Searching For The New ETCTA

Searching for the new ETCTA.

Before I dive into my rationale of why I would like to upgrade our current RV (2014 FR Georgetown 351). I would like to say that I LOVE our current RV. The floor plan is perfect, the amenities are exactly what we need, it is a dream to drive, park and set up.

The reasons why I would like to upgrade our current ETCTA is because of the following:

• My goal in the coming years is to camp/travel year round and having a larger diesel motorhome will allow us to do this with ease.
• Pipes and wires run through  heated bays as opposed to underneath and exposed to the elements
• More storage room which will make packing and unpacking easier
• I would like a little bit more room to work and relax while on the road. An additional seating area plus a more comfy couch to chill out and watch TV or read a book.
• I would like a bedroom layout that offers more cross ventilation. 
• I would like a bigger engine to handle the mountains
• Bigger engine means less engine RPMS (revolution per minute)
• Bigger engine means that I will not be winding up the engine into the RED ZONE when passing another vehicle or going up or down mountains
• I will be able to hear and converse while I am driving. Right now it is a challenge
• Diesel Fuel is more expensive but burns less fuel than a typical gas motorhome so in the long run with our RV lifestyle we may save a few bucks on fuel.
• According to my calculations for our 2017 Adventures we will roll 7,530 miles. In our gas motor home that averages 6.0 MPG we will spend $2573 on fuel. Given the same scenario in a diesel motor home if we can average 10.0 MPG we will spend $1845 on fuel. Both scenarios above have the current diesel and unleaded fuel costs from the nearest Pilot/Flying J
• It doesn't have to be brand new. A diesel engine with 10k miles on it ONLY has 490K miles left on it before it will need major repairs. A gas engine with 10K miles on it (depending on how hard it was driven) only has 5-10K miles left on it before it will need major repairs.

Where to Buy (My Experiences)

In December 2016 I reached out to Safford RVin Thornburg, Virginia (www.saffordrv.com). This is the dealer where we purchased the Georgetown. I wanted to find out if it made sense (aka $$) to sell the Georgetown out right and then search around for the unit that we wanted. I also figured that they would do anything to keep us as a customer. Yep I was wrong! Based upon the correspondence with the sales rep. They had the best price and I should come out and test drive one today. 1- Their best price was the price listed on their website PLUS all of the add ons.99.9% of the dealers list one price and then sell it to for the one price. That is like buying a pair of shoes and the store charging you extra for the shoe strings & the upgraded sole or buying a new car and having the dealer charge you extra for the radio and comfy seats.(ok in case you couldn't tell I was a little bit frustrated

 by this..but if they have the best deal then I will put my thoughts aside and purchase from them) 2-I made it clear that I did not need to test drive the vehicle until we got closer to the finalization of a deal did I mention that their best price was the price listed on their website PLUS all of the add ons.

This is the reason WHY I hate the large purchase Buy/Sell process.

I also reached out to Total Value RV (http://www.totalvaluerv.com). This dealer has pretty competitive pricing listed on their website. My definition of competitive is that the financial gain would be well worth my time & effort to drive out of state, do all of the  VA DMV leg work, have it inspected in VA...etc. Total Value RV also had multiple color options of the floor plan that I liked (kind of unheard of when shopping for an RV). This dealer has positive reviews on line from people who have purchased in and out of state (they are located in Elkhart, Indiana near the Forest River factory)

When I corresponded with Chad Rothrock. He provided me with a super competitive price and was very understanding that I was not quite ready yet to buy.

EBAY-I have spent a fair amount of time searching the available motorhomes on EBAY and have found them to be more of a waste of time. You view the unit that you want that normally sells for $100k anywhere else is listed on EBAY at $40k any normal people would read this and get excited and have a glimmer of hope that they might get their dream motorhome for 1/2 of what it retails for anywhere else..until you read the fine print "Minimum Not Met". The term minimum not met means that the owner has set the floor aka lowest price that he/she will sell the motor home.

Located about 20 minutes away from us is Reines RV (www.reinesrv.com). I have had BAD customer service experiences with different departments at Reines. A few years ago when I was searching for a Class A gas motorhome I 1st stopped by Reines. It was a Saturday afternoon and I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I walked around their lot and looked at different models and no sales person came up to give me a 2nd glance. So I left and continued my research elsewhere. The 2nd bad experience was when I needed to have some work done on our 1st Motorhome 2012 Thor Four Winds and the manufacturer rep told me to go to Reines to have <<insert service>> completed. After leaving multiple voice mails for the Class C service manager I finally called and spoke with the General Service Manager who in a not so customer service friendly tone told me that if I didn't buy from them they were not going to service it! The following day I wrote to the management of the dealership and copied the manufacturers  rep and detailed my experiences (looking for a motorhome and service dept). 2 weeks later I did receive a call back from someone on the management team of the dealership who apologized. 4 weeks later we purchased the Georgetown and I was tempted to gloat that they had lost a sale but I decided not to.

Ok back to back to my thoughts about the purchase process.

In the coming weeks I will get my wife out to a local dealer to look at different floor plans and then once we leave the dealership we will discuss our must have's and nice to have's on a new or new to us motorhome and then continue to do my research on line until we are ready to pull the trigger

• Reviews of models, floor plans, dealers
• Resource GOOGLE. Type in as much information as you know "Class A Diesel Bunkhouse" and then at the end of your search string type in REVIEWS
• Looking at current new inventory of dealers.Go to a particular dealers website and click on New Inventory. My strategy is that the longer a unit sits on their lot the more motivated that they are to sell it or should be.
• For units in the State of Virginia if you zoom onto the front windshield you will see an inspection sticker. For new units as soon as the dealer took possession of the unit they had to run it through the VA inspection process (most just slap the sticker on it and call it good)
• Looking at current used inventory of dealers. This one is hard because from what I have seen RV's in our price, model, floor plan consideration set don't last too long.
• Checking on line RV's for sale site like RV Trader.
• It is a great site with the following exceptions.
1. Some dealers will list their new inventory on-line which is great but if I wanted to see new inventory I would go directly to their website
2. Most of the used units are being sold by individuals.
• What will I do with our current RV which needs to be traded in?
• What is the path of recourse if this unit is a lemon?
• What if all of the ownership lines don't connect and I have issues with the DMV registering and titling the new unit?

Negotiation Tactics/Strategy.

Once we are ready to pull the trigger I plan to:

• If we go new-->Reach out to 2-3 dealers that have the model that we want and provide them in writing with a modified RFP (request for proposal) which includes details of the trade in which includes exact payoff cost as of X date and expected trade in value. The unit that we are looking at (model number, picture from their website) and what we are willing to offer which will include all of the additional fees that dealers say are mandatory. Since no one has time for games my original offer will be fair and our choice will be made by the dealer who accepts our offer without conditions. I will also add our expected close date on this deal.
• If we go used from a dealer--> I will follow the same tactics with the exception of I will only send it to the one dealer. 
• If we go used from an individual--> Not exactly sure yet as we get closer to D day I will have to do more research in order to figure out what to do and not to get burned.