- I wanted small, no more than 24 ft. I wanted to get in any campground and park in any place without anguish. I also don't want to tow a car. There's only 1 of me, so I don't need big.
- No slides. Again, don't need big, don't need the worry of a stuck slide. Just didn't want to deal with them. Less hassle
- No trailer. I didn't want to pull anything, hitch or unhitch, or back up a trailer. Been there, done that and NO. I wanted to be able to get in and drive off in my pajamas if I wanted to. Also wanted to park in any driveway (like my kids'). Less hassle
- A dedicated bed, nothing to "convert" to a bed. Less hassle
- A dry bath, or at least a shower with a curtain that contained the water and didn't get the entire bathroom wet. Less hassle
- Tanks as large as possible for boondocking later.
- Onboard generator. No hauling a generator or gas. (Hope for solar later)
- Batteries that didn't need maintenance and that charged from the chassis engine.
- Gas, not diesel
- Gas mileage as high as possible
Originally I finally narrowed it down to a Travato, class B. Had it set in my mind. Was a little concerned about the bathroom but felt I could deal with it. Looked at it every day for a year online. LOL. THEN...
While at the beach with my Mom last summer in her RV, we went to a nearby dealership just to look.
They didn't have a Travato, but they had a Roadtrek and I wanted just to go inside a class B and look around. As soon as I walked in the door it hit me.....I have 7 grandchildren, they are going to want to go........there is not room to sleep but 2 people.....I started having doubts....I told the salesman, "gee, I love the size, the compactness of it......but I have 7 grands"....He said, "Come with me, I have just the thing you are looking for." He took me to the Viva and I walked in the door and immediately felt "this is it!" THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR! I fell in love with it! Dry bath, big shower, dedicated bed, and the coolest thing ever.....the loft bed. It lets down from the ceiling with a push of a button! Retracts up when I don't need it! I love it! The Viva sleeps 6 or more if small kids, like the grands, 24 ft. like the Travato, larger holding tanks, and best of all gets ~16 MPG. I left, went back to the campground and read the entire user's manual that night! I was so excited.
Went back to the dealership 2 days later and looked again, every drawer, cabinet, nook and cranny. Sat in it about 2 hours just dreaming. Another couple came in also, and the 4 of us sat comfortably and talked. They wanted the same size RV. They had just toured out west and provided a lot of information about what I needed and didn't need. They confirmed my thoughts that small was better.
The one thing I couldn't wrap my head around (or maybe my budget) was the price. I left still dreaming..
Fast forward to November......I kept my eye on the Viva online for four months and checked all over for a better price. It came down........kept checking.....came down again. It was a 2016 and 2017 units were rolling in.....it kept dropping. When it got close to my price range, I called......haggled some. He called back...."We can only do so and so...blah blah" BUT he made the mistake of saying they needed to get the 2016's off the lot for the 2017's. So I said "Ok, well, when you get it to this ALL IN, call me back." He did, and the rest is history.......I love it!
It has everything on my wish list and more. Refrigerator is fairly large, convection oven/microwave combo, cute little kitchen, wardrobe cabinet with 3 large drawers. Three more drawers in kitchen. Lots of overhead storage, under bed storage. 2 TV's (although not on my wish list, I rarely watch TV) the grands like them for movies though. Swivel front seats for sitting at dinette. I can seat 6 there or more. Moon roof, which I love. 2 large AGM house batteries. I love the tank sizes too!
Eight of us in and out at Wales West and still didn't fill up the tanks even cooking every meal.
I could probably stay a month if it was just me on the tanks!
I think I could live in it.........
