Plenty of questions - Reyo, Class C, etc

[Paulie G]

Hi everyone we are new to this site and have a ton of questions about a Reyo. We have come the gamete of tent, popup, TT, (skipped the 5er) and now looking at a Class A Reyo. My wife does not a large Class A but likes the smaller Class C View/Navion and the Reyo. She calls them baby RVs. She has drive a 40 foot Class A but was really nervous. She drives my Safari van comfortably and she thought a baby RV would be easier for her although neither of us has driven one. So I am leaning towards the 25T Reyo. So I have a lot of questions:


What is good/bad about them? This can be true of any rig.


Can solar be added? 200W or more?


Do most people add HWH levelers? I really dislike stabilizers.


I would have to store it outside so will the solar keep the batteries from cell fading?


Does the maserator pump work well or is it a pain?


My wife is worried about the size of the shower. I am a very broad chested individual from years of weight lifting so does anyone my size have trouble using the shower?


For those who have a Reyo, if they were still made, would you buy one again or go to the Class C?


Will I need to add Koni shocks, stabilizer bar, helper sparings etc to have a better ride than with the standard ride components?


Ok I have probably over whelmed you with questions but we want to be sure this is a good fit for us.


I do not have anywhere to perform maintenance so how much will it cost to have the normal maintenance completed by a shop?



Thanks ahead of time.

[Morich]

This will get you mostly a lot of personal opinions as that really is what makes or breaks how we feel about each RV. Size that fits will be a biggie but that varies. If you like quick and mobile and getting into state and local parks or corps of engineer sites, 30 or less will get into lots more sites than 40 but once you get there is also a question as the short will not have the big easy chair very much in the way of a good place to set. So a short one for a weekend or a long one for a couple weeks or more? Taking folks like kids along? bigger does mean more and with more comfort.
Solar can almost always be working in but how much more and what it takes will depend on size and type as space for it all has to be found. Big roof gets more than small.
Levelers are one that I paid premium to have added to a new class "c' after having them on an "A" as I will not do it without. Personal outlook thing on how much fussing you want or how tolerant of being off level. Expensive to add but with it to me. I recommend the HWH over Lippert as my current Lippert is funky as it has a hard time figuring it out and just keeps working until it runs all wheels off the ground and I have to do it manual.
I have a small maceator as I need to pump uphill at times and it for what I need but not the most fun part of a trip. Wish I had a dump at home but I don't.....
Showers are often small for the bigger folks but that means the campground shower and that is even less fun for me but I am on the smallish size.
Summed up? I want small for lots of things but not when I'm using or driving it. Certainly not a fan of the big bus and super big expense on maintenance or where to park it.
Got any campgrounds nearby to look over how units are laid out in the type campground you might favor? Suggest driving through some you might favor and just take a look at spacing, what facilities are there, etc and judge how you might like it for the time frame you use it.

[Paulie G]

Thanks for your reply. Apparently I asked too many questions.

[Morich]

We all have questions and we need answers, so I favor asking away!
After all, what would a forum be without questions? I skipped those which I had not experience doing.
Maintenance by a shop is almost always going to be higher than on a car as it is often a specially shop, but we can cut that down on some items if we look around for alternates.
Small motorhomes can cut the cost of routine oil changes by going to places like Wal-Mart, in some cases. If you go diesel, the costs jump a bunch but if regular gas engine, The oil change is the same, whether it comes under a motorhome or big pickup.
In general, things on RV cost a bunch more but also things are harder on new cars than older. I just paid $300+ to have the radiator hose changed on a 2014 Focus because you have to nearly disassemble the car to get to it. I paid it because I can't even get under this car and other estimates ran as high as 600!
Newer? Less often but it costs more when it does need it but none will be cheap.

[Paulie G]

I guess I should just ask does anyone own a Reyo and what do you like/dislike about it and if you have had any problems with the unit.

[Coffie Drink]

I own a View G. The View and Reyo are very similar. Differences are in the front cab. The View has two doors vs a single drivers side on most Reyo. The View is safer in a crash with front airbags. The Reyo has a storage compartment under the front right that the View does not have.
The Reyo has a issue with service. The hood is short and the Mercedes dealers don’t like working on them and will require removing the front cab costing more.
I do like the look of the Reyo vs the View.

[Paulie G]

Thank you for the information. It was this type of information I have been looking for. I think we will pass on a Reyo.



We are back to deciding what type of RV again. Looking at the View/Navion in the G, V and D versions. Probably not brand new although there are some good incentives right now. I noticed several D versions for sale by owner on RV Trader. I wonder if there is some glitch in them.


We are also considering a 2013 Palazzo 33.1. I like the layout and all the storage but I know it would be more expensive to maintain.



So our quest continues and thanks again for the insight.

[thataway4]

I own a Winnie VIA 25 T--this is identical to the Reyo I believe, except for some minor upholstery changes. I have been RVing since 1962 and owned a number of RV's--the one before the Via was a 40' (actually 42) Holiday Rambler Ambassador.

We chose it because it was about the smallest class A one could get, especially with diesel. We have now driven have 10,000 miles and spent several months living aboard since last OCT.

Our 2013 unit did not seem to have been modified as far as suspension. The original tires are now 6 years old, and I just replaced them. We don't see any particular handling issues, in cross country driving, where we have lots of semi's pass, and have experienced cross winds of up to 35 knots in gusts...Also heavy rain.

There is room for 200 watts of solar--we don't have any, but did have 200 watts on the HR we sold.

We have not yet added levelers--most of our rigs have had them. The main reason I am holding off is the added weight. We use blocks, and actually have a couple of high capacity plastic service ramps from Harbor freight, so when we are in my daughter's driveway, we can keep it level, despite some significant incline.

You can easily disconnect the chassis batteries (under the dash, you pull a ground rod, by pushing a red button. The house are on a "Salesman" Switch. So they are shut off. Certainly 200 watts would not be needed for maintenance. You can store inside with all batteries off. I did replace the two group 24 FLA house batteries, with two 205 amp hour AGM 6 volt golf cart in series. In retrospect I might have replaced them with two Battle Born LiFePO4 Li ion batteries. The technology is developing fast. But the AGMs seem to be plenty of power.

The built in macerator pump is only to empty the grey tank. It works OK--but we drain the residual out of the dank via a valve before the macerator into a 5 gallon bucket (which we keep adaptors for sewage in normally. We also have a Sanicon, Macerator , with 50 of 3/4" hose, "just in case". We have gone a month by using just the holding tank at night, when traveling and in "emergencies"--and still the tanks were not full. Same with grey--being careful, we get a long time out of these tanks.

The shower is tight--but usable. We have a small boat, with a wet bath, which has a smaller shower--and we use it. I am 6'2", and 185#, in reasonable condition (no gut) and I find it OK. All RV showers are going to be tight, and I love my 4 x 6' shower at home--but....

I would buy a new one (VIA or Reyo) if still made.

Negatives: Small fuel tank--range about 350 miles. We get 15 mpg towing a Lincoln MKX on an average on a run between Florida and S. Calif--that includes over the continental divide--but gradual grades.

Inverter/converer is small, I would rather have a 2000 watt inverter and 50 amp battery charger (with Li ion bat)--I could do it--but not worth the cost.

Noisy. Not bad and we can easily converse--even with diesel at 60 mph. But we had a luxury coach, with rear pusher--which was very quiet. Most of noise seems to be air flow related.

The 'couch' is small, but I can lie down and nap, feet are curled up, and braced in case of a sudden stop.

Huge storage area--can be a negative if you are inclined to fill it up!--we watch our "diet"

The round sink is not liked by my bride of over 40 years. We rarely use the stove--we use a single inverter. We also use the microwave. Can use either and the AC on the 30 amp power or the diesel generator (which I strongly advise getting).

The front seats swiveled around, even in pumped up position are still low. I cut 4" foam and had bolsters or booster seats made by a local canvas shop.

The beds are too firm--solved by putting 3" of memory foam on top--bunks are hard to make up, with fitted sheets, but that is true of any bunk bed in an RV.

Fairly low road clearance--watch out for pot holes.

Access to the engine is not easy--more expensive maintenance--but not as much as the 8.3 L Cummins in the 40 footer!

Finally, I am not a fan of the adsorption refrigerator/freezers. Dometic did OK during our winter trip. The summer trip, we had marginal temps. we will put in an extra fan. The outside temp was 105*...so it was a stress.

One of our neighbors saw our Via and started immediately searching for one--he picked it up in Phoenix on Monday...

All in all we are very happy, even with the Towed, we can fuel up in most regular gas stations--takes some logistics--but we also use the truck diesel pumps if they are not busy.

[Uncle Albert]

What is good about the 2015 Reyo 25Q that we own and have put 35,000 miles on? Where do I start?
1.the Reyo's length...we love being able to get to places that big rigs cannot get to and have appreciated this ability many time over...we parallel parked our Reyo in downtown Grant's Pass, Oregon and yes, we used two spaces but we could watch the rig from the Mexican restaurant where we ate...I could go on and on about this ability
2. The Mercedes diesel is just an awesome machine...now, in all fairness, I must state that before the warranty ran out, we took it in to Mercedes cos we were experiencing some tranny problems and lo and behold, when the service technicians dropped the pan, parts and pieces fell out but it was covered under warranty...second problem is a design issue with Mercedes with the DEF sensors but we have a fix for that...we get 15mpg typically and do not drag a Toad...the tranny with its downshift capacity is super useful on grades of 7% or more...there is plenty of HP when you need it and it cruises well...

No answer since we don’t have it installed and probably won’t

We did investigate this option and found it would be a $6 to $7 thousand dollar bill to add them...we use a stair step screw jack that adds a bit of stability to the rig...

We store outside as well so no answer to this question


Macerator pump works well and we have had no issues with ours...on minor bitch about it is that you have keep putting pushed the whole time while emptying the gray tank and it is a pain bending over to access it the button but we have a fix for that...wish we had an on/off button but that is life, I guess

I am 6’4”, 250 lbs and wide across the chest, as well and the first thing I did when we were thinking of purchasing it was to stand up fully in the shower enclosure which I did and have stood fully up in it ever since...sometimes, it is nice to use the campground showers but I typically prefer using the Reyo's shower vs. the hassle of using the campground

No question about it, DW and I agree on this 100%: we would purchase a Reyo again...no ifs, ands or buts about it...two things we consider always when fantasizing about a new rig: the Reyo's panoramic windshield and the Reyo's length

We do experience side winds on some Interstates and of course, the passing of trucks is a bit much, at times but we have never considered adding these components...we get along just fine, as is

Your mileage may vary on this one widely...we bought a 7 year warranty with our new purchase of the Reyo in 2015 and so far, so good

[Delsitsue]

I have a 2011 VIA 25Q with 70K on it.

I've done the popular chassis mods - Helwig Sway Bar, Sumo Springs, Koni Shocks, and Struts. All of those are a necessity for good handling and ride. It also makes fun to drive.

The payload capacity of the unit is too low to allow the use of a leveling system. And for my money, it's not worth it.

My overall fuel consumption is 14.6. I also use it around town.

Make sure the DEF system has been updated. It can be expensive to repair.

Keep it aligned, otherwise, it eats front tires.

Keep the "Ultra leather' out of the sun. It cracks pretty quickly and it's expensive to replace.

[Paulie G]

Thanks everyone for the very insightful and useful information. This is the information I have been wondering about. We are still considering this rig but also considering a Winnebago 32t and a Palazzo 33.1 both class a units.

[71_340]

Originally Posted by Delsitsue

I have a 2011 VIA 25Q with 70K on it.



Make sure the DEF system has been updated. It can be expensive to repair.

.

What did you mean by the above statement, is there a TSB out or similar documentation?

Thanks