ruwth wrote: Oh dear! I have no idea how big tanks I would need/want!
It will take a miracle for me to do this!
There is so much I do not know.
I will be using this as my primary vehicle and so I want the seating to be in the middle and I will be needing seatbelts as well.
gulp!
The answer is as big as you can get on tanks. Most current Bs as a yardstick have around 30 gallons of fresh water, 20 gallons of gray tank and 10 gallons of black tank to balance out fresh to waste. You want a separate gray and black tank. That is the norm now but wasn't years ago. You learn from experience how to handle your routine to conserve water and extend dump times as much as possible.
A convertible bed in the middle is usually bench our sofa seats that are sideways. Keep in mind, even with lap belts, those seats are not legal seats for everyday use. That plan with bath and kitchen in back and bed in the middle quickly lost favor with Bs because of the seating restriction and the fact the bed when made up effectively cut off your B access from front to back. Not a good zoning solution especially for multiple people use.
If you want extra seat for everyday use, the Roadtreks have always had models with legal second row front facing passenger seats.
There is one B with a second row legal passenger seat and kitchen and bath behind in the Airstream Sprinter Westfalia sold around 2005. There are very few of them. That was going to be our original B but finally decided climbing into bed overhead was not a great idea for retirees. We viewed it more as an ideal B for younger people with children. I still like that model.
Davydd
2011 Great West Van Legend Sprinter B Camper Van
Visited states in an RV
There is a reason that American Cruisers when found offered for sale "go like lightning" and there are now over 400 Roadtreks now being listed for sale. Rear galley and spacious rear bathroom with shower. Rear entry so no side double door to curtail interior space. We purchased our American Cruiser after owning several class A DPs and a 38' fifth wheel and after MUCH research and looking at many other manufacturers. We have never had a moments remorse as this coach has been by far the most utilitarian and useful rig we have experienced. Can be easily used as a daily driver as the unit drives and parks anywhere a car can. Any city street parking space even metered. As to the bed arrangement, while this class B is not generally suitable for more than two, we have found that for the times we overnight, we do not utilize the full bed but simply sleep in sleeping bags on the spacious couch and dinette bed space leaving the ample aisle open. Of course, that is just us, but if you should ever be so fortunate to buy an American Cruiser, I do not expect that you will have regrets.
"we are not stopping 'til they come to take us away!"
all 4 kids grown, healthy and ...gone
BLUE MARBLE wrote: There is a reason that American Cruisers when found offered for sale "go like lightning" and there are now over 400 Roadtreks now being listed for sale. Rear galley and spacious rear bathroom with shower. Rear entry so no side double door to curtail interior space.
You have listed EXACTLY my reasons for wanting one!
BLUE MARBLE wrote: As to the bed arrangement, while this class B is not generally suitable for more than two, we have found that for the times we overnight, we do not utilize the full bed but simply sleep in sleeping bags on the spacious couch and dinette bed space leaving the ample aisle open.
This is what I would be doing most of the time. For those other times, I would have to figure it out.
BLUE MARBLE wrote: We have never had a moments remorse as this coach has been by far the most utilitarian and useful rig we have experienced. Can be easily used as a daily driver as the unit drives and parks anywhere a car can.
. . . if you should ever be so fortunate to buy an American Cruiser, I do not expect that you will have regrets.
I am hoping to be lucky enough to find out for myself!
Ruwth, I am looking for a Class B or small Class C with the same setup that you want. In my case, it will just be me and my 25 lb. dog, Molly. PPL in Houston has had a 2000 American Cruiser on their lot for quite some time and it looks very nice. The problem for me is they aren't dropping the price from $20,495 and it has 102,885 miles. Both seem high to me for a 2000.
I'm also experiencing the head spinning since my last RV was a pop-up. Like you, I'm in the situation of wanting to buy in the next 30-60 days. I'm retired and want to get going before my health gets worse. Hopefully I won't make a major mistake but I'm also hoping that I don't have too many surprises.
I have seen that one as well. Did you talk to a salesman about it? I did.
The generator doesn't work and it has some rust issues.
The salesman I spoke with told me he wouldn't offer more than 15,000 for it.
One good thing is that with that many miles, it likely doesn't have the handling problems that some of them did. Generators can be fixed or replaced, right?
It has been there a long time. He said $6900 worth of work had been done on it recently. I wasn't able to really figure out if it was before or after they got it.
BUT, it has been there a long time.
I almost made an offer on that one but changed my mind.
He sent me photos of some of the problem areas. The owners paperwork said that it had not had any waterleaks but one of the photos was of what he called "an old leak". When I mentioned about what the owner's report said, he then said that it was a leak that had happened since it had been on their lot but that it wasn't leaking now.
I did not care for the salesman I dealt with and he did not seem to be doing justice to the woman who gave them the RV on consignment.
Aren't there some Class B dealers in Indiana? I certainly wish there was a dealer close by!
If you are interested in a small C, you might look for a Concord. I saw one recently that was 24 foot long I think. (You can leave the American Cruisers for me - LOL)
After plenty of sweating, searching and searching for an American Cruiser we found our dream coach listed on Ebay. Noted to be a 1998 with every AC option 32,000 miles, always garaged, CarFax score of 99, obviously well loved and cared for unit. We live in Florida and the seller was a dealer in Illinois. He specializes in selling only the highest quality used class Bs. We saw that his Ebay score was 100% with many concluded transactions, so within 20 minutes of seeing the Ebay listing we ordered and read a CarFax report and then clicked "Buy it now" sent off a deposit, made arrangements to fly to Milwaukee, Wisc. where the dealer met us at the airport, carefully inspected the entire coach and we were reassured completely. Handed over a cashiers check for the balance owing and off we went, happy as clams, arriving home in Fl two days later. Moral: Courage..pay for and review CarFax report immediately and then don't waffle!! Tip. Call Abed at Lakeside Auto in Waukegan, Ill. 847 529-3211. We did and have been very pleased that we did.
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