DW & I are looking to upgrade from our current Class C to a Class A. DW loves friends Phaeton, but I finally convinced her of the sad truth. We currently have 16k miles on our current MH in 5 years of ownership. Our situation won't change anytime soon, so our usage will remain the same (one weekend a month, one road trip vaca per year) Surely our usage won't be worthy of a DP. This weekend we looked at a Winnebago Adventurer 38T we liked it alot & will be going to look at a 38J this coming weekend. On paper, we like the 38J better. My traveling compainons are; DW, 2 labs, & towing a Jeep Cherokee. How do you like the basement air? Does the solar work well? Anything else you'd like to share is certainly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your replies!
'08 Tiffin Allegro Bay 37QDB Fire Red on Pewter
'96 Jeep Cherokee
Tim, Dar, Bear & Buckshot (our 2 black labs)
Geocacher: MuckSavage MuckSavage
I owned a 2004 Vacationer on the Workhorse chassis. Very good motor home. The basement air works very well. It is a bit noisy in the bedroom but quiet up front. I think you would enjoy it a great deal. Winnebago has good customer service. Hope the dealer is also good.
The woodwork on our 1999 Adventurer is still in like new condition. Love the Winne's. Can't help you with the basement air. One thing I would be sure to check on is the CCC of the coach. Some of the 38 footers don't have much cargo carrying capacity. Ours is on a Ford chassis with 57,000 miles and we've had very little trouble. Good luck.
Steve & Sharyl Sands and Fritz The Wonder Dog
1999 Winnebago Adventurer 37G
Visit www.Ohiorally.com
Come join the Ohio Rally Group in 2008.
I had an 03 Adventurer 35U. Loved it, put over 15K miles on it a year as a part timer, weekends and couple of 10-12 day trips a year. It held up beautifully, ran well. It was on the WH W-22 chassis, which worked very well. The basement air is an excellent, trouble free unit.
I traded it in last may for a Winnebago Journey, it will be our FT home in the near future. Needed a little more room and CCC. With the mileage we put on just as part timers, the DP was a no brainer. Again, the basement A/C works great.
You'll enjoy it, I'm sure.
Best Regards!
Paul D
2007 Winnebago Journey 39K, Cat C7 350 HP
(aka "R SANITY III ")
2003 Honda Element 4WD Toad
Muck,
You are stating all the reason I have an Adventurer (37B) as opposed to a Pheaton. I figured for as few a miles as we travel the difference in cost between a gas and a diesel pays for a lot of travel expenses.
I really like the W-24 chassis and power and grade brake. I do miss the 4th slide but I know of no gas powered coach with 4 slides.
Basement heat pump and air are really nice,quieter, cool faster and no dripping off the roof. I still have plenty of room to carry already more stuff than I need. The solar charger is no more than a trickle charger but my batteries stay up , and I check the water regularly. W-24 chassis has a 30,000 lb GCVW.
We stopped at the Winnebago factory last year and I liked what I saw.
Plus, we met a lot of folks there who were on their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Winnies, a lot of customer loyalty with Winnebago. Folks with older coaches that were still going strong.
Don't get me wrong, if "My ship" comes in tomorrow and money is no object; I would get a Pheaton or Allegro Bus in a heart beat.
Tallyo
2007 Winnebago Adventurer
W-24, 6 spd Allison
Saturn VUE w/ Brake Buddy Vantage
Drinks-6, Eats-4, Sleeps-2
Semper Fi
My 2000 Adventurer has been great -- drove 12,000 roundtrip from NC to Alaska and did not have a single problem.
I love the basement air -- it makes the coach so much quieter and evenly cools. I am a fan of Winnebagos and will be trading for a Journey 2007 in the next couple of weeks. Now that I am retired -- I can better justify the DP.
I do not think you can go wrong with a Winnebago. Just my opinion.
Happy Trails.
We had a basement air once, and while I'm sure some die-hard basement air folks will disagree, we found it to be inadequate. We will never buy another basement air (RV) again! One thing for sure, with only one a/c, if it goes out, you have no air and no heat pump. In the hot California deserts, we found that it really never cooled the RV to the extent we liked or felt comfortable. As for the heat pump, it probably worked better heating than the A/C cooled.
Do a search and read some threads...
Personally, for looks and appointments, I'd go with the Phaeton! Especially if it's a DP. Remember, the purchase of a RV is not a short term affair, so get the DP for the long haul, you will not be disappointed!
I have a 2000 37w, the basement air is OK, however,I would rather have the storage space that is used by the AC. Overhead clearance is supposed to be reduced by not having AC on the roof,however, you still have vents etc.
We have a 2001 Adventurer 35B. We've been very pleased with our coach. We currently have over 60,000 miles on it, with no problems. The basement air can get a bit noisy in the back, when you're trying to sleep, but somehow you get used to it. We've never had an issue with it not being able to keep the coach cool. I've been in 105 degrees temps, and have been comfortable inside. Depends on how cool you like it.
For me (Betty), the most important issue was the floorplan. Before we retired, we camped at the beach alot. We paralled parked along the coast, and looked out our curb side windows from our dinnette and enjoyed the ocean view. The galley and couch were in the street-side slide, overlooking the road and RR tracks. I gave up a bit of room (galley slide doesn't extend as far) for the view. It also makes it easier to watch the granddaughter while she's playing on the patio. That's what was important to me. Think about it.
Good choice, we had an 04 Adventurer 35U, great unit, I needed, had to have, wanted, a pusher, longer MH, more slides, and a bath and half. Liked the Winne but really like the current MH better. You also upgrade when you start going more.
Happy RVing
John and Judy
US Air Force - Retired
05 Beaver Santiam 40DST
08 Malibu Toad/Brake Buddy
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