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Old 10-24-2012, 09:18 AM   #1
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Thinking of Making the Move

Hi There,

My husband and I currently have a F150 and 31 foot travel trailer. Since the gas prices went CRAZY we purchased a little civic and just parked the truck. We only use it now for towing. Since we work together we barely ever have a need for a second vehicle. It's now just a pretty, and expensive driveway accessory basically. We have also been thinking lately that our current trailer is just to big and too much of a PITA to set up when camping. Because we are close to 55 feet long (truck/trailer) we are scared to try out new Campground. We did get into a tight spot a season or so ago which has made us rather gun shy. If it wasn't for other very nice campers spotting us (five people in total) we would have never been able to get threw this one OPP's roads.

We have started speaking to a local dealer about a 2012 (used) 31SS. I have fallen in love with the floor plan and has everything that we need/want in a RV (floor plan wise). We always new our next move would be a MoHo but I really didn't think it was going to happen this early (if it happens at all). I have a million questions. Here goes just a few (sorry if they are stupid - but the only stupid questions are the ones not asked right?);

We winter camp - LOVE LOVE LOVE the winter. Does a motor home have all wheel drive, or 4x4?
I have seen a bunch of posts about spare tires - do Jayco MoHo's not come with spares?
We have dogs (a Shih Tzu & Am. ****er Sp.) - I feel the safest way for them to travel is in their crates. What do other's do?
If you could do it again - is a Jayco class C what you would purchase?
What are the biggest or most common issues with these units?
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Old 10-24-2012, 10:38 AM   #2
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Welcome to the forum, Marabeth. I`m sure some of our Class C owners will chime in.
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Old 10-24-2012, 12:54 PM   #3
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I am pretty new, but own a 31FS (bunk bed model). The 31SS would have been our next choice. Kids like the bunk beds, but we certainly did not NEED them.

I have not seen any E450 Ford chasis with 4x4. Don't think that is an option.
Also have not seen a E450 with a powerstroke deisel. Assuming this is because of weight and cost.

I just got through buying a spare rim and tire. Jayco claims they surveyed owners and no one has used them enough to justify adding the weight. I found a spare costs about $500, so I am guessing that had a lot to do with dropping them from being included.

If I had the dollars I would be in a Super C on an International or Kodiak chasis. But I dont, so the E450 is the only option in Jayco C's.

Cameras in the mirrors is a novalty item. Not worth the extra dollars, but come with a package they seem to put on most them.
TV's are over kill in the 31FS, bunks have them, bedroom has one, living room has one. I wish it had only come with a small one, because the kids feel we have to use them. But they are handy for keeping them occupied when bored.

Build quality is very good. I am very happy with the 31FS.

The SS is talked about being used to haul a toad, the 31FS is a bit on the heavy side, but I bet it would pull the right sized car on a dolly quite well. The 31SS seems a little better for it.

The last motorhome I had experience with was growing up in 1978. You cannot compare the niceties of a 2012 to the crud the 1978 was made of.

The Ford V10 and Allison transmission, teamed with 4 wheel disc brakes is awesome. It pulls the load very very well.

Get the big foot leveling system. It will be a good use of upgrade money. We do not have a leveling system, well, I am the leveling system. In bad spots leveling is a pain, but as I understand it, not as bad as a trailer.

I would think well mannered pets coud roam free in the back. We let our kids roam free at times. Other than that, they are buckled in availabel 6 seatbelts in back. Unruly pets may need to be kept crated.

Unlike a trailer, there is pleanty to do while going down the road. microwave can be used, bathroom, a/c, tv's, sleep.....Class C's are cool.
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Old 10-24-2012, 01:38 PM   #4
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Weight - is that really an issue with a motor home? I know about weights when it comes to trailers (loaded, unloaded, tounge, payload eta). I really didn't think that I would need to worry so much about weight when it came to Moho's. A spare costing $500.00 WOW. I thought that in Canada all vehicle had to be sold with a spare tire. Guess I will need to google that.

The next issue is the dealership noted the model as a 31SS, but when looking at the pictures online it's a 31DS which is the floor plan I want. I don't like walk threw bathrooms and ALL our trailers have had the sofa and dinette across from each other and I LOVE that. Our sales rep is going to get back to us. But if it's a 31SS the deal is done.
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Old 10-24-2012, 01:43 PM   #5
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Typed that one too soon. Just got an email from the sales rep and it's a DS. Oh happy day. Now to just learn more about it.
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Old 10-25-2012, 07:55 AM   #6
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We have the DS floorplan and really like it alot. Before purchase we narrowed it down between the SS & DS floorplans. As you stated, we didn't like the split or walk through br models. I will say the br layout in the DS was a big plus for us. We love the layout and spacious room of our br. Good luck and hope to see you around the campfire.
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Old 10-25-2012, 09:35 AM   #7
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We went to the dealership and took a look at the unit. LOVE IT. The quality compared to our current KZ Spress is ummm... well you can't compare the two. Just the fit and finish is well above what can be found in most travel trailers in my mind (and we have owned our share - we have that 2 footitas problem - but in our case it's 10 foot).

Turns out we are going to put this off for a little bit. We did the math and the amount of interest we would have to pay (the way we would have to do the financing) was enough to by two travel trailers. It's just not our time. Plus we would have to go back down to one car... and I am super attached to my truck. I love my F150 FX4, and it seems we are just too close to paying it off to get back into another large payment right now.

We also did a bit more research now that we know which floor plan to look for. We found that this floor plan is available from almost all class C manufactures. And it seems that the Forestriver offerings have better standard options (spare tire for one, larger holding tanks for another). So will start going to RV shows and make sure we write everything down. When making this large of a purchase I want to make sure we get the right one first. I don't want to end up upgrading like we have trailer (4 in six years - not great for the wallet).

We are young and only us the RV for vacations (only 29.5 years until I/we retire - not that I am counting down). So we have tonnes of time to make this purchase!

Thanks everyone who commented and supplied info/advise.
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Old 10-25-2012, 10:56 AM   #8
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Sounds like you are using your head with regard to the money side - good for you! In my organization we see far too many who haven't.

Regarding your (eventual) decision, a couple of thoughts:
1. Don't rule out buying used. Of course it's great to buy new - but I think it's fair to say that new RV's probably have more warranty issues (on average) than new cars do. Obviously there are exceptions on both sides of that... Also, RV's have a heck of a depreciation curve. If you are patient you could find a well-cared for rig that's a few years old and save thousands over buying new. I figure we paid about 1/3 of our rig's cost when new. Now I've had to fix some stuff, but I'm fairly handy and most of it has been minor. We should be out of debt in a year or so.

2. We switched from a pickup-and-trailer to the C. We really weighed the pros and cons - would have had to upgrade our truck in order to pull a bigger trailer, and the truck is/was my daily, so more fuel costs would have been in the offing. Ultimately we sold the truck & trailer, and I now run a Honda Fit as my daily. 37-38 MPG feels pretty good! I plan to set up the Fit as a toad, since we no longer have a truck to unhook and drive when we camp.

At the end of the day, though, I think you can make financial arguments for either approach - comes down to personal preference and what suits your particular situation better.

Good luck!
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Old 10-25-2012, 11:27 AM   #9
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The unit that we were looking at was a used 2013. it had 3200 km on it and was 1/3 the cost of new (saw the build sheet). Had a bunch of great options and would have made a great unit for us if we hasn't gotten our heads out of our butts. LOL

We too we using our truck (F150) as a daily driver. We were spending roughly $150 to $170 in gas a week (depending on how much we drove on the weekend). Hence why we now the owners of a 2008 Honda Civic IF we has signed on the dotted line we would have been trading in the truck AND the trailer. But I don't know if I am ready to give up my very pretty truck. I am pretty attached to her!
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