Looking to buy Motor home

[chasedawg]

We have been looking to buy a used Class A Diesel pusher Motor Home in the Lakes Region. Has anyone had experience with any dealers in the area? We have looked at a few at Camping World. We are interested in a 2004 Holiday Rambler Neptune 300 HP Diesel pusher.
Has anyone had experience with Class A Motor Homes or this particular model. We have never owned one, but thought it would be a new traveling experience.
Please give us your thoughts on owning one. I have talked to many people who love RVing.
It would never replace our boating on Winni. This would be a whole new adventure.

[Mr. V]

Dealers can make buying an RV more convenient, but you'll get a much better price from a private seller through craigslist.com.

[VitaBene]

IMO, a diesel pusher is the way to go. 300 HP should be more than enough. Whose diesel- Cat or Cummins and what size. I am sure it likely has an Allison automatic.

Find a good RV forum as well. Once you settle on the powerplant, research that well. All of the manufacturers have stumbled here and there especially on the medium diesels as they try to meet emissions requirements.

[Pineedles]

It is common advice to rent a few before you buy, just to help you know what you will feel comfortable with.

[ishoot308]

Chasedawg;

We were RV'ers until just a few years ago.

Our last motorhome we downsized to a Class C which we bought on line at RV Direct. The exact same model motorhome with the exact same options, the best deal we could make at Camping World in Chichester was $84,000.00. We paid $59,000.00 at RV Direct and had the motorhome delivered directly to my house! Don't worry about servicing either as we had ours serviced locally many times. You may wish to check them out and see if they have something you like. http://www.rvdirect.com/index.asp

Also, here's a great discussion forum where you can get answers to the many questions you will have. http://www.rv.net/

Good luck and enjoy!!

Dan

[welchislandman]

Have you checked out RVT.com

http://www.rvt.com/Holiday-Rambler-NEPTUNE36PDD-2004-Hamburg-NY-ID5424114-UX21263


There are quite a few Holiday Rambler 04's listed there to give you an idea on worth and features. In general those units are very well equipped and are very nice units.

We have been RV'rs for many years and own a Class A.
Feel free to PM me if you'd like to chat.


Happy trails :-)

jeff

[tis]

We had an American Eagle and loved it. We only used it to go south for a few years. The only problem we really had was being nervous that something would happen all the time. It didn't bother me as I think I am more adventuresome. I would love to do more traveling that way someday but I don't think it will ever happen with us.

[Happy Gourmand]

A friend's inlaws have this for sale.

http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/rvs/4180321751.html

[tummyman]

Saw a nice motorhome for sale on RT25, parked at the end of a driveway about 1 mile north of Center Harbor, almost opposite Lake Kanasatka. It is a private sale, but the unit looks terrific. May be worth a peek if you are in the area.

[Lakepilot]

We've had 3 Diesel Pushers. First was a Monaco 300HP Diplomat, which is almost the same as the Holiday Rambler you're looking at. Monaco built Holiday Rambler, Monaco and Beaver. In '04 Monaco built their low end coaches in Indiana and the high end in Oregon. The Diplomat and I'm pretty sure the Neptune were built in Indiana.

At that time the quality of the Indiana built units was great the Oregon product not so great. You may hear some horror stories about the higher end Monaco's of that vintage.

Our Diplomat was the most trouble free coach we have owned. We've also owned Newmar and Prevost. The engine and transmission in the Neptune are great.

We love using our motorhome. We have been all over the US and Canada. It's a lifestyle that can't be beat.

[TheProfessor]

It is common advice to rent a few before you buy, just to help you know what you will feel comfortable with.

If you have this goal in your system then by all means do it. As stated above, rent one first to see how you actually like this lifestyle.

Join the Good Sam Club.

The local folks that I know who have purchased such have all lost a great deal of real money when time comes to sell.

I just don't see it. If purchase is a plan. That money could be used for a good new car and spend nights at very good motels - and eat out - and you would still be ahead of the game.

[jmen24]

Yup, these things lose value like...A boat!

If you are not afraid of doing small repairs and have cash in hand, talk to the dealers about getting something that is being traded in, before it goes through the recon system.

A good friend picked up a nice class A unit for a considerable discount a few years ago. 23000 cash and book value was 72000. Put about 3500 into repairs and he has had 4 trouble free years with it. I could not tell you what the name of it is or the exact year, but it is nice and clean and under 10 years old.

[codeman671]

We became RV'ers this season when we bought a 2008 Jayco 36FS. It is a diesel super-c with a bunk house in one of the slides. We absolutely love it. There are 5 of us so we wanted a rig that could sleep all of us in beds without having to fold out a couch or dinette to sleep. Being a diesel, although a front engine, we have the power to do hills and tow 10k lbs but have the extra sleeping ability of the C class in the cabover. We just got back from Florida on vacation with it on Saturday.

We have looked at other rigs since buying ours and so far like this one the best. There were some impressive class A's at Fort Wilderness, but with 2 adults and 3 kids this style works better. A lot of the class A's are suited for couples or families with 1-2 kids unless you start folding stuff out. We are thinking we may sell ours at some point to get the same model brand new. The 2014 has a Freightliner chassis with air ride, and after stopping in PA on the way back to see one in person at a dealer we immediately fell in love.

As far as Camping World, I think their rig prices for both new and used are a bit high. We bought ours used with 5500 miles on it out of a dealer in Mississippi (consignment sale). Shop around!

What draws you to the particular model that you mentioned- did you like the style or was that just what they had for decent used ones? How many people are you looking to sleep?

[chasedawg]

We became RV'ers this season when we bought a 2008 Jayco 36FS. It is a diesel super-c with a bunk house in one of the slides. We absolutely love it. There are 5 of us so we wanted a rig that could sleep all of us in beds without having to fold out a couch or dinette to sleep. Being a diesel, although a front engine, we have the power to do hills and tow 10k lbs but have the extra sleeping ability of the C class in the cabover. We just got back from Florida on vacation with it on Saturday.

We have looked at other rigs since buying ours and so far like this one the best. There were some impressive class A's at Fort Wilderness, but with 2 adults and 3 kids this style works better. A lot of the class A's are suited for couples or families with 1-2 kids unless you start folding stuff out. We are thinking we may sell ours at some point to get the same model brand new. The 2014 has a Freightliner chassis with air ride, and after stopping in PA on the way back to see one in person at a dealer we immediately fell in love.

As far as Camping World, I think their rig prices for both new and used are a bit high. We bought ours used with 5500 miles on it out of a dealer in Mississippi (consignment sale). Shop around!

What draws you to the particular model that you mentioned- did you like the style or was that just what they had for decent used ones? How many people are you looking to sleep?


Codeman671.....
Nice to hear you are having fun RVing. That is a nice rig you have. The bunk beds make it ideal for family with kids or when there is company. We liked the additional sleeping areas as well.

We decided, however, on a Class A when we sat in the drivers and passengers seats. We liked the large open area.There isn't a motor mount to climb over. The diesel engine is in the back reducing the sound of the engine. The visibility is much better sitting high above other vehicles. The large windows provide a panoramic view. The steel enclosed structure around the front part of the drivers and passengers is secure and seems safe.

We were told that the class C have a tendency to leak around the cab area and overhang. But who knows all of them require maintenance. There are so many openings on the roof that it is important to check the seams every six months or so.

What we need to do is test drive a C. Camping World has a very large selection. It is difficult to test drive anything unless you put down a deposit. As far as pricing goes this particular coach was $10K or more under book value. We offered them a price and it was accepted. We also requested that our RV tech go through the coach after they make their inspection. Plus I wanted to have the trailing arms replaced. They said they would include that in the deal and demo it with all onboard items working per spec

How did you test drive your Jayco? Did you travel to the location to view the condition?

Thanks to all who have given us information about RV's. It seems that they can be worst for maintenance then a boat. A boat is a hole in the water by which you pour money into.... What is a land yacht motor home? A sink hole in the road that you pour money into...to get you out of the hole. Or something like that.

We will let you know how it goes.

[codeman671]

How did you test drive your Jayco? Did you travel to the location to view the condition?



We bought ours from an out of state dealer sight unseen. I had never driven one like it. I tend to buy a lot of boats from different parts of the country so it didn't really bother me. The rig had 5500 miles on it and will a full coverage extended warranty and being sold by the original Jayco dealer that sold it new I really didn't have a concern. The previous owner took it on 2 trips and stored it inside. It was clean and as described. I was going to fly down to drive it back but with the warranty in place and the cost to fly all 5 of us down plus expenses to bring it back it was not worth it.

I drive an F350 crew cab dually for a daily driver anyhow so driving a big rv did not bother me in the least. It feels just like driving my truck. Just watch the tail swing in tight places.

The extended warranty was great piece of mind and I have certainly got my $50 transfer fee and a whole lot more back from it. About a month after getting it we had to replace the ABS pump and computer module, an $1800 part plus labor. Cost me $50 total! RV's in general have a lot to break as there are so many systems involved. Older rigs can easily eat you alive if you make a bad buy. With ours, it is an 08 and with no mileage on it things still go wrong.

Most of the class C's are gas and 31' or smaller. Not many are made that are the size of ours. Jayco and Dynamax are the 2 brands that I know of that make a larger C diesel these days. A few other brands have but have discontinued them.

Any of the newer C's have 1 piece nose cones on the top which prevents leakage. We did have our roof resealed, it was $175 I think. Even though it was mainly inside the sealant still goes bad.

Book value in general for these doesn't mean much. I look at them by comping them to others in the market. Book on ours is over $110k, but in all reality its an $85k rig.