How to Shop Long Distance?

Thought I'd update with a progress report....
I'm a frustrated Minnesota guy here, looking to purchase 26-30 ft. class A, or class  B+/C with the cab-over entertainment center (don't need the sleeping bunk).
So far, all I've been doing is drooling over internet pictures. I've scoured search tempest, craigslist, ebay, and dozens of Minnesota dealer sites. The used inventory is slim to none. Most everything I want to look at is out of state.

There are a lot of class A's to consider in the above criteria.
The C's I'm looking at are:
1. Itasca Cambria / Winnebago Aspect 30C (or older model 29H)
2. Jayco Melbourne 29D
3. Forest River Lexington
4. Coachman Concord
5. Thor Citation / Siesta

Any tips / advise on how to shop for a used MH that is a long, long way from home?

You can't really shop for RVs a long way from home. You must see them in person and drive them. Owners will lie. Owners will conveniently forget to mention important facts. Photos will lie. Don't fall in love with a bunch of photos on the Internet. You should drive to the nearest large city with lots of RV dealers and spend a weekend shopping in person.

In a perfect world, there would be an RV expert shopper in all major areas that you could enlist to preview the ones you find, and at least help you cull the losers.

But if you are new to the market, Tom's suggestion to go sniff as many as you can is about the next best alternative. Relying on anyone else to satisfy your personal tastes has all manner of red flags attached to it.

It's a big decision and it deserves a big effort. It's just not convenient at all.

I was afraid of that. No easy solution.
Are there any other northern tundra RV'ers out there, that faced a used purchase decision with very little local inventory to choose from? Surely my situation can't be that unique.
Looks like a drive to TX may be in order. The wife and I could drive down together, then (St. George willing) I drive the MH back to MN. Under those conditions however, I need to take a healthy dose of anti-hasty-purchase medication...... :-\

Even if you live in the middle of RV heaven, like Phoenix, buying an RV is not an easy process. You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you kiss a prince. If you do buy one in haste you will looking to trade it in within six months. Floor plan is the most important consideration. If you are not in love with the floor plan you will never be happy with the RV. And if the wife is not in love with the RV fergitaboutit. Texas, Arizona and Florida are the best spots to find lots of RVs. When you do walk into the RV of your dreams it should smack you right in the face like a 2x4.

Excellent and valuable comments as usual Tom.
This might be an "extended vacation" type of trip. A few days isn't going to cut it.
I continue to learn a lot here. Need to keep that "first time buyer" impatience thing in check.

Spend as much time picking out an RV as you would spend picking out a wife. ;D

Just kidding. Buying an RV is unlike buying anything else you have ever bought. You have zero experience at this whole camping thing so there is a lot to learn before you pull the trigger. Remember RVs are not an investment, they depreciate like a rock. You don't want to be unhappy with your purchase and be looking to trade it in within six months.

Here's another thought - floor plan is a spatial reference and 2D pictures will not communicate that your long legs or fat rear hang off the bed, sofa, etc. You have to feel it with your body, not just see it with your eyes. Other items, like color can be adequately represented (sometimes) in the pictures.

So split the difference, go to the RV dealers and get a feel for what a 28' and 32' and a 38' feel like inside. "Feel" the floor plan; sit in one for two hours and see how that goes. Then when you search the Internet you have a point of reference. That might help you zero in on size and type, then you can add features as disqualifying or must have.

Now the time you spend on the ground in Texas or where ever will be much more productive. But I still think the frog analogy applies, and you will be wise to consider it might take two trips, one for the final recon, and the second to drive it home. I strongly suspect the money and time you spend on the front will pay big dividends down the road.

skyking4ar2 said:

I strongly suspect the money and time you spend on the front will pay big dividends down the road.

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Ka-ching!!

Good information.
So far, we need a sofa/bed and dinette; not a lounge chair with tables in front of a sofa which eliminates a lot of 24-26-er's.
My wife will most likely want the bed modified. So odd-angled (corner shaved) mattresses are a deal breaker.
It seems used class A's (in general) have more forgiving floor plans and appear cheaper than their class C counterparts.
I like the idea of "hanging out" to get a feel.
It also appears that most units within the same Class and the same 26-30' Length have pretty much the same "features"; it's just a matter of how they're layed out / color / asthetics.. Is this a fair assessment?

BinaryBob said:

It also appears that most units within the same Class and the same 26-30' Length have pretty much the same "features"; it's just a matter of how they're layed out / color / asthetics.. Is this a fair assessment?

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Pretty fair assessment. One thing you should notice as you are shopping. A 30 foot class A will have a lot more interior room than a 30 foot class C. With a class C the first 7 feet are wasted on the engine compartment. My 27 foot class A felt at least 5 feet longer than my 32 foot class C. Class As have more interior room, more storage space and larger holding tanks. And used ones are priced roughly the same.

Floor plan is the most important consideration.

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  This idea has always bothered me, being a technical person and not an artist.

  For a  new RV'er buying a used motorized home I cannot stress functional stability enough as a first priority. Things like engine condition, running gear, body flaws, leak problems, appliances etc.....

  A perfect floor plan does not make an RV the perfect RV without the aforementioned being sound. That's were the money goes up in smoke. If all that works out then consider the unit before buying it.

  Consider the possibilities of modifying it afterward if the layout is not just perfect to ones liking.

  Remember, successful RV owners usually have a good degree of technical expertise at hand. If not, recalculate.

This is not sour grapes just reality in my humble opinion.

  So much for my friendly rant.

You make some excellent points Carson. But I said floor plan was the most important thing, not the only thing. Condition and price are also important. The reason I vote for floor plan first is because it is almost impossible to change the basic floor plan of any RV. It is difficult to add a room or move the bath room behind the bed room. Engine problems, leaks and appliances are much easier to fix.

Carson, not so much a rant as another valuable opinion.
My brain is wired into functional compartmentalization. In fact, I wish we had a purchasing flow chart. I love flow charts. They're so......binary.
You could encorporate ALL purchasing factors - which negatives are simply a reduction in your offer (generator, brakes, belts, hoses need service/replacing, etc.), and what negatives are deal breakers. (fridge doesn't work, roof leaks, plumbing problems, etc.) Maybe I could modify one of the checklists in the valuable library here.
I understand your comments though.. So far, I have only seen 2 really bad floorplans.
By "floorplan"I'm assuming this means ALL aspects of interior permanent fixtures, design, colors, and layout.
At this point in my early purchasing process I can't imagine thinking, "dang it.. I can't stand this stove to the left of the entry door. I wish it were on the other side of the rig." BUT.. I'm too new at this to make definitive statements yet. There may very well be some post-purchase disappointments after several weeks on the road.

Bob and Tom, sounds like you both get the drift of my thinking.  All the nest to you.

BinaryBob said:

By "floorplan"I'm assuming this means ALL aspects of interior permanent fixtures, design, colors, and layout.
At this point in my early purchasing process I can't imagine thinking, "dang it.. I can't stand this stove to the left of the entry door. I wish it were on the other side of the rig." BUT.. I'm too new at this to make definitive statements yet. There may very well be some post-purchase disappointments after several weeks on the road.

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Nope, by floor plan we mean just the floor plan. Colors and design can be modified. Of course it is the wrong time for you to be thinking about the floor plan. Before you think of floor plan you must first decide the type of RV that you want, A, B, C, 5er, bumper pull. Then you need to decide on length. Then the old gas/diesel question must be answered. You need to decide on new or used. Then you need to decide on a price range. Not necessarily in that exact order. Once you have the basics of what you are looking for then you can go shopping for that particular set of features. At this point the floor plan becomes most important because it is the one thing that is very difficult to change.

Buying an inexpensive used RV first is the best way to go. Virtually no one gets it right the first time. RVs depreciate like a rock. After a year or so you will have a much better idea of exactly what it is you are wanting in an RV. At that point the placement of the stove will be critical to you. Then you can trade up with a minimum financial hit.

Going to the next big city can help - as well as finding RV shows to attend. Be careful that it is not a sponsored by a single vendor show. They love to do that, with the intent of making it appear like a show from many sources. This will help you decide what type of RV you want - and, what floor plan. I "do" agree that the floor plan is the number one item once you decide RV type. And it goes without saying that the rig must sit on a trouble free chassis, run correctly, and all appliances are working after you decide on type and floor plan.

As to distance when buying, I would not let distance bother me when locating that perfect used rig. I bought my current RV off of the internet. I was in NCal and the RV was in Austin, TX. The point here is that tons of info can be found that can narrow the choice on a specific rig. Once I did that, the only thing remaining was for me to physically kick the tires, drive it myself, check out all the appliances myself, then have an independant chassis dealer do a bumper to bumper on the engine, drive train, and so forth. Of course, I would do the same if I bought if from the family two blocks over from my current location.

Pictures and people lie, as Tom mentions -- however, if right up front you let them know that the final sale is dependant upon your visit and the check out of stuff I list here, the seller and pictures will suddenly become a lot more truthful. Like, "Do all the appliances work - and if they don't will you fix them before the sale?" kinda on line questions coupled with the fact the seller knows you will be verifying everything she/he claims.

I had to buy a new water heater tank, and within 6 months had to replace the slide out awning - so felt my long distance sale was a success. I had been looking for this particular model rig for a year or so otherwise with no success. It was nowhere to be found locally.

Bob, if your looking at dealers, the northern burbs, Anoka, has alot as you probably know.  Pleasureland seems higher priced and somewhat harder to deal with.  Check our Hilmersons in Little Falls.  He doesn't go to shows as they charge alot for space at the shows.  Greater Midwest show is coming up end of March and dealers will often bring in pictures of their used rigs also.  Patience is the key now, as used rigs are in winter storage and will coming out as the warmer weather hits.

Bob-

I agree that the MN market doesn't seem that great for a buyer.  I used to live in MN and still have a brother there (I am now in IL), so when I was looking I included MN in my searches.  When I was looking, I mostly looked at rvt.com and rvtrader.com (I think they used to be one website, but split a couple of years ago).  I started out doing a search with a 250 or 500 mi. radius, figuring that would be about as far as I would be willing to go.  I found that there seemed to be a few dealers in Michigan with pretty aggressive pricing, which I attributed to the recession.

Eventually, as I neared the time when I was going to be financially able to make the purchase, I started looking nationally and was willing to go to AZ or TX to shop.  However, before I did that, I actually found one that I really liked that was a pretty good deal on my local Craigslist.  I had watched it for a while and when the seller dropped his price by at least 20%, I jumped on it.

So in other words, I am of absolutely no help to you.  ;D

kjansen said:

Bob, if your looking at dealers, the northern burbs, Anoka, has alot as you probably know.  Pleasureland seems higher priced and somewhat harder to deal with.  Check our Hilmersons in Little Falls.  He doesn't go to shows as they charge alot for space at the shows.  Greater Midwest show is coming up end of March and dealers will often bring in pictures of their used rigs also.  Patience is the key now, as used rigs are in winter storage and will coming out as the warmer weather hits.

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Absolutely Kevin! I'm keeping my eye on all used inventory on the Hwy 10 "RV row" in Ramsey. I'll add Hilmerson's to the list as well.