melon

Keith, that was an eye opener of a post. You may have saved me from making a mistake. I have rented 20 ft Class C RV's before for trips to Yosemite and power never seemed to be an issue. I just assumed that a 6 cylinder Toy would be similar. The driving experience that you described is something that would leave me very unsatisfied, and no, tenting is not in my plans. My weakness is that I really like Toyotos as all of mine have been bullet proof under the hood. I considered buying an 8 cylinder Tundra and put a hard top camper (like a very small Northern Lite) on it, solving the power aspect. But the payload on a half ton Tundra is only about 1500 lbs and after adding the weight of the people and the camper weight, the choices are slim. Even so, that is my best bet but not quite giving me what I am looking for. I appreciate your candor, anything you have to share with me is much appreciated. Is there such thing as a good, reliable Class B motorhome for under $20k? If not, how much do I need to pay if I need a peace of mind with the the realiability under the hood? I have read reviews on Class B motorhomes and a lot of customers have paid more and have been less than thrilled. Thanks again, for your advice.

Keith, let me expand.... Trips to Vegas, Monterrey, San Francisco.....scenic drives and sleeping in the hotel. Trips to Lake Havasu, Yosemite, Baja California, Utah.....sleeping in the motorhome. Most trips will have 2-3 people, a third of the time we will have 5-6 people. For business purposes, I will occasionally be entertaining people visiting from overseas and they have expressed interest in spending time traveling in a RV. This will be twice a year for a week each time. I have considered a converted van like you suggested, but the choices are pretty expensive. My reasoning is that a toy could be used for both, but a class B cannot be used for both when we have larger parties. I am interested in something with more versatility and I won't have a problem with parking. Thanks for your input, I hope you give me some more. I will seriously consider your advice.

Wow, Keith, thanks for the detailed answer. I have been very loyal to Toyotas as I have had extremely good luck with their cars. My Camry's tranny is being repaired right now after holding strong for 200k miles and it's engine is still running like new. It is a '95 4 banger and I think that I can keep it for another 100k miles. Plus the AC is ice cold and can run for 10 hours on a long drive without a struggle. Question: When it comes to the Toyota based motorhomes, can I expect similar longevity with the engine and powertrain? To me, as long as I can have peace of mind towards the mechanical components, I can handle the rest. Some of the more expensive Toys have mileage under 100k miles and have had their head gaskets fixed under recall. What makes me a little different than the other enthusiasts here is that I am primarity interested in a motorhome for traveling in comfort on the road. I will be traveling a lot with my dad, who is getting up there is years. At nights, we will be staying in hotels for sleeping, showering and eating out in restaurants... so those related facilites are not that important to me compared to mechanical reliability. This is mostly based on being new to traveling by RV. In time, I might be a hard core hobbyist and just live out of my Toy while traveling. But for now, I am not a DIY and don't want to spend much time on fixing RV outside of routine maintenance- just like with my Camry. Another question: If I need to replace a part in a '91-'93 coach, are these parts relatively easy to obtain? Or can new parts from today be used for AC/plumbing/electrical/generator/fridge repairs and replacement? Thanks for any answers that you guys have for me. I am pretty sure that I am going to buy a well maintained Toy and this site has been helpful. I just want to make sure that I know what I need to know, before forking over my hard earned cash.

Newbie here....this is my first post.... This is the closest thread that I can find that mirrors what I the information that I am looking for, so I am going to bump this up. I am in the market for a pre-owned motorhome, but I am not sure if the selling prices are fair and what kind of Toy I should focus on. When I check out NADA RV, it is a complicated process to fill out the options, but it seems as if some of the nicer RV's are way above their blue book values. I am traveling for 2-3 days at a time and we'll have 2 in our group. However, I want to buy something that can accomodate more as there will be times when I will travel with a larger family. The most important feature I am looking for is mechanical reliability, which is how I found this site. Even though the 4 cylinders may be more solid than the 6 cylinder, I am going to get the stronger 6. The engine, powertrain and heating/cooling are critical in terms of not breaking down. Since I travel a lot in rural areas with limited cell coverage, I need a peace of mind. I live in So California and the selection of Toys are limited and again, the really nice ones seem overpriced. Any advice of this first time buyer?