PC 3100 and PC 2351 Owners ... purchase dilemma

 I have owned 24', 27', 31', 34', 36', 40', and 41' foot motor homes. I found that the bigger it was the more I enjoyed it while it was parked. When driving, the smaller units were much more easy to drive and maneuver, less stressful. How will you spend most of your time, staying put in the camp ground or doing side trips? We enjoy the side trips  sightseeing and eating in the small local restaurants. We currently have a Phoenix 3100 and tow a 12' enclosed trailer with a trike motorcycle in it for the local touring and exploring. We will probably soon be towing a small car. No, I don't like to tow but do feel that it definitely is worth it due to the freedom and flexibility it gives us. We are very happy with our 3100. Sure  a 23' motor home is is easier to park than a 31', but a 14' car is  a lot easier than the 23' coach. No one size fits all in the Rv world. Best of luck, you have selected a good brand of motor home.

 I have owned coaches 27,32,36,38,24, 25 and now 31 foot length.  Like DynaDave the big ones are great when parked but a pain otherwise.  While you may think breaking camp to go get milk is easy it gets old very fast.  While I do not really enjoy towing my Jeep it does give me more flexibility to take more toys including my kayaks, bikes, etc.  The 31' is perfect for a couple and gives you plenty of storage and room to live.  As a couple we found the shorter length coaches are just to confining and the corner beds just do not work for us.  Every one has different needs and wants and certainly no one floor plan meets the needs of everyone. A slide in what ever size coach you decide on is a must.  I am still hoping that PC comes out with a new model just a little longer, perhaps a 33' on the Dodge/Ford 5500/F series chassis, Dynamax and Born Free have such coaches now   I would be very inclined to purchase such a unit.   Best of luck in your selection process.   Ron G.

Ron,
We agree with everything in your comments. We could not deal with the corner bed in the 2350. The 2551 was a good unit but we wanted more room--the creature comforts during our 4 month exodus out of Florida. The 2910, for us, fits the bill. And yes, the slide is a must have!

We tow a Honda Fit--kayaks on top and assorted beach chairs, beach umbrellas etc. in the back. We have the freedom to take day trips without breaking up camp.

Now if PC built a little larger unit as you outlined, we would probably be the owners of our 4th PC!

Judi

Mike (Pax):  Very helpful perspective.  No matter which unit we purchase ...we will investigate the towing option ...likely after we get some RV'ing under our belt.  This is another reason we have PC at the head of our list ...with the Ford platform (either E350 or E450) there is ample capacity and power to tow ...vs. some of the smaller Sprinter platforms we've looked at.  Interestingly, I have a perfect vehicle .. a new Jeep Wrangler 4 door that is currently an extra vehicle in our garage.  Lots to learn for us in this new adventure called RV'ing!!   Thanks for the note. 

Steve

I highly recommend you "test camp" in a rented RV prior to purchase. We had a ton of camping experience but zilch RV experience so we spent two weeks camping with no tow vehicle. We had promised ourselves we would remain in camp the entire time since the trip was to test the livability of an RV and discover what we did or did not like about the bed, bath, kitchen, etc. However, we gave in to our whims and broke camp several times to run off and check out local attractions. This actually was good. We discovered it was fairly easy to unhook water and electric but there was so much "stuff" not secured inside at any given time and all that had to be cleaned up and stowed prior to driving. We also worried about some of the rough roads we drove on. The rental units are usually not in perfect shape and the clanking and rattling while we drove down the road told us we would not want to take our permanent "house" down the rougher roads if we could avoid it.

We had differing opinions on towing prior to the trip. By the end of the trip, we agreed we would tow. We also knew that we wanted a permanent bed but not a corner bed, we needed functional space in the kitchen and many other little things. We kept a notebook and pen on the table while we test camped and each wrote down our thoughts on what we liked and didn't like. That trip was invaluable to us and we feel like we really hit it right when we ordered our 2552.

It's not cheap to rent an RV but gave us great confidence in our decisions and saved us money in the long run.

H