Is the Isata 4 a modern replacement of the 280/282 Isatas?

[LittleMoose]

Is the Isata 4 the same quality of the 2005-2010 280/282s, or would say the 280's would have been considered maybe a step up? I get the feeling by looking at them that the 280/282 were a bit more strong, upscale, or richer looking. Don't know mechanically if that would be true though. Hopefully the GM can fill me in on this one.

[bclemens]

More of a reimagining. Those old units retailed for $175k. The new ones use more Modern materials, more contemporary look. Things like the Truma water heater, multi-plex, app controlled wiring. Some people like the more traditional look, which is fine.

[LittleMoose]

Originally Posted by bclemens

More of a reimagining. Those old units retailed for $175k.

Are they just that much cheaper to produce now, or did they simply use more costly or a higher level of some components, structurally, interior, or exterior wise. I guess I am thinking that if the 280/82s were $175k in mid-2000s, then that would equate to over $200k in today's dollars. That extra cost must have gone into some areas of the RV?

[bclemens]

Some of that is volume and buying power. Back then Dynamax just built Dynamax. Now we are part of Forest River, which should hit 4 billion in sales. A little different buying power. Plus when you only build, 50-75 coaches a year...those have to carry all the overhead, sales, engineering and support costs. We're now building about 750 a year. Some components I would guess were more expensive back then....electronics. I think they were running a full fiberglass or Corian shower. Now we can use an ABS surround. They were running a full on air bag system, now we can run a sheer spring system, no air. Some components are better than they were back then...some probably aren't