[Motor31]

Depending on the size of the unit you buy you will need a large capacity truck to haul it legally and safely. The larger DRV units are up to 20,000 GVW and that is out of a one ton PU category. A 450 / 4500 or 550 / 5500 type of truck is what you will need at a minimum. Some of us use an HDT or retired semi since we could get them far cheaper than an MDT like the ones I listed. The HDT isn't absolutely necessary but they are really nice to use due to the performance, comfort and safety margin they have.

We got one of the units that had multiple and consistent problems. Some were due to the dealer's service side inability or unwillingness to really fix them. Others were due to the factory making poor choices and employees lack of concern in assembling the unit. It was very much like the idea of making sure your unit was not built on a Friday and Monday kind of thing. Ours seems to have been one of those units.

Areas to look for.

The DRV units had (may still have) cuts in the bottom seal under the kitchen slide to gain clearance with the rollers. This allows free flowing air to circulate under the slide as well as daylight and crawling critters.

DRV has had an issue in using either too few or too small a selection of screws in putting the units together causing problems in pocket doors falling off, seams opening up on the caps and other separations of components. They also tended to break the screws on the cap trim then cover the broken screw with caulk instead of pulling the screw and making a proper repair.

The factory also used only 3 small screws to hold the weight bearing "rail" portion of the center wall in the kitchen slide. This let the "rail" (angle aluminum actually) pull away from the wall and drop the center section of the slide on the rollers. That started crushing the wooden supports until I re set the "rail".

Switches being over amp'ed or connections not crimped properly led to some of them being hot to the touch when used. Seeing a sign saying do not turn on the switch in the dealers display was one example. I had to re set the connections on two of my own switches after the dealer said they couldn't find the arcing going on behind them in the kitchen wall. The wiring had already gotten rather crispy at the point of attachment and I redid the electrical connections.

Do not get the unit prepped for satellite if they are not installing the equipment at the factory. Several folks found the cables were not strung to the proper location but were left coiled at one end of the rig.

Plan on spending a day or so straightening out the entertainment system cables and wires. Look for splitters where signal switches should have been installed. This is important as the splitters tend to degrade the satellite signal especially if you are going to use the connection for the outside cable / satellite connection point.

Check the screw tension on items installed at the factory like the ceiling fan blades and light fixtures. Most of the ones on mine were not tightened and the fans shed screws and almost 2 blades when I turned it on.

Look to all of the windows and other openings in the rig both on the sides and top for proper caulking / sealing. It too over a year to stop a leak in the window on a slide on our rig. None of the windows had been caulked to the vertical edges, just the top horizontal edge. I had to re caulk them all to stop the streaming (not dripping) water falls inside the rig when it rained. It looked like one wall was a "water wall" rather than an interior wall of an RV as the water streamed in the full width of the window. The dealer "said" they resealed it and re installed it twice.

Before you buy from a dealer, make sure their service center is properly able to care for the problems. I had a clue with my dealer when the tech couldn't tell me what kind of hydraulic fluid was used in the system on the trailer. The sale experience was great but I wouldn't trust them to adjust the tire pressure on a tricycle in the service center. We ended up with over 1200 miles one way just to get things fixed in the first 2 and a half months of ownership. We ended up making two trips to the factory for repairs the dealer couldn't or wouldn't handle.

The factory was responsive to problems and I have to give them credit in honoring their warranty, at the factory. They have since cut the warranty time in half to one year and any installed items like the AC or other appliances will be referred to the manufacturer of that unit for warranty items if you have trouble.

We have had a Nash (23'), a Peterson Excel (36'), and the Mobile Suites. We had more trouble with the MS in the first two weeks than we had with the previous two units in over 4 years of ownership including full time usage. We did look at going back to the Excel but the killer on that choice was they had much smaller tanks in their rigs. We then went to the MS.

At this point I would not buy another one of these rigs if there were other choices available like the Excel. In retrospect I wish we had gotten either an Excel or a Travel Supreme. Unfortunately the Travel Supreme is no longer being built.