Winnebago vs Itasca

DLoy1324 · 07-03-2015, 08:28 PM

DW and I are looking at the View 24M and noticed the Navion is identical. Is there a quality difference between the two? Price difference? Etc?

Thank you

Nomad Mike · 07-03-2015, 10:28 PM

As best I can tell, they are the same quality but the difference is the Winnebago's have options that are standard on Itasca.

Cousin Ed · 07-04-2015, 11:28 AM

We have had both. There used to be a slight difference (list on our 2005 Suncrusier was $2000 more than an Adventurer) but now there appears to be no difference. They have the exact same list prices.

Yellowboat · 07-04-2015, 01:08 PM

I have a Winnebago Sightseer 33C on order. We looked at Itasca MH's as well. The difference between the two is interior and exterior colors. On the Sightseer line there are four exterior color palettes and the Sunova has four different colors patterns to choose from. The same is true for the interior.

I liked the black garnett paint on the 2015 Sunova. Winnebago moveed black garnett with a different swirl pattern to Sightseer for 2016. Plus my wife didn't like the interior colors in the Sunova but we both liked one of the Sightseer interiors.

If you are not in a hurry you can order the exact coach you want. I picked three dealers and I asked for a pick sheet with all the options. My wife and I then decided upon the options that we want in our coach. Then I sent the sheet to the dealers and asked for their price. Then I would e-mail the lowest price to the higher bids. I continued till I was happy with the price.

The down side is that we trade in our 2005 coach next week and our new coach will not arrive till September.

Safe Travels.

Nomad Mike · 07-04-2015, 01:20 PM

@Yellowboat, Sorry off topic but how do you have a chassis that is one year newer than the coach? I usually see it the other way around like with my 05' WBGO has a 04' Chassis. The coach manufacture date is in 04' and they had to have the chassis first.

BillJinOR · 07-04-2015, 01:31 PM

I had heard that Itasca used to be slightly upscale, in that it and more options standard and the price was slightly higher to boot. but not so much anymore .. Same assy line same exact chassis and floorplans with different colors mostly. Winnebago originally created Itasca so they could have two dealers in the same town was the story I heard.

Yellowboat · 07-04-2015, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad Mike

@Yellowboat, Sorry off topic but how do you have a chassis that is one year newer than the coach? I usually see it the other way around like with my 05' WBGO has a 04' Chassis. The coach manufacture date is in 04' and they had to have the chassis first.

I found it at a local dealer. It was one of the first 2005 Sightseer 29 R's built on the new Ford 2006 chassis. My guess is that Winnebago did a test build on the new chassis.

Now the question is will my new coach be built on the 2016 chassis with the six speed transmission? I read that Winnebago would start building on the new 2016 chassis in July.

Hikerdogs · 07-04-2015, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLoy1324

DW and I are looking at the View 24M and noticed the Navion is identical. Is there a quality difference between the two? Price difference? Etc?

Thank you

The short answer is NO Difference. The more correct answer is that they have different inner and exterior color schemes, each has it's own badging, and for reasons known only to Winnebago and possibly God there is a difference in suggested list price.

We went through the same situation when we were in the market for either Winnebago Adventurer or an Itasca Suncruiser. We called the Winnebago customer support line and asked the same questions. For the 2013 model year they gave us a list of 15 differences between the Adventurer and the Suncruiser. All 15 were either badging or color scheme differences. They both use the same quality appliances, fabrics, flooring, window treatments, furniture. etc., etc.

For some reason the suggested list price on the Suncruiser is about $2,000.00 higher than the same size Adventurer. When we asked why, we couldn't get much of an answer. However when we went shopping we found the dealers were willing to sell the units for the exact same price down to the penny.

We opted for the Adventurer mainly because we'd already had one and were quite satisfied with it, and there are more dealers nationwide that sell and service Winnebago's than Itasca's.

cbeierl · 07-04-2015, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillJinOR

... Winnebago originally created Itasca so they could have two dealers in the same town was the story I heard.

Actually, Winnebago had an exclusive contract to make use of Dodge chassis at the time--the creation of Itasca allowed them to use other chassis for that line.

Nomad Mike · 07-04-2015, 03:48 PM

I'm sure this must have changed, but in the diagrams for my 05', there are notations for differences between Win and Ita. One item I noted just now was the kitchen sink where Ita is noted for the faucet, it looks like a spray head model vs the Win is a standard faucet.

Palms · 07-06-2015, 08:49 AM

While actively seeking a 2016 36Z, we found the only differences to be the interior color combinations. Dual brand dealers had both at same price. Option build list is the same for both, as are the 4 exterior color options. Disappointed in quoted prices on our wish list from several dealers nationally and locally. Nowhere near the 25-30% discounts mentioned on the forums. Maybe Winnebago/Itasca dealers have so much demand for this model that they don't feel they need to discount as much. So disappointed in fact that we've postponed the purchase as I had fixed a buy price in my hard headed mind from the $172,004 list that all the quotes were frustrating. Best offer was $129,500 or just under 25% with no trade. Just sharing the most recent info..,

dkrobath · 07-06-2015, 09:58 AM

They are the same except for color choices. The 2 are set up as separate franchise/market entities. There is a restriction where they can be sold through franchise dealerships. For example CW sells both but not in every area. Here in Houston Ron Hoover RV's has the Winnebago dealership and CW can't sell them here but they do have Itasca's. So it is more of a marketing thing now that the 2 companies have been merged for so long.

Hikerdogs · 07-06-2015, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkrobath

They are the same except for color choices. The 2 are set up as separate franchise/market entities. There is a restriction where they can be sold through franchise dealerships. For example CW sells both but not in every area. Here in Houston Ron Hoover RV's has the Winnebago dealership and CW can't sell them here but they do have Itasca's. So it is more of a marketing thing now that the 2 companies have been merged for so long.

I think the farther south the dealers the less willing they are to negotiate. There seems to be a bigger market outside the frozen north. We purchased our 2013 Winnebago Adventurer at Pleasureland RV in Ramsey Minnesota. They were more than willing to negotiate. We were able to get about 28% off list, then introduced our trade. We got what we wanted for it no questions asked.

This entire process took place over the phone and by e mail. Once we introduced the trade into the equation we sent about 50 pictures of the interior and exterior. They liked what they saw and mailed us a contract. We didn't set foot into the dealership until we picked up the new motorhome.

We tried to work with several other dealers without much success. The people at Pleasureland knew their business, were totally forthright and honest in their dealings, and a pleasure to do business with.

aauummm · 07-06-2015, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad Mike

@Yellowboat, Sorry off topic but how do you have a chassis that is one year newer than the coach? I usually see it the other way around like with my 05' WBGO has a 04' Chassis. The coach manufacture date is in 04' and they had to have the chassis first.

Mine is the same way. Ford ended the 2009 F53 chassis at the end of 2009. They skipped the 2010 F53 model year. In January 2010 they started producing the 2011 F53. Thus most of the 2010 Winnebago motorhomes were built on 2011 F53 chassis.

Mine was built in March of 2010 so Winnebago had used up their inventory of 2009 F53 chassis by then.

Gordon Dewald · 07-06-2015, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillJinOR

I had heard that Itasca used to be slightly upscale, in that it and more options standard and the price was slightly higher to boot. but not so much anymore .. Same assy line same exact chassis and floorplans with different colors mostly. Winnebago originally created Itasca so they could have two dealers in the same town was the story I heard.

I was told the same story about dealers.

Just finished visiting the Forest City plant. All of them go down the same assembly line. It looks like they build the orders and not the product. Some come out as Itasca, some Winnebago.

ChrisKW · 08-01-2015, 02:19 AM

Typically the only difference between coaches of the same model but different make, for example Winnebago (Tour 42QD) and Itasca (Ellipse 42QD), are color schemes for interior and exterior. Concur with earlier post, they come off the same assembly lines.

Chris & Deb - North Venice, FL - 2014 Itasca Ellipse 42QD - Toad: 2014 Jeep Rubicon