Bill_Scott
Active member
How I Purchased The Perfect RV ? Chapter 3
I set out on Saturday morning (wearing my clean underwear I might add) on a mission to buy a travel trailer by noon the same day. Earlier, while going back and forth to work during the week, I had seen a plethora of RV dealers to browse through, and I was confident the right RV would just jump out like a new puppy at a pet store, and we would bond with each other immediately. I know, the perfect recipe for a complete disaster, right?
To my utter dismay, every RV dealer I passed was closed. That was a shock. It made no sense to me that RV stores would be closed on Saturdays; but, the more I drove, the more convinced I became. After driving all the way to Mission, I doubled back on the service road, and passed even more closed RV dealers.
As I approached one particular lot. I stopped at a fence and gazed across a field of new RVs displayed everywhere and I felt like a kid in a candy store; but when I got to the gate, there was a chain across the entrance. ?Another dealer closed,? I thought. Attached to the dealer?s lot was a small RV park, so I drove in there to see if anyone knew the owners. A nice man said he would call the dealer at home and tell him he had a hot prospect ready to buy. But, he refused to open the lot for anybody.
I was just about to give up, when I gazed under the overpass and saw a car drive into an RV lot across the freeway. So, I jumped in my trusty Suburban and headed in that direction. Sure enough, I found the only RV dealer in the valley that was open, and the salesman had just arrived. My spirits had returned and I was elated.
I parked in front of the little office and walked in. A nice old gentleman, (about my age twenty years later) greeted me and we sat down and I told him what I was looking for. He listened tentatively and took me outside and opened up a brand new 1993, 30 foot, Newmar Kounty Star travel trailer, and we walked inside.
I was smitten almost instantly. I hadn?t been in a trailer for years, and I was amazed at what I saw. It was beautiful. It was a little castle on wheels. There were a lot of ?OMG! What will they think of next? moments. It had one slide out on the driver?s side for the dinette and a couch, a place for a small TV, plenty of kitchen space, and a bathroom to die for.
I asked him what that little sprayer attached to the toilet was for, and he told me it was the ?bidet?. I took his word for it, and immediately saw a spot for the washer/dryer. The price was $32,000, and I immediately accepted. As it turns out, by that time, I was probably the luckiest new RV buyer in the history of the world. All I cared about was can I tow it, and when can I move in.
The bedroom was adequate with a space on the top of the wardrobe to put a small ceramic heater, and a bed with plenty of storage underneath. He agreed to park and set up the RV on that nice, little lot across the highway where I stopped before. Getting some very good advice from the RVForum, I ordered a Pullrite Travel Trailer hitch.
If you have never seen a Pullrite Travel Trailer hitch, you?ve missed the 8th Wonder of the World, second only to the Lighthouse of Alexandria. In short, it makes a travel trailer tow like a fifth wheel, and the trailer hooks to a tow bar that runs around a railroad track that absorbs the sway. It also adds a little to your towing capacity. If you ever buy a TT, I would definitely recommend that hitch. I also ordered a Spendide washer/dryer combo (more about that later).
Now, it just so happens that the lot I parked on was owned by the RV store that wasn?t open, and the salesman that sold me my RV just happened to have been fired recently by that store. So, he wasted no time in calling them and telling him my story. When I went over there to have them install my hitch, they were really pissed. I tried to explain that I had nothing whatsoever to do with the persecution they received, but they absolutely refused to put my hitch on. Texans carry a grudge too long. So, I was told a dealer in Mission has agreed to put the hitch on my Suburban.
A guy came over the first day I moved in to install the Splendide Washer/Dryer. The cost in 1993 was $690 with installation. The first thing he did was drill a gaping hole in the side of my beautiful travel trailer, and I cried as I personally experienced every revolution of the drill. Man, that guy put that thing in my RV fast. It was like, ?Where do you want it?? Followed by a lot of noise, and a hand stretched out for a check.
During all of this, I made a trip to the local hardware department of a Sears and Roebuck. I spent about $200 on stuff I needed, and another $1,800 on stuff I could have done without, and stuff I had absolutely no use for. Then I was forced with the task of where to put it all. When I ran out of room in the RV, I filled up the back of my Suburban.
DirecTV was just getting started back then, but somebody at the park told me about it, so I found the one and only dealer in the Valley and bought a dish, a receiver, and a long cable. Then I went to an auto parts store and bought me a little step stool, mounted the dish on the stool, set it out on the pad, and found the satellite. I also bought a small color TV from the same guy, and it fit perfectly in the tiny space allocated for a TV in the living room. I have to admit, I was in heaven.
The first night I took a shower, the water was cold. Never did get hot. So I complained to the dealer and he came over and lit the pilot light.
Then it was time to try the Slendide. You will probably laugh but I was mesmerized by the gyrations of that little machine. It would run in one direction for a while, stop, and then go the other direction. Then it would spin, eject water, and spin again. Probably the 9th Wonder of the World. I had never paid attention to a washing machine before, but it was so interesting I sat there on a chair for the entire wash and dry process. I was mesmerized looking through the tiny glass window. For someone who had spent their entire life searching for motels, this was the highest of high-tech living. The clothes came out sparkling clean, but had the appearance that I had worn them for a week?a badge of honor in my estimation. I had my own home, on wheels, in a beautiful RV park and that?s all the mattered. Nothing could interfere with my enthusiasm. I was in hog heaven.
My next step was to have my hitch installed.
(To be continued)
I set out on Saturday morning (wearing my clean underwear I might add) on a mission to buy a travel trailer by noon the same day. Earlier, while going back and forth to work during the week, I had seen a plethora of RV dealers to browse through, and I was confident the right RV would just jump out like a new puppy at a pet store, and we would bond with each other immediately. I know, the perfect recipe for a complete disaster, right?
To my utter dismay, every RV dealer I passed was closed. That was a shock. It made no sense to me that RV stores would be closed on Saturdays; but, the more I drove, the more convinced I became. After driving all the way to Mission, I doubled back on the service road, and passed even more closed RV dealers.
As I approached one particular lot. I stopped at a fence and gazed across a field of new RVs displayed everywhere and I felt like a kid in a candy store; but when I got to the gate, there was a chain across the entrance. ?Another dealer closed,? I thought. Attached to the dealer?s lot was a small RV park, so I drove in there to see if anyone knew the owners. A nice man said he would call the dealer at home and tell him he had a hot prospect ready to buy. But, he refused to open the lot for anybody.
I was just about to give up, when I gazed under the overpass and saw a car drive into an RV lot across the freeway. So, I jumped in my trusty Suburban and headed in that direction. Sure enough, I found the only RV dealer in the valley that was open, and the salesman had just arrived. My spirits had returned and I was elated.
I parked in front of the little office and walked in. A nice old gentleman, (about my age twenty years later) greeted me and we sat down and I told him what I was looking for. He listened tentatively and took me outside and opened up a brand new 1993, 30 foot, Newmar Kounty Star travel trailer, and we walked inside.
I was smitten almost instantly. I hadn?t been in a trailer for years, and I was amazed at what I saw. It was beautiful. It was a little castle on wheels. There were a lot of ?OMG! What will they think of next? moments. It had one slide out on the driver?s side for the dinette and a couch, a place for a small TV, plenty of kitchen space, and a bathroom to die for.
I asked him what that little sprayer attached to the toilet was for, and he told me it was the ?bidet?. I took his word for it, and immediately saw a spot for the washer/dryer. The price was $32,000, and I immediately accepted. As it turns out, by that time, I was probably the luckiest new RV buyer in the history of the world. All I cared about was can I tow it, and when can I move in.
The bedroom was adequate with a space on the top of the wardrobe to put a small ceramic heater, and a bed with plenty of storage underneath. He agreed to park and set up the RV on that nice, little lot across the highway where I stopped before. Getting some very good advice from the RVForum, I ordered a Pullrite Travel Trailer hitch.
If you have never seen a Pullrite Travel Trailer hitch, you?ve missed the 8th Wonder of the World, second only to the Lighthouse of Alexandria. In short, it makes a travel trailer tow like a fifth wheel, and the trailer hooks to a tow bar that runs around a railroad track that absorbs the sway. It also adds a little to your towing capacity. If you ever buy a TT, I would definitely recommend that hitch. I also ordered a Spendide washer/dryer combo (more about that later).
Now, it just so happens that the lot I parked on was owned by the RV store that wasn?t open, and the salesman that sold me my RV just happened to have been fired recently by that store. So, he wasted no time in calling them and telling him my story. When I went over there to have them install my hitch, they were really pissed. I tried to explain that I had nothing whatsoever to do with the persecution they received, but they absolutely refused to put my hitch on. Texans carry a grudge too long. So, I was told a dealer in Mission has agreed to put the hitch on my Suburban.
A guy came over the first day I moved in to install the Splendide Washer/Dryer. The cost in 1993 was $690 with installation. The first thing he did was drill a gaping hole in the side of my beautiful travel trailer, and I cried as I personally experienced every revolution of the drill. Man, that guy put that thing in my RV fast. It was like, ?Where do you want it?? Followed by a lot of noise, and a hand stretched out for a check.
During all of this, I made a trip to the local hardware department of a Sears and Roebuck. I spent about $200 on stuff I needed, and another $1,800 on stuff I could have done without, and stuff I had absolutely no use for. Then I was forced with the task of where to put it all. When I ran out of room in the RV, I filled up the back of my Suburban.
DirecTV was just getting started back then, but somebody at the park told me about it, so I found the one and only dealer in the Valley and bought a dish, a receiver, and a long cable. Then I went to an auto parts store and bought me a little step stool, mounted the dish on the stool, set it out on the pad, and found the satellite. I also bought a small color TV from the same guy, and it fit perfectly in the tiny space allocated for a TV in the living room. I have to admit, I was in heaven.
The first night I took a shower, the water was cold. Never did get hot. So I complained to the dealer and he came over and lit the pilot light.
Then it was time to try the Slendide. You will probably laugh but I was mesmerized by the gyrations of that little machine. It would run in one direction for a while, stop, and then go the other direction. Then it would spin, eject water, and spin again. Probably the 9th Wonder of the World. I had never paid attention to a washing machine before, but it was so interesting I sat there on a chair for the entire wash and dry process. I was mesmerized looking through the tiny glass window. For someone who had spent their entire life searching for motels, this was the highest of high-tech living. The clothes came out sparkling clean, but had the appearance that I had worn them for a week?a badge of honor in my estimation. I had my own home, on wheels, in a beautiful RV park and that?s all the mattered. Nothing could interfere with my enthusiasm. I was in hog heaven.
My next step was to have my hitch installed.
(To be continued)
