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“Hi. I’m a unicorn. I’m going to be in your neighborhood this weekend. Wanna meet up?”
That’s how our friend, John, described the email I received recently from a couple of readers. They were going to be passing near our home base in Salt Lake City, Utah, and wondered if we would be interested in checking out their new coach. Since we’ve NEVER seen a Platinum II in person, we jumped at the chance. It’s not our usual in-depth review, but check out this video for a look at this unique coach.
Coach House, for those of you who aren’t familiar with them, build Class B and small Class C (B+) coaches from their facility in Florida. They don’t have a dealer network, so we’ve never seen one at a dealer. They’ve also never been to any of the RV shows we’ve been to (which are usually a good distance from Florida), so we’ve never seen one at a show. And Florida is a really long way from our home base, so we’ve not seen them at their factory. That’s why Dave and Sandy inviting us in was such a treat.
I’m not going to make a habit of reviewing coaches with people living in them, but this was a rare enough opportunity that I made a little bit of an exception. In the video, you’ll not only see the RV, but you’ll hear the owners talking about their impressions and the buying experience with the Coach House factory direct model.
A big thanks to Dave and Sandy for inviting us into their home on wheels. Hope you like the video!
Hello. We went to the 2018 Hershey, PA RV show last month. For the past two years we had our hearts set on a Leisure Travel Van (LTV). We weren’t even considering any other brand because as far as we were concerned, the LTV had everything we needed. Then, we happened-up on the Coach House Platinum 241XL RQ. We couldn’t believe that anything could divert our attention away from the LTV, but now, we’re believing that Coach House is it. We particularly love the front recliner seats with tables. What was great is that they have a permanent bed in the back, and the recliners don’t block the windows when driving, as does a Murphy Bed model in other RVs. And the quality of the cabinets and other interior items seem pretty high and sturdy. Is there anyone who can give an honest comparison between the Platinum 241XL or 272XL and the LTV motorhomes? I hope this is okay to ask. If not, I guess it won’t be posted. Let’s see!
Perfectly fine to ask!
I can tell you they’re both high-quality coaches – though I don’t have any recollection on the particular floor plans you mention.
At that level of fit and finish, I think you should pick the floor plan and features that work best for you, and not worry about quality differences between the two. Those will be minor.
I just viewed a new Arriva V24 at the 2016 Hershey PA show. I was impressed that the Arriva had a dry bath/separate shower, twin bed convert to king in a MB Sprinter 3500 without any fiberglass width expansion. I hope that Coach House goes to Pomona show too, so you and Stefany can review the Arriva’s design and build quality. I car camped 8900 miles this summer on a cross-USA & western Canada trip and concluded fuel economy and minimal sway are important RV qualities. Western mountain roads have hairpin with seemingly fewer guardrails at big drop offs and distances between attractions can be huge.
And WIND! Don’t forget the WIND! Handling in crosswinds is critical for driving high-profile vehicles out west.
About the Coach House Platinum II, we have a 2005 23′ on a Ford E450 v10 gas chassis. We’ve only had to replace the water pump ($120 Amazon) because we left if on when the battery drained one winter. After several RV’s, wife and I needed a quality, economical, fast-and-quiet, and easy-to-park-anywhere unit to travel coast to coast yearly. This was it! We don’t live in it as a weekend camper, although some people do. When destinated, it is short enough to pull into a 25′ site when RV parks are full of the bigger rigs! However, it has heated pipes and drains for northern cold weather travel stops, air suspension and levelers, and so much built-in neat stuff on it, even I couldn’t make an improvement on it! 10 years later, I find that the construction quality on the newer models have not changed …. my point! If you see one, owners love to be asked to show it, cause you ain’t gonna see one at a dealer! I guess you have to inherit one or drive to the Florida family-owned factory to get one of these. So if you require an easy two-up for quick trips anywhere & anytime, and to park it in your existing garage, a B+ Coach House RV should do it just fine! -From a satisfied owner and wife on the edge of retirement.
Glad to hear you’re so happy with your purchase! It kind of echoes the experience our interviewees had…
Have you received any further communication from Dave and Sandy regarding their experience with the Coach House RV? I’d certainly be interested in their perspective as my situation (i.e., no prior RV experience) is similar to theirs.
Last we heard from them, things were still going well, but it’s been a little while.
Perhaps they’ll chime back in. Did you have any specific questions for them?
Well, I’m particularly interested in how well the Coach House RV is meeting their expectations from a performance/reliability/comfort perspective and whether or not it is meeting their needs. Is it working out well in cold weather situations and is it large enough that they are comfortable “living” in it?
By the way, I really like your site and appreciate your RV reviews and fitness tips.
Glad you like the site!
Hopefully, Dave and Sandy see this, and can respond.
I guess a testament to quality of a RV is how they look 14 years after being built. My 2002 Coach House 23′ which I just took on a week shake down cruise, performed excellent with everything working. Now the RV has had items replaced, but again these are run of the mill things like MW and water pumps. The coach construction is high quality, and the cabinets look brand new. I love the knobs they use that show if the door is latched. I just have to remember to look at them before I take off. I installed a USB plug in one wall and had to drill 3/4″ plywood. Not sure if I would buy a new one because of the $, but I can vouch for at least this used one.
Wall construction of 3/4″ plywood is stout indeed! (I didn’t even go that thick when I rebuilt Das Bus.)
It’s telling that others are echoing the owners’ opinions about the quality.
I’m glad you got an opportunity to see a Coach House unit. Before getting our ARV, we were considering the Coach House Arriva. And I was disappointed that you guys had not had a chance to review any Coach Houses. The Arriva does the full bath (across the rear) in a true B.
That Arriva was the closest thing to what we had in our last RV. It was nice to finally see one in person – even if it wasn’t a true B. I would have loved to have crawled under it and taken apart cabinets and such, but I’ll reserve that for when I come across an un-owned unit some day.
Hi James. You did not take a look at an Arriva. The Arriva is a class B. The Platinum is different — a class C or B+. We just picked up our brand new Arriva on August 22nd.
Oh, I know. I just typed two thoughts in the same comment. Didn’t mean to be unclear.
I *have* seen a Coach House Arriva. It is the closest thing available now to what we had in our previous RV, Das Bus (which was a true Class B)
After that first sentence, the remainder of the comment was about the Platinum II that was in the video.