M380 vs other fiberglass coaches

[Scott]

Hey Dick, We just returned from the FMCA Rally in Charlotte NC. Truly
a great experience! There were 3000-4000 coaches in attendance and
lots, read tons of rain, and lots of coaches stuck in the mud. We
viewed many coaches while there. Some of the mfgrs were Monaco,
Country Coach, Newell, Prevost, Holiday Rambler, Mandalay the list
goes on. We have our 86FC for sale and looking for our next coach.
When ever that may be.

I must tell you from my standpoint there was a HUGE difference in
quality. Especially, when one really looks for quality. Particle
board cabinets, entry steps that give way, cheesy hinges, fit and
finish were way off. Actually, we were not impressed. The Newell's
were fine! 40' coach with a 37' turning radius! Beautiful slide outs
with air craft type seals. About 1.4mil worth of fine though!

Many "neighbors" were not having much fun during the rain. Many leaks
on newer coaches. Not to mention many coaches flooded in the infield,
water to the floor. So much for gensets and entertainment centers!
One was even pushed off its jacks! The folks parked next to us had
some tough issues. I am not trying to slam one against the other, by
any means, but just sharing an experience. When they returned after
some evening entertainment, I notice he was out in the rain, it was
raining hard. His partner was dumping water out by the buckets, they
had a CC Intrique, I went to help the guy out. His windsheild popped
out in the upper right hand corner, by more than 2". He was mad! His
coach was three yrs old. Never fear duct tape worked we used a ton of
it! Several, Holiday Rambler slides were leaking, they have a
rubber "wiper" type seal around the slide. (neighbor in front of us)
I would suggest to question the structural integrity of the wall that
has the slides, also access to the bays under the slide. All things I
noticed. Fleetwood has a slide I think it is 29'(huge, whole side of
coach) but when questioning the sales guy about structural integrity,
there was not a good enough answer! Check for yourself.

Our final conclusion was that for the money (our money) we would find
it hard to move away from BB. With the impending sale of BlueBird I
will be watching closely the new owners philosophy, when it comes to
making a Blue Bird and changes to make the coach competitive in
today's market. Watch for a press release in the next 10 days!! Big
changes ahead!

ScottB
86FC35 "RUBY" 4sale
SC

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "richardfriedkin"
wrote:
>
> We've got a 2004 M380, which has been a very good coach. However,
we
> find we spend more time parked than driving and we'd like the extra
> room more slides provide, without sacrificing quality. We frankly
> can't see the difference between our coach and the other fiberglass
> monocoque coaches like Country Coach and the Monaco products,
except
> for the number of slideouts. How are the walls, floors and ceilings
> constructed on our coach compared to the others? Is our chassis
> stronger? Why did they switch to aluminum on the new M380? I
contacted
> Blue Bird with these questions and have not received an answer.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>
> Dick Friedkin
> 2004 M380
>