Your Lazy Daze..... January 28, 2012, 06:02:33 am Yahoo Message Number: 128096We have been talking about after this winter selling our Toyota Winnebago Warrior RV home and purchasing something a bit more modern. I really like these Lazy Daze. I have been researching them a bit and looking at the prices. Can people in here tell me about how they enjoy their Lazy Daze??? How does it run??? Gas mileage??? Anything else??http://timehasshownme.com
Re: Your Lazy Daze..... Reply #1 – January 28, 2012, 11:01:31 am Yahoo Message Number: 128104We've only had our MB for 10 years and about 106,000 miles so far. ;>} We do know people that are on their second or third LD. As with most people here, we've found it to be well built and well designed for living in. Over the years, we been paring down the stuff we find we want/need to travel with. We spend time ranging from long weekends to over 5 months. Because of their great balance and low center of gravity, I've been impressed with how well they handle strong cross winds. Mileage is about what you would expect for a heavy vehicle with a large engine. When we tow (4000 lb Jeep) we get 8-8.5 mpg depending on terrain. On the few times we don't have the Jeep, we can get up to 10 mpg. We do get slowed down some climbing the big mounta
Re: Your Lazy Daze..... Reply #2 – January 28, 2012, 11:14:57 am Yahoo Message Number: 128107Can people in here tell me about how they enjoy their Lazy Daze??? How does it run??? Gas mileage??? Anything else?? Prior to our LD we had a '92 Dolphin Micro-Mini 3Ltr. V6 for 12 years. It was a good rig The major difference between the Dolphin and the LD is road manners. In zero wind conditions the Dolphin was fine but when the wind came up one did not drive it, one sailed it. In addition the wife started to complain about having to get out a push it up the steeper grades :-) I found it very fatiguing to drive in these conditions. The LD has no such problems. Plenty of power and very stable in windy conditions. A real joy to drive. Other threads have addressed mileage, build quality and factory support for the LD so I will not address those issues. YMMV John '04 23.5FL
Re: Your Lazy Daze..... Reply #3 – January 28, 2012, 11:38:50 am Yahoo Message Number: 128108From what I've seen, Lazy Daze owners are happier with their coaches than owners of just about any other brand, except maybe Prevost ($300,000 and up). Few if any would willingly change brands, unless upsizing or downsizing to a type of coach LD doesn't make. As others have noted, the company only builds a couple hundred a year, and they only sell from the factory--no dealers, no salesmen (even at the factory)--so LDs are most likely to be found in the southern CA area, though there's a scattering in other parts of the country. This has never been a mass-market coach. The average Winnebago or Fleetwood takes 100 hours to build, while Lazy Daze averages four times that much per coach. If you'll forgive a cliche, it takes time to build quality. Lazy Daze is one of only three class C motorhomes to receive five stars from the independent RV Consumer Group, which rates all US-made RVs. The other two brands, Born Free and Platinum, cost tens of thousands of dollars more and have less practical floorplans and storage capacity. Handling, as others have said, is generally very good because of Lazy Daze's low center of gravity and careful attention to balance. Gas mileage with the newer Ford V10-based models averages 9-10 mpg. If you want more details, we have a gas mileage survey in our website's Files section. (And in my personal opinion, if gas mileage is a deciding factor in your choice of an RV, you need to relax, slow down and stay longer. :-)Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
LD vs Toy (longish) Reply #4 – January 28, 2012, 12:25:17 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128110I agree with John. The two coaches can compare in that manner. We had a 93 Toyota Itasca. It was always intended to be an interim coach, however we had issues driving it. Those are in no particular order:long sloggy grade performance, Wind loaded driving was treacherous, Too short a range, always found the small gas tank outweighed the 12 to 13 mpg. And some bad back issues. The cab seats killed us. If you have animals, then they will appreciate the difference in noise. The road noise is gone. My dog and cat love the LD. I loved the maneuverability and the compactness of being able to get into darn near any camping spot or parking lot. The smaller LDs will get you the same capability, the longer ones, not so much. The exterior maintenance is night and day. Every motor home will have some exterior issues to contend with. The paint, fiberglass, seam sealing etc. We had to reseal the seams of the Itasca after we bought it and 2 years later before we sold it. It's just a fact of life. The fiberglass is also a non-existing headache with an LD, since it has a painted aluminum skin. That said, they still require seam maintenance, but of a different type and not nearly as often. Setting up camp between the two is not really an issue. I hated the feed through electrical cord in the Itasca. So much so I made it into a dis-connectable sort. AND the generator (not common) was too noisy to use. Scared the Beegeebers out of the cat. The LD already has this type of electrical and the generators are quiet.Internal comparison. The loft bed in my Itasca had an incredible amount of head room. One could darn near sit upright in it. That isn't the case in any of the LDs. The overhead is a large nearly queen size bunk intended for the purpose of snoring. They lift like most overheads do so one can get in and out of the cab seats easier. The rest of the internal floor plan arrangements are similar. Both of ours had microwaves and such. The floor plan choice is always personal. The shower in an LD is really a usable shower, unlike the Toy. There are no sealing issues here that you have in the Toy and most Toys we saw had the shower used as a storage cabinet. Any LD will have more storage space than the Toy. The toilet is different. The plastic toilet we had was typical of most toilets in motor homes up to that year. Our first MH had something similar. They work just fine. The smaller tanks in a Toy will have you at the dump station more often. I can't speak for every year LD, but the ones I have seen are china toilets. They have a different mechanism that I think might actually use a bit more water. The larger tanks can last you longer between dumps. If you are parked at a full hookup site for longer periods I have heard wisdom to keep the black tank shut and let the digestion chemicals work at it rather than have a buildup occur, think about a bit... water runs out quicker than solids. I think this is by far the Owners favorite Feature award winner. WINDOWS! and lots of them. The LD is loaded with windows. You can see everywhere. As long as you dont have an interior light on, no one can see back in. Now the inside of an RV park doesn't excite me but take it out on the Playa or the Mesa and tell me how wonderful the view is! The only issue we had in our LD was the water pump and the furnace. And after hearing about the troubles others had with the pump. We got rid of it. The furnace is not adequate and it really loud in our 30 footer. I hear this is typical, so we to have gone to the Wave three solution. In a nutshell, if you haven't seen one first hand, you should. If you are near LA, go to the factory since this year's demonstrators are for sale and you can see the best range of demos I have seen on the floor in years. There you surely can drive one. But if I had to tell one story that sold me on a Lazy Daze it is this. I am an engineer. From a family of engineers. I am a really big girl. When I stepped into the coach through the entry door and the coach did not move, not even a perception of movement did I notice, I was sold right then and there. It was only a matter of time till we found the exact coach for us. My last advise to you is to read. Read everything here, search the archives. It is a treasure trove of information. The LD companion website will give you knowledge in a topic based collection of articles. We found them to be most valuable.Good Luck Lydia
Re: LD vs Toy (longish) Reply #5 – January 28, 2012, 12:42:50 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128111I have been wondering about the maneuverability with the Lazy Daze as compared to the Toyhomes. I will admit this our Winnebago Warrior Toyhome runs great, but is not great
Re: LD vs Toy (longish) Reply #6 – January 28, 2012, 01:31:07 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128112Quote I have been wondering about the maneuverability with the Lazy Daze as compared to the Toyhomes. I will admit this our Winnebago Warrior Toyhome runs great, but is not great in high winds. A year ago, we were traveling through the Wind River pass from Cody, WY to Riverton, WY. Yes, yes, the wind was quite treacherous and blowing us all around. We pulled over for a hour or so in a small town just 30 miles or so north of Riverton.http://timehasshownme.com James, we have driven numerous times in our '02 30' diagonally through WY between Denver and Yellowstone and then on to Big Sky, MT (or the reverse trip), in hellacious winds. Once it was so bad I couldn't keep the refer flame on. In these winds, the LD was buffeted about but was always under control and it never felt insecure to drive, like it was going to tip over.Chris
Re: Your Lazy Daze..... Reply #7 – January 28, 2012, 01:43:06 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128113John, We've had our 2010 LD RK now for nearly a year. We live in Bailey, Colorado at about 8400 feet. This is our first RV. We've absolutely enjoyed it. We've only had two minor problems - a loose fitting on the water pump and the door handle on the bathroom door that broke. In both cases the factory took care of us. We have 21,000 miles on the LD but are not full timers. We are simply on a quest to see all our National Parks etc. Since I'm a large fellow at 6'3"and around 290 pounds we've found the fold down king bed to be an absolute joy and the skylight in the shower a great feature. The two solar panels have performed well as we do a lot of boondocking to cut costs etc. Generally we're gone for two to four weeks at a time and we haven't as yet needed a toad so we don't pull anything. The Ford V10 has been wonderful. If we keep our speeds below 60 mph we generally get over 10 mpg. We love the tow/haul feature in the transmission since we do a lot of mountain driving. We also appreciate the braking system which seems more the adequate to our needs. With a large down comforter covering the cab opening we've found we can stay comfortable in freezing weather. We didn't have the spray on insulation done at the factory and are very thankful to those who had written in and suggested there were much better ways of keeping tanks and outlets from freezing. They were absolutely correct!! While we don't write much on this forum we certainly appreciate Andy and the others who have made it so easy to use. In addition, everyone is so helpful. We can't say enough about that. Last, on a rercent trip we got caught in 60 mile an hour + winds in Wyoming along I 80. We saw a tractor/ trailer rig blown over and numerous accidents. The LD performed very well until we could pull over and wait out the storm. I slowed to about 40 mph and was able to handle each gust as it hit us. I don't want to ever get in that situation again but it's nice to know the low center of gravity on the LD (fully loaded with water and holding tanks about 1/3 full) was able to handle this. We hope you continue to enjoy the "RV Life" and hope our short experience with it is helpful to you.Jay and Patsy Guddat in "Pilgrim"__
Re: Your Lazy Daze..... Reply #8 – January 28, 2012, 02:07:39 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128114"JOHN" wrote: Prior to our LD we had a '92 Dolphin Micro-Mini 3Ltr. V6 for 12 years. It was a good rig The major difference between the Dolphin and the LD is road manners. --- And about 8,000 pounds of gvwr! ;-) I tent-camped and/or "back of the truck" camped for years, then went to a tent trailer pulled by a small pickup, then to a 1992 Toyota Dolphin; I got the Lazy Daze in 2003. The Toyota was a terrific little rig, tough, versatile, pretty gas-efficient, and easy to drive, park, and maneuver; mine had close to 90,000 miles on it when I sold it. *But*, regardless of brand, the "box" was overbuilt for the *6000 pound* GVWR chassis! I was constantly worried about exceeding this number, and did everything possible to stay within the limits. At one point, I considered installing an awning - "only" 30 pounds - but the numbers indicated that if I *really* wanted an awning, I had to lose about 25 pounds or jettison the dog! As others have said, the little 6-cylinder Toyota had its limitations on mountain grades and/or in windy conditions; the rig would come almost to a standstill on steep hills, and waddle and sway and roll in high winds. The length of the rear overhang also contributed to "tail wag" in windy conditions.) The LD is certainly not the fastest thing on hills - I just stay in the right lane and suck as little gas as possible on climbs - but the rig is a lot more stable than the Dolphin (and plenty of other top-heavy, poorly-designed class C rigs that I've seen swaying and rocking down the road) in heavy winds. (My 24' rig is outfitted with beefy front and rear anti-sway bars, a Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer, and Bilsteins, so it's quite solid!) The question, "How many miles per gallon can I expect?" can't be answered with any consistency; there are too many variables. And, I suggest that if one's primary "motorhoming" concern is fuel efficiency, one might be far better served throwing a sleeping bag and a can of beans into a Prius and heading down the road. An LD, even a "small" one considerably under the GVWR, is still a heavy vehicle with a big engine that sucks gas; mine requires $100 bills stuffed into its fuel tank at regular intervals. And, unless one is sitting still, I'm sure that eye-glazing "pump shock" is a pretty common occurrence! I have an LD for at least some of the same reasons that most other owners do; despite a few "warts", the LD is the best class C produced. I've hauled around in mine for 8 1/2 years and 72,000 miles, and although I might be traveling at a slower pace in the future, I have no plans to forego the "escape pod" lifestyle!As ever, YMMV.Joan
Re: Your Lazy Daze..... Reply #9 – January 28, 2012, 04:47:10 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128116In a message dated 1/28/2012 1:19:18 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, writes:Hurray Andy, What a lovely LD post. I bought my 2003 LD 26.5, MB in May of 2010 with 17,000 miles on the ODO. This thing was like brand new and still is. Now it has 18,000 miles. Here in Escondido not far from me there was an LD parked in the drive way. I always admired it. Then when we decided to upgrade our RV from a 23 Trailmanor trailer I started to search the Internet. I found Joan Taylor's 4 Part article about LD. That really turned me towards a Lazy Daisy purchase. I found for sale in the local AutoTrader Magazine. It was located in Santee, about 40 miles from Escondido. The seller was an American Airlines pilot. He had taken very good care of it. Why was he selling? Children had grown and they needed money for College. This week I bought a new set of tires. The thread was good, but aging cracks around the rim are. Had Michelins, but I opted for Coopers. I was told by my auto mechanic that they are excellent tires. Come March we will be taking Daisy to Laughlin, NV and RV park at Riverside RV Park, for our 57th wedding anniversary.Happy and Safe Camping, Escondido John From what I've seen, Lazy Daze owners are happier with their coaches than owners of just about any other brand, except maybe Prevost ($300,000 and up). Few if any would willingly change brands, unless upsizing or downsizing to a type of coach LD doesn't make. As others have noted, the company only builds a couple hundred a year, and they only sell from the factory--no dealers, no salesmen (even at the factory)--so LDs are most likely to be found in the southern CA area, though there's a scattering in other parts of the country.This has never been a mass-market coach. The average Winnebago or Fleetwood takes 100 hours to build, while Lazy Daze averages four times that much per coach. If you'll forgive a cliche, it takes time to build quality. Lazy Daze is one of only three class C motorhomes to receive five stars from the independent RV Consumer Group, which rates all US-made RVs. The other two brands, Born Free and Platinum, cost tens of thousands of dollars more and have less practical floorplans and storage capacity. Handling, as others have said, is generally very good because of Lazy Daze's low center of gravity and careful attention to balance. Gas mileage with the newer Ford V10-based models averages 9-10 mpg. If you want more details, we have a gas mileage survey in our website's Files section. (And in my personal opinion, if gas mileage is a deciding factor in your choice of an RV, you need to relax, slow down and stay longer. :-)Andy Baird _http://www.andybaird.com/travels/_ (http://www.andybaird.com/travels/)[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Your Lazy Daze..... Reply #10 – January 28, 2012, 10:39:10 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128131Can anyone guide me to the Joan Taylor article mentioned?
Re: Your Lazy Daze..... Reply #11 – January 29, 2012, 04:20:38 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128157In a message dated 1/29/2012 1:03:32 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, writes:Can anyone guide me to the Joan Taylor article mentioned?I found the retro Link. Real fine 4 part article on LD _http://web.archive.org/web/20100322220829/http://www.rversonline.org/ArtLaz yDaze4.html_ (http://web.archive.org/web/20100322220829/http://www.rversonline.org/ArtLazyDaze4.html)John in Escondido, CA 2003 LD 26.5 MB[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Your Lazy Daze..... Reply #12 – January 29, 2012, 08:21:38 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128163Thanks John, it is an interesting read. I had read it when it was new, but it deserved a re-read.Dave W
Re: Your Lazy Daze..... Reply #13 – January 29, 2012, 10:15:21 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128166Oops, sorry Joan, for making you into John, still have problems typing on these iThings, and with the auto-correction I send some REALLY interesting notes.Dave W
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