Living in a motorhome more than a weekend. Help.

[Bob Montgomery]

Can you give me some examples of affordable Class A or Class C motorhomes that would be more suitable for living in for more than just a weekend? Many of us cannot afford more than $100,000. I am serious because we bought our first motorhome and found it lacking in some areas and wish our salesman tried to fit us with what we really needed. He was a nice guy but when I expressed my feelings about slides etc. he didn't try to show me why my ideas might be wrong. Why I would likely be happier in a larger unit etc. and never discussed the fact we would not be able to use it in the winter etc. After less than a month we told the owner of the dealership we wished we had bought a bigger unit. He said bring it back and he would see what he could do. Imagine how we felt when we found they would only give us $38K trade on a unit we had just purchased for $52. I don't think we had made the first payment. Needless to say we still own the unit. So seriously, what motorhomes could we purchase, say for $89K or less that we could live in more than a weekend and would have better setups for insulation, tank heaters etc? There are only the two of us and a couple small dogs and we don't care about company sleeping over.

[Brian217]

Sorry to hear your story. There should be several options out there for the money you want to spend. We have the Sunseeker 3010, which is a great layout for 2 people. We've camped with 6 before, which is a little tight, but 4 adults works fine. I think whatever rv you wind up with there will always be something you'd like to have different that you see in another one. The drawback with the 3010 is the bathroom in my opinion. Very small, but the living space makes up for it. We go away for 10 days in July every year and several other extended trips and are happy with the feel of it.
Some places will rent you the rv and take the rental price off the purchase if you decide to buy. That would give you a good feel for it without a big purchase in case you wind up not liking it.
What looks good for a short time on the sales lot may feel a whole lot different on a trip, as it sounds like you've found out the hard way.
Don't go by the retail price you see, either. Purchase price should be in the ballpark of 35% less. Good luck on your next purchase!

[hammer55]

for me and the DW, it would be nothing smaller than s 38, and if I ever do it again it would be a DP

[Bob Montgomery]

Anybody know about the FR3 or the Thor Motorhome ACE? How would they work out?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Bob Montgomery

Anybody know about the FR3 or the Thor Motorhome ACE? How would they work out?

I think it would help you more if you posted your FR3 questions in the FR3 sub-forum, in the MH section here.

[grumpy0374]

I don't know what size rig you have, your profile only states it's a Coachman Lep.
Wife and I have a Lexington 283ts, a "smaller" class c, and we've been out as long as a month with two dogs, and never had any problem carrying what we needed. Planning on longer, up to 3 months on the road in the near future.
I'm sure almost everyone on the forum will tell you that we all carry a lot more than whats really needed. After each trip, I'm always going thru the stuff we bring back, unused, and I ask myself, an the wife, "why did we bring this or that"?
Food shopping once a week, laundry once a week, livingroom with tv up front for her and tv in back bedroom for me (if we're watching something seperate).
Carry some tools, tire changing stuff, chairs, grill, "camping stuff". Tow a Subaru 4 down.
How much "more" dose one need.
Would like and have looked at some "Super C" rigs, but it's just too much for our needs, and too big for a lot of the roads we travel.
I guess if you want to take all the toys and a tux, bigger might be better.
But you can pack just about any rig for more than just a "weekend"
Grumpy

[Bob Montgomery]

Originally Posted by grumpy0374

I don't know what size rig you have, your profile only states it's a Coachman Lep.
Wife and I have a Lexington 283ts, a "smaller" class c, and we've been out as long as a month with two dogs, and never had any problem carrying what we needed. Planning on longer, up to 3 months on the road in the near future.
I'm sure almost everyone on the forum will tell you that we all carry a lot more than whats really needed. After each trip, I'm always going thru the stuff we bring back, unused, and I ask myself, an the wife, "why did we bring this or that"?
Food shopping once a week, laundry once a week, livingroom with tv up front for her and tv in back bedroom for me (if we're watching something seperate).
Carry some tools, tire changing stuff, chairs, grill, "camping stuff". Tow a Subaru 4 down.
How much "more" dose one need.
Would like and have looked at some "Super C" rigs, but it's just too much for our needs, and too big for a lot of the roads we travel.
I guess if you want to take all the toys and a tux, bigger might be better.
But you can pack just about any rig for more than just a "weekend"
Grumpy

We have a lot of storage space. That is not problem. Our "bed" goes wall to wall...but we can even live with that. However, a Coachmen Leperchaun 230CB has no slides and we find the "living" area leaves a lot to be desired...fine for the weekend and for traveling but not so great for inside living.

[wahoonc]

I would look at a gently used DP. Do you plan to travel a lot or stay put most of the time? There are a lot of options out there in that price range depending on what you specifically want. I have had just about every type of RV built at one time or another. They all have their advantages and disadvantages, you just have to pick the compromise that will work for you. For us the 5'ver worked the best when I was staying put on a job site for 3-6 months at a time. Currently a B+ is what is working best for us.

Aaron

[NoviBill]

I think there is no general answer. We have a Lexington 255 (26') that worked well for us a two week trip and we are going to try 3 weeks this summer (Tetons, Yellowstone & Glacier). Our "livingroom" is a 3 seat sofa and table (it does slide out and with 2 card chairs we can have another couple in). Until we are full time, I think it's great (my wife would like a bit larger, I would like to drive a bit smaller). Part of why it works for us is that it's a big step up from our 17' hybrid as far as space and amenities.

A few thoughts:
*A screen room adds a huge amount of space if you are staying put more than 2-3 days.
*Figure out the list of things you want in your next MH (seems you have a good start)
*Everything is a trade, more space is harder to drive, slide outs require more maintenance and have failures
*Some are built for light weight and some for full timing (both are good and bad)
*Look at the used market, 1-3 years old, lots of people selling/swapping for the same reason you are
*We purchased a 10 year old MH for 1/3 the price of new and it was used for about 10 weeks (looks new inside) - it costs me in maintenance and worry, but right now that's OK (later in life maybe not)

Good luck!

[AbdRahim]

2801QS has 4 slides, 30 ft, reasonable price and handles well, without modifications. FR3 has slightly more room since it is a class A. However, the C handles much better on the road, than the ACE or FR3. Make sure you test drive.