The 2008 Alfa See Ya Gold So Long 40LS was one of the best full-time motor homes made as it was designed towards the folks that wanted a well rounded coach with many conveniences not found in other rigs in its day.
Here is the floorplan:
Technical Data
Exterior dimensions are:
- Length: 39' 11"
- Width: 8" 6"
- Height: 13' 1"
- Wheelbase: 266"
- GVWR: 34,320
- Engines: Cummins ISL 425 HP / 1200 lb ft
Capacities are:
- Fresh water: 110 gallons
- Grey water: 73 gallons
- Black water: 37 gallons
- LP: 38 gallons
- Fuel Tank: 150 gallons
Interior dimensions are:
- 95" wide
- 7' 6" high
The benefits of the 2008 Alfa See Ya Gold So Long 40LS are:
- Excellent interior room as far a ceiling height and width with one of the highest ceiling heights in any motor home. The ceiling is high enough to have ceiling fans in both the living area and the bedroom.
- The main slide-out is 39" deep and 72" high so most folks can stand up straight in them.
- Sidewalls are thicker than most other RV's being 2 3/8" thick with an R value of R-11.
- By having slides only on the street side of the rig, more room on the campsite side is available to be under the awning.
- Many storage cabinets (more than 30 drawers also) throughout it, with plentiful wardrobe space, excellent pantry space, and three clothes hampers.
- There is no "engine hump" in the floor above the engine as the north-south residential king -sized bed covers up the engine, yet allows easy access to the engine.
- 14 CF side-by-side refrigerator with ice maker.
- Innovative storage place for the garbage receptacle where it is able to emptied without taking it through the inside of the rig.
- In-motion tracking roof-mounted satellite dish.
- Electric powered electric cord reel and powered water hose reel.
- Has six coach batteries rather than four as most other RVs have for better, longer battery power when not connected to shore power or when the generator is running.
- Exterior LP fitting for use with outdoor LP appliances.
- 50-amp surge guard is included.
- Has a TV across from the couch for a better TV viewing angle.
- Seat belts are integrated into the driver and passenger seats.
The drawbacks to the 2008 Alfa See Ya Gold So Long 40LS are:
- It's an orphan as its manufacturer, Alfa Leisure, Inc., closed it's doors in 2008. There are companies that specialize in servicing and maintaining Alfa products, such as Alfateers in Fontana, Ca., but there is no factory service.
- At 13' 1", it is higher than most other motor homes, with most of them being less than 12' 6". This may cause a problem when getting fuel, going under low bridges or trees, etc.
History of Alfa motor homes:
The owner Alfa Leisure, Inc, Johnnie Crean, is the son of the former owner of Fleetwood RV, John Crean, so there was RVing in his blood from the start. Alfa Leisure originally started making travel and 5th wheel trailers, and ventured into the manufacturing of motor homes in 2001 with original ideas that other manufactures didn't have, and had to follow. Among them was the interior height of the motor home giving the feeling of spaciousness and a freedom of movement inside, carried through to a bedroom with lots of clothes changing room and a closet that was larger than most other motor homes of a similar length at the time. Another novel idea was to have the garbage receptacle have it's own compartment with an outside door so it won't be necessary to carry the garbage through the inside of the rig. This can be an easy, convenient method of handling the garbage, or it could be unpleasant if the weather is inclement outside and the awning isn't out. Yet on the list was many items that were included as standard equipment that were optional or unavailable in other, higher priced motor homes. Some of these items would be a bar-b-q, sliding cargo trays in the basement compartments, or a propane fired hot water heater providing endless hot water and heated floor tiles. Sadly, it's been reported that one of the selling points, the five year warranty, kinda turned against the company when it wouldn't honor all of it's claims. Other bad points were delamination of exterior parts, or cheapness of it's construction.
The model being talked about in this post came out in 2007 and was carried through to the 2008 model year. Full wall slides were being put on many motor homes, and this was Alfa's version of it with the slide being almost 30' long. As can be seen, the floor plan is such that the bathroom serves as a hallway for going from the galley to the bedroom when the slide is retracted. This doesn't mean that the bathroom is small as it has plenty of room and storage space, including a very large shower. When the full-wall slide on the street side is extended, but the area opened up in front of the closet is plentiful, and can even be used as a dressing room it's so roomy.
Full timer thoughts on the 2008 Alfa See Ya Gold So Long 40LS
When Johnnie Crean designed the See Ya, I think that it was designed with the full-timer in mind, meaning that there was more room and storage, along with convenience features and livability, than other rigs that cost much more and higher priced names to boot. Doesn't mean that a part-timer can't use it well, but the thought and value put into the rig most benefits the full-timer. At this point, all that are available are pre-owned so if ya find one that ya like, do yourself a favor and investigate thoroughly what you might be getting yourself into. Do the best you can to check out what the brochures say that you can find online. Of the many videos on youtube.com that are available, I suggest that you watch this one with Johnny Crean talking about a 2007 40LS, and this one featuring a 2008 40LS at AlwaysRV.com. In doing your research, I'm sure you'll also see lots of comments about the bad things that Alfas have. There will also be lots of folks that say that they wouldn't trade their Alfa for anything. And in my travels, whenever I've seen folks who have an Alfa, those owners say similar things that give their rigs praise. Yep, you're not gonna find a perfect RV when ya trade in your sticks-n-bricks homes, it's always gonna be a compromise. But I think that the Alfa does a real good job of going as far as possible to finding a great rig to travel with.
Regardless of what type of RV you may be contemplating (pop-up trailer, travel trailer, toy hauler, fifth wheeler, or motorhome), remember to look for storage places for these five necessary items in any RV you look at, with those five items being: shoes, dirty clothes, a garbage receptacle, a broom, and hooks.
In other words, where would these items go? In the 2008 Alfa See Ya Gold So Long 40LS, these are the spaces that could be used:
- Shoes could go in the closet in the bedroom, or under the passenger seat.
- Dirty clothes could go in one of the three hampers.
- A garbage receptacle goes in its designated area under the sink.
- The broom could go along the wall in the bathroom forward of the toilet.
- The hooks could be put on the bedroom side of the door between the bedroom and bathroom.
Also, if you’re gonna be a full time RVer, I suggest getting the following items for comfort and safety:
- Vent covers to allow the roof vents to be open during rainy weather for better ventilation.
- Upgrade the loud ineffective bathroom vent fan(s) with a quieter, more efficient Fantastic or Create-a-Breeze fan that can be used to ventilate your whole rig rather than provide noise while you're using the bathroom.
- Invest in an rv surge protector to protect your rig from electrical spikes and/or an autoformer to step up voltage when shore power voltage is low to protect your electrical and electronic components such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and TVs.
- If the rig has a crank-up TV antenna, replace it with a TV antenna that doesn't need to be cranked up to save you from embarrassment and the cost of replacing the antenna later when it hits the roof, and a possible roof repair.
- Replace the tires if they're more than five years old to save you from having a blowout while you're going down the highway and causing a lot of damage to your rig.
- Replace the toilet bowl seal if the rig has been sitting for long periods of time with the toilet left dry, or if water leaks out of the toilet bowl causing the seal to dry out. It helps keep odors where they need to be kept rather than in your rig.
- If you're contemplating a motor home, consider upgraded shocks and anti-sway bars for a better ride, and a steering damper or similar equipment for steering safety in case of blow out or heavy winds.
With the exception of the tires, you can buy the above items at reputable RV parts stores.
HAPPY TRAVELING!
