*Freeze before the thaw: Plugged in at Gardiner, MT*

I took possession of a Solis P in July of 2020, purchasing it in Montana and driving it back to Seattle. The van had 1470 delivery miles on it. To date I have about 14,000 miles on the coach. I have driven to and from California, across the western states to Colorado, and to and from California again. I lived in the Solis for over 3 months straight, August to November. The coach has seen baking sun, torrential rain, snow, winds and experienced temperatures from over 100 to minus 9 degrees F. Let’s see how she has held up so far.

EDIT: This blog post is still getting eyes on: Here’s a quick connect to my 25,000 mile follow up post. As of this EDIT (October/2024) I have 36,000 miles on the van with essentially no problems. I have upgraded a few things like seat covers, Inhabit Mats, insulated window covers etc, but essentially the van is pretty stock.

RAM PROMASTER 2500 CHASSIS Not bad. Basic. This is not a luxury interior, but it gets the job done. I can connect my phone for hands free talking and media. The steering wheel telescopes but does not tilt, which I find annoying but have adjusted to it. No electric mirrors, no heated seats. The (swiveling) seats are OK, but I wish for more lumbar support. The passenger seat also lacks an armrest. Visibility is decent up front, but the rear view mirror only gives the driver a nice view of the door frames….you cannot see the lane behind you, only the periphery. The rear seat(s) further block the view aft. The 2021 RAM models have fixed this problem with a camera rear view mirror, but I have not looked into the possibility of an upgrade for the 2020. Speaking of rear view camera, I find the high mounted backup camera on this van provides a nice view, and you can select the rear view camera when driving, if only for a limited time before it defaults away. There are tire pressure sensors but this model only provides low pressure warnings, not the ability to see the actual pressures. If you have the tires rotated, ensure they have the proper pressures before driving away like I did…the fronts should be 65 PSI and the rears 80 PSI. The dealer I went to did the rotation without adjusting the pressures and I had to return.

*Rear door pillars block view of the lane behind: photo during stop with vehicle close behind.*

• Sumo springs are necessary on this chassis, IMHO. I have taken this van on some very gnarly roads, the worst being the Mineral King Road (Sequoia NP), which has 398 curves in 25 miles. The stock suspension had me feeling like the van would topple if I had any speed going into a tight curve. The Sumo springs made a huge difference in cornering feel and side wind gust handling, if not in the actual ride. Get ‘em.

• Transmission: pretty nice. There is enough pep in this 6 cylinder 6 speed to hang in, although on long or steep climbs I find myself in the second to right lane, able to maintain 50 to 60 mph without stomping on the gas excessively, trying to keep the RPMs in the 3000 range. The transmission shines on the downhills, intuitively down shifting to maintain speed, usually in the 3000 range but on steeper grades it may go to 4000. No need to cook the brakes.

• Snow: I’ve only had it on packed snow, and the stock Nexens were OK; they are not all season or snow tires. Growing up in Maine means I am very experienced with winter driving (4WD/RWD/FWD) and this makes quite a difference. YMMV. If you are seriously considering a Solis, join the Solis Facebook group; it’s a treasure trove of information, constantly updated by the members.

• Bonus: the under 20 foot length allows me to park in regular spaces. This is hugely important. I also debadged the 4 cheesy “Winnebago” branding letters for a cleaner look when I had protective film installed on the hood…the W’s remain. The shorter length may allow owners to park in their driveways, depending on neighborhood covenants, vice having to always store the van in a separate facility. However, the exterior height of 9 feet precludes me from using the Starbucks drive through (usually capped at 8’6”) or most underground or undercover parking. I already mentioned the nightmarish Mineral King road…no RVs to be seen except my Solis and a few 4WD Sprinter vans, so the Solis did well here considering. The Promaster has an excellent turning radius. One should always be suspect of undercarriage clearance though; this is not an overlander rig. Lastly, the mileage is quite acceptable; so far I have averaged just under 18 MPG (19.5 as of October, 2024). You may squeak out slightly better if most of your driving will be on highways. Mine has a lot of miles on difficult or slow roads.

*Debadging the Solis: removed 4 “Winnebago” branding letters for a cleaner look*

THE WINNEBAGO PART I bought the Solis in July 2020, when there were delays in the supply chain for the pop tops. COVID probably played a part in various QC problems, but nothing too serious, depending on your view:

• Incorrect main breaker installed for coach power: I didn’t discover this until my daughter and I returned from a difficult 4 day loop hike in Sequoia NP. Showers were the first thing on the docket, and the main (thankfully auto reset) breaker would trip every time the water pump came on for more than about 4 seconds. This had not cropped up before as I was staying in parks that always had 30 amp service, so no problem plugged in. We finished our trip taking “off grid 4 second burst showers” (or 4 seconds of dish washing). I hired a roving RV technician to come look at it when we returned to LA. He narrowed it down to the main breaker, which is under the van in a box, very hard to access; don’t ask me how I know. Turns out the installed breaker was a 5 amp one, so someone in the construction phase either took the breaker out of the wrong bin, or this 5 amp was misplaced in the wrong bin and not noticed in the process. All the roving technician had on hand was a 40 amp manual reset breaker, so that went in until I was able to get some warranty work done with the proper one installed (20 amp auto reset). In the meantime, the roving technician cost me $350 (but worth every penny). I have yet to submit this to Winnebago for reimbursement; we shall see if I get a refund. When I tried to book an authorized service dealer in the LA area, the manager laughed and said the earliest he could see me was late October. This was towards the end of August. I finally got it in at an authorized service dealer in Colorado. At least for now, just like general COVID supply chain backlogs, Winnebago service is hard to get with any immediacy, although my experience may be regional.

• Rear door bars: I never could get them to lock in place; no big deal as they still worked. However, the end caps continuously fell off, which hold the bars onto the rings. I finally used electrical tape to hold them in place. And the locking pin would disconnect, or rattle against the aluminum bars. I just detached it as it didn’t work anyway.

• Shower pan leaked: After living in the van for upwards of two months of chassis flexing, I noticed the cassette compartment underneath was filling with water. Thankfully there were suds there, so I knew immediately that the cassette toilet itself was not the problem. The caulking job in the shower was pretty shoddy, so I applied silicone sealant on two occasions around the base of the toilet and other suspect areas. Maybe this worked (after the second time) but this was on the warranty work and was supposedly addressed. I won’t know the efficacy until I get water back in the van.

• Loose screws and nuts: I have about 4 screws/nuts that showed up on the floor that I haven’t been able to discover where they came from….yet.

• Finish screws: Two screws protruded for wall/ceiling attachment points. I could not screw these in….the holes were misaligned. The warranty work fixed this problem when they redrilled. But why was the coach allowed to leave the factory like this?

Misaligned+screws.jpg — *Solis misaligned finish screws needed to be redrilled*

• Winter Use You must take precautions! Although the Solis is billed as “winter capable” there are some serious insulation problems….meaning it lacks in this department. I’ve seen photos where people have removed the rear and side door panels to reveal a ragged cut rectangular piece of foam insulation. Is this supposed to be “Automotive Grade?” No insulation has been placed into the nooks and crannies of the doors. Makes me wonder about the rest of the coach. But my nightmare came when I was driving from Seattle to Colorado at the end of October. I encountered single digit temperatures for upwards of 3 days, but I was always plugged in at night on 30 amp service and never let the coach get below 60 degrees inside, plus I constantly ran the grey water tank heater. Somewhere around the second day…no water. Turned on the sink: nada. On day 4 things started working again, but the T fitting in the INTERIOR (meaning the heated area) water panel had frozen and cracked. Another $100 later (roving RV technician in Jackson, WY) found the problem and we completely drained the water out of the van. This was on November 2nd, and I’m still waiting for the part to come in (they have to replace the entire assembly, due in @Jan 15, 2021). When the RV technician found the problem, he pointed out the complete lack of insulation in this area. Despite the front side of the coach staying well above freezing, the low temps got to this highly important area under the bed, near the meager insulated rear door and the uninsulated quarter panel area and floor. Conductive heat loss, not good. When the water is finally up and running, I will insulate this area myself…but why me? In my opinion, don’t tout an RV as “winter capable” without thoughtfully insulating the interior, especially around the most critical part of the water system with plastic T fittings. I was told that the flexible tubing used in the RV industry is capable of expanding up to 3 times without breaking or cracking. Also, my wife has made me insulating panels to go in the (single pane) window areas and the entire rear of the van.

Another point of interest: you may have a grey tank heater but in low temps the dump valve may freeze, as it did on me. The entire mechanism there was covered in frozen road grime. TIP: in low temps open the valve and put in RV antifreeze, this will keep the water in the drain pipe from freezing. No assurances on the valve T handle working if it’s covered in frozen goo though. Beware, plastic parts so use caution trying to force the handle.

*The T handle for the grey water tank was completely frozen and inoperable in low temperatures*

OFF GRID Really good. I could get 4 days out of the van before I had to worry about the fresh water and grey tank. Again, YMMV. A few times I cranked the engine to juice the house batteries when the van sat in forest cover for 3 days or more, as the solar panel wasn’t very exposed. Up to this point I’ve been airing some cons, but overall I was able to comfortably live in the Solis for 3 months straight.

*Winnebago Solis: despite some problems I was comfortable living full time in the van for 3 months*

*City water requires the rear door to be open*

• Elecrical and Water I’m assuming anyone looking at this van knows there is no inverter. You can ONLY use the 110 plugs if you are hooked up, but not restricted to 30 amp….I have parked in friends’ driveways and just used their home electrical. Buy a 30 amp adapter and a heavy duty regular electrical extension cord (mine is 30 ft). I also bought a small DC plug in inverter for my laptop, through which I also power external portable drives. Otherwise, my phone and iPad (and GPS/headlamp/InReach/bluetooth speaker etc) can be charged from the various USB outlets. Another consideration is to purchase a 30 amp surge protector, such as this one.

EDIT: based on comments and questions on the Solis FaceBook page, I want to clarify further about the 110 system on the Solis P. The PX will allow use of the 110 outlets when running the generator, which is not on the P. The PX also has an air conditioner and is a few feet longer. So to be perfectly clear, the Solis P 110 outlets cannot be used unless some external power is plugged into the van. A comparison spec graph can be accessed here between the P and the PX.

With no high draw items like a microwave or air conditioner, the simplicity of a DC van is more than adequate for my purposes. Adding an inverter and a lithium battery system to a van like this can escalate the price by as much as $30,000. As for water, I find the 21 gallon fresh water tank adequate for up to 4 days with judicious (single) use, which includes washing dishes and showers. As for the shower, I find the pressure is adequate but certainly not strong. I have also found that setting the water heater to ECO is best as HOT can be too hot for the shower. As an experiment, I was hooked up to city water and wanted to see how long I could shower with heated water constantly running. A few attempts came to about 10 minutes before the water heater couldn’t keep up. I strongly advocate using the shut off valve in the shower head for convenience. The HOT setting is best for washing dishes. It may seem obvious, but if you are hooked up to city water the rear right door must be open for access to the water panel….this doesn’t work in the rain, unless you don’t mind your bedding getting wet. If you have no access to pressurized water to fill the tank, the SANITIZE setting will use the water pump to suck water into the tank. I carry a collapsible 5 gallon water jug. When at national parks with no hookups (but with available water spigots), I would fill the container and schlep it back to the van (good workout), then use the 4 foot hose that came with the van (I cut off one end to fit into the container neck) to fill the tank. The 5 gallon container was also quite useful for washing clothes in a Scrubba, which requires quite a bit (of water) to clean and rinse. For drying, I would put the bar across the rear doors and hang, plus use magnet hooks to hang small items like underwear and socks. Remember to pack some hangers for this purpose, as well as to hang in the heated bathroom. Only recently did I discover that the bathroom heater vent actually has a butterfly valve to keep water from entering the channel. Some owners also purchase a water filter for hookup but I deemed this unnecessary for myself. I use a pitcher water filter for drinking. Lastly, the 220 Watt solar panel was adequate for keeping the batteries topped off for extended days during the summer (assuming camping in uncovered areas) when running the fridge and lights and keeping my phone and iPad charged.

• Heat The buyer must be aware that the Solis has a Truma Combi eco, not the eco plus. The Truma in the Solis cannot run on electric mode alone, it must have LP. Most of the summer, heating wasn’t needed, with the exception of cool mornings. But as fall progressed, it was running more and more. When the really cold temps hit, it was running….even more. Consider that the LP tank capacity is merely 25 lbs, or about 5.7 gallons. Also consider that an LP canister can only be filled to about 80 percent capacity, so the usable amount is closer to 4.5 gallons. If the heater is running consistently, one can go through this pretty quickly, especially considering the insulation gaps in this van. I have found that when the basic 4 light quantity indicator is at one light, I have about 1 gallon left. I say basic because these 4 light indicators (LP, battery, grey tank) will not give you very accurate readings, just more of a generality. Add this to Winnebago’s cost saving decisions. I find the front half of the van in good heating stead, as three outlets are here plus one in the shower. The rear, not so much. I had a container of Nutella freeze in a food bin under the bed when the front of the van never got below 60. Also, when it was very cold (below zero), I could feel the cold through the floor. Rugs certainly help. With all this in mind, winter use will probably have you filling the LP before two weeks are out, unless you like it over 70 degrees. Also be aware that the pop top is not insulated, so all that wonderful heat will just escape out the fabric sides. We have not used the pop top in freezing conditions.

Rear passenger side: this cushion is unusable as a bench. Also showing (my) home made insulating panels that fit into zipped window coverings. Also take note of the “extra” room for crossways sleeping provided by the windows: this is not a cut out e… — Rear passenger side: this cushion is unusable as a bench. Also showing (my) home made insulating panels that fit into zipped window coverings. Also take note of the “extra” room for crossways sleeping provided by the windows: this is not a cut out extension beyond the van’s 6’8” exterior width. There is assuredly no or little insulation around these two windows due to the inset.

• Finally, sleeping and the beds Perhaps you’ve seen the Revels with their rear knockout panels. This is of course to allow crossways sleeping. The Solis has what I would call a “poor man’s” bed. There are no knockout panels to extend beyond the van’s 6’8” width, just the rear window cutouts. I am 6’ tall but find myself sleeping cattywampus as I don’t want my head/pillow and feet to pressure the zipped up window interior coverings. However, I find the firm mattress quite comfortable and have had no problems getting good shuteye. When the murphy bed is up, there at first glance appears to be a bench seat (see photo above) on the passenger side. Don’t be fooled, you can’t sit there (at least as an adult) as the overhead cabinet gets in the way. I usually left the bed down because it’s a bit of a pain to make; you can’t leave the sheets attached on the foot end as they go around the single cushion there while the rest of the cushions fold to go against the driver side wall. When I packed to travel from Seattle to Colorado, I didn’t bring a bike with me mostly because of the hassle of putting it outside every night and making the bed. ((due to supply chain issues I was unable to purchase either a hitch mount or door mounted bicycle rack on the west coast)) My daughter found the “upstairs” mattress plenty comfortable also; I have never used it.

But what about sleeping in high temps? Well, I/we managed to do OK during some nasty heat waves with only the MaxxFan. It usually cooled enough at night, and a few times I purposefully chose camp spots above 6000 feet in my travels. I did retreat to a hotel once with 100+ degree temps, but mostly because of the falling ash. Were I living in more southern climes, I would probably revisit the lack of coach air conditioning. Once I was back in the PNW this was not a concern.

*Parked at the end of Mineral King road: Sequoia National Park*

Another problem I encountered which would come under QC are the cabinet doors. The fit and finish of my van was somewhat lacking, with doors rattling from poor fit with gaps on one end or the other. Worse was the failure of the “positive latch” on the cabinet over the sink. This released twice at the worst possible times on the road, spilling contents to the floor before I could find a place to pull over. Thank goodness my large bottle of olive oil didn’t break. At first I figured I had just failed to adequately latch the cabinet, but this of course proved to be wishful thinking. Aside from disassembling the latch mechanism and trying to realign it, I simply bought a “child proof” gizmo to secure the cabinet. Looks ugly but does the trick. Now, I’ve had the van in torrential rains and thankfully it seems pretty tight…no leakage from the pop top or into the upper compartment that holds the ladder. Other people have posted of problems here, with leakage through the lights and water incursion from the pop top, especially if the van is parked on a slant. However, be prepared for a barrage of water when opening the slider in the rain. Some owners have glued or stuck on simple strips above the door to prevent this, something I have not bothered with.

• Cassette toilet I wanted this vice a black water tank. The convenience of emptying the tank in a regular toilet can’t be understated, and during winter travel with my water system defunct I (we) could still use the toilet. I just kept a gallon jug handy to manually pour in, mixing in a dash of RV antifreeze.

• Synopsis There will always be problems with an RV at some time, and it helps to be somewhat handy and have a modicum of knowledge about various systems. The Solis is what I would call a “simple” van with less complex architecture. No inverter. No air conditioner. No lithium. No black water tank. This lack of complexity was important in my purchase consideration. I had been using a 2002 Avalanche for 18 years as a base camp. The Solis was a gigantic step up in comfort based on my past experience, so I didn’t need to spend an additional $80,000 for AWD/4WD, a Sprinter chassis, or conveniences or upgrades listed above. Another factor was the ability to take 4 people safely and sleep 4, although this will be a rare occasion. When I traveled with my daughter this past summer, she would sleep in the upper bunk and have her own space, finding it quite comfortable, especially when Dad passed up her morning tea. I have mentioned the Sprinter chassis; they are an expensive platform, especially with 4WD, and I have talked to a few people who owned them; the BlueTec system and the difficulty of finding an authorized Mercedes mechanic was mentioned a few times, but one must consider that there’s a lot of them Sprinters out there. The advantage of the RAM platform (and the Ford Transit) is the plethora of dealers around the country available for service, not to mention the lower service costs. If one looks at the decisions Winnebago made on the Solis to keep the price down, choosing the RAM platform was definitely a factor. Overall I have had a positive experience so far with with about 14,000 miles, despite the problems mentioned above. I purchased mine in July 2020 for under $80,000. However, the current boom in class B vans seems to be steadily raising the going price, with the basic P now with an MSRP of just under $108K. If one is patient I imagine that by fall of 2021 the prices may come down as COVID steadily (hopefully) recedes as a concern and other travel means pick up or come back to the fore.

*Laundry day: good drying area using the rear bars and makeshift clothesline*

PARTING THOUGHTS I am not what might be considered a typical RVer. I do not spend much time in established RV parks. My primary purpose for buying this vehicle was to be used as a base camp, or moveable man cave, as I am and always have been very active. For instance, during my 3 months of full time in the van, I hiked over 300 miles and climbed over 180,000 feet. I spent a fair amount of time off grid (but plugged in at Pinnacles!) in national parks, getting up early and hiking all day or multiple days, then enjoying the luxury of a hot shower, clean clothes, a scrumptious meal, a glass or two of wine and an ice cream bar, then processing photos and video on my laptop. This is a vehicle that enables my outdoor adventures, and for that purpose it is perfectly suited….just enough lux but simple enough. I don’t need glossy cabinets, satellite TV or a wide screen. Can it be improved? Of course. More ground clearance would be nice for crappier roads. A water panel that can be accessed without having to have a door open. Better insulation. Interior (thus heated) lithium batteries and a 2000 watt inverter. Microwave. But now we’re talking a $150,000 van. Embrace the simplicity and convenience of the Solis. Only you can decide what are must haves versus niceties depending on you and/or your family. I hope this review of my experiences helps in that decision.

*Front hose hookup is convenient for cleaning dusty feet (or dogs)*

*4 days off grid at Lassen National Park: the fan cooled the interior nicely at night.*

*Solis fits in a regular parking space: parked center frame at Chinook Pass, Mt. Rainier: look for the white dot.*

*Fixing dinner after a day of climbing: Mt. Shasta wilderness, 8000’*

*Solis at Olympic National Park, WA: off grid and cozy in the rain*