Introduce Yourself!

Thank you for allowing us to join your group.  We are long-time (nearly 30 years) cruising sailboaters who spent much of our time in Eastern Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida.  We recently sold our boat and are now actively searching for a B+ rv and the PC is high on our list.  Back in the late 70's we owned a Mobile Traveler rv.  Obviously much has changed since then and we hope to utilize the experience and knowledge of the group to aid in our quest.

Mike and Lynn Ratliff
Fort Myers Beach, FL

Hello Tjron47,

Welcome to the Forum.

We will be in Palm Desert, CA during January to April and would be happy to show you our 2014 2552 there if you have the time to make the trip over then.

We were in a similar situation to you when we sold our 2004 36' Beaver Monterey that we enjoyed for ten years.  We have no regrets for switching to our Phoenix Cruiser.

Best wishes,
Bruce and Sharon

Mike and Lynn

Welcome to the group.  We will be in Fort Myers Beach at the Red Coconut from 3/1 to 3/21 on the beach side.  If you are in the area and interested in seeing a 2551--stop over.  There usually are 2 or 3 PCs in the campground during March.  Or if you are near WP Franklin or Koreshan State Park we will be there.  Send us an email.

Barry and Sue

Howdy,

I just joined the forum!  I've owned (3) Lazy Daze and (1) Born Free Class C RVs.  Back then it was about taking short weekend trips to smaller campgrounds with our son.  When we started taking "longer' two week summer trips we decided to take a tow car with us.  The next phase is going to be retirement traveling to see places and friends.  Trips will be most likely from 1- 4 weeks away from our main base.

So, having owned quality Class C's in the past, having no desire to crawl up into a cab-over, wanting something that can tow a 4,500 pound Ford Edge and large enough to be comfortable when camping yet fairly easy to drive .... we are looking at B+ coaches from PC and a few other SOB manufacturers.

So far, I think I'm liking the 3100.  We had dinettes in our Class Cs.  We also want fixed beds.  Plus, we want places to lounge other than the dinette or the beds.

Any thoughts or suggestions from 3100 owners or anyone else with similar goals would be appreciated!

NCCAMPGUY

I hope I'm not hijacking the original thread. I'm a new owner of a used 2012 3100. Here are my thoughts. 3100 was right for us. Check the bed length on all floor plans. We wanted twin beds long enough to stretch out. We love the dinette. The power love seat with foot rests is comfortable for us. One slide is fine but maybe opposing slides would be better. I just don't have the answer to that question yet. We have a power passenger seat which my wife loves. Downside is a power seat does not swivel. Not an issue for us. 31' limits your turning radius but if you are aware of this you can plan around it. We tow a Buick Enclave which adds to this issue. Quality is excellent. We bought used from a PC owner that had corrected any issues before we bought it. There were not many issues at delivery. PC supports second owners. I broke a storage door catch and contacted Carol at PC. A new color matching catch was sent to me at no cost. I don't think you can go wrong with a PC.

We have are in route to Elkhart to purchase our first Phoenix Cruiser. It has been very helpful to read most of the post on this site and gain valuable information. We look forward to more interaction and meeting people along the way.

We currently live in Southeastern Virginia and are hoping to be on the road again as soon as they build our coach.


Dennis And Candy Murray

Awesome! You are going to love your factory visit AND your Phoenix once she's built. Enjoy your trip and don't hesitate to ask for help on the forum. The people here have always been fantastic in their response time and help. I'm sure my idiot questions are still on the site somewhere but everyone was very patient and helpful with me as I'm sure they will be with you, so don't hesitate to ask.

The online videos that Earl and Kyle put on the Phoenix Site are also great.

The wait from order time to pick up is excruciating but we all lived through it and had an awesome time equipping our rigs. The weather should be better by the time yours is built so you should be ready to go. Enjoy the adventures!

Okay, here goes... first post.  I am contemplating a major life change from owning a farm and running a horse business to selling it all and rv'ing full time, at least for awhile.  I am a bit of a 'motorhead' for a woman, have dragged huge LQs horse trailers and horses coast to coast alone for years, am a freak about taking good care of equipment, and am fairly handy.

I am about a year into my research and have narrowed my choices down to the brands that seem to have the best quality control and consumer satisfaction... Coach House, Nexus, Born Free, PC, and Jayco (some negative reviews but love their new 30x floorplan and 2-yr warranty). 

I have read countless hours on many owners forums.  And being a somewhat skeptical type, I find this one to be, well frankly, remarkable.  Is it really possible that nearly all comments are positive and the company provides this kind of quality control and after sale service?  I'm not suggesting that negative comments are scrubbed, I just find it curious.  Very refreshing, but curious ;-)

I am going through all the normal questions, concerns and confusion about options, etc.  Terrified that I will miss my big house and space, I initially thought I needed a huge Class C as a minimum, but am now considering a well thought out small C or maybe B+.  And I'm ashamed to admit I haven't even driven one yet, but I am thoroughly researching wheelbase, driveability, etc and am not too worried about that until I settle on a brand or two.

My main quandry remains whether to purchase new or used.  I know prevailing wisdom says to never buy new (especially a first) and to buy a good quality used one with all the bugs worked out and initial depreciation gone.  BUT!  I am torn because I don't want any mechanical problems or surprises the first year and unexpected costs.  Also, I am very particular about the layout to fit my needs, and it is unlikely I could find one used that was set up right. I would of course love to find one that had been lightly used and well maintained (but then there's my skepticism about how people generally maintain things).

One of the major draws to the PC is that it appears they will try to modify the interior, which is huge for me.  And all of the problems that seem to prevail with horrible dealerships.  Though warranty work is a bit of a concern with direct buy. 

The other issue is 'toad' or 'no toad'.  The reason I would do this is to explore a lot of the country, and I love hiking and federal parks, thus the reconsideration of something smaller and less limiting.  I've trailered for years and don't mind it at all, but I could always back up!  Frankly, the thought of not being able to back up is disconcerting, and I don't know how you all manage it.  Pretty sure initially I would try no toad and just bike.

I have enjoyed reading many of your posts, and as everyone says, it is invaluable information.  Hopefully, I will be able to be helpful on occasion if I join your ranks as a PC owner. 

I would be interested in any comments regarding my new vs used quandry and also about the full-timing aspect (have been following rv-dreams site).  I don't see much discussion on here about that so I assume most are truly recreational users?  Many companies don't want to hear about and won't warranty a coach used that way... and I have yet to discuss that with PC. 

I will be attending the Tampa RV show next week which should be enlightening.  Thanks and hope to hear from some of you.  Sorry for the long post. 

I can't really comment on the new vs used, we bought new because we had specific layout items we wanted included.  I would recommend renting a couple different units to see how the "standard" layouts work for you and the space.  We rented, as Jill would say, "a bucket of bolts", but it was the length we wanted to ultimately buy.  We wanted to test out the space and make certain that we could function in a 25' motorhome.  Worked for us and showed us many things that we wanted to change.  Sorry, but for us, the shows weren't as much help.  We need to live in the space to really see how it worked.

Good luck with the search and enjoy the process.  The process can be fun.

Hi & Welcome, CKK,
I full-time solo (with dog and without toad) in my 2351, bought new in mid-2014.  Rather than leave a long reply in the forum addressing some of your questions and points, feel free to message me via the forum and we can either talk via email or phone, whichever you are more comfortable with.
 
Carol

Hi CKK,

Welcome to the PC forum!

To address your question about Phoenix USA and the quality of their motor homes.

The company really does stand behind it's products, more than you could imagine.  Of coarse there are limits as to what they will do for the owners of it's products, but it is far better than any other manufacture I know of.  New or well used, the company is extremely helpful to resolve any questions and issues you might have.  If the solution involves replacement parts under their own control, they seem to charge you only what it costs them.  I have not seen them mark up anything.

I recall someone buying an old PC (maybe a 2003) with structural issues that resulted from an accident.  They did not know it at the time they purchased it.  They called Phoenix who had them bring it in and during their slow period (back then Phoenix had a slow period just before the holidays) they rebuilt the problem area to be like new again, done at a very reasonable cost.  Another repair center like Camping World for example would have charged 4 to 6 times that amount.

My wife Irene and I ordered our PC nearly 10 years ago and the factory still treats us well with great customer service.  Fortunately our need for customer service has been quite minimal which reflects the quality put into our PC.  We do keep our PC garage-kept which does help.  I usually contact Phoenix for parts of one kind or another to support a change I want to make in our PC.

Phoenix USA is owned by Kermit Fisher.  He sets the way business is done there and everyone employed there is on-board with him.  There are a few other small privately owned motor home manufactures with similar business practices but they are a little to a lot more pricey and less flexible with customer special-requests.

About warranty work.  I hope more recent new-purchase PC owners will provide first-hand experience.  But it works like this.  If you live too far away from Phoenix, they have you take your PC to a local RV repair shop and Phoenix covers the bill.

About a tow vehicle.  If you are buying a longer PC, I think you would eventually want a tow vehicle to get around the places you described.  We own a short 2350 but we tow a 4x4 because there are too many primitive roads we like to travel on for day excursions which are not motorhome friendly.  Like you, I was disappointed to learn about the no-backing-up restriction.  But like everyone else who tows another vehicle on the street, we learned to deal with it.

Thanks Polish Prince, Carol, and Ron.  Everything about PC service has sounded great, so being a little bit long in the tooth myself, my last concern is ownership changes (which I know can happen to any company and is beyond my control).  How old is Kermit???

CKK asks an interesting question.....how long will Kermit control Phoenix.  I have no idea.

But I am not concerned about it.  We bought THIS Toyota/Mirage motor home brand new in 1983.  Mirage went out of business 3 years later.  We owned that rig for 24 years, 21 years after they went out of business.

Most of what could go wrong with a motor home is subcontracted stuff like windows, appliances, seats, and such.  The only concern would be if something structural went wrong.  But then how many RV manufactures would resolve a structural issue on one of their older used units?  Things like the sanicon for example, Phoenix uses off-the-shelf components to build it.  If I need a switch or valve or whatever, my first place to look for such a component would be on ebay.....after a call to Phoenix.

When my sanicon macerator went out, I did a little shopping and found a low cost replacement as outlined HERE.  My point here is that you really won't "need" Phoenix.  They are just dang handy and often affordable.  And once in a great while it has been nice to pick Kermit's brain on a few modifications I have considered and then implemented.

Hi CKK - WELCOME!!

We did the same as Polish Prince and rented a "bucket of bolts" for two weeks to see if we could live in the space (no problem) and to figure out what modifications we wanted when we ordered a rig. It was incredibly helpful for us as people that had never used an RV.

We are lifetime campers, Boy Scout Leaders for 18 years, hikers, backpackers, rafters and so on. Our "big" tent was a 7x7 Coleman dome. Our Phoenix was a HUGE step up and we never want to go back on any regular basis. We full timed for a year and a half in our 2552 and it's perfect for us. We tow a standard shift, AWD Subaru Forester and have bikes on a SwingDaddy rack on the back of that. We do carry extra gear in the Subaru and the car top carrier but most people don't need backpacks and backpack gear, winter clothes and river clothes and grandchild clothes and a full office set up and so on. We worked half time from the road for the first year out. If we did normal a little better, we wouldn't need all that and are actually cutting some of it back now. We are temporarily stuck in Maryland and are selling off everything from our stick and brick house because we are so happy with our new life, we don't plan to settle down until we can't RV anymore.

I also spent years reading, researching and dreaming and thought this forum couldn't be true and that Ron had to be a paid company shill - I mean, seriously, who is that enthusiastic about their rig? Well, Ron is, and now I am and many others that we have met in person. Phoenix pretty much leaves this forum alone. I have seen one posting pulled. It was a negative posting on a Sales Rep that had left. While I agreed with the sentiment, if I was in charge of the forum I would have pulled it also to avoid a potential slander lawsuit. There are some things you can't leave online for legal reasons. I can't guarantee they haven't pulled other posts but if they were cutting all the bad comments, they would have taken down some of mine on the problems we had the first year. We had a lot of problems but it was a weird Bermuda Triangle deal where quite a few defective components merged into one motor home - ours. I should say that this is my standard run of luck. The only Phoenix problem was our leaky slide and even that was more a design issue on a new style they were using and not their install. Phoenix bent over backwards and went above and beyond to fix it for us. They also stood behind us for all the repairs that were under other manufacturer's warranties. This is also why we purchased new. We didn't have your background on towing and trailers and portable living space and we are seriously not fix-it people so we wanted full warranty on everything to get us past the clueless newbie status (it took us a while but we made it... mostly). Kyle will occasionally pop onto the forum if we ask for his input and Amy, the webmistress keeps an eye on it but doesn't interfere. It's not Kermit's thing.

I had the same concerns about Kermit's longevity when we ordered the rig. I figure he might be old enough to hit Social Security but definitely isn't in geezer mode. I worried over the small business aspect and finally decided there are no guarantees in life. Big RV manufacturers went belly up some years back. Dealers went under. Solid companies ceased to exist. Little Phoenix survived and eventually thrived. I have come to realize that when Kermit is not available, others in the company have the same dedication to taking care of the owners. I don't know if they have a formally designated "heir" but they have several other people there that manage operations and keep things running on an even keel.

Phoenix knew we were going full time when we bought the rig and had no concern about warranties. Due to my Bermuda Triangle luck, I can attest to the fact that they stand behind their product 100%. Our full time status was never an issue. And as an extra feather in their cap, our stupid questions were never an issue either. The forum usually took care of us on that but I did hit Kermit and Bobby with a few goodies and they treated me like I had a brain and didn't just ask something that dumb.

If you want to correspond or talk directly, send a personal message and I'll get you my contact info.

Hi CKK,
We’re another pair of RVers that love our PC and have nothing but good things to say about the Phoenix quality of product and service that we have experienced since we purchased new in 2013.

We have owned several other RVs purchased new over the years and each of them seemed to have some failure every year that required some dealership repair work.  Since we live so far from the factory, we were at first concerned about the availability to get needed service easily.

So far that has not been a problem.  The only time we needed a repair that we couldn’t do ourselves happened on our first trip while traveling on the central coast of California (a macerator issue).  Our call to the factory got us connected directly to Kermit who understood the problem immediately and directed us to a nearby RV dealership that fixed the problem the next day so that we could continue on our trip.

The only other issues we’ve had were with components with individual warranties from their manufacturer (rear view camera & DVD player).  In both of those cases Kermit sent replacement units for us to install rather than us dealing with warranty claims with the manufacturers—outstanding service in our minds.

We almost always travel with our tow car behind us.  Makes it so much easier for us to leave the RV in the campground for many other local trips in the area (including restaurants, grocery stores, sightseeing, hiking, etc.) rather than disconnecting the RV (electric, water, etc.) and then reconnecting again upon return.  Also, the length and turning radius of our 2552 makes it a bit difficult to maneuver and park in congested areas.

Inability to back up while towing was a concern of ours when we first started doing that about 15 years ago, but we quickly learned how to avoid the need for it in most cases.  Only four times during that time did we get into a situation that we had to disconnect the tow car, move to a different location, then reconnect the car.  That procedure can be done fairly quickly if one has a good tow bar, etc.

Best wishes and happy traveling to you regardless of your choice of motorhome.

--Bruce and Sharon