NEED ADVICE (PLEASE): USED DP 2011 Berkshire 390QS

[barrydt102]

Hello! We started two years ago in the RV world with a cute little used Evergreen Element we stumbled upon. After a year upgraded to a Keystone Cougar 32FBS and another year later we are thinking about going "all in" on our first (new to us) class A DP. But I need as much input from my fellow RVers as possible.

First: the unit we found is a 2011 Forest River Berkshire 390QS with 6,000 miles. After about a week of haggling we have a deal at 110,000. Thoughts on price?

Next: I am fully aware that we are now getting into a whole new world when it comes to maintaenance and reliability, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. Having a Cummins engine go and setting me back 30 grand will keep me up at night. So, realistically, and on average and from your own experience, how reliable are these things (DPs in general and the Berkshire we are looking at).

Third: extended warranties. Just for peace of mind I need something (I know, I've read the threads, many say put the money in the bank and self-insure). Dealer wants me to buy a four year "American Guardian" warranty for $6500. Based on what I have read here I am thinking about forgoing that company and going with Wholesale Warranties. Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

Fourth: anything else in general I should consider or think about?

Fifth: thanks to this forum and all its great members. Just a couple of years ago we were anxious and excited about our first RV purchase... and two short years later I'm close to buying a DP. You only live once I guess

[NO3putt]

We have an 2009 390QS, love the floor plan. As to paying for extended warranty, read the fine print on what it does not cover. We don't have an extended warranty. As to price, what. Engine does it have, 340 or 360? How many will be traveling with you, two great, more than that the sofa bed is terrible except for maybe small children. Looked one up online for $99.500. Buying it from a Dealer? Let me know if you have any questions. Skip

[NO3putt]

A few other things:

How old are tires? If orginial, will be around $3,500 to replace
How old are batteries?
Do they have all the maintenance records? Oil should have been changed yearly etc.
Generator hours?

You just don't want to buy it and then have to put so it of money in it to replace items.

Skip

[barrydt102]

Skip:

Thanks for your reply!

Here is the info to your questions (or at least the answers I have)

1) It has the 340 Cummins and 2500 Allison.
2) Will usually be my wife and I and our two small children (ages 2 and 4). We REALLY wanted a bunk model, but found this one and fell in love with the low miles.
4) I looked for the DOT label on all the tires. It looks like he put all new tires all around that are dated the 34th week of 2017 (I was unable to check the rear inside tires).
5) How old are batteries? I'll be honest, I have NO idea. Assuming I have to replace each and every battery, what will that set me back?
6) Do they have all the maintenance records? I did not ask for these, but I will. According to the sticker on the dash, he had the oil changed in May of 2017 at 6,200 miles (coach currently has 6,600 miles on it).
5) Generator hours? I beleive when I scrolled through the information on the digital dash read out it had Gen hours listed around 90, but I will need to double check.

Any other things I should check out? Any things that break a lot. We love the low miles, but we get the impression that this coach was barely used. I think that could be a bad thing... thoughts?

[Mmnsc]

Originally Posted by barrydt102

Hello! We started two years ago in the RV world with a cute little used Evergreen Element we stumbled upon. After a year upgraded to a Keystone Cougar 32FBS and another year later we are thinking about going "all in" on our first (new to us) class A DP. But I need as much input from my fellow RVers as possible.



First: the unit we found is a 2011 Forest River Berkshire 390QS with 6,000 miles. After about a week of haggling we have a deal at 110,000. Thoughts on price?



Next: I am fully aware that we are now getting into a whole new world when it comes to maintaenance and reliability, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. Having a Cummins engine go and setting me back 30 grand will keep me up at night. So, realistically, and on average and from your own experience, how reliable are these things (DPs in general and the Berkshire we are looking at).



Third: extended warranties. Just for peace of mind I need something (I know, I've read the threads, many say put the money in the bank and self-insure). Dealer wants me to buy a four year "American Guardian" warranty for $6500. Based on what I have read here I am thinking about forgoing that company and going with Wholesale Warranties. Thoughts, comments, suggestions?



Fourth: anything else in general I should consider or think about?



Fifth: thanks to this forum and all its great members. Just a couple of years ago we were anxious and excited about our first RV purchase... and two short years later I'm close to buying a DP. You only live once I guess

As for American Guardian we had them for our extended warranty when we bought our first Berkshire. They were very responsive when we had 2 claims with them. We got a partial refund when we sold the motorhome prior to the warranty expiring. When we bought our second Berkshire the dealer we purchased it from did not represent Am Guardian and found out you can only purchase that extended warranty through a dealer. We opted to self insure because of the price. Had AM Guardian been available I might have bought the extended warranty from them.

As for the quoted price it seems a little high and what No3 Put said about engine and transmission size, tires etc are valid considerations relating to the price.

You might want to have a certified RV technician do a survey on the overall condition much like with a boat it is always better to have a marine surveyor go over a used boat.

You will be very pleased with a Berkshire.

[barrydt102]

Thanks so much for your reply! After reading horror stories on some of the forums about American Guardian, and I am investigating extended warranties on my own, and deciding whether or not to go with what the dealer is offering.

Regarding price on a 2011 Berkshire 390QS with 6,600 miles, what is a GOOD price (not an ok price, but a GOOD price) in your opinion?

I now have them down to 105,000, FYI. Still trying for lower.

[RLHAMILTON]

We have 2011 Berkshire 390RB, and have had great success. We take to Gaffney, SC every year for chassis and generator service (Rely on manufacturer). They are most knowledgeable.In addition to tires and batteries, suggest you ask about maintenance records, and generator. Good luck!

[barrydt102]

I know nothing about generators or diesel engines. I did notice when we were doing the walk thru the generator shut off (or stalled) about one minute after he started it. He went and hit the button to restart it and it stayed running for an hour or so after that during our walk thru with no other issues of it shutting off.

Does this situation sound normal or concerning? I should note the coach was just dropped off at the dealership the day before we looked at it for consignment, all of the owner's personal belongings were still in it, etc., so it was not yet through PDI or anything.

[Royston]

You may want to have a good look at the radiator, run the engine, better still take it for a test drive. We bought our 2011 390RB and when we got it home I noticed a damp patch on the ground under the radiator. Notified the dealer straight away then took the coach to a Freightliner shop - they told me the radiator had gone. Dealer was not happy but agreed to pay, almost $3,000.

We live in Canada and the coach was bought in Canada so previous owner probable drove at some point when the roads were salted and this probably killed the radiator.

We are very happy with our unit, have had a few issues but nothing I was not able to fix myself (propane regulator blew a hole so needed replacing, Dometic thermostat packed up and needed replacing, block heater GFCI was faulty and needed replacing, washer dryer platform had given way so needed 2x4 supports, propane access door bottom hinge busted so needed replacing).

Not sure about your regulations but in Ontario I needed to take an air brake test and class D driver (CDL) license because the unit was over the 12,000Kg limit for the car license.

Take your time and go round and check EVERYTHING to make sure it is working, A/C's, heat pump, washer/dryer, microwave, inverter, TV's, slides, jacks, dash AC, etc. etc.

Dealer put 4 x new house batteries on and they were $250 each

We paid $139,000 CA$ just over a year ago and got a good deal on our trade in so were happy with the deal.

Keep asking questions

[barrydt102]

Originally Posted by RLHAMILTON

We have 2011 Berkshire 390RB, and have had great success. We take to Gaffney, SC every year for chassis and generator service (Rely on manufacturer). They are most knowledgeable.In addition to tires and batteries, suggest you ask about maintenance records, and generator. Good luck!

Thanks for the information! Good to know! Can you tell me who to contact there for service? It would be nice to do a road trip down there for a general oil change, generator service, etc. When I looked up the Forest River address on the website, this is what I got:
COMPANY ADDRESS
Forest River Diesel
1800 West Hively
Elkhart, IN 46517

[Locomo14]

Google Freightliner Service Center
The Freightliner Service Center referred to is in Gaffney SC

[Mmnsc]

Originally Posted by Locomo14

Google Freightliner Service Center
The Freightliner Service Center referred to is in Gaffney Georgia where factory is.

Gaffney is in South Carolina
Phone 855_253-0421

100 Campus Drive. Nortgate rd And Highway 11
Gaffney SC
United States

[F.R.O.G.]

Originally Posted by barrydt102

Thanks for the information! Good to know! Can you tell me who to contact there for service? It would be nice to do a road trip down there for a general oil change, generator service, etc. When I looked up the Forest River address on the website, this is what I got:
COMPANY ADDRESS
Forest River Diesel
1800 West Hively
Elkhart, IN 46517

The address you posted above is the Diesel Division of Forest River, where the Berkshire is built. They don't have a service center for routine maintenance and service. The reference to Gaffney, SC is for Freightliner:

Freightliner Custom Chassis
552 Hyatt Street
Gaffney, SC 29341
(864) 487-1700

Freightliner also offers a highly-regarded two-day school for Freightliner diesel owners. Quite a few members here have attended it.

[On edit, the contact information I gave might be Freightliner HQ. Try the information that Marty (MMNSC) gave above.]

[WayneLee]

Remember, Google is your friend. Although I am not familiar with your Berkshire, I drove a DP for over 10 years.

A couple of things jumped out at me. 6,600 miles is not very good. Most of us think that it takes 10,000 miles just to break in the engine. Low mileage in a DP can lead to problems. These engines are designed to run 500,000. In fact, Cummins has a 5 year warranty or 100,000 miles on this engine.

Also, 90 hours on a gen set is way too low. Again, gen sets are designed to run.

Then there are other areas, such as air brakes, engine brakes, slackers, many filters to change, a different driving technique, etc., etc.

If you want more info, just PM me and I can go into greater detail.

Remember, Google is your friend.

[NO3putt]

Berry, with 2 small kids I think not having a bunk model will get old quick. We camp with our grandkids sometimes and not having a place for them to sleep gets old quickly. The hide a bed couch is terrible to sleep on. We have over 64,000 miles on ours and other than a belt breaking no problems with engine. If your handy, you should be able to fix just about anything on the coach side. Batteries, 6volt will run about $85 at Costco and you have 4 of them.

Skip

[Shrprm]

We tried the motor home route . After 38 miles, we knew it was a mistake. To each his own but give me a 5th wheel or bumper pull with a good truck anytime.
I know there is something for everyone but I wish we had taken a real test drive before making the purchase.
Live and learn

[NO3putt]

Berry, what part of the country are you from?

Skip

[Igave]

I do have to chuckle a little on the mileage discussion. Good points, all of them, but all the rest of the automotive world worries about too high a mileage while us rvers worry about too few. Just makes me smile is all.
Just remember that you’ll get a relatively few opinions in relation to total units on the road, as you’ve asked for, but that there are far and away more motorhomes out there of this year and vintage enjoying the heck out of them. Get what works for you will be the key. And I think I’d drive it as well so you don’t end up like the poor guy who gave up at 35 miles.

[barrydt102]

Skip, we are in Pennsylvania

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond! I actually paid part of my way through college driving school and coach busses (I still have my CDL in fact) so driving this DP on the test drive was a dream for me. For me, sitting up with a commanding view of the road is ten fold better than pulling my 2017 Cougar bumper pull with my GMC. Just my preferance.

Some of the comments about the super low mileage being a negative scare me a bit. In the car world low mileage is usually a positive, but I recognize this is no car. Do others agree the low mileage in this case is a negative rather than a positive? Would you avoid this coach because of it?

[barrydt102]

...and, yes. My wife really wanted bunks but this coach seemed so clean and well maintained for literally 50% of the brand new ones we were considering we were willing to forgo the bunks with only 6k on the odometer... but after hearing from some folks here the mileage might be a bit too low...