Teamubr
From somewhere outside StL
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
It seems like forever, but I've had a diesel truck for 20 years.
Saturday my 2016 F350 dually diesel, along with my 2016 Chaparral 5th wheel went to a new home. Many of you know I have been contemplating switching to a Class A. I have been looking for a year or so. The advantages to me were obvious (no stopping for bathroom breaks. a cold drink or something to eat is a few feet away and not the next truck stop and 30 minutes later, no hitching and unhitching). DW wasn't as convinced. We have casually looked at a few the last 2 years, but DW said she hasn't seen anything she likes more than our 5er... until 2 weeks ago. We have been battling water issues with our 5 year old camper. The bedroom slide floor was replaced by the factory 2 years ago. I re-sealed the rear corners last year after I found water problems on one side. Nothing severe, but it would have been if I hadn't caught it. My old 13 year old 5er never had any water problems and I have maintained both the same way.
Needing to replace furniture (the dreaded faux leather crack and peel on the Thomas Payne furniture) and concerned where the next water intrusion would be, DW agreed to look at some different brands of MH "to get an idea what to look for in a used one". Our Camping World had a Winnebago Tour, similar to what PA Hunter just bought. It was nice, but not a floor plan we wanted, but there was a 4 year old Thor Aria diesel pusher that DW fell in love with. It was priced a little above where I wanted to go, but close enough to talk. When we went into to talk about a trade, the salesman discovered it had been sold the night before. That broke the ice for DW that there may be a MH that would work for us.
Last weekend we drove around to 2 other RV dealers that carried diesel pushers to look at SportsCoaches and Fleetwoods. Again, just to get an idea of the different brands in the market and see what felt right. We certainly were not in the "new" MH" market and used ones are hard to find right now. The SportCoaches were ok. They are an entry level pusher (according to the internet) and they felt like it. Functional, but not high end. They are made by the same company (Coachmen) as my 5er and the similarities were obvious. The next stop was an old RV dealer not far from where DW and I grew up. I always remember them selling the old hard sided popups called Apache. In fact, the dealer is still named Apache Village. They now sell mostly Jayco and Fleetwood.
The Fleetwood pushers (Discovery and Pace Arrow) are really nice. An obvious step up (or 2) from the SportsCoach. They had a 2018 Discovery 44 ft, tag axle beast that was beautiful, but also $100,000 over our budget. There was a Holliday Rambler bunk house that was nice. The Pace Arrow was ok too, but they only had new ones, also above our budget. Then we saw a really pretty Fleetwood Discovery along the back fence. The sales man said they just brought it in the night before. It belonged to the dealership's uncle who had medical problems and can't drive it anymore. It looked too new to afford. Even the salesman said it was "probably only a few years old" based on the shape it was in.
We took a look and it was in amazing shape. DW said she hated the furniture, but really liked everything else. I was sure it was too new and expensive for what I was looking for. Inside we saw a sign on the counter. It was a 2012 and the price was $30,000 under what I thought my max would be. An hour later, we had a deal. This coach is in incredible shape. It only has 18,000 miles on it and many things have never been used. Half of the basement compartments have obviously never had anything in them. The original owner bought it from that dealership (his nephew) new and kept it parked in a barn its entire life. The owner said he had a daughter in Delaware that he made a yearly trip to see and other than 1 trip out west to see Rushmore and the badlands, it stayed in the barn. The only thing we would change is the color of the furniture. It is a cream/tan that DW and I aren't crazy about, but everything else is perfect. It even came ready for Midwest (and Florida) Summers with 3 A/C units.
Here are the details:
Spent the weekend getting things moved back into it. Our first trip will be Easter weekend to meet our full time friends in central Illinois. They are back from North Carolina for a few weeks to clear out storage lockers and see her brother who is driving back from Arizona (to Ohio) where he full times over the Winter.
j
Saturday my 2016 F350 dually diesel, along with my 2016 Chaparral 5th wheel went to a new home. Many of you know I have been contemplating switching to a Class A. I have been looking for a year or so. The advantages to me were obvious (no stopping for bathroom breaks. a cold drink or something to eat is a few feet away and not the next truck stop and 30 minutes later, no hitching and unhitching). DW wasn't as convinced. We have casually looked at a few the last 2 years, but DW said she hasn't seen anything she likes more than our 5er... until 2 weeks ago. We have been battling water issues with our 5 year old camper. The bedroom slide floor was replaced by the factory 2 years ago. I re-sealed the rear corners last year after I found water problems on one side. Nothing severe, but it would have been if I hadn't caught it. My old 13 year old 5er never had any water problems and I have maintained both the same way.
Needing to replace furniture (the dreaded faux leather crack and peel on the Thomas Payne furniture) and concerned where the next water intrusion would be, DW agreed to look at some different brands of MH "to get an idea what to look for in a used one". Our Camping World had a Winnebago Tour, similar to what PA Hunter just bought. It was nice, but not a floor plan we wanted, but there was a 4 year old Thor Aria diesel pusher that DW fell in love with. It was priced a little above where I wanted to go, but close enough to talk. When we went into to talk about a trade, the salesman discovered it had been sold the night before. That broke the ice for DW that there may be a MH that would work for us.
Last weekend we drove around to 2 other RV dealers that carried diesel pushers to look at SportsCoaches and Fleetwoods. Again, just to get an idea of the different brands in the market and see what felt right. We certainly were not in the "new" MH" market and used ones are hard to find right now. The SportCoaches were ok. They are an entry level pusher (according to the internet) and they felt like it. Functional, but not high end. They are made by the same company (Coachmen) as my 5er and the similarities were obvious. The next stop was an old RV dealer not far from where DW and I grew up. I always remember them selling the old hard sided popups called Apache. In fact, the dealer is still named Apache Village. They now sell mostly Jayco and Fleetwood.
The Fleetwood pushers (Discovery and Pace Arrow) are really nice. An obvious step up (or 2) from the SportsCoach. They had a 2018 Discovery 44 ft, tag axle beast that was beautiful, but also $100,000 over our budget. There was a Holliday Rambler bunk house that was nice. The Pace Arrow was ok too, but they only had new ones, also above our budget. Then we saw a really pretty Fleetwood Discovery along the back fence. The sales man said they just brought it in the night before. It belonged to the dealership's uncle who had medical problems and can't drive it anymore. It looked too new to afford. Even the salesman said it was "probably only a few years old" based on the shape it was in.
We took a look and it was in amazing shape. DW said she hated the furniture, but really liked everything else. I was sure it was too new and expensive for what I was looking for. Inside we saw a sign on the counter. It was a 2012 and the price was $30,000 under what I thought my max would be. An hour later, we had a deal. This coach is in incredible shape. It only has 18,000 miles on it and many things have never been used. Half of the basement compartments have obviously never had anything in them. The original owner bought it from that dealership (his nephew) new and kept it parked in a barn its entire life. The owner said he had a daughter in Delaware that he made a yearly trip to see and other than 1 trip out west to see Rushmore and the badlands, it stayed in the barn. The only thing we would change is the color of the furniture. It is a cream/tan that DW and I aren't crazy about, but everything else is perfect. It even came ready for Midwest (and Florida) Summers with 3 A/C units.
Here are the details:
- 2012 Fleetwood Discovery 40X
- 41ft 8 inches (exactly the same as my 5er)
- 380 HP Cummins 8.3
- Allison 3000 6 speed
Spent the weekend getting things moved back into it. Our first trip will be Easter weekend to meet our full time friends in central Illinois. They are back from North Carolina for a few weeks to clear out storage lockers and see her brother who is driving back from Arizona (to Ohio) where he full times over the Winter.
j
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