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ROBERTSUNRUS · 01-15-2018, 11:07 PM

Hi, we looked at a Travato. I wanted my wife to see the different choices and get her opinions on the non-mechanical end of things. The Travato looked quite roomy, but the interior coverings were cheap looking and didn't fit well. The bathroom was all the way in the back just in front of the rear doors. There were no rear window coverings of any kind what-so-ever. The refrigerator was tiny with an even tinier freezer. If I ever have to drive in some not so good conditions like I have with my Airstream, I would rather have a dually RWD instead of a front wheel drive. The driver's area looked pretty good, but I couldn't drive one with a big RAM on the steering wheel facing me for several hours a day.

We also looked at two Sprinter based Class B's. These looked to built very nice. I loved the cabinets, but not the shiny black wood grain. The refrigerators were very tall and skinny. Maybe a foot wide on the inside. The showers were very low and had a bar mounted across the center length wise and about six inches from the top. I guess if you want to take a shower in these units, you have to sit on the toilet. The television location on one of them was on a mounting tube, on a counter top by the sliding door. You could turn it around and watch it from out side. This, to me, is not practical and a waste of good space.

After going in and around all four of these units, as we were leaving, my wife said that she liked the Ford best. She knows that I have Ford in my blood, but she made her decision based on the usability of the Class B interior design and what she thought would be best for our purpose.

InterBlog · 01-16-2018, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, Your blog is nice. I have to agree on some things and disagree on others. But first much of your blog spends time and words looking for a Travato??????? I think you could give more details on these vehicles like specs. Engines, Tank sizes, generators, and solar Etc. ....

What you describe here ^^ is a level of time and effort that is within the realm of people who get paid, either by a sponsor or through the advertising dollars that only flow from sites characterized by high-volume clicks. I have a micro-niche blog that is intentionally not monetized in any way (so that I may never run afoul of U.S. copyright law). My casual content reflects that.

Everyone once in a while, some ambitious aspirant on one of the RV forums vows to undertake a matrix comparison of the various B offerings on the market, similar to what you describe. To my knowledge, nobody has ever followed through, for the simple reason of it being an unaffordable time sink (someone correct me if I'm mistaken).

There's no such thing as a free lunch, in other words.

wachuko · 01-16-2018, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, today my wife and I went to a local RV dealer to look at some Class B's. The first one that we asked to look at was the Winnebago Paseo. The first thing that the salesman did was to open the rear doors. Right off the bat, I saw a few things that I didn't like. [note: there will always be something that I won't like] Well the thin area between the rear doors and the pull down screen had this area covered with some matching wall trim. This trim was coming unglued and falling off of the body. Next was the storage space with a sewer hose in it; This would be fine until the first time that you use it. The sewer hose needs a home outside of the vehicle. And third, I'm not at all excited about their choice for the floor vinyl. [ugly pattern] Inside looked pretty good although, as expected, much tighter than our 25' Safari. Salesman said for wife to step inside of the shower. She tried to close the shower curtain and it was stuck and the curtain channel was loose and bent in two places. The fold down sink in the shower has no drain tube. Instead it has a channel where the water runs down the back and into a drain in the shower wall. Most everything else was pretty good like the drawers, cabinets, refrigerator, and water heater/heating system. I asked if the front seats were Ford factory seats that have been recovered or after market seats. Salesman didn't know. I understand that for some reason Winnebago decided to have the seat covers match the interior cushions. [tan/beige] But the entire driver's area is a nice gray so I think they should have left that area as is from Ford. This vehicle had some nice aftermarket aluminum wheels. Some have stainless wheel covers and some have chrome wheels. Again, I would rather that they used Ford factory wheels. Another plus that I forgot to mention was that this Winnebago comes with a nice large hydraulic bottle jack.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, we looked at a Travato. I wanted my wife to see the different choices and get her opinions on the non-mechanical end of things. The Travato looked quite roomy, but the interior coverings were cheap looking and didn't fit well. The bathroom was all the way in the back just in front of the rear doors. There were no rear window coverings of any kind what-so-ever. The refrigerator was tiny with an even tinier freezer. If I ever have to drive in some not so good conditions like I have with my Airstream, I would rather have a dually RWD instead of a front wheel drive. The driver's area looked pretty good, but I couldn't drive one with a big RAM on the steering wheel facing me for several hours a day.

We also looked at two Sprinter based Class B's. These looked to built very nice. I loved the cabinets, but not the shiny black wood grain. The refrigerators were very tall and skinny. Maybe a foot wide on the inside. The showers were very low and had a bar mounted across the center length wise and about six inches from the top. I guess if you want to take a shower in these units, you have to sit on the toilet. The television location on one of them was on a mounting tube, on a counter top by the sliding door. You could turn it around and watch it from out side. This, to me, is not practical and a waste of good space.

After going in and around all four of these units, as we were leaving, my wife said that she liked the Ford best. She knows that I have Ford in my blood, but she made her decision based on the usability of the Class B interior design and what she thought would be best for our purpose.

This is what kept us coming back to the Airstream... I know you are not interested in a Spinter/Diesel option. But when we looked at the different alternatives, when it came to the fit and finish, the Airstream always came on top (no, we did not look at the Advanced RV units as these were way outside our budget)... we even saw 5 year old Sprinters next to new Roadtrek CS and RS and the AI still looked better finished on the inside with 50K miles on the odometer, where the new Roadtrek had panels coming apart and carpet/flooring with waves... And with the AI Tommy we had the matte cabinets which we preferred over the glossy ones.

Too bad Airstream does not make a Transit version of the Interstate

since that Ford Transit is a great platform with a larger dealer network.

Best of luck on whatever you decide to go with. We are planning to attend the next RV show just for the heck of it... would love to see all of the Class B options that we missed during our purchase process

ROBERTSUNRUS · 01-16-2018, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wachuko

This is what kept us coming back to the Airstream... I know you are not interested in a Spinter/Diesel option. But when we looked at the different alternatives, when it came to the fit and finish, the Airstream always came on top (no, we did not look at the Advanced RV units as these were way outside our budget)... we even saw 5 year old Sprinters next to new Roadtrek CS and RS and the AI still looked better finished on the inside with 50K miles on the odometer, where the new Roadtrek had panels coming apart and carpet/flooring with waves... And with the AI Tommy we had the matte cabinets which we preferred over the glossy ones.

Too bad Airstream does not make a Transit version of the Interstate since that Ford Transit is a great platform with a larger dealer network.

Best of luck on whatever you decide to go with. We are planning to attend the next RV show just for the heck of it... would love to see all of the Class B options that we missed during our purchase process

Hi, you nailed it.

OTRA15 · 01-17-2018, 06:06 AM

Having driven mostly Ford vans since the original 1970 E-100, with the most recent being a 2017 Transit 350 with the 3.5 EcoBoost gas engine, my guess would be that Ford will eventually build a stronger chassis to support more RV options. The uni-body monocoque construction, however, is somewhat limited in its ability to handle larger weights IMO, compared to the old twin I-beam box-on-frame designs.

Our 2017 Transit is all tricked out for towing, but the largest trailer would be in the 23' to 25' range, as higher towing capacities were simply not available.

Our old 1995 E-350 Club Wagon had a much higher tow rating, for instance.

The new Transit RV's you posted early on are probably an OK compromise for a self-contained unit, but everything is small small small and cramped IMO.

Our combo of the new Transit and FC20 works for us FWIW.

Good luck Bob, and please keep us updated with your final decision.

Cheers,

Peter

PS -- Ford did get it right with this new Transit line IMO. We had a 2015 passenger model which was totaled in a rear-end collision [without trailer], and the uni-body construction saved me from more severe whiplash injuries. You would not believe how crumpled the body was, as it absorbed the impact. I saw the hit coming, and had my head against the head restraint, so that probably helped.

The Transit is a joy to drive and maneuver. The ergonomics are great, with many years of European testing with the basic design aiding in this IMO.

Wingeezer · 01-17-2018, 07:43 AM

We too are looking quite seriously at the possibility of downsizing from our 31 ft AS to a class B for our last years of RV'ing.

I have done a lot of research into what is a available and come up with a short list of makes/models that should suit our needs. One is the Travato 59K.

I did look at the Paseo brochures/videos some time back and it met our needs as far as size being around 22 ft long, but if I recall, there were two aspects that put it low on our list.

(1) I believe that the drivers seat cannot rotate, (because of the handbrake location?) eliminating a two person "front lounge" configuration which we would like to have - and many other class B's do provide.

(2) I don't think you can use the rear area in a twin bed configuration, one side is too short.

If you set it up as a queen bed I think you need to sleep (E-W) which makes it not great when someone needs to get up in the night.

One thing I have learned is that looking at all the different models, there is none that suits us perfectly! You always wish you could have some features from one combined with some features of another! Compromises must be made!

We are off to an RV show tomorrow to see if we can see a few of the models on our short list first hand!

Brian.

Lotus54 · 01-17-2018, 10:48 AM

I have a 2006 AI. Everything still looks great, all the woodwork is unwarped, nothing coming unglued, still fits and works well.
For a rig that old, that seems pretty darn good to me. If it wasn’t made pretty darn well, I don’t think it would still look so good.

I can’t comment on the build/materials of the current ones, but I would hope they kept the quality up so that it holds up well also.

Mark
(Not in the market for a new one, I like the one I have now too much)

InterBlog · 02-27-2018, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InterBlog

What you describe here ^^ is a level of time and effort that is within the realm of people who get paid, either by a sponsor or through the advertising dollars that only flow from sites characterized by high-volume clicks. ....

OR, is within the motivational realm of one extremely ticked-off Roadtrek owner, as it turns out. ClassBWarned has compiled this comparative summary (PDF) of current Class B market offerings. It might not capture every detail, but there's a TON of work reflected in this thing.