Jump to content

2020 Montana vs Alpine vs Solitude


Ken & Marion

Recommended Posts

My .02. Looking for our 5th wheel we took a year to pick one. We had Montana, Jayco and Solitude in mind. After reading Trailer Life for over a year, rarely did we see any complaints about the Solitude. Reading as guests the forums for Montana, Jayco and Grand Design Solitude, weeding out the BS from the truth we narrowed our list to Jayco and Solitude. Well at the Austin Texas RV show we fell in love with the Solitude S Class. It had everything we wanted and did not want. We ended up with 30% off MSRP and bought the 2019 Solitude S Class 3350RL in February of 2018. That model is now discontinued and we are glad we bought it when we did. It has been great and have had no problems since purchase. Its never been back to the dealer yet for repair. At 37 feet, its not real heavy but is at 16,800 # GVWR but cargo capacity of 4,478#.

Everyone is different, get your must have list together, research, research, research, then make your pick.

Steve & Tami Cass, Fulltime Somewhere

2018 Ram 3500 DRW / 2019 Grand Design Solitude 3350RL S-Class. Texas Class A Drivers License

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, geodog said:

In the end one of THE most important decisions will be the floor plan.

 

ShortyO

What good is a floorplan if the RV is going to fall apart around it?   Quality is what you want to look for first; then choose the floorplan from what they have to offer.

Full-timed for 16 Years
Traveled 8 yr in a 2004 Newmar Dutch Star 40' Motorhome
and 8 yr in a 33' Travel Supreme 5th Wheel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, 2gypsies said:

What good is a floorplan if the RV is going to fall apart around it?   Quality is what you want to look for first; then choose the floorplan from what they have to offer.

This is spot on.  Why sacrifice quality for the sake of a floor plan.  Buy a quality unit and you will love to enjoy the floor plan when it is not falling apart around you.  Also, very difficult to enjoy your perfect floorplan when it is setting in the dealers shop for repairs most of the year.

Ken

Edited by TXiceman

Amateur radio operator, 2023 Cougar 22MLS, 2022 F150 Lariat 4x4 Off Road, Sport trim <br />Travel with 1 miniature schnauzer, 1 standard schnauzer and one African Gray parrot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, geodog said:

In the end one of THE most important decisions will be the floor plan.

 

ShortyO

Notice he wrote "one of the most important".  I will add that  there are high quality used units out there for reasonable money.  Find a deal and smile.

I happen to know ShortyO has one of those units.

KW T-680, POPEMOBILE
Newmar X-Aire, VATICAN
Lots of old motorcycles, Moto Guzzi Griso and Spyder F3 currently in the front row
Young enough to play in the dirt as a retired farmer.
contact me at rickeieio1@comcast.net

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

We bought a Solitude 373fb 2020. Floor plan a requirement. We wanted a bath and a half. We also want the front bath room with full closet. Before we bought - we bought my brothers 2007 Savoy. That trailer had beautiful window trims and great construction.

Since buying the Solitude - we have been very comfortable with the layout. I would say the window trim is  - junk. Some one mentioned cardboard and that may be. Hopefully that is the worst of it. We had looked at the Montana - and I loved the legacy package. It included disk brakes and cameras with that option, but we could not find the layout we required.

Some one above mentioned VanLeigh. I have watched so many videos from them. Seems like a quality build. But the budget  - just would not stretch that far.

-ken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, kermitlong said:

We bought a Solitude 373fb 2020. Floor plan a requirement. We wanted a bath and a half. We also want the front bath room with full closet. Before we bought - we bought my brothers 2007 Savoy. That trailer had beautiful window trims and great construction.

Since buying the Solitude - we have been very comfortable with the layout. I would say the window trim is  - junk. Some one mentioned cardboard and that may be. Hopefully that is the worst of it. We had looked at the Montana - and I loved the legacy package. It included disk brakes and cameras with that option, but we could not find the layout we required.

Some one above mentioned VanLeigh. I have watched so many videos from them. Seems like a quality build. But the budget  - just would not stretch that far.

-ken

So... you bought for the floorplan but admit the quality isn't up to par.  You "loved the Legacy package but could not find the layout we required."   I guess I just don't understand purchasing that way.

Full-timed for 16 Years
Traveled 8 yr in a 2004 Newmar Dutch Star 40' Motorhome
and 8 yr in a 33' Travel Supreme 5th Wheel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To Clarify - when we bought our Solitude, we did not know of quality issues ( which may be minor). We have been happy with the RV. Maybe now that we have lived in this for almost a year and would go back and look at other units - like the Montana - maybe they all have lightweight material. At some point you move on a decision.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only trailer I've seen with decent slideout insulation was my 1999 Arctic Fox 26x with a non-flat floor slide.   Most other trailers have thin floors and ceilings in the slideout, which translates into thin or no insulation, especially in the floor.  In the Arctic Fox, the slideout stayed the same temperature as the rest of the trailer.  In my Sunnybrook with a similar floorplan I can feel heat radiating from the slideout's ceiling in warm weather and in cold weather the floor is colder than the rest of the trailer, making the slideout uncomfortable to be in when temperatures are above the mid 90s or below the mid 40s.  The Arctic Fox didn't have these issues.

The slideout's poor insulation means the Sunnybrook's main room has noticeably more heat gain than the non-slideout bedroom, even in mild temperatures with the windows open.

Edited by Lou Schneider
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
RVers Online University

campgroundviews.com

RV Destinations

Find out more or sign up for Escapees RV'ers Bootcamp.

Advertise your product or service here.

The Rvers- Now Streaming

RVTravel.com Logo



×
×
  • Create New...