Homeless! Diane and I are homeless. Our stick house is gone forever, and with it we acquired a new degree of independence. We have freedom to travel without an agenda, deadline or schedule.
Sitting in our Jeep I reminded Diane of a song from the 1969 film "Paint Your Wagon." It conveyed my mood and eagerness:
Where am I going, I don't know.
Where am I headin, I ain't certain.
When we will be there, I'm not sure.
All I know is I am on my way.
Gotta dream boy, gotta song.
After selling our house, we decided to stay in our hometown area for the annual Fourth of July family get-together. Our coach will not be ready for at least five weeks. A road trip in our Jeep is in order — we even have a tent and sleeping bags. The country awaits us.
A few weeks earlier, we placed our order for a Class A coach. It wasn't an impulsive decision. We went about it just as if we were purchasing a stick house. We thought about the living conditions and the kinds of cargo we would be carrying, essential items like food, clothing, cooking material and personal gear.
Then there are tools, computers, books, golf clubs, folding chairs, outdoor grills and anything else you may want to take along. Where will all this stuff go? Will our rig have sufficient compartment space to carry our dreams? Does our planned unit have the capabilities to carry the weight of our stuff? Can it pull a towed vehicle? Do we need another vehicle?
My point is we needed to think carefully about our intentions.
We finally decided on a manufacturer. We found some comfortable rigs competitively priced on the market, and it was a difficult decision.
As a buyer, don't believe everything the salespeople tell you. They are interested in the commission from the sale. You must do the presale work and know your future home better than they do. In the end, you will be satisfied with your results.
After we settled on the manufacturer and model, we decided to order a unit rather than select something from a dealer's inventory. Many lot models included too many fancy high-priced items, or they were stripped down to bare essentials. Neither met our desire or financial consideration.
When you decide exactly what options you want, ask for a retail price listing. The rest becomes simple. All that gobbly-gook talk simply goes away. You now have the suggested retail price of everything. It's now a simple matter of finding a dealer who will place your order "as is" for the lowest price.
We contacted eight dealers throughout the
We went back to three dealers whose price separated them by $10,000 and asked for a reconsideration of price. We let them know this was a competitive bid. Two dealers dropped their price yet again.
We did not choose the lowest price. We considered follow-up service, responsiveness, attitude and truthfulness during the exploratory process. We placed our order and now we wait for six to eight weeks.
Meanwhile, we intend to enjoy that long-overdue road trip.
