Itasca Quality

[peggyunderhill]

Does anyone have experience with Itasca motor homes. We have found a 2003 Horizon which we like. Only 60k miles on it and appears to be well maintained and very clean inside. It's on a Freightliner chassis. They want 48k for it which seems like a good price. If you've had experience with Itascas we would value your input.

 

Thanks.

[Al F]

What is the NADA.com value? Compare that with what they are asking. Look to pay closer to NADA low retail rather than over NADA average.

[Kirk W]

Itasca is a division of Winnebago and both have good reputations. But it is important to realize that with an RV now 12 model years old even the very best of RVs could have serious problems due to neglect or abuse. I highly recommend that you have it checked out by a good RV tech or inspector and I would also want it checked by a diesel mechanic. As to price, if you know the exact model you can easily verify what retail price is running with a visit to NADA website or for more information, visit a public library and ask to see the published version which has far more information. Remember that dealers do not adjust values for any of the optional equipment.

[horizon36]

We bought our Itasca new in 2002 and it has been a good coach. Solid chassis and drive train. The build quality from Winnebago is quite good and everything has held up well. You can still get great factory support and we have called them many times over the years. As an example, I was at a repair facility doing some annual maintenance and wanted the rear slide adjusted. I called Winnebago and the tech walked us through the entire process.

 

Some changes we have made to the chassis are: Added a set of Hendersons motion control units, installed a set of Koni FSD shocks, added a set of Centramatic dynamic wheel balancers, and recently upped my tire size from 235 to 255. The tire change made a huge difference in ride and handling. We have also done some remodeling inside. We removed the booth dinette and built a credenza with table and chairs, removed the couch and now have a lateral file and chair in its place, and just recently changed over to a residential fridge.

 

Check the maintenance records to be satisfied that the necessary service was performed. The $48K price sounds very good. If you want to discuss this more send me a PM and I'll get my phone number to you.

[Jimalberta]

My cousin has a Winnibego journey 36 foot which is identical to Itasca as they are both made by Winnibego. His has the 350 HP Cat engine and he is very happy with it. The Journey and Horizons are medium level coaches. I would suggest making sure that it has dual pane windows . The price seems reasonable. I paid more than that for my 2001 American Eagle. Get the drive train checked out. Appliances are cheap engines aren't.

[wa_desert_rat]

For 30 years the DW's parents would buy nothing else than Winnebago or Itasca. We lost count but think they must've had 9 of them at least. In fact, they had two different motor homes when they visited our farm over two consecutive years! Most were Class A but the last one was a nice little 31' Class C (because grandma didn't like driving a Class A).

 

-I drove one of them and it seemed quite nice to me. But at the time we owned a 5er and I was in no position to judge motor homes. They used their coach as a guest house for visitors and we spent many comfortable nights in a few of them.

 

They had a lot of upgrades to each one. Shocks, steering dampers, PacBrake, etc. I remember that they spent a fair bit of time camped out in the back of the dealership waiting for work to be done but I don't remember them being stranded anywhere, ever. They drove their motorhomes up and down the west coast, back to Branson, to Utah (for geneology) often and all around the Pacific Northwest.

 

Now, of course, I'd be a better judge... even so, I took away a lot from their experiences. When we decided to move to a motor home we knew we wanted a second-hand coach that had been treated well by its former owners. This included records, having spares (belts, filters, etc.) on board, and upgrades. I think that upgrades are a very visible sign that the coach has been kept well.

 

I noticed that Horizon36, in the post (above), has an Itasca coach of similar vintage and his remarks about changes and upgrades indicate (to me, at least) that they take good care of their motor home. When (and if) Sue and I decided to move to a different RV that's what we'll look for. Records and upgrades. And not just oil changes but what type of oil (a high quality synthetic, for instance?).

 

Otherwise those are beautiful motor homes (looking at RV-net ads and photos) and the pricing seems pretty much in line.

 

Just my thoughts...

 

WDR

[peggyunderhill]

Itasca is a division of Winnebago and both have good reputations. But it is important to realize that with an RV now 12 model years old even the very best of RVs could have serious problems due to neglect or abuse. I highly recommend that you have it checked out by a good RV tech or inspector and I would also want it checked by a diesel mechanic. As to price, if you know the exact model you can easily verify what retail price is running with a visit to NADA website or for more information, visit a public library and ask to see the published version which has far more information. Remember that dealers do not adjust values for any of the optional equipment.[/quote

 

 

Thanks for suggesting the inspection. We took it to Freightliner this morning and they found something wrong with the Turbo. Otherwise it is in good shape. The owner is waiting on a quote to get it fixed.

[Bill Joyce]

Turbos cost real money to replace and if the problem is the turbo itself, they replace them. If the turbo leaked oil, add removal and interior cleaning of the charge air cooler and radiator to the cost.

[pinger]

I have a 07 Itasca Suncruiser and it has started to get stress cracks around the windows on the drivers side..I don't know if this is a common problem or not but it looks like the whole side would have to be replaced to repair the problem..

[peggyunderhill]

Turbos cost real money to replace and if the problem is the turbo itself, they replace them. If the turbo leaked oil, add removal and interior cleaning of the charge air cooler and radiator to the cost.

 

The repair cost is $8000. Now the seller wants to up the price by that amount. So it's gone from a great deal to one not so good. We offered to contribute but no response so far. Do sellers usually do this?

[Bill Joyce]

The repair cost is $8000. Now the seller wants to up the price by that amount. So it's gone from a great deal to one not so good. We offered to contribute but no response so far. Do sellers usually do this?

I would walk away. The seller is not being realistic, you don't add to the price after the deal. I suspect he hopes another buyer who won't notice the turbo is bad.