Winnebago Ultimate Freedom

tcbetka · 10-21-2010, 06:19 PM

Hello,

I am new to the forum, having been referred by someone on another RV forum. We have a 1997 Holiday Rambler Endeavor with a 275 Cat, but are in the process of looking for an upgrade. I am really leaning towards a Winnebago product, for a number of reasons. We have been looking at the 39-foot Journey, and then I found a 40-foot Ultimate Freedom. Wow, what a nice unit!

Anyone out there own one of the Ultimate Freedom units? I am very seriously considering this unit, and was hoping to hear from some other owners.

Thanks in advance...

TB

bachler · 10-22-2010, 08:21 AM

Wellcome;; We have an Ultimate Advantage. 38' Because The 40 wouldn't fit in our garage;; Any way It is a surperb coach. They were built One at a time Not that assembly Line style, We have been looking to update As ours is a 2000, Mfg. We have been dissapointed by some of the workmanship in the newer coachs , My Opion would look for an Ultimate. 2004 Try to buy it at a good price, I have seen them go from $ 72000.00 up over $120000.00. Next You spoke of the Journey; It's Value is fantastic they just hold it better then most other coaches;, Life is good You buy it ;; You will enjoy it;;p

AFChap · 10-22-2010, 08:45 AM

If you can get an Ultimate ...Freedom OR Advantage ...at a good deal, DO it. They are superb coaches ...very well built, (dove-tail drawer construction, etc) and lots of the features other owners want. The UA is terrific, and the UF is a solid level or more beyond the UA. We bought our UA "new" ...had been a dealer show demo and had 5k on it. In 7 years we have yet to see another coach that has tempted us at all. Our 03 has a Spartan chassis ...the early ones had Freightliner. I don't know how the two compare, but I can say that the Spartan chassis drives and rides great ...I don't believe it could be better.

McDuff · 10-22-2010, 08:48 AM

We have a '03 Ultimate Advantage 40E. We bought it ~4yrs ago. Ours is a little different, as it is a wheelchair modified version, from the factory. When we were looking, it was a little more than we wanted to spend(or thought we needed/wanted), but we have enjoyed everything we thought was too much.

It had been bullet proof up until last summer, when we took a lightning strike surge, we have been battling gremlins ever since, hopefully we got them all now. But none of that was Winne's fault.

We did just have a jack mount failure on the right front. The bolts are only 7/16", so I would crawl under and check jacks if you look at the UF.

All in all, we really like ours, and would buy her again.

tcbetka · 10-22-2010, 10:28 AM

Great information folks...thank you very much.

We are looking at a 2003 unit with 12,500 miles for around $120-125K. It needs new rear tires though, because the ones current in place are original. So I am trying to work that as part of the deal. It's in absolutely pristine condition though, as far as I can tell. I think the Winnebago Journey we were looking at would be great for us as well, but it's 2000 miles away--so that complicates things significantly. We haven't ruled it out yet entirely though; but it would probably mean that we would hire an independent inspection service, and buy the thing that way. The dealer would then deliver the coach as part of the deal. There's also an Itasca Meridian in Florida that we've been looking at; but that one is about $12K more than the Journey. But it does have a few more bells & whistles though.

That being said however, I think the UF would serve our current (and future) needs for years to come. I can see us using it for 6-8 years, without a concern...barring unforeseen mechanical issues of course. But with the Journey, my concern is that we would use it for a couple years, and be looking to upgrade. It's about $20K less than the UF is, but if we would end up keeping the higher-end coach for longer, then that money would probably be well-spent, as I see it. Sort of a "buy your last coach first" type of thing...

Thanks again for the information, and for the warm welcome. It is looking more and more like we'll be owning a Winnebago product of some sort, sooner rather than later. They make a great product as far as I can tell, and we'll consider ourselves very lucky to be able to own one!

TB

bachler · 10-23-2010, 10:14 AM

We bought ours new. Have yet to find a better Coach..

AFChap · 10-23-2010, 03:50 PM

We actually saw a used UF ...about 2004 model I believe ...in 2008 that we absolutely hated. Our dislike was mostly due to the horrible green carpeting ...not just in poor condition but a very bad color for the rest of the interior. It just didn't go with anything. And we were very surprised to note that the driver side over-couch cabinets were apx 1/2 as deep as ours. I don't recall much else about the floor plan, but one strong positive on ours was the interior storage space and the carpet/upholstery colors.

But we are planning to have the one cloth sofa we have recovered this winter. The DW really likes the large drawer under the sofa ...uses it as a bookshelf for hundreds of paperback books ...but the cloth has not held up well to 5 years of full-time living. Everything else has worn very well.

tcbetka · 10-24-2010, 05:34 PM

Full-timing it in an UF...neat! How does the rig work for that? I presume alright, otherwise you wouldn't still have it!

We are looking for something that could be used to full-time, although we have no current plans to do that anytime soon. But we would like to spend 3-4 weeks in it on an extended trip, possibly slight longer. So in essence, we would a "part time" full-timers.

How noisy is it in the coach, both on the road and in the campground? Also, what is the CCC of the UF coach? I've seen the GVWR numbers in the 2003 brochures in the Winnebago archives, but of course they don't list the actual weight of the units--so you cannot calculate CCC. So I am curious about these numbers.

Thanks for all the posts folks...very helpful!

TB

KIX · 10-24-2010, 05:53 PM

We absolutely love our UA. The CCC is 3711 lbs. I don't think I have that much stuff to carry with us. I do 90% of my own maintenance and almost everything is easy to get to to maintain. I just wish the fuel filter was remotely mounted and maybe someday I'll get around to that. After 6 years of crawling around on and under this coach I can honestly say that is very well built.

I've been in a couple of UFs and have a friend that has one......I don't like any of the ones I've seen. But, that's a personal choice.

Good luck in making your decision. I don't think you would regret buying any of the Ultimate series coaches.

tcbetka · 10-24-2010, 06:08 PM

Out of curiosity...what don't you like about the UF that you like about your UA? I am trying to decide whether or not to take a 8-9 hour drive (one way) to see this UF unit. The price isn't bad, but it will need rear tires, as they are original with about 13K miles on it. The front tires were new last year, but the rear will need to be replaced.

TB

KIX · 10-24-2010, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcbetka

Out of curiosity...what don't you like about the UF that you like about your UA? I am trying to decide whether or not to take a 8-9 hour drive (one way) to see this UF unit. The price isn't bad, but it will need rear tires, as they are original with about 13K miles on it. The front tires were new last year, but the rear will need to be replaced.

TB

Ii didn't like the floor plan of any that I've seen. Guess I should have defined that better.

tcbetka · 10-24-2010, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AFChap

We actually saw a used UF ...about 2004 model I believe ...in 2008 that we absolutely hated. Our dislike ..

SNIP...

I found your coach's weight information on your website Paul. I also see you're a HAM as well. KF9QL here, although I haven't used it in years. I would like to start back in ago. Due to a medical issue, I've had to "re-adjust" my hobbies in the last 2 years, and fishing is out for the most part, and computers are in...and we're getting more active in the RV world. But I'd love to talk to you sometime about your experiences with HAM radio on the road, as a full-timer.

TB

AFChap · 10-24-2010, 07:02 PM

TB ... check for a PM ... Private Message ...we can talk HAM stuff there...

bachler · 10-24-2010, 07:03 PM

When They first came out. In 1998 The only differance was the merriors On the UA were mounted below the windshild the UF they were mounted above the windshild The Uf had a spolier on back, Other then that Eather had the same options . In cluding Freightliner or sparten chassis, And the Newway front end Independent. Some say ether had special preferance to a chassic; That was not our case;

tcbetka · 10-24-2010, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AFChap

TB ... check for a PM ... Private Message ...we can talk HAM stuff there...

Got it, and sent a reply...

TB

tcbetka · 10-26-2010, 05:58 AM

An update...

We made the deal on the UF unit, subject to inspection. So with any luck, we'll have the new rig just in time to put her in storage for the winter, LOL! I was hoping for a couple weeks of Indian Summer around these parts, so maybe we could use the coach for a weekend or two. But given that our recent weather is getting colder, and that we'll be getting 50-60mph wind gusts today, Indian Summer doesn't seem all that likely!

Oh well, there's always next Spring...

TB