I am on my 6th coach and have been RVing for 17 years as a part-timer but finally went full-time. The 38J (we have the 2007) was a no brainer for us because the floor-plan was the best we had seen. (Just FYI I sold a Newmar DP and traded to this coach.) The 8.1 and Allison combo is just fine (the best gas/tranny combo out there). We lived in the Pacific Northwest and this coach has pulled mountains (Sierra's, Cascades, and Rockies) loaded to bear while towing a car. I admit it's much slower than my DP's but we are in no hurry since we full-time and to be honest taking it slow and seeing the sights is actually much more fun. Also going down the hills is great with the grade brake, kind of "mimics" an exhaust brake on a DP.
As far as the 38J goes here are the downsides:
Weight balancing - You will have a hard time not over-loading the rear axle. We have never gone over GVWR but our Rear GAWR is over the limit by about 400 lbs. If this bothers you then don't buy this coach.
Basement Storage - If you are a pack rat you will run out of storage quick, we on the other hand are the exact opposite and we still have empty storage spaces both in an out of the coach.
Basement Air - Some hate it, some love it. We have had no problem with ours but expect only about 15 degree cooling differential. Many of the cooling units have had split air ducts. Ours did and it's a pretty quick and easy fix. I did mine in about 45 minutes and it's held for over a year. As far as servicing the unit. I have to disagree with another poster. Basement airs can be serviced by ANY home heating and AC company. To help them out you need to slide the unit out which takes about 30 -60 minutes of your time to do and then they just repair it like they would your house unit. BTW, home Heating and Air con guys are usually cheaper than RV repair places
Short Queen: I'm 6'1 1/2" tall and I don't mind the short queen. I have a friend who is 6'4" and has a short queen in another coach and he doesn't mind either. Yet i know another guy who is 5'10" that hated the short queen so much he dumped his MH and bought another with with a King bed in it. This is something you really need to decide for yourself. Speaking of the bed, it comes with the sleep number, I hate those things and put in a memory foam but you may love it, again that is personal preference.
Windshield Leaks - Winnebago has had some problems with windshield leaks, mine doesn't leak but I have seen others that have and have had some serious rust issues. I would pay particular attention to this.
Windshield Wipers - Moisture can get into the wiper contacts which cause them to stay on. There are a lot of simple tricks to fix this problem but something to be aware of. Also if you leave the moisture there and do nothing (let's say you are parked for an extended period) then it can rust out the connectors leaving your wipers inop.
Kitchen Slide - The slide mechanism is strong (one of the better one's on the market) buy you need to be careful not to overload it. Everyone who has had problems with this slide has overloaded. Remember that you have to keep weight forward and off the rear axle so this can be a bit of a juggling act.
Here are the positives:
Floor-Plan - Probably one of the best I have ever seen, Winnebago really did an amazing job with this one.
Chassis - The W24 is probably the best gas MH chassis ever built and matted to a 38J it is a joy to drive. The brakes are super strong (don't ask me how I know) and the handling with no modifications is excellent.
Galley - LOTS of storage. LOTS of counter space. I have had many people's eyes light up and proclaim that they want that big of a kitchen. Of course kitchen was extremely important to us. I do all of the cooking and really enjoy being able to play in this kitchen.
Mid-Entry by the Galley - It wasn't until we owned a DP that we realized just how inconvenient a front entry door really is. If you cook outside you can walk straight from the prep area or the refrigerator out to the grill. When it rains you have a real awning to keep you dry as you enter the coach.
Windows - So many coaches have very few windows. We love to see out, we love to have the breeze flow-through the coach when it's nice out. We love to eat at the dining room table and see the whole view from there.
Build quality - Almost 2 years now and our total repairs on a 'used' coach have been 1) replace one convertor 2) reinforce a overhead cabinet that we totally overloaded. To be honest I keep wondering why more things haven't gone wrong. :whistiling: I will also say that this is my first Winnebago, I used to kind of poo-poo the brand but there are so many well thought out engineering and design aspects to this coach that I must say that I am very impressed. Just one small example is light switch placement and light placement. I am always amazed at the terrible location of light switches and dark areas in coaches, but this coach has all the switches in where they logically should be and the even have small isle lights and lights under cabinets that other coaches would not include.
I also looked at the diesel sister coach (Journey 39F) but found more attributes that I liked on the gas 38J. If you have any other questions please feel free to PM me.
PS - Since full-timing we have averaged 7.18 MPG, not great, not bad.