Is Full body paint cost worth it?

[Oscar Mike]

Originally Posted by rream

X2 we love it, easy to take care of, I use 303 on the front cap and bugs are not a problem

Is this what you use?

[amanda_h]

Originally Posted by Oscar Mike

Is this what you use?

We buy 303 by the gallon as we use it on so many things. People wonder why our RV looks new even though it's in the desert sun often. UV does so much damage over time and anything you can do to prevent that damage I believe is a good idea. 303 has helped a lot for us.

I also agree that full body paint is worth the money.

-harry

[puttin]

I like ours...and it even looks cool at night!

[nomansland]

Just ordered my view with fully body pair a $6006.00 aadd on (MSRP). we got it for less of course but well worth it my opinion. Agree with what has been said about ease of maintenance, care and looks. Have cared for lots of gel coat and graphics over the years, paint is the way to go.
One thing I did consider was just living with the standard graphics for a few years and then go custom paint, but that is an expensive proposition. Get it up front if budget permits.

[Clifftall]

I'll put it this way. My DW is not a violent person , but she told me when we were shopping for a new MH that she would break my wrist if I tried writing a check for a FG one.
Cliff

[garykk]

Our MH is half and half, wish it had FBP....like stated before, gelcoat will oxidize long before a good paint will

[topdownman]

I like my FBP. Motorhome is faster too

[CampDaven]

Paper, rock, scissors, fiberglass, paint.

Paint beats FG every time

[Steve Ownby]

Originally Posted by CampDaven

Paper, rock, scissors, fiberglass, paint.

Paint beats FG every time

Rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock, paint. Paint covers them all!

[RSteele]

I have owned 4 fiberglass Rv's over the last 20 years. All have began to fade and chalk after a couple of years despite hours of buffing with one exception. I had a fifth wheel that I had sprayed with a product called permaplate. The dealer I bought in from gave me a good deal of the permaplate so I agreed to have it done($2000). The company came to my home and applied it in a couple of hours. They also did the inside of the 5er with it. The permaplate worked great for 5 years, no fading, no chalking even the decals were protected. You are supposed to have it reapplied after 4 years, I think, I did not and the gel coat started to fade a bit where it was exposed to direct sun light but still looked great when I sold it at 6 years. I then bought a coach with fbp that was a couple of years older than my 5er with new looking paint. I had made up my mind about the fbp and wouldn't even look at the gel coat diesel pushers. Do they still make them? Fire up has it right, do paint you won't regret it. My 04 Journey looks great still. Wax 1 time per year, no buffing.

[rockrex]

Friend of mine who bought a 98 Foretravel with original paint and decals just recently had his done with full body paint by Foretravel and it is a sight to behold -- beautiful!! It cost him over $25,000.

[herbertgk]

Love full body paint, have had two gel coat's and never want to go back

[rdkng88]

I add my two cents. I bought a Winnebago Journey new in 2000. Gel coat at vinyl stripes . Cleaning that motor home was such a pain and by 2006 the gel coat was cracked all over and I had to do something to save my coach. I removed the vinyl stripes and under the stripes no cracks and the gel coat still looked new so the vinyl did protect the surface even though thet were faded and cracked. The Georgia sun and heat ruined my coach. I painted the coach and three years later the cracks started showing again. My new coach is full paint I love the fact it cleans up so easily and looks beautiful. Just go through any park and look at the older gel coat coaches and the older painted coaches you mind will certainly be made up. My Journey was a great coach I would still have it today if it were not for the cracking could not live with that.

[KylenCindy]

If i could afford the cost i would love the FBP on my motor home. But I am on a budget now. But the next and last motor home I buy when retired will be blue on blue. In the words of my children "just sayin"

[Mr_D]

In 2002 the FBP was over a $7,000 option on our DSDP. Having fought gel coat on our MH's there was no way I was going to do that again. When I was at Newmar in 2004 there was a 2000 or so DSDP that had just been done in FBP. Really looked sharp and it took me a few moments to realize that it was an older model like our 2000 DSDP we traded in.
Much easier to take care of and I'm sure it slips through the air much better so I'll recoup the money in fuel savings!!

[ncflyguy69]

Yesterday we ordered our new 2014 33C Sightseer @ 2013 option pricing with the FBP - our salesmen @ Tom Johnson who has over 30 yrs of experience said that we would be fools not to order that option is you can afford it. The discount that he gave us made it a none issue.
We traded in our '08 Carriage Cameo (30RLS) and the gel coat looked okay but chalky as reported here tends to happen after 5+ years. I took excellent care of that 5er - washing, waxing it after nearly after every trip and before we winterized it - there is no way I could make it look any better - maybe a RV cover would have helped over the years.
Thanks for all of the input - I'm just glad that there are people out there who like to share their opinions and who have more experience than I do.
Now all I need to do now is to sell the 3500 dually for a fair price and find a toad that gets decent gas mileage and fits into our lifestyle in these NC mtns.

[Ramzfan]

I don't remember ever buying a motorhome where I was worried about what the resale value would be...they depreciate quickly! As far as FBP "value" goes, the value is in not having to worry about the cracking, fading and peeling that goes along with bare fiberglas and vinyl decals.

[ncflyguy69]

Well it was a week to remember - I sold the 5er as a trade for more than I thought that I would get - bought the 2014 Winn 33C @ 25%+ off MSRP with the options we wanted incl. FBP + other freebies - delivery in late May (we can't wait) and then traded in the '07 Ram dually on a 2012 cert. GMC Terrain SLT-2 with 25K miles with only 1500 out of pocket - thought that was a decent deal and a great for me + a nice tow vehicle with decent gas mileage. So many thanks to everyone who gave me great advice.
No looking @ insurance and warranty products - any ideas?
NCflyguy

[TeJay]

Flyguy,
You got your new unit at 25% off of MSRP???? We are getting quotes on the options for 2014 on a 30T. When we get the options prices we'll know how to proceed maybe. The 30T MSRP is around $110. What can we really expect off the MSRP???? If we could get 20% to 25% off that price then ad our options I think we could order it. Is that a reasonable expectation??? This will be a unit we will have to order. Can we expect anything off the MSRP or do we just take the $110 and add our options??? We are really in a fix and don't know how to proceed. After all we don't do this kind of stuff every year. We'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
TeJay

[RickO]

Originally Posted by TeJay

Flyguy,
You got your new unit at 25% off of MSRP???? We are getting quotes on the options for 2014 on a 30T. When we get the options prices we'll know how to proceed maybe. The 30T MSRP is around $110. What can we really expect off the MSRP???? If we could get 20% to 25% off that price then ad our options I think we could order it. Is that a reasonable expectation??? This will be a unit we will have to order. Can we expect anything off the MSRP or do we just take the $110 and add our options??? We are really in a fix and don't know how to proceed. After all we don't do this kind of stuff every year. We'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
TeJay

We're getting a little here, but 20/25% off of MSRP is not at all unusual on a new rig. I assume you mean the MSRP on the unit you're looking at is $110K? You should be looking at negotiating your discount on the TOTAL price and not just the base without options. However, ordering next year's model will limit your negotiating power a bit but I would still be starting with the 25% figure in mind for the total price.

Rick