There is nothing quite so constant as change.”
After getting our 2021 Coachmen RV Freedom Express Ultra Lite 248RBS set up just the way we wanted it, the urge to change came over us once again. There are many reasons an RV owner might want to get a different vehicle. Their RV might be too big or too small. It might not have a feature that the owner really wants. It might just be getting older and costing too much to maintain. In fact, none of this applied to us. This time the urge was driven by economics!
When we sold our Winnebago Intent and bought the 2021 Coachmen RV Freedom Express Ultra Lite 248RBS, we paid a little over $26,000 for the trailer Then we had to find a tow vehicle, which cost an additional $37,000. We already had all of the necessary towing equipment, so we were able to just hook up and go.
In October we enjoyed a three-week trip to the national parks in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, by car. We didn’t take the camper. During this 6,400 mile odyssey, we noticed that new car dealers throughout the southern United States had very few cars and even fewer trucks for sale on their lots. When we returned home to Florida we started to investigate truck prices and found that the truck we bought for $37k was now selling for much more and that the camping trailer we owned now had an MSRP of $42,000! Was it possible that the vehicles we owned were actually worth more than we had paid for them?
We began to think about the various RVs we’ve owned over the last five years: the 20’ Freedom Express trailer; the Coachmen 27QB class C; the Winnebago Intent class A; and now the Ultra-Lite 248RBS currently in our driveway. We concluded that the class C gave us the best return for our money It was easy to drive and could be parked in our driveway without sticking out into the street; it had a built-in generator which made boon-docking tolerable; the systems were understandable and easily maintained and repaired, and it held its value reasonably well.
With that in mind, we began our search for a class C to replace our truck/trailer combination. My criteria was it had to be 31 feet or less, no more than three years old, and no more than 10,000 miles on the odometer. Bari’s criteria were that it must have either twin beds or a king bed. We found a 2019 Forest River: 31 feet long with just 7,500 miles on the odometer, and a king bed!. We went to look at it and I was appalled by the condition of the interior. Wallpaper was peeling from walls and trim. The whole interior reeked of bleach, which could only mean one thing: mildew. Mechanically it was fine but the price seemed way out of whack. We decided we could buy it and put it back into good condition if the seller would drop the price by $22,000. We emailed our offer. Several days went by and we heard nothing, so we continued our search.
Bari was looking at all the class C’s for sale and she came across a Thor Chateau 25v, which has a twin bed arrangement. A few years back I would not have considered a Thor because of their reputation for poor manufacturing quality and non-existent warranty repairs. But now I know I can repair just about anything on an RV, so Thor is back in the mix of possibility.
We stopped by our local General RV dealer and looked at a 2021 25v. Bari liked it. Other than build quality, I couldn’t see anything that turned me off, so we asked them to work up a price, taking our Ultra-Lite 248RBS in trade. As has happened every time we have tried to deal with General RV, their difference price (the out-the-door amount I would need to write the check for) was not based in reality, so we decided to look elsewhere. The local Camping World advertised a 2022 model, so we stopped by there to see it. The problem was it was actually at their Dover Florida (Tampa) location (we live in Ocala) so they would need to bring it from Dover to Ocala. We decided to drive to Dover to see it. It was a 2022 on a Ford chassis, which works for me. The salesman said he could really use a 2021 Ultra-Lite 248RBS trailer, and he could make a deal we would like. The price he came back with was very good (light-years better than the General RV offer), but I like to haggle, so two hours later we had a deal. Essentially it cost us nothing to use the Ultra-Lite 248RBS for the better part of a year, and we made a profit on the F-150 we used to tow it. So the out-of-pocket for a brand new class C was insignificant. Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?
We did the pre-delivery inspection and found enough problems to fill a small notebook. Whole pieces of plywood were improperly cut, then bent into place to the point they split. The bathroom doors were warped, and there must be 25 holes in the bathroom door frame where the installer simply couldn’t figure out where to put the hinges. Lots of misaligned interior panels and stupid installation errors made this the typical 2022 RV.
Camping World gave us a “WE OWE YOU” document to cover all the problems, and we drove the new RV home to Ocala.
In reality, Camping World will never see this RV again, unless I trade it to them for something different. We’ve already fixed all the problems they cited, and we are pleased with the results. We replaced the warped bathroom doors with accordion doors, and they look and feel like a factory installation. The misaligned panels were easily corrected with a table saw and some epoxy. Loose water hoses and fixtures were tightened and are leak-free. Loose wire connections at the water pump and the solar panel are now conducting electricity as designed. After two camping trips, we have the rig the way we want it and are ready to put some miles on it.
We are planning on driving from Florida to Washington State in May. It will be about 7,000 miles round trip. So stay tuned and we'll give you our unbiased opinion of the Chateau 25V as a cross-country conveyance: the good, the bad and the hard to believe!
Comments
Post a Comment