After months of looking, we finally settled on what we believe will be the perfect RV for us.
Not too big, not too small, reasonably affordable and containing all the features that are important to us.
And, most importantly, built by a manufacturer known for standing behind their product.
Check out the Tiffin Allegro 36LA.
Exterior
Interior
Half Bath (located behind the TV and fireplace
Bedroom
Main Bathroom (located in the rear of the coach)
The Floorplan
The 36LA is just under 38 feet long, has two slides on the driver’s side (which means the awning on the passenger side is not wasted covering slides instead of us), it has 1.5 bathrooms, up to 4 TV’s (including one on the outside), an optional washer/dryer combo, a queen bed, and the option for either a booth dinette (pictured above) or a dining table / computer workstation.
Again and again we’ve read that Tiffin is known for standing behind their RV’s. In fact, as we understand it, you can call or email the owner of the company and he will actually respond. Given how most companies operate these days, we are pretty thrilled to hear we can expect this level of customer service. We’ve also learned Tiffin will help troubleshoot issues over the phone and send you the necessary parts if it’s something you can fix yourself – saving the time and aggravation of bringing the coach to a mechanic.
Given how complicated these machines are and given how much abuse they take simply driving down the road, we know issues will crop up. Every RV has problems that need to be addressed and every RV suffers from wear and tear. What’s important to us is working with a company that will work with us and make every effort to resolve problems in the most painless manner possible.
From what we’ve learned, Tiffin seems like that kind of company.
Congrats on your purchase and your travels!!! We recently retired and while we won’t full-time, I can see us spending 4 – 5 months / years in our yet to be purchased first motorhome. Hope to live in it for a couple months down south and get away from the Pittsburgh winter plus traveling a couple other months in fall and spring (we hate crowds). We are seriously considering purchasing a used couple year old 36LA. I’d welcome any feedback on your thoughts on your purchase. MPG (so I can budget gas). How does the gas engine handle climbing hills? Other thoughts and comments and this coach??? Thanks. Happy travels!
Hi Phil, Overall we have been very happy with our 36LA. If we’d had our way, we would have bought a used one, but there just weren’t many available at the time we were looking (36LAs have only been on the market for a couple years). If you can get a used one in good condition, I would absolutely recommend it. There are certainly things they’ve added and improved the last couple years that make a newer edition nicer, but you don’t need any of them, especially if you’re not going full time. They are just nice to have and can be added later (the big ones that come to mind are 5 star tuning and Sumo Springs). For us, we find the size of the 36LA to be just right, we love the layout, we like having the second bathroom, we have plenty of storage space, plenty of counter space, and the build quality has been really good. Our RV has had issues, but all RVs have issues. They’re massively complex machines being put through an earthquake every day. Compared to the horror stories we’ve heard about some other brands, we’re glad we bought a Tiffin. As for MPG, we are typically getting 8-10 MPG. So far, we’ve mostly been on the east coast, so we haven’t dealt with major mountains, but the ones we have encountered, we’ve been able to manage just fine. You will definitely hear the engine working and you’re definitely going to be going slow, but you’ll get there. Our opinion of course might change once we’re in Colorado, but at this point, we have no regrets about buying a gas instead of diesel. While it certainly would be nice to have more power, we just couldn’t justify the massive price increase. If you have any other questions, let us know!
We just purchased a 2016 36LA …. it was used with around 8000 miles. We haven’t got to camp in it yet because of problems with the dash AC and the electric slide. Now it’s the brakes … The dealer we purchased it from is standing behind it so we are grateful for that. Hopefully, once these initial problems are fixed we’ll be able to enjoy it. We’re crossing our fingers hoping these things are a fluke and not a sign of things to come! It’s encouraging to read about your experience with this model ….
Hmmmm….it’s interesting that two of the three problems appear to be on the Ford side of things as opposed to the Tiffin side of things… brakes and dash AC are both part of the chassis. So far we’ve had zero problems with that. We did have an issue very early on with our electric slide – they are notoriously finicky, but once it was fixed, it’s stayed fixed. Hopefully your dealer will get everything straightened out quickly and get you on the road. I can imagine how frustrated you are. I’m not sure if you’re on the Tiffin forum or not. If not, there’s a link on my resources page. The folks on there are really helpful and if you can’t get things fixed through your current dealer, they may have some other recommendations for places to take it to (I’m not sure where you’re located). Your chassis issues should be under warranty no matter what. Anyway, I wish you guys the best of luck!