I went back and "re-read" your OP. I apologize. I somehow thought you had asked why one would buy gas over diesel. Not, why those that bought gas, did so. Sorry.
I'll revise my previous comments to simply say, "We bought a gas Pace Arrow because we didn't know enough."
* This post was
edited 06/26/08 10:51am by djevans *
We've just purchased our first class A and it was gas. We did an extensive search for eight months before buying so this was not an uninformed purchase. Looking first at older gas or diesel models we could remodel, we very quickly got discouraged with the upkeep of engines and chassis (not manufacturer fault but owner's negligence). At dealerships they soon learned to just leave us alone to look when we came out with measuring tape, flash lights, angled mirror, tool bag and heavy blanket to lay on to look at underside .
We then turned our search to DP that were approx. 10 years old as we were trying to stay within a certain price range. For what we could buy for the money we realized that a gas class A would give us more of what we personally wanted in our next rig. The added benefit being my husband could perform more of the maintenance on a gas engine himself than on a diesel saving us additional funds in the long run.
I know that the rig we ended up with had only a CCC of a little under 1000lbs. But the kind of camping we do we knew we could make it work as we never keep our fresh water tank more than a 1/4 full. We have only two adults rather than the four in the rigs specs. and we keep the minimum of food stocked as we like to shop as we go. I figure we've increased our CCC to close to 2,000lbs, not great but respectable.
I bought a gasser because that's what I could afford back in 2001 when I bought it. I do know that I'll never get another. But, I'll be driving this one til I can finally afford what I want. And, the next coach will be a diesel pusher. I hate the front engine configuration. I've re-insulated and done other things and while its better, its too noisy. The noise wears me down on any trip we take.
Hi, 1 cost, 2 floorplan, 3 convinience. Newer gas models today are totally different from gassers even 2 yrs ago. 1998 30' Class C, loved it, did scream at any hill it faced but made it, towed our wrangler no problem. 2008 Hurricane 31d, love it, V10 revised, 5spd trans with tow mode. Took a recent trip to Indiana 720 miles, wanted to push it for an idea of mileage. 620 miles filled up took 70 and change in fuel, so approx. 8.5mpg. On this trip were our good friends in their 2006 Damon Astoria, he filled at the same time, his mileage was about 635 driven, to fill his was 68 and change, approx 9.5 mpg. Gas @ $3.93 cost me $275. Diesel @ $4.95 cost him $336.00. Hurricane 32.5 ft, Astoria 38 ft. You decide whats fits your lifestyle. And when I said convienence, our friends live less than a mile from us, I drove 1 mile to fill before we left, they drove those extra miles just to get to the nearest diesel station. And we live in Ocean County NJ. not out in the boonies. JUST "MY" OPPINION.(NEVER FORGET THAT)
phnguyk wrote: On this trip were our good friends in their 2006 Damon Astoria, he filled at the same time, his mileage was about 635 driven, to fill his was 68 and change, aprox 9.5 mpg. Gas @ $3.93 cost me $275. Diesel @ $4.95 cost him $336.00. Hurricane 32.5 ft, Astoria 38 ft. You decide whats fits your lifestyle.
Let's do some math.
Your friend drove further than you 635 - 620 = 15 miles further. So let's figure out how many gallons he would have used if he had only driven 620 miles. 620/9.5 mpg = aprox 65 gallons.
65 gallons * $4.95 = aprox $321
His cost $321 - your cost $275 = $46 more than you spent.
Now divide the total miles 620 by $46 = aprox 13 cent more a mile than it cost your gasser to drive the same distant.
Humm, only 13 cent per mile extra to drive a DP is pretty cheap to me. Especially for all the advantages a DP has to offer.
I've decided - at only 13 cent different per mile - I'll keep my DP
phnguyk wrote: On this trip were our good friends in their 2006 Damon Astoria, he filled at the same time, his mileage was about 635 driven, to fill his was 68 and change, aprox 9.5 mpg. Gas @ $3.93 cost me $275. Diesel @ $4.95 cost him $336.00. Hurricane 32.5 ft, Astoria 38 ft. You decide whats fits your lifestyle.
Let's do some math.
Your friend drove further than you 635 - 620 = 15 miles further. So let's figure out how many gallons he would have used if he had only driven 620 miles. 620/9.5 mpg = aprox 65 gallons.
65 gallons * $4.95 = aprox $321
His cost $321 - your cost $275 = $46 more than you spent.
Now divide the total miles 620 by $46 = aprox 13 cent more a mile than it cost your gasser to drive the same distant.
Humm, only 13 cent per mile extra to drive a DP is pretty cheap to me. Especially for all the advantages a DP has to offer.
I've decided - at only 13 cent different per mile - I'll keep my DP
I beleave if you do the math, he's getting 9.5, why would deduct that from the miles driven and the amount of fuel used. If he took a short cut, it's still miles driven dived by gallons used.
I believe if you do the math, he's getting 9.5, why would deduct that from the miles driven and the amount of fuel used. If he took a short cut, it's still miles driven dived by gallons used.
I did that to get a comparison of the miles you drove to the miles he drove.
That why I divided your 620 miles by his 9.5 mpg to come up the amount of fuel he would have used if he had driven the same distance as you. His 635 miles driven and the amount of fuel used can not be compare to your 620 miles and the amount of fuel you used. Nor can what you paid for gas be compared to what he paid for diesel because he drove more miles that you.
Of course it cost him more, he drove more than you. I was just trying to get a fair comparison between the two.
Like I said in an earlier post. I'm getting 30% better mileage with my 5.9 Cummins than I did with my F53/V10. From personal experience between the two motor homes, I would have spent $170 more in fuel on my trip to Yellowstone if I was still driving my V10 mh. Even with diesel averaging more that gas for our entire trip
Gas folks dismiss diesel just because they see the cost of diesel higher. Just because diesel cost more doesn't really mean anything until you actually compare mileage between a gasser and diesel. A dime a so a mile is no big deal when you consider ALL the costs of a motor home.
I have been following this thread from the beginning and I am a little confused why the folks who did not choose a gas class A keep jumping in with the "mine is better than yours because" blah, blah, blah...
The OP made it quite clear that she wanted to hear from the Class A gas folks and asked why they chose a gas class A.
Soooo I believe if you "did not" choose gas you should maybe move on past this topic and if you in fact "did choose" gas then you may reply.
Does that make it clearer as to who she would like to hear from??
Shirley
Ron & Shirley
2005 Itasca 37B Suncruiser W24 Workhorse Chassis To Discover New Oceans We Must Lose Sight Of The Shore
Thunder, Why can't I compare the miles he drove to the miles I drove? Miles are miles. I just don't understand the diesel mentality, it reminds me of dealers claiming outrageous mpgs on RV's as if we were new to planet EARTH. And your claim of a 30% increase would put your last RV @ about 3 MPGS(9.5mpgs-30%=2.85mpgs) Maybe you meant 30% more miles driven NOT miles per gallon. Unless you got one of the above mentioned RVs. Say we both were able to fill at the same gas station and left together, if he drove 620 miles @ 9.5mpgs, he still would have paid more out of pocket than me, yes he would have used less fuel but paid more, when you say "let's do some math" well let's do. If he drove 1240 @ 9.5 mpgs he'd pay $646 as where I'd pay $550. It really wasn't my point to praise gassers it was just my experience. Like I said cost, floor plan, and convienence. $.13 more a mile at let's say 10000 miles for a season is $1300.00 more than me. Quite a bit of money. That's 325 gallons @ $4.00 a gallon for gas, That's 4.3 times I can fill my 75 gallon tank. Even if he drives only 1000 miles a year he still in the end pays more. 10000 miles @ 9.5mpg @ $5 a gallon=$5300, 10000 miles @ 8.5mpg @ $4.00 a gallon=$4700. $600 savings for a gasser. So why did I choose a GAS CLASS A, I LIKED IT, I COULD AFFORD IT. AND YES I'M HAPPY. Pros: I'm happy my wife is happy as are my kids. Cons: We don't get out enough. But seriously Pros and cons can't exist in the realm of RV's. It all comes down to personal taste and MONEY. We're all different but share the love and freedom of our country. In truth only you can answer your own question "little grasshopper".
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We just purchased ours a little over a month ago.
. We're all different but share the love and freedom of our country. In truth only you can answer your own question "little grasshopper"
