1st time buyer: Fleetwood Utah vs Sun Valley??????

[pvero]

Hi,

We are buying our first pop up this week.  We were all set to buy the Sun Valley until we saw the Utah.  Any suggestions between the two?  I am also a little confused on the ABS roof.  What are the problems with the roof.  We have always been tent campers so this is all new to us.  Thanks for the help.

PV

[fritz_monroe]

What year are you looking at?  If it's a new pup, you don't have to worry about the ABS roof.  I have a 2006 Bayside.  We've only used it 2 times, but love it so far.  As for the 2 that you are looking at, they are very different pop ups, kind of like comparing apples to oranges.

[pvero]

We are buying new.  Seems the way to go since they really don't lose too much of their value.  We are just trying to figure storage since the Utah is longer and will have a hard time storing in garage. Going to check storage prices today.

Thanks

[fritz_monroe]

In my area, storage of an RV costs between $50 and $60 a month.  Far too much.  Do you really need thr front trunk?  Only you can say.  We keep everything that we use to hitch up and the outside cooking devices in the trunk.  The water heater is also in there.

Good luck with your shopping.  What are you towing with?  If you haven't taken a good look at that, you should stop shopping and see exactly what you are able to tow.  Don't believe the dealer.

[fritz_monroe]

I forgot to mention that the Sun Valley appears to have top down fridge access.  That's not a big deal for me right now, but many people feel that's a deal breaker.

[volzjr]

Hi,

We were all set to buy the Sun Valley until we saw the Utah.  Any suggestions between the two?  
PV

we faced the same decision when we purchased our Utah. We had narrowed it down to these same two models. Here's what we didn't like about the SunValley, and why we chose the Utah.
There are at least five of us, and sometimes the kids bring one or two friends. The U-shaped seat in the SV looked nice, until we realized that it would be used every night for sleeping, and those in the adjacent bunkend can't get out for a midnight potty run without climbing over those sleeping in the U-shaped seat. We use the PU every night for sleeping, but would only use it for daytime seating on the occasional rainy day (otherwise we're out and about). For that reason we gave the nod to the Utah in this regard, since the gaucho sofa and the dinnette in the Utah can be used for sleeping without restricting those in the bunkends from getting out easily.
Secondly, we liked having the sofa directly across from the dinette. You can put four in the dinette, and 2-3 kids on the sofa. On the few times that we were stuck in the PU due to weather, we could all socialize easily with this arrangement. When we tried just sitting around and talking in the SV on the dealer's lot, IMHO it felt like two seperate seating areas, what with some of the folks in the dinette sitting with their backs to the other seating area. We did not rate this as important as the sleeping concerns because, again, we prefer to be outside, and don't stay in unless we have to. But on the times we've had to, the Utah's arrangement has worked well for us. For eating, we use a couple of TV trays for those on the sofa and again, we can easily interact with everyone.
We also preferred the extra room that the slideout gave us versus the swing-out galley on the SV. It's nice in the morning when everyone is milling around, getting juice, making coffee, putting in contacts, etc. It can be pretty "cozy", and I can imagine it would be an even tighter squeeze in the SV's narrower aisle.
These are just some of the mental gymnastics we went through making our decision, and hopefully I've given you something to think about. The best advice I can give you is to just take your whole family and spend some time in each one. Sit and talk for a while. Think and discuss about how you would all fit in each PU while sleeping, eating, playing cards, etc. We did this for at least  a half hour in each of the two models, and that was when were sure the Utah would work best for us. YMMV, but the important thing is to find the PU that best fits you & your family, and this exercise went a long way towards making us more confident in our choice. Thus far we haven't looked back and thought, "Boy, I sure wish we that [fill in option here] that the Sun Valley had!" instead of what we have, so I'm still feeling good that we made the best choice for us. Good luck in your quest.

[pvero]

We have a Toyota Sequioa so no towing problems.  Do you like the Bayside?  We were looking at that but had a problem with the small couch.  What is top down fridge access?

It seems you are a beer brewer.  My husband has been making home brew for 10 years.

[pvero]

Thanks Jeff and Lisa,

Your comments were exactly our thoughts but we were trying to justify paying storage on the Utah vs storing sun valley in our garage.  I think it is the Utah for sure.  Any storage tips?

PV

[fritz_monroe]

Top down fridge access is just that, being able to put food into the fridge without popping up.  In my Bayside and in the Utah, you have to pop up to access the fridge.  As I said, right now, that's a non-issue for us, it could change, but I doubt it.

As for the Bayside vs. the Utah, we tried both.  The Utah gives you that extra sleeping area when you pull out the sofa.  In place of that, we have a small sofa against one of the bunk ends and another group of cabinets on the wall that the Utah has the sofa.  We traded off storage for sleeping space.  That seemed like the ideal for us.  We have 2 kids, 2 y.o & 7 y.o., and both can get into bed using the sofa as a step.  We also have a 10 y.o. dog that will probably eventually have trouble getting into the bed without using the sofa.  The "bay window," it opens up a surprising amount of floor space.

When deciding, sit in there and think about how you would survive if you had the entire family and it was pouring down rain.  With the slide out dinnette, we can sit in there and play cards or the kids can color.  Lots of floor space to do whatever we like.

Hope this helps.

[volzjr]

Thanks Jeff and Lisa,

Your comments were exactly our thoughts but we were trying to justify paying storage on the Utah vs storing sun valley in our garage.  I think it is the Utah for sure.  Any storage tips?

PV

Sorry Pvero, can't help you with storage. We were lucky enough to find a house with a 30' deep attached garage. Between the PUP and the snowmobiles, the cars have never seen the inside of it.  

[pvero]

Sorry, I meant inside storage tips.  I am all new to this and am used to boxes and crates while camping.