Can I Join?

Warpath · 06-30-2006, 12:07 PM

That darn Winnebago Tour!

Not sure if any of you remember but back in January I had posted about a Horizon we saw at the Pittsburgh RV Show. I was impressed, my wife (Michelle) loved it and so did the kids. But I am a truck conversion man! (add Tim the tool-man grunt here) I love my conversion, it is built like a brick sh** house, with all kinds of steel, real wood through out and handles the roads awesome.

Well the Winnebago Tour a few weeks ago during our 2 week vacation put the nail in the coffin. Michelle and kids climbed all over a Ellipse with the KD floor-plan and now I am really feeling the pressure. I was again really impressed with the innovative stuff Winnebago is doing, really liked the tour of the factory, stopped in and said hi to Brian Funk, checked out the Ellipse but still in my mind I was not getting rid of my Show Hauler.

Well as we left Winnebago and the vacation wore on it became more and more apparent that the family wanted a say in what kind of RV we would be traveling around in. I started to do some research reading through a ton of posts here, looking at rigs forsale, comparing manufacturers in a similar price range, reading through Winnebago literature, pouring over the specs and we finally decided a Vectra or Horizon was in our future.

One of my big hang ups with traditional RV's has been the weak interiors. My last Class A had flimsy fake trim, chintzy draws and glides, just no structure. I was afraid to use the thing.

I must say I am very impressed with what Winnebago is doing and feel the interiors have come along way and love all of the user friendly systems Winne incorporates. It doesn't help that I camp with 2 Winnebago owners either.

My next hurdle is selling my conversion. I wanted to trade it in, and I have even made a few offers on 06 Vectra's, but most RV dealers don't know what to do with mine and they are leary about taking it in. So it is up for sale, and when we sell it we'll be part of the club.

In the mean time I maybe asking alot of questions, we are going to take a peak at one again tomorrow just to be sure to nail down what we really want.

Who do I talk to about getting a Winnebago Owner tag when the time comes?

Bill

Warpath · 06-30-2006, 12:07 PM

That darn Winnebago Tour!

Not sure if any of you remember but back in January I had posted about a Horizon we saw at the Pittsburgh RV Show. I was impressed, my wife (Michelle) loved it and so did the kids. But I am a truck conversion man! (add Tim the tool-man grunt here) I love my conversion, it is built like a brick sh** house, with all kinds of steel, real wood through out and handles the roads awesome.

Well the Winnebago Tour a few weeks ago during our 2 week vacation put the nail in the coffin. Michelle and kids climbed all over a Ellipse with the KD floor-plan and now I am really feeling the pressure. I was again really impressed with the innovative stuff Winnebago is doing, really liked the tour of the factory, stopped in and said hi to Brian Funk, checked out the Ellipse but still in my mind I was not getting rid of my Show Hauler.

Well as we left Winnebago and the vacation wore on it became more and more apparent that the family wanted a say in what kind of RV we would be traveling around in. I started to do some research reading through a ton of posts here, looking at rigs forsale, comparing manufacturers in a similar price range, reading through Winnebago literature, pouring over the specs and we finally decided a Vectra or Horizon was in our future.

One of my big hang ups with traditional RV's has been the weak interiors. My last Class A had flimsy fake trim, chintzy draws and glides, just no structure. I was afraid to use the thing.

I must say I am very impressed with what Winnebago is doing and feel the interiors have come along way and love all of the user friendly systems Winne incorporates. It doesn't help that I camp with 2 Winnebago owners either.

My next hurdle is selling my conversion. I wanted to trade it in, and I have even made a few offers on 06 Vectra's, but most RV dealers don't know what to do with mine and they are leary about taking it in. So it is up for sale, and when we sell it we'll be part of the club.

In the mean time I maybe asking alot of questions, we are going to take a peak at one again tomorrow just to be sure to nail down what we really want.

Who do I talk to about getting a Winnebago Owner tag when the time comes?

Bill

SargeW · 06-30-2006, 12:30 PM

Hi Bill,

I was a die hard 5ver puller until I started looking at Winnebago Meridian's. Yup, same story. Now I own one.........

DriVer · 06-30-2006, 03:08 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Warpath:
Who do I talk to about getting a Winnebago Owner tag when the time comes? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Please allow me ....

rebelsbeach · 06-30-2006, 03:21 PM

Bill, I'm glad to see you're coming over to the "other side" and joining us diesel pusher folks...

When the time comes I think it'd be "fitting" for Mike to add the Winnebago "karma" to your signature....

Heck, if you'd have done this a few months ago we could have ALL met in Forest City and you could have met the "now famous" Jill from the Lodge Restaurant across the street.
Maybe Bryan can get you to come back out and have your warranty stuff done there....

Think they'd service my new coach too?

Just remember.....if Momma ain't happy....then NOBODY'S happy!!!

LouRobin · 07-02-2006, 11:22 PM

Which floorplan struck your fancy ?

rebelsbeach · 07-03-2006, 01:36 AM

Bill AND HIS WIFE AND KIDS esoecially liked the 40KD...

Warpath · 07-03-2006, 03:05 AM

I love where the TV is in the FD, but for the 4 of us it's more important to have the 2 couches in the KD.

We can go either way on the table & chairs or the dinette, would love the sink w/ vanity in the bedroom, but could live with the chest of draws, and would prefer the king, but again could deal with the queen.

We didn't get a chance to go looking on Saturday, but will be heading out today if they are open and may have a better idea of the "must have" list.

AdrianLee · 07-03-2006, 04:29 AM

Bill,

The TV placement in the FD gives the feeling of being in a home rather than an RV. With just the 2 of us it is great, especially as full timers with no stick house (right now). The FD also feels like it has more room in the living room although I doubt it really does.

Think about this - where are the 2 little ones going to sit to watch TV - both of them on a couch or both of them on the floor. That might get you thinking more about the FD.

Warpath · 07-03-2006, 03:23 PM

Wahoo we had fun today.

Went down to Avalon RV in Medina to check out, in person, a Vectra they have on the lot.

Unfortunately the salesmen I have been talking with was on vacation and they where running a skeleton crew today so no test drive. But we crawled all over the Vectra and a bunch of other pushers they had on the lot and it really gave us a good chance to solidify what we want.

We definitely settled on the KD floorplan. The seating & sleeping arrangements work much better for us in the KD. As far as the dining arrangements, we could go with any of the available options. We found pro's and con's to each so thats not a deal breaker. Must have the king bed and we really like the chair and chest of drawers. Even with the king taking up a bunch of room, I really like that chair back there and I was surprised how comfy it was.

This is the first time that I really focused on this RV possibly being mine. So we spent about an hour going through every drawer, cabinet & closet and I can truly say that I am blown away with Winnebago's use of every conceivable bit of space. For once I feel like who ever is designing these RV's must be a RV'er!

Spent alot of time in the captains chair, love the dash, and it's great to have so many controls on the steering wheel. Also the ergonomics seem really good with many of the important items very close by.

Avalon has a decent selection of pushers on their lot which afforded us the ability to compare each of them and really helped us confirm that we where picking the right Manufacturer as well as model. We even went into a rig that was $100,000 more than the Vectra and hands down would pick a Vectra or Horizon over it. Don't get me wrong it was nice, but it just seems like Winnebago packs so much functionality into it rigs that you really would have to step up way big to pass that up.

It was a ton of fun and it would have been even better to have driven the Vectra home. We have a bunch of irons in the fire trying to make something happen pretty quickly, would love to be in a Vectra or Horizon before the National Rally.

I did receive a email from Lou (iRV2 member: RMM) who works at Suncoast RV. They have a ton of Winnebago's & Itasca's and we are trying to work something out there.

I'll keep ya posted.

rebelsbeach · 07-03-2006, 03:54 PM

Bill....you had mentioned you liked the second sink in the bedroom.

With the BR chair you lose that sink,so I'm thinking you and the wife nixed the sink?

I know with the wife and one daughter,I like being "assigned" the sink in the toilet room as mine....with two kids you might want to give that one some thought.

I agree with your storage assessment of the 40KD....I also was very happy with the smart wheel controls and even the controls for the radio/cd are on the wheel....Made traveling solo that much easier.....

I can imagine the chair is comfortable and it does afford the opportunity to watch the tube back there without getting on the bed, just playing the devil's advocate...

If you get anywhere south and need a stop,just give me a ring....driveway's a little crowded, but room for two more!!

LouRobin · 07-07-2006, 04:08 PM

Bill,
Thanks for posting up the link for Sun Coast RV.

The Florida Boomers are spending an extended weekend at a wonderful RV Resort in the middle of what FL used to be like. River Ranch RV Resort, on the Kissimme River.

Hopefully when I get back to reality you and the GM at Suncoast will have "done a deal."

jimandsue60 · 07-07-2006, 05:15 PM

Bill, you may have seen some questions I posted on other forums. I was dead set on a truck conversion, renegade or showhauler. But after seeing some things we liked in the Winnebago line and my wife's thoughts on the conversion being to "manly" looking we decided on a more traditional rv. Good luck on your purchase.

Jim