Winnebago View/Navion Review ( After 1 Year )

[Applause] let's welcome my name's Blaine this is my wife Charisse hello and we are here to do a review on our a Tasca Navion here we go wanted to put together a video of our Winnebago view or Itasca Navion technically we have the attachment Avion not to view but wanted to put together a little bit of user and review not necessarily a dealer I through all the reviews that I see on different motorhomes and travel trailers and things like that they seem to be a lot of them are dealer promoted and I wanted to put something together for an end user and we've had this now for over a year and we've had some other travel trailers campers things of that nature tents and we wanted to put together a review of this Itasca Navion that we have it is the 24k I believe is the floor model of the unit and we've had we bought our first motorhome in 2007 right yeah a 32 foot travel trailer and I had ezel truck at that point in time 32 foot travel trailer it was big it was big yeah it was a big rig it was not a travel light so it was heavy and yeah thick and it was well built and well me it was a keystone product yeah montana about here edition i believe i had we had a baby he was four months old so i had to be two bedrooms we just needed all this space we thought yeah we thought we thought and we filled it up that was our problem yeah yeah you always fill up the space you have so that's that's another video another time but yeah so we started off with that and then we sold that a few years later we we had another son we bought another smaller travel trailer a 24 25 foot travel trailer and then we had for a few years it was a hybrid model and then the hybrid I loved it it was a Jacob aha and the unit itself where you can't was how big was the box I think it was a 19 foot box Mille ampere and then it had to pop out right so we had a 19 foot camper and the bedroom just popped out there's two beds that popped out so we went from a 32 foot travel trailer with Bette two bedrooms - yeah a hybrid was two popouts it was amazing I love that camper I was nice that suited our needs well we parted for I think eight thousand we use it for like two or three years we saw in a three thousand I mean it was a no-brainer put little to no money into it and it was good it was good experience for us it was a little bit of an adjustment but it was a good adjustment and then we bought a after that we bought a 28 foot travel trailer again and then after our 28 foot travel trailer we bought a 32 foot I think was a 32 or 34 full class a Motorhome and we had that class a Motorhome for another couple years or a year so all these campers we've had or RVs or whatever we've had for a couple years it seems but our hodgepodge of travel trailers to class days to class whatever's it helped us prioritize what was important to our family and what wasn't important our family and now I think my husband and I can agree we've found the perfect fit through trial and error so please leave wisdom have will be wise and learn from our experience yeah learn from our mistakes yeah and lots of tens of thousands ago yes this is for you YouTube please it will help me feel better about myself if somebody learns from our mistakes that's right but we decided that through our camping experiences we found what best meets our needs as a growing family and we do have an the people that camp in this typically are two adults and two children we have two boys they are now 12 and 11 and and our dog rusty who is a miniature Labradoodle weighs about 20 pounds and so that is the core group in this camper and we'll kind of walk you through our floorplan kind of show you what we do as a family how we operate and sometimes it's not super comfortable because it's small but it works well and what we found was like Charisse was saying through our trial and errors of all these other types of camping that we've done for our RV and road trips traveling our lifestyle and how we like to travel the best yes because in this model size I'm very comfortable driving it so for one time I'm actually for once a major to help my husband travel and drive and I can take turns driving I know with the trucks and the trailers and the class a there was no way I would even consider it because I just knew everything would be in jeopardy yeah it's I like to drive this this is fun this is just a totally different driving experience you actually for me I am used to driving some trucks and things like that so for me it was such an easy transition it's almost like just driving a band with the class a RV you're constantly just driving it you're really looking to get into a gas station how can I get around there's a lot of pre thought to all the the traveling and it's almost it's a job instead of enjoyment for for us to transition out of this I believe we're both in agreement we would just buy another one we buy a new one or a slightly used one maybe a couple years old because it just fits us it suits us like I said like we talked about the driving all that kind of stuff just how it works for our family it's just great it's easy to get in and out places there's no restrictions for campgrounds we can take it on off-road I won't say off-road like four-wheel-drive type to track trails we've done it yeah we've we've we've been out and about so and we love to drive so having a traveled unit like this where you can drive and still all be together is really nice they're really good yeah I mean there's a lot of YouTube videos out there and things on pros and cons on travel trailer versus Class A Class C things of that nature and they do have pros and cons because we don't have a vehicle when we set up so when we do want to tear down the coffee pots and rearrange our beds a little bit it is it does it is ten minutes for us to 15 minutes for us to unhook and go somewhere but that's worth it to us because we like the freedom of the other aspects of it that's right that's right it is it it's one package everything is within one package and that is what it is because if we go on daily little hikes and excursions and go into swimming holes or fishing spots or things like that that we like to do we can just take this and we have a bathroom with us with a shower with us we have a refrigerator with us we don't have to say all right well let's transition into a truck oh but don't forget your swimming trunks and don't forget your towel and don't forget your sunscreen don't forget everything that you need that we already have in here so that's one of the reasons to it it just seems like it's less work it's less of a job it's more enjoyable than having two separate vehicles and we enjoyed our travel try there's nothing wrong with travel travel trailers at all and there is pros to that feeling you're a little safer in a travel trailer because you're in your vehicle with airbags and CB yeah yeah no flying objects all around that could make it hit you in an accident thank god we've never been in an accident but yes thank you but so what we'll do now is we will walk you through some of the outside or some of the inside stuff and then we'll walk you through some of the outside stuff just to give you a look at what it is but stay tuned because I'm sure you'll get to see rusty yes our dog you go get to see rusty he's my wife's probably first love right yeah yeah this is a 2011 so it's a little bit dated but I don't think that they've changed much 2018 they did I know some of their floor plans changed here there but they're basically the same since the inception with you know every year it's a little bit more bells and whistles I think they did change chassis at some point and they just released a new chassis for the starting of 2020 I believe so 2020 forward there is going to be like the third generation of the mercedes chassis so this is the front of the cab pretty simple automatic transmission whenever you sit in here it's basically like driving a van like we talked about these seats both these seats do swivel around to add just that much more space in the front cab there is no table that sits here and I can kind of demo that right now just spend one around quick so you guys can see how it works maybe there that goes forward so there you have it goes you know rather quickly and painlessly but it does just give you another sitting area because it's such a small coach but given the fact that this floorplan does not have a designated bedroom it makes the coach feel like it's huge this coach actually feels like it's bigger than our 32 footer because of there's no bedroom so this is the top bed here this is where the kids usually hang out and sleep they usually put the ladder up over here there is a ladder this does flip up and get out of the way for easier access easier Headroom and just comes down at night we usually throw a sheet on there couple pillows they're good to go this couch folds down it's just jackknifes down you just lift here boom couch goes down into a bed that makes a nice that's where Charisse typically sleeps at there isn't necessarily sometimes we sleep there together sometimes we don't but if we want a good night's sleep we we will probably make up two beds because it just gives us more elbow room and it really only takes us 10 minutes you know at night to set up it's just one of those things where we don't have a bedroom a designated bedroom but we find that the other features like we were talking about it's worth it the drivability the compactness so the dinette crashes down it just flips up boom crashes down they fold into a decent bed for me now I had to buy it's kind of hard the mattress here if it's a one or two nights I don't worry too much about it but if we're going for a week or two weeks or even three weeks at a time I like to bring along an additional air mattress which I'm going to probably do a review on that specific air mattress it's an X bed air mattress the mat 10 duo or duo mat forget what it is but I want to do a review on that because the thing is amazing amazing super comfortable most comfy wear mattress I was ever on and it fits here like a glove it doesn't over extend it's not too big too long so that does great so other than that TV you know good storage up above we keep some towels and stuff here this is like my little closet area that I use and then there's a coffee machine coffee have to have that there's some storage here as far as some pull out doors next to cards things like that in there and then I'm gonna turn the camera over once we hit the kitchen to my wife or she's gonna do it the review on the kitchen because she was a little skeptical about the kitchen how big it was the layout of and stuff like that so I'm gonna let her take over from here back okay so coming from our travel trailers even our class a to this class see I was a little apprehensive because I really a kitchen is very very important to me now my husband and I are camping is weekend fun here there but we go out sometimes for weeks at a time so I like to cook and I like everything to be organic and I just I have issues like that so I like to be able to stuff my refrigerator with the stuff that I like and I needed an oven because I don't use a microwave and the class this class II only has the convection oven in the microwave so it was very difficult for me to be coaxed into one my husband was he knows that I probably worry too much so anyhow we made provisions with crock pots and other things and and it turned out that this works out just fine and I I just need let loose a little bit so the kitchen in this unit is it's smaller than what I'm used to but it's very efficient and it's all that I really need actually so sometimes we can set the coffeepot up here I have two burners here which are you know it's better than they're not having any so we make do with it and the sink you know it's a it's a deep sink you know we just make the best of it because whenever you are trying to see what fits best in your realm of camping you have to pick and choose and you have to do with out some things and actually now that I have been doing with this kitchen um it's it's it's nice it works fine I was just worried for nothing you get one pan that can do many different purposes instead of having an omelet pan and then a saute pan we just kind of made the best choice with one pan to do different varieties and that worked for us and next we're going to go into the bathroom now this is a small bathroom but it's very functional and it's really all that we need so I guess I'll let the cameraman get in there fill me I'm just gonna do a little bit of an overview here of the bathroom it's small I mean but it gives you everything you need right here is our sink right there is the toilet and here is our shower and the shower curtain is very much actually yeah yeah it is and actually the shower is plenty big enough we open the wardrobe wardrobe is nice it goes back in and like I said we're methodical with our stuff so we put in extra storage bins and we have my personal items go in there so you know I know that they're all there my socks and there are my shorts and let me hang our stuff and it goes back and we have a certain size coat hanger that we're great in there and we just are we don't take everything we think we're gonna need we take what we know we'll need well this pretty much wraps up the inside tour of our Navi on what we are going to head outside and show you around the outside of it we're back so we told you we'd introduce you to Rusty I don't think we're gonna introduce you to our kids though now we may introduce you defected but this is rusty he is our travel companion my wife's first love and he is kind of like a Boyd's bear he just it's a lap dog he's awesome he has a little bit of lab in him three parts poodle and he's just cool so we link traveling with rusty so one of the things that I personally really like about a Class C is the fact that there's three points of entry and exit in and out of our camper whenever we had the class say there's one there's one door to come in and out of everybody has to leave from and come back into and you have to crawl through the RV to get to your driver's seat whenever we stopped at a gas station or something like that it's easy for me to stop pop out the side door fill up and get back in and leave I don't have to go out and around or through and if the kids are getting their shoes on and kind of clogging up the exit it just doesn't matter so that's one of the things that I really like is the fact that there's three ways in and out of these coaches mecca's we're all class teens it's not just the Itasca or the views it's oh so just keep that in mind if you're thinking about a Class A which a there's nothing wrong with Class A's I know a lot of people wouldn't even think about giving something like this but just keep in mind that there's one point of entry in and out of that coach typically so I like three myself my wife connects it I can exit the boys can take their time getting out or if they're putting on shoes and things of that nature my wife wants to take dog out well I just thought that for fuel it's no problem so that's that's a big key feature for me slides are nice of course it does have a slide this particular bottom has a slide where it's basically the living room in the kitchen our couch in a kitchen slide out and storage on the outsides I'll kind of walk you around here and talk about the storage around the outside it's not a lot it's not like a Class A is the Class A we had at tons and tons of storage underneath we were able to pack you know nice sized growls that plenty of suitcases and luggage and fishing stuff and you know our backpacks and things of that nature and we can still pack those things but we just have to be very choosy about what we bring in what we don't bring again driving this coach piece of cake super easy I think they're like seven or seven and a half foot wide so they're not real wide so that makes it nice like I said storage there is one decent size underbelly cabinet right here there's another one here that gives us access to a little storage compartment and then there's that's where the water and sewer and things of that nature hookups are around the front there's a nice little step' piece there that you know you can just step up on the bumper wash your window that makes it nice easy access sorry it's not clean we did not clean it before we did this review there's another decent size storage area back here towards the back and then we have another storage area here and then up here is one as well so not a ton of outside storage but you just trimmed down to the basics and overall it makes the a journey in my mind a little bit more enjoyable [Applause] [Music] alright guys welcome back a few things before we wrap up this video just wanted to put out there I think my wife would agree with the two things that if and when we decide to upgrade or move on from this coach I think that we're gonna buy another either one a big of you or Itasca Navion I think that's gonna happen but I also believe there's two things that I miss or I wish we had in this and that is first of all full paint I like a full paint RV I think they just hold you know the stickers and stuff II just hold it just looks better for longer that's one thing and then for this particular unit I would want a diesel generator the reason I would want a diesel generator how about it she's shaking her head yes because we've ran into many situations not like once or twice but there's been many times where we frequent Florida or southern states we frequent the South some and we want to run our air conditioning for different reasons maybe the dogs in here and we want to run our generator maybe the it's we're just in a hot environment and that the coach AC can't keep up so we want to run our generator and run our air conditioner well this only has I think a thirty pound propane bottle to run the coach so that's not a lot so I just wish we had a diesel generator having a diesel generator it's so much easier to come across diesel fuel Thank You vignette to get our propane bottle filled because there's not a lot of places that do it and then whenever for example we were in Key West we had nine people in here we were celebrating my 40th I know you're not gonna believe that five and forty but I turn 40 and we had nine of us in here and whenever we would get propane we don't have to evacuate the camper to get purpose then that's fine that's tant that's what they do they're trying to keep us safe I get it it makes sense but it was just another inconvenience that we you know if we had a diesel generator we wouldn't have to you know go find every u-haul station on the eastern seaboard to find propane yeah that's right or or late at night you'd I mean I'm bottom line is sometimes we have situations where it's 10 11 12 o'clock at night and we want propane well a lot of the places are so propane that'll service a coach like this because it's attached it's not a 20 pound grill bottle like a travel trailer is it's attached to the coach they have to hook up their hoses to the coach like she said you have to evacuate so it's just it's just that inconvenience when you're on the road and I just believe that I know it's a substantial upgrade I believe I've done some research on costs and it's probably a three to five thousand dollar upgrade whenever you purchase new or purchase used but I believe for us for the type of camping that we do because we travel and bounce around so much I believe it's worth it and full body paint I think just for a longer term because overall this coach it's a 2011 and has 46,000 miles on it right now I believe that overall the coach is in good condition but I think that if it had full body paint it would really look nice because some of the wear and tearing were scenes from the outside not necessarily on the inside maybe we see some things on the inside but a stain you can fix or whatever but whenever the stickers start to crack up and start to peel that's just going to be an issue it's just gonna make the coach look a little bit older so and I know that you can wax um and you can do all types of preventative maintenance or store them inside storm over the winter but we enjoy our coach pretty much year-round yeah so we don't like to keep it in storage so we like to take our RV and just say hey we want to do a road trip sometimes we'll take this thing out for dinner with a few people yeah that's true yeah yeah it is so we just kind of use it for like our own limo our own uber so say or something so now we we just try to maximize our use out of it we try to enjoy it the most that we can and I don't want to put this in storage for six months a year so I think full body paint nice wax job on it or some ceramic code or something like that we just go a long ways so hope you guys enjoy don't forget to Like and subscribe there is going to be some more videos we're going to be doing together our kids I have to give a shout-out to the mills boys channel because that's our kids YouTube channel and they just do some different types of adventures some some different kids that 11 and 12 year old kids would do and they're starting to get a little bit better and better at editing and I think that the future with their YouTube channel is gonna get better and better right like it subscribe to the mills boys I know they would be ecstatic yep yeah to give them a shout out there are boys so thanks again for watching appreciate it anything else you need to say no but get out there because the venture is waiting and there you go that's right we and we enjoy our family and we encourage you guys to do the same thing yeah it's be good to one another yep take care [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Blaine Mills

Views: 126,918

Keywords: Winnebago, Winnebago View, Itasca, Itasca Navion, Class C, Class C Rv, Class A Rv, Travel Trailer, Best Rv, Best Class C, Best Class C RV, Class A vs Class C, Travel Trailer Vs, Mercedes, Mercedes Class C, Mercedes Camper, Safest Class C, Safest Rv, Safest Class C RV, Mercedes Sprinter, Mercedes RV

Id: klvxtqP0BCo

Length: 26min 16sec (1576 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 30 2019