RV Shopper Series – Midsize Class A Diesel

Jason

Apr 4, 2015 — 3 min read

In this RV Shopper Series we take you on an RV shopping experience, as if we were at the dealership together. We walk through 4 similar RVs and point out our top three likes and dislikes from each motorhome. We try not to cover any overlapping issues so you can see what we like and don’t like when looking for a new RV. So, let’s go RV shopping!

Most people don’t start their RV adventure with a big brand new 40 foot plus motorhome, they slowly work their way up to it. By no means are these the top of the line motorhomes out there but they aren’t the least expensive either so we’ve classified this type of Class A Diesel Motorhome as “Mid-Size”.

We can’t cover every detail or every motorhome so we’ve selected 4 of what we feel are the top sellers, the new-to-the-market and the most popular motorhomes in this class of RV. We’ve also done our best to feature the major RV manufacturers for this more luxurious RV segment. Here’s our top selects for the Class A Mid-Size Diesel motorhomes:

Fleetwood Discovery 40X – 3 thumbs up
Tiffin Phaeton 40AH – 2.5 thumbs up
Itasca Meridian 40R – 2 thumbs up
Thor Tuscany XTE 40GQ – 1.5 thumbs up

If you’re shopping for this class of motorhome there are several other RVs in this segment you may like to see including the Winnebago Journey, Newmar Ventana and Forest River Berkshire XL.

Who is this RV made for?

We think this type of Motorhome is perfect for the shopper looking for a touch of luxury with a majority of the amenities one would expect to find in a small home. With this class of RV you can expect bigger engines with more power, higher end paint jobs, cooler cockpits, more technology, better ride quality, less road noise during travel, upgraded furniture and several other little touches. We recently did a side-by-side comparison of an entry level RV vs. this mid size RV and we feel it’s worth a watch if you’re wondering “why the big price difference?”

How much does this RV cost?

As always it’s nearly impossible to translate the MSRP into the “Street Price” one might expect to pay but a quick search online shows the Thor for under $200,000.00, the Fleetwood for $214,000.00 and the Itasca for $230,000.00.

What to look for when shopping for this type of RV.

Storage – Different chassis styles provide various amounts of basement storage.
GVWR, GCVWR, GVWR, OCCC – All these acronyms add up to provide you EXTREMELY valuable information about your RV: How much stuff you can carry; How much towing capacity you have; How much water you can load into your tank. Make sure you ask for this info on each RV you consider purchasing.
Inverter and Batteries – Most RVs in this segment have a puresine wave inverter with a smart charger which is a bonus. The battery banks vary but most have at least 600ah which is a good start for boondocking and adding solar.
Build quality – Take note of the quality of the things you’ll use daily such as windows, storage bays, entry door, cabinets, bed, bathroom, faucets, sinks, fridge, seating comfort, A/C, heater, awning, etc. Its the small things that make the final price vary, for example if all the fixtures are low quality it might explain why one RV is $10,000 less than the others.

If you have a personal experience with one of these brands, RVs, or this “Mid-size” class A diesel segment, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. We hope our RV shopper series might help others when it comes to searching and buying their first, or next, motorhome.

Disclaimer – Yes, we’re generalizing with a lot of this information, but we’re trying to help people target which RV is right for their needs. Your experience and opinions will be totally different. The different RV dealerships didn’t compensate us nor are we affiliated with them in any way, but we are thankful they let us hang around and film inside their RV’s. None of the RV manufactures featured here compensated us either. All opinions expressed are our own and based on our RV’ing experience. At the time of filming we traveled in a Fleetwood Excursion.