2004 Itasca Suncruiser 33V

antiquelady · 01-24-2011, 12:42 PM

We are looking at purchasing our first Class A motorhome. A couple of our choices are the 2004 Itasca Suncruiser 33V, 8.1 GM Worhorse and the 2004 Fleetwood Fiesta (same 8.1 Workhorse). The Suncruiser has the basement air, and I like the layout and extras it offers. I would so appreciate you input on these coaches. Thank you.

edgray · 01-24-2011, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by antiquelady

We are looking at purchasing our first Class A motorhome. A couple of our choices are the 2004 Itasca Suncruiser 33V, 8.1 GM Worhorse and the 2004 Fleetwood Fiesta (same 8.1 Workhorse). The Suncruiser has the basement air, and I like the layout and extras it offers. I would so appreciate you input on these coaches. Thank you.

You didn't say what size Fiesta, but you should go with the one you LIKE best. The Suncruiser should be a well built coach.

Since they are both on Workhorse chassis, it is "likely" they are subject to the recent Bosch brake recall, and you should insist on that recall being completed BEFORE you take delivery. If you need additional info about the recall, please send me a PM.

Welcome to the forum.com!

We're here to help.
Ed

antiquelady · 01-24-2011, 02:29 PM

Thank you for the info about the brakes, I will be sure to check that out. The Fiesta is 32' 8K miles been in covered storage for 3 years~asking (saying bottom $ is 43,5000.) The Itasca has 6K miles, internet price is 59.000. ~ haven't gotten into any real pricing with them. Any concerns about the basement air on the Itasca? Thanks again so much.

tderonne · 01-24-2011, 07:59 PM

I don't see the Fiesta brochure in the Fleetwood brochure archive, so it's hard to say for sure, but I think the Fiesta may be on a Workhorse P32 chassis. The Itasca is on a W-series. Different animals. They are what they are, but worth knowing what each is on and what the differences are.

Dunnpe · 01-25-2011, 04:24 PM

I own a 2003 Itasca Suncruiser 33v. I have had it 3 years and got it with 11K on it an now have 23K and love it. It has been in California for its entire life and is in wonderful shape, drives like a gem and lots of room. The basement air is very cold in the summer. I love driving it and the ammendies are really nice and comfortable. Hope this helps. The information on the forum alone would be a deciding factor if it were me.

golden · 01-25-2011, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by antiquelady

Thank you for the info about the brakes, I will be sure to check that out. The Fiesta is 32' 8K miles been in covered storage for 3 years~asking (saying bottom $ is 43,5000.) The Itasca has 6K miles, internet price is 59.000. ~ haven't gotten into any real pricing with them. Any concerns about the basement air on the Itasca? Thanks again so much.

I have a 2004 Suncruiser 38R and I am the original owner. I personally like the basement air and since I had it modified to provide a cooler air flow it has been better than good.

Only 6K miles on the one you are looking at?? That is awfully low, which is good. Also, despite the fact that I travel a lot in the mountains and store my MH in humid central Texas, I never had a bit of trouble with my brakes. I did take advantage of the brake recall and your new one should also be able to.

The Suncruiser is a more expensive unit, probably because of more upscale trim. The Fleetwood is a good unit, generally considered as entry level and there's nothing wrong with that if you have no experience with a MH and might wish to join the community of RVers at a lower price entry point.

antiquelady · 01-25-2011, 06:49 PM

Thank you so much for the valued information. We will take everything into consideration.

fun 33V · 01-27-2011, 03:00 PM

We purchased a fleetwood product in 1995 sold it last September had no trouble with it at all logged 52K miles on it We found a 2005 33V Itasca Sunrise wow what a machine.the DW really enjoys the larger galley,fun to drive ! glad we made the move.

kcaravelli · 01-27-2011, 08:00 PM

Hi, we are full-timers in our 2003 Suncruiser 33v and we just love it. We too purchased our with low milage (5k). In fact our had been under cover as well and we have it parked under a 40 x 24 foot Canopy up here in Seattle.
We have taken our coach all over Washington State and thoroughly enjoy it.
The heat exchanger would be a stickly for me at this point because as was menioned above they are no longer making them. This fact should give you quite a bit of leverage when buying the coach. It is not likely that you will be able to get the heat exchanger repaired from what I understand in my readings in the forum. Serious issue to be sure. I Don't know if the coach is designed to install roof air and still handle the weight of a person up top.
If that is not an issue then the coach is a dream.
We decided to live in ours for a year then see how we felt. After a year I got upgrade fever and for fun started looking at more expensive coaches and some even larger.
Nothing, and I am serious when I say nothing was even close to tempting me to change coaches and I have the income to splurge if we wanted.
This coach is an all around well built, well designed, well engineered coach. We do have it serviced up at the RV dealer in our area. I pay them big bucks to go through it with a fine tooth comb.
Hope that helps.
Please feel free to email me privately for a phone number if you would like to speak with us.

antiquelady · 01-27-2011, 10:02 PM

Thank you so much for helpful reply. The issue about the heat exchanger would be a concern, especially if it can't be repaired. Do you have the basement air? Why did you mention roof air? Is the basement air an issue? Also do you have the chev 8.1 Workhorse or Ford? What kind of mileage do you get? Thanks again so much. I am learning so much.

antiquelady · 01-27-2011, 10:06 PM

Oh I get it now, the heat exchanger has to do with the basement air. Sorry, thus the reason for installing the roof units. A "duh" moment.

kcaravelli · 01-27-2011, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by antiquelady

Thank you so much for helpful reply. The issue about the heat exchanger would be a concern, especially if it can't be repaired. Do you have the basement air? Why did you mention roof air? Is the basement air an issue? Also do you have the chev 8.1 Workhorse or Ford? What kind of mileage do you get? Thanks again so much. I am learning so much.

We have the Workhorse and it has been very reliable. We get about 7 mpg.

Remember also when you negotiate that the coach you are looking at with 6k miles may look like it has good tires but if they are more than 5 years old you will want to replace them regardless of tread. I may my slightly off their but the tires begin to crack and emoluents in the rubber does not works its way into the tire to lubricate the rubber because they are sitting still. Even convered it is a problem. Do some reading on this in the forum as I am not the expert here but I bought a new coach with tread that looked like new. I did not know about the life of the tires and ended up replacing all 6 almost as soon as I bought it.

Cherokee9 · 02-05-2011, 12:14 PM

We purchased our 2004 Itasca 33V in July 2004 with about 3000 miles one it. We now have approx. 32000 on it. In 2007 we put 10000 miles on it while traveling to Alaska. In 2009 we traveled from East Texas to Bar Harbor Maine (with a short-cut thru Fla.) and back. We are planning to head to N. Dakota, Wisc., Iowa, Mich. and Minn. this summer which is the only 5 states we have not been to.
My wife and I both love it. We have the basement air and bedroom and dining/living room slide which is just the right size for the two of us. The only problem we have had was the two rear leveling jacks and since we replaced both of them, we have had no more problems. One of them may have been bent by previous owner. I have replaced the Ez-Flow water pump and intend to replace both TV's with LED ones.
It was 23 degrees here in East Texas this morning and I started the generator on the MH and heated it up just using the Heat pump. You have to be patient and only adjust the thermostat up a couple of degree above the room temp at a time or else the gas heat kicks on.
To sum it up, we wouldn't trade our Itasca 33V for anything right now!