Solitude S Class Discontinued? Something New Called Influence?

[Steven@147]

Tami said she saw something on FB from someone on a factory tour and said the Solitude S Class will be discontinued and something new called "Influence" is taking its place? Not a lot of info on this yet but I did notice on GD's web site all of the S Class Solitudes are marked as dealer stock only.
Tami and I were talking last night, if we had to replace our S Class 3350RL, what would we replace it with? We love the S Class. I guess if the time ever comes when we need to replace our RV, we would look to see what GD has to offer at that time. If it's not what we want, I guess we will start to look at another manufacturer.

Solitude Influence?

What is GD doing? Scrambling it's offerings. What say you [MENTION=331]huntr70[/MENTION]

 

[WhittleBurner]

The name just does not do anything for me but hope they keep the ccc equal to the now gone S class. If the pricing hasn't gotten so stupidly high we'd of likely bought one a couple years ago.

 

[Steven@147]

The name just does not do anything for me but hope they keep the ccc equal to the now gone S class. If the pricing hasn't gotten so stupidly high we'd of likely bought one a couple years ago.

We would agree Marcy and we hope the new name "Influence" doesn't imply the idea for this new model came from those who are so called RV Influencers. The only influence the "Influencers" have on us is to, politely putting it, think they are Nuts!

The GD web site seems to be way behind what we have heard about the standards and options available today on the Solitudes. We have heard all Solitudes now come with 8K axles which should up the CCC but yet the web site still lists 7K axles. Have heard they are having problems with their web site and getting it updated.

As fulltimers we need a CCC near 4000# and a large cargo bay and doors, which is what we have now at 4478#. But we hate the idea of having hydraulics, tankless WH or One Control and we really don't want a residential fridge. The more electronic control and touch screens they cram into the new RVs the more people have problems with it. But Lippert or as we like to call them "Limp-ert" drives a lot of their crap into the manufacturers.

We well know that when or if it comes time to replace our rig, we maybe stuck with some of this non-sense. As we were talking last night, baring a catastrophic loss, how long will our current rig last? How long will we continue fulltiming? 8, 10, more years? If 10 years I would be 77 years old.
In the mean time we will work hard to keep our rig in top shape as long as we can! Maybe even bite the bullet and install an independent suspension and eventually put on a permanent roof and replace the furniture. Everything we can do to keep the rig we have.

How is your rig doing at 9 years old?

 

[Second Chance]

Perhaps [MENTION=331]huntr70[/MENTION] can shed some light on this subject, too... (thanks, Steve).

Rob

 

[Tom Traveler]

How is your rig doing at 9 years old?

I might be getting a bit off topic, but has anyone with older RVs run into the “ten years old or newer” restriction at some RV parks?

 

[huntr70]

Perhaps [MENTION=331]huntr70[/MENTION] can shed some light on this subject, too... (thanks, Steve).

Rob

Have patience, people!

Like every other manufacturer, this is the time for new models, floorplans, colors, etc.

Yes, some things are changing (as I posted in a thread yesterday) but I don't have details yet either.

I will find more out next week at Open House in Elkhart. There is a dealer meeting on Sunday, which should introduce us to the 2 completely new lines. There are other changes coming in the existing lines also.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

We would agree Marcy and we hope the new name "Influence" doesn't imply the idea for this new model came from those who are so called RV Influencers. The only influence the "Influencers" have on us is to, politely putting it, think they are Nuts!

...

Nice to know I'm not the only one who hates the self-named "Influencers", whether they be RV or other.

 

[Steven@147]

Gosh I'm getting old, the scuttle-butt gets out there faster than they can keep up with. We get ourselves all worked up in tizzy because us old farts don't want anything to change or at least don't want youngsters driving what we end up with! If it works leave it alone!

Where did that optimism go that we had in our 20s-30s? Optimist says it can't get any worse, pessimist says oh yes it can!!


LOL

 

[Hoopy Frood]

And the realist says the pessimist is usually right.

Just another bit on this and then no more hi-jacking from me...on this thread anyway. I really hate that when you criticize a change, which really does nothing but change the appearance, or make the operation more convoluted, you get put down for "hating change". It's "change for the sake of change" I hate: the old way worked great...but this is newer. Does it work better? No. Does it make things easier? No. Is it simpler? No. Is it newer? Yes, and that's the point.

 

[sande005]

And there is the old bromide: "An optimist is frequently disappointed, while a pessimist is often pleasantly surprised"....

 

[WhittleBurner]

How is your rig doing at 9 years old?

Over all its not doing that bad. We need to replace the bulb seals, have those ready And waiting. The front cap is weathered and Gary is working on the plumbing.. other than that we have already replaced the couch and love seat. Thinking dining chairs are next. The side that takes the FL sun for 6 months needs to get a professional wax job this year..
For the age it's really not holding up bad at all. Most that needs to be done is maintenance driven not age driven.
That's why we haven't been in any hurry to replace it at today's prices. We pretty much decided to keep up maintaing this one, even if ever needed a new roof will save us a minimum of 70 grand

 

[goducks14]

My guess would be that the S class has gotten too expensive from what it was intended to be and that was a cheaper version of the Solitude. Similar to the Montana HC vs a reg Montana. Maybe GD is going to enter a cheaper version again that won't even have as many bells and whistles as the S class. Make it more affordable.

 

[Redapple63]

My guess would be that the S class has gotten too expensive from what it was intended to be and that was a cheaper version of the Solitude. Similar to the Montana HC vs a reg Montana. Maybe GD is going to enter a cheaper version again that won't even have as many bells and whistles as the S class. Make it more affordable.

I like the idea of the sub class and maybe you are right, but to give up on established branding doesn’t make sense. Make another level Solitude and leverage the branding that goes with it.

Don’t like the name but interested in what they come up with. Maybe it’s another home run!

Bill

 

[Steven@147]

Over all its not doing that bad. We need to replace the bulb seals, have those ready And waiting. The front cap is weathered and Gary is working on the plumbing.. other than that we have already replaced the couch and love seat. Thinking dining chairs are next. The side that takes the FL sun for 6 months needs to get a professional wax job this year..
For the age it's really not holding up bad at all. Most that needs to be done is maintenance driven not age driven.
That's why we haven't been in any hurry to replace it at today's prices. We pretty much decided to keep up maintaing this one, even if ever needed a new roof will save us a minimum of 70 grand

Thanks Marcy, this gives all of us a good feeling that our rigs will hold up for several years with regular maintenance.

 

[mwdilday]

I doubt when they announced Solitude and Reflection people liked those names either. Influence will grow on everybody just like all the other brand names do.

 

[Scott'n'Wendy]

I doubt when they announced Solitude and Reflection people liked those names either. Influence will grow on everybody just like all the other brand names do.

If people like the floor plans and it is appointed well, it will be popular. If it's popular...the name Influence will become popular....imo

But I agree on the "influencer" youtube, insta etc thing. They don't influence me. I tend to stay away from/don't watch people that call themselves influencers.

@ Tom Traveller, ya the 10 year rule is common in AZ at least. But I saw a lot of 15+ year old units in parks saying it needs to be newer than ten years.

 

[Soundsailor]

They've got the name trade marked: https://uspto.report/TM/98011169

 

[WhittleBurner]

Inflence line is live on the GD website, only 2 floor plans and pictures are all the way at the bottom of the page... i think this is their response to compete with Brinkley looking at the simple exterior. Maybe there will be interior pictures up soon

 

[Steven@147]

Inflence line is live on the GD website, only 2 floor plans and pictures are all the way at the bottom of the page... i think this is their response to compete with Brinkley looking at the simple exterior. Maybe there will be interior pictures up soon

3803GK, 38 footer, has 2932# of cargo capacity. The 4003BH, 40 footer has 2000# of cargo cap. Just prlim info, might be a lot more loaded on the site later

 

[WhittleBurner]

3803GK, 38 footer, has 2932# of cargo capacity. The 4003BH, 40 footer has 2000# of cargo cap. Just prlim info, might be a lot more loaded on the site later

On the 38 ft capacity , that's only a little over 200 lbs more than our 303 @ just shy of 33ft
Not quite the capacity that the S class had....take good care of that 3350