Advice on ordering 2021 View 24j

[macnut]

A friend is getting ready to order the 2021 Winnebago View 24J model.*For past or current owners, are there any issues they should be aware of or options they should definitely consider? Thanks!

[Winterbagoal]

Unless they're extremely nimble, or very sound sleepers, the corner bed will not be kind. I would consider the V model, or any other model that doesn't require climbing over each other, to reach the bathroom, in the middle of the night.

[rprochnow]

There is a lot of information on the forum about options/upgrades.

With two people the corner bed can be awkward, and why we chose the 24D instead of the 24J. The D provides the most flexibility - we did a family trip last weekend and had 7 eating dinner, watching TV and playing video games, sitting on the dinette, sofa (with the extra sofa table) and the two rotated chassis seats. The dinette seats 4 (and can squeeze 5 or 6) plus with the pull-out foot rests, two people can use pillows to lounge facing the TV.

Stem extenders make it easier to access the tires with a pump.

TPMS helps to monitor tire pressures while driving, reducing risks of a blowout or detecting a flat tire - and can also help by quickly providing tire pressure readings when filling the tires.

If the View will be used without shore power (boondocking), additional solar panels on the roof and upgrading to lithium batteries can make it easier to operate without shore power.

For extended boondocking or boondocking when there isn't much sun, the diesel generator can be beneficial. It burns fuel at about 1/2 the rate of the propane generator (about .3 gallon per hour) plus it uses the much larger chassis fuel tank. During the recent Texas winter storm - when I lost power in Galveston in freezing temperatures - burned through the propane using the gas heater - and didn't have to use the limited propane for running the generator.

Especially if an extra vehicle isn't being towed, a leveling system helps reduce setup/tear down time considerably. It takes us about 3-4 minutes to level the RV, let out the slide and plugging into shore power - and the same amount to tear down. Without the leveling system, it will take longer to manually level.

If the new owner already has Dish at home - adding a satellite dish with a Dish subscription is pretty inexpensive. Otherwise, satellite TV is going to be too expensive to justify, unless the owner is going full-time RV.

Instead, may be better to focus on improving internet access. Using 4G/5G smartphones or mobile hotspots with large data plans (we have 100GB/month on our 5G hotspot and my 5G smartphone). And then either upgrade the stock TV to a Smart TV with built-in apps or connect a streaming device to the TV.

The stock TV has pretty poor audio, making it difficult to hear over the air conditioner. We upgraded our TV to a 32" Samsung 4K TV - which has much louder audio, plus better video quality and streaming apps. Mounting the TV can be a little challenging though, because the cabinet door (on our D) is built specifically for that TV.

Another upgrade that can be done after delivery is fixing the ceiling air conditioner. The design of the plenum is extremely poor, causing reduced airflow and making it louder while running. This is a problem with all RVs with those ceiling units - not just Winnebago. The problems can be reduced by removing the cover and using HVAC tape and insulation to better seal the unit - and more securely fastening the divider between the "in" and "out" parts of the plenum.

After receiving the View, another useful "upgrade" is to activate Mercedes Me - allowing Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to be used on the 10.5" MBUX display - providing much better navigation and audio apps. This was originally using Mercedes Pro - which was designed for commercial vehicles and difficult to use - Mercedes Me is now supported for Sprinter-based RVs, and a significant improvement.

[macnut]

Really appreciate the suggestions. Thank you!

[Elkman]

Dry camping is not going to be possible without a lot of generator run time unless they put in the Lithionics batteries and add more solar to the roof. We bought a 2021 Navion and I did not realize that in 2020 Winnebago switched to DC only fridges or I would have bought a used model with the 3-way fridge.

At least based on my experience with Guaranty RV in Junction City OR I would not let the dealer install anything, including the lithium phosphate batteries or a Winegard or more solar panels as they do not know what they are doing. Safer to take the RV to a place that specializes in installation and repairs and will do the job right.

There are also (at least in Oregon) none of the safeguards that apply to passenger cars and trucks and I would advise your friends to get everything in writting and signed by an officer at the dealership.

I would also advise that they arrive two days early and plan on staying for two days after they are to get the RV so they have sufficient time to check out everything completely.

Check on Yelp and on Google for dealer reviews by customers as it will be eye opening as there are some good Winnebago dealers and some bad ones.

[rprochnow]

Even with lithium batteries and extra solar, we have still needed to run the generator for 1-2 hours each day to ensure we don't run out of charge overnight.

During the recent Texas winter storm, even with the batteries starting out near 100% before nightfall and no shore power, the batteries ran down to the "reserve" level, causing both batteries to automatically shut off. This saved enough power so I could get the generator started - and recharge the batteries.

This was admittedly a very unusual situation - with outside temperatures near 20 degrees and with temperatures below freezing for 48 hours - so the gas heater was running almost continuously - combined with the refrigerator, the tank heaters, and an incandescent bulb in the water compartment - that used up most of the 250Ah in the lithium batteries.

If we'd had lower capacity lithium batteries, we probably would have run out of battery power before daylight - which would have required starting the generator during the night (which many others were doing).

Plus, if we'd had a propane generator - would not have had enough propane to run the heater and the generator - because I used up most of the propane just for the gas heater over two days...

Lichtsinn installed all of our upgrades (except for the leveling system, which was done at the HWH factory) - Winegard, WeBoost, lithium batteries, solar panels, TPMS, ... - and they did a good job with all of the upgrades - and have continued to be great to work with, even though we're 1000 miles away...

[Elkman]

The DC only fridge takes half the battery capacity before any other power demand item is used. I tested with the freezer and fridge at normal food storage temperatures and with the factory lead acid batteries and the factory 200W of solar, the two batteries were at 50% SOD after two days. That was with nothing else running other than the solenoids and the CO monitor and no opening of the fridge and having the cold air spill out.



With the DC only fridge one is much more dependent on the generator which is why if we buy another RV it will be one with the 3-way fridge/freezer.


Surprised that even with freezing temperatures so much propane was burned. With our 2021 Navion there is only a single propane burner on the stove top so not much power consumed by it. We keep the inside air temp at 66 degrees overnight and at 68 degrees during the day if inside the RV. Keeping a low power 12v fan operating also makes the interior warmer as there are no cold spots resulting from air not circulating.

[rprochnow]

It was very cold in Galveston, with snow and ice and high winds. Didn't expect the shore power to go out in the middle of the night...

But...

I was in much better shape than many of the other RVs in the park. The travel trailers relied on small generators with limited fuel - and nowhere to get more. Those with propane generators quickly ran out of propane, using propane for heat and power. The motorhomes were running their generators continuously (at least as long as they had fuel).

Since I was planning to be in Galveston only 2 nights - my goal was only to get through 48 hours until the ice melted and I could get back to the mainland. So I was pretty confident I could get through that with our lithium batteries, diesel generator, and propane heater.

Others weren't so fortunate...

Noone expected it to be so bad in Galveston - across from the beach...

[rprochnow]

Noone was prepared for the state to lose about 50% of the power generation.

The blackouts that started in the middle of the night on Sunday were supposed to be rolling - only for a short period before moving onto the next area.

Power wasn't supposed to go out - and then be out for 5-9 days...

The RV parks in Galveston were pretty full with people moving further south. Lows in Houston were supposed to be near 10, while Galveston was supposed to be around 20.

Even with the ice/snow storm in Galveston, if the power grid had worked as it was supposed to - we would have been stuck on the island - but with power, the worst that would have happened would have been losing water while the temps were below freezing.

But without power - it was a mess. Not too bad in our View - with the diesel generator, I had about 2 days of runtime available for the generator - propane was a little tighter, but I could have stretched it further by lowering the temperature inside the coach.

However, the travel trailers and those with propane generators had a much more difficult time...

Our View held up great - and in fact, when I brought it back to our house - and we lost power in the house, we were prepared to move into the View for a day or two, if we had a prolonged outage at our house (which fortunately didn't happen!).

[Elkman]

When I started looking for a used RV in August there was next to nothing available in Class C motorhomes. We bought a new Navion 24D in September but as a last resort. It is quite different now with quite a few very low mileage Class C motorhomes available and with a variety of configurations depending on your needs.

We bought a new motorhome as there was nothing available on the used market. I bought my slide-in camper used and I have bought 4 used power and sailboats and every one of the houses I have bought were used ones. When I moved to Dallas the people at work were surprised that I bought a "used house" and it was the first time I had heard that term. Their reasoning was that with a new house you got to choose the flooring and wall coverings and countertops and had a one year warranty on appliances. From my perspective it meant having to spend the next two years putting in landscaping and I did not plan on spending more than two years in Dallas.

I am curious as to why others buy a new motorhome and spend 25% more on the purchase and so more in sales tax and more in DMV fees and more on insurance.

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by Elkman

I am curious as to why others buy a new motorhome and spend 25% more on the purchase and so more in sales tax and more in DMV fees and more on insurance.

There are many reasons we do the things we do.

We always buy new - new cars, new bikes, new RVs and a number of times new houses. Thinking back all of our 5 of our houses have been new except our first house.

We don't like stuff that other people have lived with. We want new everything and we want it to be ours and not someone else's old stuff.

Specifically for RVs, we want a new RV because "previous owners" do weird stuff to their RVs. They bypass things, jerry rig fixes and just live with some broken things. I try hard not to do that with my stuff, but even with my efforts at keeping things "right" I know that I still cobble some DIY stuff of my own.

Do, we pay more. Sure, but it's worth it to us. We don't buy the cheapest anything and we don't mind paying for what we want the way we want it. It makes life much more pleasant... in our opinion.

[rprochnow]

Same as creativepart...

We've always bought new - homes, vehicles, RVs, ...

View/Navion RVs are relatively expensive - and if it was more than we were willing to spend, we'd probably have picked a new unit from one of the less expensive models.

But, we're fortunate that the cost wasn't a major factor - we were more concerned about getting the floor plan and features we wanted - and able to get a brand new 2021 View 24D last June, only having to wait a few weeks for us to pick it up from Lichtsinn.

And, because they are so close to the factory, we were able to do the Sprinter break-in ourselves - knowing that noone else had used the RV before we purchased it.

Buying used does have advantages - you skip the more expensive early depreciation, and hopefully the previous owner has dealt with all of the issues from manufacturing.

But, so far, we've only bought new - and usually customize the purchase with the features/floor plan we want...

[AZ Okies]

We had a 2014 24j and now have a 2019 24V. Love the sleeping arrangements on the 24V. I am 6 ft tall and my husband took the corner bed and I slept in the overhead bunk for 4 years until I got tired of climbing up and down and being crowded for headroom up there. With the twin beds at the back it’s like a real bedroom! But you give up the dinette. We thought we would love the recliners in the V but really do miss the dinette. But I’ll never go back to that corner bed!!! There’s a little less storage space for kitchen items over the recliners but I’m living with it. Now we use the overhead bunk for storage and I can fit four huge tubs of stuff up there, plus some folding chairs and other things.

[AZ Okies]

Another thing! Do the upgrade to diesel generator and full body paint. The paint job with decals goes dull much faster.