We have going through so many different thoughts of what we want to use…..Class A….Bus Conversion…….minimize even smaller and go for a Class C?
A little back ground, when we moved from FL to OR in Sept ’07 we rented a Class A and took 3wks. Big mistake when it comes to the time, it was too short and we felt way too rush to fully enjoy it. But it gave us some general familiarity with Class A’s.
Honestly, driving that size scared the hell out of me (and that was without towing anything like we will be going full time)….didn’t help that the first time I got behind the wheel was just before a bridge in LA that keep going up and up and up and up……it was NUTS! Torn looked down the side of the bridge and said “Wow, this is a high bridge” He looks over to me and sees me death gripping the steering wheel, all white and telling him “Do NOT talk to me” I’ve never driven a vehicle so wide or long. Didn’t want to hit another car and didn’t want go over the edge….totally freaky.
When we were thinking of A’s, after an RV show, we really like the Alfa with all the storage space and set ups, even though they are no longer being made. Well that got shot down when we found out that there are may be safety issues with them…that left us feeling lost, we had to start all over.
Now Torn does the majority of the surfing of RV sites and seeing what is out there. So when trying to to figure out what next, he came across bus conversions. There are a lot of pros with those. The diesel engines are made to go 1 million miles, the steel frame, no slide outs to worry about mechanical issues, washer/dryer, nice size fridge, some even had dish washers. But the cons, they are harder to find, harder within our budget without spending a bit to modernize, financing since most are sold by private owners not on a lot and a lot of national parks have length limits. Of course, the length while towing our Jeep and the driving setup didn’t make me feel comfortable.
Also, even though we want our stuff and a moving “house”, part of the point of this is downsizing….simplifying…more manageable. After discussing and debating with ourselves, we decided to keep an open mind and look at Class C’s.
Torn found a site of a couple who totally redid the inside of an old Class C and really opened our minds to it more: http://theroamingpint.com/about/who-is-stanley/ We really need be able to have a work area, that sounded like a good idea and that lead to more ideas.
We really were looking at old models that we can redo…but then there is the issue about time (trying to pack, store and leave within a month of getting it…not an easy, realistic task or a good way to start off), then there is the budgeting….no matter what you try and do, it will always cost more and then there is know how.
The more I looked at the budgeting, getting a newer one, with close to what we want/need, will save us headaches, frustrations, time, and out of pocket expenses. Now Torn is usually the one pushing the budgets limits and I’m the one like, no, no…..so this was a turn of events and threw him for a small loop.
Now don’t get it wrong, it still has to be reasonably priced, but RVs that come out listed at 90k get marked down to 70k 6 months later, then the if you find one an older one by just 1-2 model years, you can get them at 50k. We’d have better odds finding what we want/need at the price we can live with.
The things we are looking for, is most important where to put the litter and work area. Then there is storage. Some have nice closet space but not many. The ones that do, normally have 2 slide outs, one in the bedroom and one in the living area. I actually only want one of those even though I would totally love the closet space. But with preferring a Class C with the bed and not the entertainment center, we can bag and store some of our clothes, towels, and blankets up there and still have room so the cats have more places to go.
The one we really like is the Thor Motor Coach Chateau 31K. The 2012 are very nice, but we like the the more rounded seating of the 2013. We also found a 2012 Fleetwood Tioga Ranger 28Z, really liked that set up. But when we went to see it, they couldn’t get the power working and that person really didn’t seem to care. One place that is not getting our business…which was disappointing, don’t like limiting our options.
As of now, it looks like it will be class C…….which one is the question, but we have ideas and that is a good start.