and it's working as expected.