Lizn8r
New member
Hi everyone,
I have pored through several forums and have yet to read of anyone in the same dilemma I am in. This seems to be one of the best , so I would like to ask you all for a little help.
First, my "history". I am a middle-aged (gosh, do I hate to say that) woman who has just recently become enthralled with the RV lifestyle. When I was growing up, my parents would pack up our station wagon with a pop-up in tow, and we'd take off for a month to see the country. By the time I was 17, I'd been camping in 39 states and 9 Canadian provinces! Unfortunately, life got in the way and I broke away from that type of travel, settling for the hotels and cruises most of my generation uses for 'get-aways'. Very recently I had to take a business trip to Arizona and was absolutely AMAZED at the number of RV on the road. The job I had to do was at the Yuma Proving Ground, so I wound up staying in Quartzsite ... right in the middle of the January RV rally and Gem show!! Needless to say, seeing all the RVs on the road and in the parks rekindled the travel bug in me. Rekindled?! Hah! It's more like a raging inferno!!!
Anyway, when I returned to NH (in the middle of a snowstorm, mind you) I succeeded in sparking the same kind of fire in my SO. We are now in the process of picking out our very first 5er. Being engineers, we're doing all the research we can, both on-line and by visiting dealers and owners. We had purchased a brand new Ford F150 Supercab before I went to AZ, but when I came back we immediately traded that in for the 2008 F350 6.4l turbo-diesel SRW in preparation for the big purchase. In retrospect, we probably should have gotten the dually, but it is what it is. I am NOT going back to the dealer to trade up again!!
So now to the 5er. It has to be a toy-hauler ... we won't leave home without our Victory motorcycles ... so we are somewhat limited in manufacturer. Even so, there are just so many to choose from; all of them that we have researched have some features we like and some we don't. Size is another factor; I am just not comfortable with the idea of jumping into a 42 foot 5er for my first ever towing experience. And the 'garage' has to be walled off. I love my bike, but I don't want to sleep with it!!
This brings me to my dilemma. Thanks for the patience in getting to this point!! We have narrowed our search down to 2 or 3 brands. One, the Heartland Cyclone 3210, is right at the top of that list. My problem is that I can't find one locally. Heck, checking dealers on-line inventory, I can't even find one east of the Mississippi river! I was able to check out a different model ... the Bighorn ... so I'm fairly confident of Heartland's quality. I'm sure my dealer would have no problem with ordering one for us ... he is a Heartland dealer ... but he won't do that unless I basically agree to purchase it. Although I am somewhat impulsive, I will not by something of this magnitude without "kicking the tires"! There are also other brands that I can't find locally, so I am not able to compare any of the ones on my short list.
Hae any of you ever been in this situation? How do you get through it? Do I go to a dealer who caims to have one on his lot (the nearest one is in Utah!!). Or do I go take a tour of the manufacturer (not a bad option, I'd like to see how they are made)? Or do I just wait until one appears on a lot close by? Waiting patiently is not my strong point. Do I just order this model from the dealer, relying on the quality of the different model I saw? This goes against every grain of my being!!
Any advice anyone could give me ... even the opinion of someone who owns a Cyclone... would be a huge help! Thanks for listening!!
Liz
I have pored through several forums and have yet to read of anyone in the same dilemma I am in. This seems to be one of the best , so I would like to ask you all for a little help.
First, my "history". I am a middle-aged (gosh, do I hate to say that) woman who has just recently become enthralled with the RV lifestyle. When I was growing up, my parents would pack up our station wagon with a pop-up in tow, and we'd take off for a month to see the country. By the time I was 17, I'd been camping in 39 states and 9 Canadian provinces! Unfortunately, life got in the way and I broke away from that type of travel, settling for the hotels and cruises most of my generation uses for 'get-aways'. Very recently I had to take a business trip to Arizona and was absolutely AMAZED at the number of RV on the road. The job I had to do was at the Yuma Proving Ground, so I wound up staying in Quartzsite ... right in the middle of the January RV rally and Gem show!! Needless to say, seeing all the RVs on the road and in the parks rekindled the travel bug in me. Rekindled?! Hah! It's more like a raging inferno!!!
Anyway, when I returned to NH (in the middle of a snowstorm, mind you) I succeeded in sparking the same kind of fire in my SO. We are now in the process of picking out our very first 5er. Being engineers, we're doing all the research we can, both on-line and by visiting dealers and owners. We had purchased a brand new Ford F150 Supercab before I went to AZ, but when I came back we immediately traded that in for the 2008 F350 6.4l turbo-diesel SRW in preparation for the big purchase. In retrospect, we probably should have gotten the dually, but it is what it is. I am NOT going back to the dealer to trade up again!!
So now to the 5er. It has to be a toy-hauler ... we won't leave home without our Victory motorcycles ... so we are somewhat limited in manufacturer. Even so, there are just so many to choose from; all of them that we have researched have some features we like and some we don't. Size is another factor; I am just not comfortable with the idea of jumping into a 42 foot 5er for my first ever towing experience. And the 'garage' has to be walled off. I love my bike, but I don't want to sleep with it!!
This brings me to my dilemma. Thanks for the patience in getting to this point!! We have narrowed our search down to 2 or 3 brands. One, the Heartland Cyclone 3210, is right at the top of that list. My problem is that I can't find one locally. Heck, checking dealers on-line inventory, I can't even find one east of the Mississippi river! I was able to check out a different model ... the Bighorn ... so I'm fairly confident of Heartland's quality. I'm sure my dealer would have no problem with ordering one for us ... he is a Heartland dealer ... but he won't do that unless I basically agree to purchase it. Although I am somewhat impulsive, I will not by something of this magnitude without "kicking the tires"! There are also other brands that I can't find locally, so I am not able to compare any of the ones on my short list.
Hae any of you ever been in this situation? How do you get through it? Do I go to a dealer who caims to have one on his lot (the nearest one is in Utah!!). Or do I go take a tour of the manufacturer (not a bad option, I'd like to see how they are made)? Or do I just wait until one appears on a lot close by? Waiting patiently is not my strong point. Do I just order this model from the dealer, relying on the quality of the different model I saw? This goes against every grain of my being!!
Any advice anyone could give me ... even the opinion of someone who owns a Cyclone... would be a huge help! Thanks for listening!!
Liz