My new Travato 59g impressions.
I just bought a new 2015 Travato and drove it 1000 miles home. Here are my first impressions after only 3 days and 2 nights. I'm coming from a 24' Fleetwood Jamboree on an Ford E350 with a V10.
1 The Fleetwood was a white knuckle driving experience at any speed above 65mph, I didn't like driving it, my wife flat out wouldn't. Now, I think she's logged more miles on the Travato than I have. It is very easy to drive and park.
2 The mirrors are excellent and that's good because you're not seeing anything out the back through the rear view mirror.
3 The Tom-Tom navigation GPS is only good for a laugh. The maps are old, it only looks forward 50 miles for things like rest stops or gas and it's not as intuitive as a Garmin.
4 The refrigerator cools very well in all 3 modes but will not stay lit while travelling. I had to use 12v while on the road, which is no big deal until you arrive at camp and forget to switch over to propane. I'll see if I can construct a small sheet metal baffle to keep the wind from blowing out the flame at speed.
5 I've hit myself on the back of the head twice with the bike racks closing the rear door. I don't think that will ever grow old.
6 The fold down bed was very adequate for my wife and I. I'm 5'6 and she's 5'0. The both of us combined weigh 230lbs just for scale. We had plenty of room and slept comfortably.
7 The window shades are very fiddly, especially the ones for the cab. I'm replacing them with an exterior version that covers all three front windows like I had with my Class C. I'll just have to live with the ones in back.
8 The switch for the water heater lights green when you turn the switch on, not necessarily when you turn the water heater on.
9 Realistically, there is not enough room to bring all the pieces you need to convert the dinette into a bed, if that's what you want to do.
10 The furnace and A/C are very adequate.
11 A little more automation on the entry step would be nice.
12 There's a tiny rotary valve like thing up front next to the boost switch. I have no idea what it is or does except, that it emits an annoying buzz/squeal when you're plugged into shore power and you quiet it by rotating it until it is closed. I think it belongs to Winnebago and not Dodge, but I can't find any docs either way.
13 The controls for the refrigerator are on the inside, that is, you need to open the door to change settings or to check to see if the flame is lit. Kind of dumb.
That's all I can think of for now. Overall, I'm thrilled and the small annoyances are overcome by the fact that my wife will now share the driving on longer trips.
Maybe because it's red, it's quite the conversation starter when gassing up.
Linear Mode
