Ordered 2020 2500FL

kone · 04-06-2019, 05:17 AM

Well, after more than a year going back and forth on every possibility, every class, do we want to RV at all, etc, etc we finally bit the bullet and ordered a 2500FL.

Wife and I are both 57, retired, and wanting to see the US in spurts of at least a week at a time with our trusty lab Tonka riding as mascot. He's a GREAT traveler, sleeps 90% of the time and needs to stop for potty breaks a lot less than me and my weak prostate lol.

Important decision for me was for now to just KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. Figured it would be a lot less stress (and then more fun) to stick with a used medium size TT.

As I was shopping for used it became apparent that, being a total newbie, I would feel a lot more comfortable with a full warranty and local(ish) dealer service and support. A place I could get a service slot if needed, answer basic stupid questions, etc. To reduce depreciation hit I figured I could rely on my negotiating prowess (I can be a ball-buster) and get a super deal. If not, I simply keep searching for used.

Anyway, got 4 dealers involved in the bidding process, 3 of which had unit in stock (2019s) and the fourth said they'd have to order. In the end I got a fantastic price that was lower than some 3 year old used units from the "order" dealer. Obviously, getting a new 2020 vs a one or two year old leftover saves me that many years of depreciation hit.

Wife and I are very excited! Now we gotta upgrade the truck and researching/buying supplies etc.

Bigbird65 · 04-07-2019, 11:22 AM

When do you expect to take delivery? Make sure you try out everything during the walk through. Have them hook up water and electricity. Turn on each faucet. Look for leaks. Turn on the water heater. Turn on the space heater. Turn on the AC. Put water in the fresh water tank. Try out the water pump. Again, look for leaks. Turn on the refrigerator. Make sure it works on gas and 120vac. Be prepared to take the time to do all of this. Don't take it home until every thing is fixed.

kone · 04-07-2019, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigbird65

When do you expect to take delivery? Make sure you try out everything during the walk through. Have them hook up water and electricity. Turn on each faucet. Look for leaks. Turn on the water heater. Turn on the space heater. Turn on the AC. Put water in the fresh water tank. Try out the water pump. Again, look for leaks. Turn on the refrigerator. Make sure it works on gas and 120vac. Be prepared to take the time to do all of this. Don't take it home until every thing is fixed.

3-4 weeks but could be sooner if Winnebago has a similar unit already done sitting at factory.

Good advice. Thanks for sharing.

SummitPond · 04-07-2019, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kone

Well, ... we finally bit the bullet and ordered a 2500FL. ...

Congratulations. We also have a 2500FL and are extremely happy with it.

Good advice ^^^ on a thorough PDI. Here's a link from another site I frequent (my old TT) that has a good checklist to follow.

I also highly recommend you invest in a good WDH, water regulator and surge supressor/energy management system (for your shore power). I have the Progressive Industry hard-wired unit and it saved my bacon in my old trailer; I put another in the new trailer.

Bigbird65 · 04-08-2019, 07:24 AM

I installed the PI EMS-HW30C the first week we had our 2250DS in March 2018. It is powered up 24/7 when we are not towing. I really trust it and highly recommend it.

kone · 04-08-2019, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigbird65

I installed the PI EMS-HW30C the first week we had our 2250DS in March 2018. It is powered up 24/7 when we are not towing. I really trust it and highly recommend it.

Thanks I might hit you up for info on it later.

Bigbird65 · 04-08-2019, 07:04 PM

Kone, here is the manual to read over.

PJTroyer · 04-14-2019, 06:05 PM

I recommend spending a night/day or 2 at the dealer's lot hooked up and a night and day with no hook up

Get used to the sounds in the night with
inverter on and off. Listen for intermittent cooling fan if there is one
AC on
heat on
water hooked up
Shore water hooked up with water heater on at night as well as day
Shore water not hooked up, water in fresh water tank but pump on at night with water heater on. then after 4 hrs turn water heater off
water not hooked up but pump off at night with water heater on
etc etc. ( you get the idea. listen for sounds)

Fill the grey tank to see what warnings you get when nearly full
same with black waste water
unhook shore power see how long your batteries maintain the Elec frighted. lights and try all other electric gadgets to see which run off batteries when not hooked to shore power. Especially Elec outlet (s) set for coffee maker or other heavy watt users
Learn about your inverter
I also found my fob door lock did not open cabin door on my motorhome. A quick fix since I was a the dealers in the morning

I did have a elec surge protector hard wired in
and tire pressure/temp bluetooth added by dealer
and I use a water pressure regulator at he spigot end of my water hose

We alsodid a few 2 /3 night trial stays to learn more. Most times it was my lack of knowledge that caused my need for advice and phone calls and blog reading ???s

Other campers with a similar rig have been most helpful with suggestions

Have fun we are

jddobbs · 04-14-2019, 06:40 PM

Congrats on the new 2500FL. We've had a 2017 2500FL for a couple years and enjoy it and find it comfortable. Been to both coasts and places in between.

Once small design complaint I have with ours is the lack of a speaker in the bedroom area. Sometimes we like to listen to music or a ballgame while reading in bed and have to turn the speakers up front in order to listen. I'd be interested to know if the 2020 version has fixed this.

Enjoy,
John

Doxiedog4me · 04-14-2019, 09:00 PM

Congratulations!

Lou D · 04-16-2019, 01:33 PM

Hi Kone,
I'm a newbie, recently retired and am planning on purchasing a 2020, 24D (Sprinter - Murphy Bed) when they come out, hopefully in July/Aug. I live in San Diego but will go with the dealer with the best price even if it means going a distance. Hopefully it will be at a dealer that has the ability to install upgrades like HWH levelers, EMS with battery monitoring etc. I would be interested in learning how you got the bidding going on the price. Did you negotiate by emails combined with phone calls or what did you find effective? At many RV shows in the past I have seen discounts of around 25-28% and am hoping to get that even though I'm looking at the new 2020 on the new 2019 Sprinter chassis.
I plan on taking a close look at comments from others on the delivery inspections.
Thanks for any advice in getting a good price and good luck with your new rig!

DanC · 09-24-2020, 10:42 AM

We purchased a 2500FL in July. It's been great so far. The only real annoyance has been that our Keurig coffee maker blows the fuse often. As far as I can tell the only other thing running is hot water heater and battery regulator.

DanC · 08-08-2021, 03:02 PM

Update: After warranty service failed to diagnose the problem with electrical system, I decided to replace the main breaker (30 amp/15amp). After replacing the breaker everything seems to work fine… we can now run AC, fridge, HW heater, microwave and coffee maker without having to reset breaker. Unusual to find a bad breaker on a new system, but we were the lucky ones.

DanC · 08-08-2021, 03:07 PM

Update: the owners manual clearly states that the bumper on the 2500FL is not designed to bear weight other than spare tire. I failed to follow their advice and broke my bumper. I was able to find a reasonable replacement on Amazon. Removing the bolts needs to be done with a grinder. The new bumper looks fine and works great… no more overloading for me.

DanC · 08-08-2021, 03:11 PM

As much as we love our travel trailer we’re starting to look at motor homes… the market is crazy right now but when things settle down some we plan to find a Vista or Sunstar 31B.

SummitPond · 08-09-2021, 07:17 AM

Have y'all had any issues with your dump valves (black & gray)?

Ours were extremely difficult to manipulate; I finally got them replaced under warranty with the help of Winnebago - the dealer was only interested in lubricating the cable pulls. Unfortunately, since they did that work (which continues to work fine) the ball valve seal in the toilet seems to have sprung a leak, even though it looks perfectly good. I wonder if it was something they did (perhaps jamming a stick down there to hold the valve open while they worked) and of course they are denying any responsibility. I'll have to replace the seal.

DanC · 08-09-2021, 10:37 AM

Sorry to you are going through this problem, so far we haven’t had any issues. After reading about this issue, here and in other forums, I will probably proactively lubricate.