Up grading my motorhome

[Jonathan55]

I bought a Travato Class B motorhome last summer. I've driven almost 24,000 miles. From Cleveland to the Gulf, out I10 though the South West, up the Pacific Coast Highway and I90 from Seattle to Cleveland. I want to drive the Great River Road along the Mississippi this fall then stay in places I like and drive less.

The Class B has been great for all this driving. Otherwise I'd like a bit more room and a real shower

Is there a time of year that is good to buy? Are there things that will get me the best trade-in.

The Travato has issues, some that I stressed myself some were never put together right in the first place and should be covered by warranty. Little stuff like cabinet latches. Do I have things fixed before trade-in? I'm wondering if I should buy a used Class C that someone else has worked the bugs out of?

Any point taking a Winnebago to a Winnebago dealer and buying a Winnebago View

 

Jonathan Smith

[Barbaraok]

Besides filling stations, have you seen anything?  SLOW DOWN and take time to enjoy the country.  Most of us would find 1000 miles a month really pushing it.  

[Kirk W]

It is difficult to predict if there would be any benefit to dealing with a Winnebago dealer. In general, the larger dealers usually are able to give better prices, but that doesn't mean that they will. As far as I have ever been able to determine, there is really no best time for every location and dealer. Some say that deals are best when the volume of sales is high, while others will tell you that deals are best when slow because the sales people are hungry. My experience has been that the best deal just takes a lot of time and patience to find and there are always some good deals around if you can find them. 

[Jonathan55]

21 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

Besides filling stations, have you seen anything?  SLOW DOWN and take time to enjoy the country.  Most of us would find 1000 miles a month really pushing it.  

Thanks! I know what you mean. I drive about 200 miles a day. Everywhere I go there are cool things! Pike Place, Haight-Ashbury, and Wall Drug

 

[Jonathan55]

21 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

My experience has been that the best deal just takes a lot of time and patience to find and there are always some good deals around if you can find them. 

Thanks! I started looking in RV Trader and I'm amazed that the same model might be $89,000 at one dealer and $98,000 at another with seemingly the same options.

 

[Barbaraok]

39 minutes ago, Jonathan55 said:

Thanks! I know what you mean. I drive about 200 miles a day. Everywhere I go there are cool things! Pike Place, Haight-Ashbury, and Wall Drug

 

Try the 2-2-2 system.  200 miles a day, in the park by 2:00 pm, stay at least 2 days.   That way, you have a chance to see a little of the area in you are in and often you will find a reason to stay longer.  Remember, the trip is the destination.  We really like making the last part - stay 2 weeks.  That gives us enough time to find the good breakfast places, do some geocaching, sample local stores, see what the area has to offer, sleep in when we like, and then the hitch itch has us ready to move down the road.

[Jonathan55]

31 minutes ago, Barbaraok said:

Try the 2-2-2 system.  200 miles a day, in the park by 2:00 pm, stay at least 2 days.   That way, you have a chance to see a little of the area in you are in and often you will find a reason to stay longer.  Remember, the trip is the destination.  We really like making the last part - stay 2 weeks.  That gives us enough time to find the good breakfast places, do some geocaching, sample local stores, see what the area has to offer, sleep in when we like, and then the hitch itch has us ready to move down the road.

I like it!

I planned a week in Seattle and ended up finding new things to explore everyday for the next day. I like old roadside stuff. Like things that were tourist traps in the 1930s. I have heard about geocacheingm and It sounds interesting. I'd like to drive the Mississippi Great River Road and take a month to do it.

My Class B is great for driving but I'd like to stay and find the breakfast place but the Class B is not as nice for that.

Jonathan

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, Jonathan55 said:

I'm amazed that the same model might be $89,000 at one dealer and $98,000 at another with seemingly the same options.

Realize also that just like car dealers, RV dealers almost always negotiate with the customers and rarely actually sell for the price that is stated. Just how much the sale price finally is will be a very individual thing and is seldom the same for two identical RVs. It depends upon the negotiating skills of the customer, the expenses of the selling dealer, and the fact that only rarely are two RVs of the same make/model configured exactly the same. When you go to used RVs the process gets even more complicated since you have no way to know exactly what the used RV actually cost the dealer.

On traveling as a fulltimer, we seldom traveled more than 250 miles in one day and averaged more like 150 - 200 with many days of 100 miles or less. Our shortest travel day in 12 years on the road was 34 miles. Unlike Barb, we had no rules at all about our travels but tended to change plans on spur of the moment. We nearly always went into the communities we spent a night at and if there was something there to see, we stayed longer but if not, we moved on. If we awoke to rain or bad weather, we just sat where we were until the weather improved. Once or twice we left an area early due to cloudy or rainy days that we got tired of and sometimes we just stayed a few extra days because the weather was so good. We always had some longer term plans and goals, but usually those plans allowed for changes in timing and routing based upon what we experienced along the way. 

[sandsys]

We drove the Great River Road from St Paul, Minnesota, to Hannibal, Missouri, in a Winnebago View without towing a car. It was a great trip. We always intended to go back and do the rest but it didn't happen before we got off the road.

We also drove Historic Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica in that View. It took us a month. We actually ate breakfast in downtown Chicago when we found two empty metered spots between an alley and a bus stop--pull through parking! We stopped at lots of diners and museums along the way. We could park in one spot if it was one where we could let the back end hang over the edge of the lot.

We found the View great for drives like those and the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Natchez Trace.

So, yes, buy a View and go enjoy.

Linda Sand

[Barbaraok]

19 hours ago, Jonathan55 said:

My Class B is great for driving but I'd like to stay and find the breakfast place but the Class B is not as nice for that.

Jonathan

And now you know why most fulltimers with motorhomes end up with a toad.  Just so much easier to get set up, hooked up, and then go adventuring.    Though we do see lots of people with Class Bs going to museums, etc.  

[Jonathan55]

Thanks everyone for your answers!

On 6/22/2017 at 4:48 PM, Barbaraok said:

And now you know why most fulltimers with motorhomes end up with a toad.  Just so much easier to get set up, hooked up, and then go adventuring.    Though we do see lots of people with Class Bs going to museums, etc.  

Thanks and I do drive to museums and even got to the corner of Haight Ashbury  It's the living in a tiny space with no storage that it driving me a little crazy.  (although it keeps me from buy too many knick knacks as there's no space.)

[Jonathan55]

On 6/22/2017 at 4:23 PM, sandsys said:

We drove the Great River Road from St Paul, Minnesota, to Hannibal, Missouri, in a Winnebago View without towing a car. It was a great trip. We always intended to go back and do the rest but it didn't happen before we got off the road.

We also drove Historic Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica in that View. It took us a month. We actually ate breakfast in downtown Chicago when we found two empty metered spots between an alley and a bus stop--pull through parking! We stopped at lots of diners and museums along the way. We could park in one spot if it was one where we could let the back end hang over the edge of the lot.

We found the View great for drives like those and the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Natchez Trace.

So, yes, buy a View and go enjoy.

Linda Sand

The Great River Road is on my bucket list. 

[Jonathan55]

Thanks everyone for the great answers. I'm looking at the View or at least something with some outside storage and a seperate shower