Berkshire 390bh

wnytaxman · 03-10-2010, 08:26 AM

Well, this afternoon we will finally get a chance to see the 390bh in person. We like what we have seen in pictures, but this will be our chance to actually be touchie feelie with the real thing. From the pictures we are leaning toward the 390, but the proof is in the in-person looks. I'll keep you posted after this afternoon's visit.

wnytaxman · 03-11-2010, 10:25 PM

So we finally got to see the Berkshire 390bh in person. Our first reaction to the outside is that the rig is drop dead gorgeous

. Literally it is one of the prettiest diesel motor homes we have seen. Great styling and great paint job.

Inside was somewhat of a disappointment. The cabinets are okay, but the styling is quite plain and some of the woodwork appeared to be flimsy. There were some fairly messy putty marks on the bottom face of the cabinets. The furniture was nice and was quite comfortable. The booth dinette is very large and looks to be much larger than any other we have seen. It appears to be at least one and a half times the size of the Tiffin. The bed has very little walk around room and seems like it would be a bear to make. The bunks seem larger than most.

When the slides are in the hallway is very narrow. This is somewhat mitigated by a sliding door on the bathroom. Still I would estimate the hallway to be no more than 20 inches tops. This was one of our major problems with the Tiffin bunk house. It is not very user friendly going down the road. Sadly I think the Berkshire may be in a similar boat, but not quite as severe.

So now we are in a quandry. Do we bite the bullet and buy the Berkshire? The dealer, Buffalo RV (also known as RVOne and RV Direct) has offered us a great deal. On the other hand we still also like the Tiffin, but have reservations about the usability of the rig when travelling. We could just do nothing and stay with our Itasca and wait, but I'm not real crazy about the new diesel emission standards. The Tiffin is almost the same price as the Berkshire and the Berkshire does have some real nice features like the slide out drawer for the generator and the dual pane glass as well as some other features. We are going to take another look at both this weekend and then decide.

grhodes50 · 03-12-2010, 12:30 AM

If you aren't in any hurry, why buy now? Doesn't make much sense to settle for one that's close to what you want. I would wait until I found one I really liked. It's out there, just keep looking.

cfsoistman · 03-12-2010, 07:50 AM

That's the one negative issue with slide outs, they have to slide in to travel, but provide additional space when open. I don't think any manufacturer puts a lot of thought into how accessible things are when traveling down the road. You have space but it's limited unless you buy one without slides then it's the same parked or traveling. Good luck with your decision.

wnytaxman · 03-12-2010, 08:27 AM

Thanks all for the words of encouragement. We'll see what the weekend brings for our searching. Kind of tough to do it here in the middle of tax season, but there are some great deals out there on the Berkshires right now and I don't want to wait too long and have it be a $15-20,000 wait.

cfsoistman · 03-12-2010, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnytaxman

Thanks all for the words of encouragement. We'll see what the weekend brings for our searching. Kind of tough to do it here in the middle of tax season, but there are some great deals out there on the Berkshires right now and I don't want to wait too long and have it be a $15-20,000 wait.

Are the two units you're looking at sold by the same dealer? If not I'd try working a little cheaper deal with whoever you're leaning toward by using the old "What can you do to help me decide?" It may get the price down a little more or maybe a few goodies. Doesn't hurt to try. I'm sure they want to sell the RV rather than wait for another potential buyer. Exciting isn't it!!!!

grhodes50 · 03-12-2010, 08:58 AM

Don't blame you for taking a deal when it's available. Deals come and go so take the one you like when you can.
Good luck and I know your going to enjoy that new coach! Post some pics when you get it.

wnytaxman · 03-12-2010, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfsoistman

Are the two units you're looking at sold by the same dealer? If not I'd try working a little cheaper deal with whoever you're leaning toward by using the old "What can you do to help me decide?" It may get the price down a little more or maybe a few goodies. Doesn't hurt to try. I'm sure they want to sell the RV rather than wait for another potential buyer. Exciting isn't it!!!!

Actually they are sold by two different dealers, but both are here in the Buffalo area. The FR dealer is just a few miles from my house while the Tiffin dealer is about 25 miles away. Buffalo RV, the Forest River dealer, has really gone way out of his way to make the sale. The 390 we looked at, he had brought up from their Orlando store for us to see. The Tiffin dealer is kind of a typical sales pitch type of dealer which really turns both my wife and I off. I really like the approach of "What can you do to help me decide?" I'll keep you posted.

NWJeeper · 03-12-2010, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnytaxman

Actually they are sold by two different dealers, but both are here in the Buffalo area. The FR dealer is just a few miles from my house while the Tiffin dealer is about 25 miles away. Buffalo RV, the Forest River dealer, has really gone way out of his way to make the sale. The 390 we looked at, he had brought up from their Orlando store for us to see. The Tiffin dealer is kind of a typical sales pitch type of dealer which really turns both my wife and I off. I really like the approach of "What can you do to help me decide?" I'll keep you posted.

We bought our Georgetown from Buffalo RV (Rvdirect.com) and had our rig driven out from the factory to our house in Washington. I have to say that compared to our local dealer who acted more like he was trying to sell me a Hyundai, Buffalo RV really was a great experience in buying an RV. I would definitely buy from them again. I only wished I lived as close as you do to them.

One other thing, I thought engineers had a hard time deciding what to buy, you'be been at this for a while. Taxman, buy the thing already and send us the pictures! Don't worry about how much room there is when the slides are closed, you shouldn't but walking around while going down the road anyway. We are looking forward to seeing the big smile with you guys holding the keys in front of it.

tmmar · 03-12-2010, 12:19 PM

wnytaxman,
I know how hard the decision can be. It took me a few weeks to decide so I just opted for the one I thought would be the best fit. You have the advantage of being able to see the units up close and personal. I bought mine just from pictures on the web.
Good luck and keep us in the loop as you progress in your decison.
Regards,
Tom

wnytaxman · 03-12-2010, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

One other thing, I thought engineers had a hard time deciding what to buy, you'be been at this for a while. Taxman, buy the thing already and send us the pictures! Don't worry about how much room there is when the slides are closed, you shouldn't but walking around while going down the road anyway. We are looking forward to seeing the big smile with you guys holding the keys in front of it.

Lol. As a CPA being in the middle of tax season right now, I was just the victim of timing. When the 2010's came out last fall we had a chance to check out the Tiffin and then I got buried in doing tax seminars for other CPA's. So then we started looking at what else was out there and we came up with the Berkshire, but no-one seemed to have one on hand. I didn't want to jump into the Tiffin when the Berkshire might fit the bill beter than the Tiffin. My first lookie touchie on the Berkshire was this week, so it has been that long to just get to see the doggone thing! We have even debated the possibility of not getting a bunk house but getting a non-bunk unit. Our twins are 13 (as of today) and we don't know how long they will want to travel with Mom and Dad.

tmmar · 03-12-2010, 03:16 PM

My sons are now 35 and 32, married with children of their own and they are the reason I bought the Berkshire. They still want to go to Disney World every year. I guess the fact that mom and dad pick up a good deal of the tab has a lot to do with it (LOL), but it's worth it because of the grand children. We still have a great time as well.

cfsoistman · 03-12-2010, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnytaxman

Lol. As a CPA being in the middle of tax season right now, I was just the victim of timing. When the 2010's came out last fall we had a chance to check out the Tiffin and then I got buried in doing tax seminars for other CPA's. So then we started looking at what else was out there and we came up with the Berkshire, but no-one seemed to have one on hand. I didn't want to jump into the Tiffin when the Berkshire might fit the bill beter than the Tiffin. My first lookie touchie on the Berkshire was this week, so it has been that long to just get to see the doggone thing! We have even debated the possibility of not getting a bunk house but getting a non-bunk unit. Our twins are 13 (as of today) and we don't know how long they will want to travel with Mom and Dad.

Good thing to consider. We bought our Georgetown 370 (bath and a half) because we have 3 daughters. We really liked the 378 but the bath and a half with 3 daughters made sense. We picked it up on November 26th 2006, Our oldest daughter got engaged December 16th same year, Middle daughter got a full time job as a nanny and the youngest went off to college. So most of the time it's just my wife and I. I wish we would have had the foresight of how long they would be traveling with us. We love the 370 but I'd rather have that wide open area with the fireplace.

tex ag · 03-22-2010, 12:03 AM

taxman,
My family is in the same boat, just a little bit behind.

From reading, I thought it would be between the Berkshire and the Tiffin. We're going to look at the Berkshire in a few weeks. Last week we looked at the Tiffin and Fleetwood Discovery. We were pretty impressed with the Fleetwood. This was just a 1st look. We got to the dealership late.

Being an engineer we'll go through with a fine tooth comb on another trip. Probably make a spreadsheet. Just kidding.

Have you looked at the Fleetwood? I'd be interested in a comparison.

Thanks

wnytaxman · 03-22-2010, 07:23 AM

We looked at the Fleetwood for only a short period of time. With Fleetwood's financial issues we were leary of going with them. For us it came down to just the two rigs, either the Tiffin or the Berkshire. I'm starting a new thread with what finally transpired.

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