Motorhome Model Year vs Chassis Year

[Bzerull]

Maybe a lot of you know this, but I did not. When I purchased my motor home about a week ago, I thought I was purchasing a 2001.

As it turns out, my ford chasis is a 2001, but the motor home is a 2002. No wonder i was unable to find the right winnebago manuals/diagrams. Now that i have the right information, life should be a little easier with this motor home. The help I have received so far on this forum has been very, very helpful. It will be a joy visiting here.

[creativepart]

Well, yes, this is standard and fairly well known.

Winnebago buys chassis and lines them up outdoors and when ready to build a complete batch they run them down the assembly line. The chassis could have been delivered 1 month, 6-months or 14-months previously.

Your Title shows the completed motorhome model year. Your VIN shows the chassis build year.

Next time you're in your motorhome's drivers seat look on the wall below the driver's window. You'll see a yellow placard that has the OFFICIAL model name, model year and other pertinent info. Many people go by whatever terminology they were told when they made their purchase not by the actual official information.

[Bzerull]

I am not surprised that this is common, but never thought about it when trying to get the proper manuals/diagrams for my 2002 Spirit, which I thought initially was a 2001.

[Blastvalve]

Welcome and congratulations on the new rig!

As CreativePart noted, this is very common, both with Winnebago and the RV industry in general. My 2015 Vista is on a 2014 Ford chassis. The chassis year doesn’t define the model year, it’s the year the manufacturer designates when the coach is completed. The split year can cause issues with registration as the VIN from Ford gets entered into some national databases that are later used in registration. When I bought mine (in Ohio) and registered here in Vermont I had to send a few emails and phone calls to the DMV here to convince them I had a 2015 Winnebago and not a 2014 Ford despite what their computer said.

The other time it can be challenging is when you need parts. If for the “house”, you are shopping a 2002 Winnebago, but if for the “car” you are shopping a 2001 Ford F53. There have been a few updates over the years and sometimes being off a year can cause you to buy the wrong part.

Welcome again and congratulations on the new rig!

[Ray,IN]

The upside to this situation is taxes, registration and licensing costs are a tiny bit less.

[dphorton]

Just make sure the Title says 2002. If it doesn’t you need to visit where you purchased your Motorhome and have them straighten it out. If it doesn’t say 2002 then you lose a Year when you sell it.

[7997redtail]

Like dphorton said. My insurance broker would not register my MH as a 2008 because the chassis is a 2007. I contacted Winnebago and from the vin they gave me a letter stating it was a 2008. It’s now registered properly as a 2008.

[Bzerull]

Did you get the state title changed also?

[tderonne]

Not sure how this landed at SportTruckRV, but it's there. Hasn't been shared in a while.

RVIA information on split model years

[wahoonc]

A couple of interesting side notes:

I have seen up to a 3 year difference in chassis and body production year.

There used to be a couple of states that titled based on the year sold, however I think that may have gone away. We used to run across this with RVs and some older cars.

Aaron

[7997redtail]

If the state, title question was for me I’m in bc canada. The title is part of your registration so only one thing to deal with.

[4x4van]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

A couple of interesting side notes:

I have seen up to a 3 year difference in chassis and body production year.

There used to be a couple of states that titled based on the year sold, however I think that may have gone away. We used to run across this with RVs and some older cars.

Aaron

Yup. My current RV has matching years; chassis and house, but my previous RV was a hodgepodge. It was a 1988 model Jamboree, built on a 1987 Ford chassis, that itself was built in late 1986.

BTW, by law, the DMV in the US must register the RV per the model year, not the chassis year.