Have made a deal to buy a Winnebago Trend--leftover 2015 model, sight unseen. My wife & I are RV newbies, I just retired and we want to begin touring the country beginning this Spring. We live in Pennsylvania and there are no nearby Winnebago dealers. Explored different options at nearby large multi-brand dealer that does not carry Winnebago and after doing quite a bit of research online settled on the Trend. Wanted something relatively small, affordable, and maneuverable which we could take most anywhere (no desire to pull a toad). However, the Class B's such as Roadtrek Zion and Agile and Winnebago Travato are just too small for us (ceiling height of 6'3" is a problem--I'm 6'5' in shoes), as is the lack of storage, and I didn't think I could live with the wet baths. Therefore, gravitated to a small Class C. The Trend seemed to be about the right size and price, less costly than the Sprinter based models. Closest Winnebago dealer is 1 hour away and they didn't have any Trends, nor did a couple of other dealers in relatively close proximity.
The gist of this is that I ended up making a deposit on a Trend that is at a dealer about 5 hours away, and I'm a bit nervous about my decision. I've tried to read as much about it as possible, but I haven't seen that much in the way of owner feedback. From what I've read, the front wheel drive Ram Promaster chassis and Pentastar engine generally has been well received. It has been described as being stable--in spite of the fact that it doesn't have rear duallies and has a relatively long rear overhang. I did read one thread describing some pulling to the left when passing (torque steer???), but otherwise it appears to handle competently and gas mileage, appears to be decent. Another thread describes issues with the loft bed in 2014 and 2015s. There apparently has been no recall. I'm getting the 23L corner bed model, so the loft bed will be little used. In fact I would probably just as soon not even have it since it undoubtedly compromises headroom in that part of the coach--I'll probably have to do some ducking.
Anything else I should look out for? I've seen it suggested that you should hire an RV inspector prior to purchase--but I would think that would be more applicable to a used RV. This is a new, leftover RV which will have a new warranty, but which has probably been sitting around on the dealer lot for close to a year. Also, since I'm 5 hours away, any warranty work will likely have to be done by a dealer nearer me--and I understand that if you purchased your RV elsewhere they may not make it a priority, so I'd like to find any obvious deficiencies before it leaves this dealer.
I've seen a couple of pre-purchase RV checklists which are helpful, but I've got no real expertise and only the most glaring of issues will likely be apparent to me. Since I will be picking this baby up in the dead of winter in Northwest Pennsylvania, a thorough inspection will be somewhat problematic. Is it reasonable to have the dealer place the vehicle in an indoor facility (showroom/service area?) to facilitate inspection? I understand you are supposed to open every drawer, check to see that the furnace/air conditioning, and all the gadgets work including the generator. However, the RV will be winterized. Is it reasonable to expect them to de-winterize it and fill up tanks with water so I can check the plumbing, hot-water heater, etc. and then winterize it again at the completion of the walk through/inspection? Am I really supposed to climb up on top of the roof and under the coach, and overfill the gray and black water tanks to search for water leaks? Are they supposed to do a front end alignment or at least check it?
The owner of the dealership seems to be forthright and reasonable over the phone. His price was reasonable and he was only requiring a refundable $500 deposit to hold the vehicle, but since we asked that he add a convection microwave and a 2nd coach battery we agreed to make the deposit nonrefundable. Although he was willing to store the RV for free until we needed it in the Spring after the deal was completed I expect to pick it up in the next few weeks due to the distance involved.
This is all new to us. What should we expect?
The gist of this is that I ended up making a deposit on a Trend that is at a dealer about 5 hours away, and I'm a bit nervous about my decision. I've tried to read as much about it as possible, but I haven't seen that much in the way of owner feedback. From what I've read, the front wheel drive Ram Promaster chassis and Pentastar engine generally has been well received. It has been described as being stable--in spite of the fact that it doesn't have rear duallies and has a relatively long rear overhang. I did read one thread describing some pulling to the left when passing (torque steer???), but otherwise it appears to handle competently and gas mileage, appears to be decent. Another thread describes issues with the loft bed in 2014 and 2015s. There apparently has been no recall. I'm getting the 23L corner bed model, so the loft bed will be little used. In fact I would probably just as soon not even have it since it undoubtedly compromises headroom in that part of the coach--I'll probably have to do some ducking.
Anything else I should look out for? I've seen it suggested that you should hire an RV inspector prior to purchase--but I would think that would be more applicable to a used RV. This is a new, leftover RV which will have a new warranty, but which has probably been sitting around on the dealer lot for close to a year. Also, since I'm 5 hours away, any warranty work will likely have to be done by a dealer nearer me--and I understand that if you purchased your RV elsewhere they may not make it a priority, so I'd like to find any obvious deficiencies before it leaves this dealer.
I've seen a couple of pre-purchase RV checklists which are helpful, but I've got no real expertise and only the most glaring of issues will likely be apparent to me. Since I will be picking this baby up in the dead of winter in Northwest Pennsylvania, a thorough inspection will be somewhat problematic. Is it reasonable to have the dealer place the vehicle in an indoor facility (showroom/service area?) to facilitate inspection? I understand you are supposed to open every drawer, check to see that the furnace/air conditioning, and all the gadgets work including the generator. However, the RV will be winterized. Is it reasonable to expect them to de-winterize it and fill up tanks with water so I can check the plumbing, hot-water heater, etc. and then winterize it again at the completion of the walk through/inspection? Am I really supposed to climb up on top of the roof and under the coach, and overfill the gray and black water tanks to search for water leaks? Are they supposed to do a front end alignment or at least check it?
The owner of the dealership seems to be forthright and reasonable over the phone. His price was reasonable and he was only requiring a refundable $500 deposit to hold the vehicle, but since we asked that he add a convection microwave and a 2nd coach battery we agreed to make the deposit nonrefundable. Although he was willing to store the RV for free until we needed it in the Spring after the deal was completed I expect to pick it up in the next few weeks due to the distance involved.
This is all new to us. What should we expect?
