Expert advisor or purchasing agent?

[Voyager1]

I'm new to RVs and thought it would be helpful to work with an expert in choosing and negotiating a purchase. I've searched the web and found only one person who's doing that but he's on the other side of the country and his website doesn't give me confidence in him. Has anyone worked with an advisor or purchased through a buying program, the type AAA has for cars?

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by Voyager1

I'm new to RVs and thought it would be helpful to work with an expert in choosing and negotiating a purchase. I've searched the web and found only one person who's doing that but he's on the other side of the country and his website doesn't give me confidence in him. Has anyone worked with an advisor or purchased through a buying program, the type AAA has for cars?

I'm sure a dealer will appreciate you hiring negotiator-probably raise the price


go to rvdirect and other sites that build to order and give you discount prices. then you'll know sort of what to pay

[ponti33602]

Originally Posted by Voyager1

I'm new to RVs and thought it would be helpful to work with an expert in choosing and negotiating a purchase. I've searched the web and found only one person who's doing that but he's on the other side of the country and his website doesn't give me confidence in him. Has anyone worked with an advisor or purchased through a buying program, the type AAA has for cars?

That's a tough one. I think an RV choice is really complex and why you are not finding a service for this.......... My wife and I research ourselves for 18-months before selecting our vehicle. Not sure an outsider will "pull" that out of you. Honestly the pulling the gun on the purchase is rather the after-thought/final outcome of the process. FYI, we purchased ours new, online from a dealer 1200 miles away.

I have posted this somewhere here but do not recall where. We first thought we were B+ (Really a C) people. My wife loved touring the LTV Unity at a nearby dealer. But as the months went by we envisioned how we would use it. We are not RV Park people, meaning we would never go to a park and spend a week. We are much too fidgety for that......we are very active for our ages and like to move about. That led us to understanding we would be mobile more often and drive-ability would be more important than inside vehicle size. Next she was focused on a RT CS Adventurous. Twenty-three feet long, easy to drive around town.

We finally ended up with an Agile at just under 20 feet. We sold our only car which was a BMW X3 (which we only used once or twice a week....we walk to our work daily) and the Agile fits within our parking garage. I mathematically calculated that I couldn't have pulled the extra 3 feet around that pole in the picture below.

Had we not planned on 12-18 months learning about vans and ourselves we would have purchased something that may not be the best for our needs (next 3-5 years). If we move out of the city and back to a house (doubtful) I would have gotten a full size B. I still like driving a B much more than the other options.

Guess my ultimate advise and someone here mentioned to me was take time and really research and understand how you intend to use an RV/Van.

Understanding what kind of power consumption you think you will need was also a few month's of research. We ended up with a 400 lithium and 300w solar on the roof and will allow us not to be in RV parks at night unless we want to be.

[Voyager1]

Thanks for the reply. I looked at the Agile because I want to take it into town to visit musuems, restaurants, etc.

I noticed the difference between the Agile and the Adventurous is that the bathroom is about a foot shorter and there's no sink. I don't mind that there's no sink since the kitchen sink is just a few feet away. The shower seems awfully cramped. Ponti, do you use the shower in the Agile? I realize you can only fit so much in a B. I like the big bathroom in the Winnabago ERA 70M but it's 24' long. I compared the LTV van size to it. The body is a foot wider but the mirror width seems to be the same.

Then there's quality. From my research it seems that LTV and Pleasure-Way get the highest ratings followed by RoadTrek. Winnebago is supposed to be good but not as good as the other three.

I can't fit any of them in my garage, the door is only 7" tall.

-Bryan

[mumkin]

Only you can know what you really want and need... and it can take a long time to really figure that out. So often, your first rig will not last long because once you USE an RV, you learn what it is that you really want and need... perhaps not what you thought. LOL

As to some stranger getting you some "better deal"... I don't see it happening. Class B rigs usually get 13-18% discount on MSRP - depending on popularity of the unit and how long it has been on the lot. Winnebago is usually about 25+% off. LTV is too popular to get much of a discount at all.

If new rigs are too pricey, get something used. See paragraph one... and trade up when you figure out what you want and can afford to get it.

[ponti33602]

Many say PW is better quality. We don't see it. LTV is. It was a notch above but it wasn't a B. My wife liked their Free Spirit which Is no longer made.

Also we do shower but we are not large. I'm 5'10 155 and my wife is 5'6" and 105. If you are large it won't be fun.

We are also minimalist so we even thing we have extra space on the few trips we have made so far. Again, if we had the space we would have gotten a full size B but this works for us.

FWIW we didn't like the quality of the Winnie.


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[ponti33602]

Originally Posted by mumkin

Only you can know what you really want and need... and it can take a long time to really figure that out. So often, your first rig will not last long because once you USE an RV, you learn what it is that you really want and need... perhaps not what you thought. LOL

As to some stranger getting you some "better deal"... I don't see it happening. Class B rigs usually get 13-18% discount on MSRP - depending on popularity of the unit and how long it has been on the lot. Winnebago is usually about 25+% off. LTV is too popular to get much of a discount at all.

If new rigs are too pricey, get something used. See paragraph one... and trade up when you figure out what you want and can afford to get it.

We got 20% off a new on the lot Agile. We wanted to order but only like 18% so flew to NJ for ours. My wife wanted new but agree that used is financially the way to go.


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[Little Eagle]

Voyager1, I would highly suggest buying used. My husband and I were first time RVers and we ended up buying a new LTV Serenity. While we love, love, love our Serenity, we have decided that it is not exactly what is going to work for our lifestyle - just as mumkin stated above. So to save some $$$ I would go the used route and do lots of homework. Sorry this doesn't really answer your question though.


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[ponti33602]

I would also add in my wife's defense on going new was that she "knew" she wanted Lithium, no propane in an Agile. New barely exists in this configure so used really not an option. And we had to look across the country for best deal and really only one with what she wanted. I enjoyed the trip back and got me comfy driving.


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[Viperml]

Originally Posted by ponti33602

I would also add in my wife's defense on going new was that she "knew" she wanted Lithium, no propane in an Agile. New barely exists in this configure so used really not an option. And we had to look across the country for best deal and really only one with what she wanted. I enjoyed the trip back and got me comfy driving.


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You can always buy a very nice used unit and easily add solar/lithium options to it. Buying new is just a preference.

[Viperml]

Originally Posted by Voyager1

I'm new to RVs and thought it would be helpful to work with an expert in choosing and negotiating a purchase. I've searched the web and found only one person who's doing that but he's on the other side of the country and his website doesn't give me confidence in him. Has anyone worked with an advisor or purchased through a buying program, the type AAA has for cars?

I suggest you rent one and that way you learn how to use everything and then you will know what you want.
You can negotiate your own deals. No need for an adviser.

[ponti33602]

Originally Posted by Viperml

You can always buy a very nice used unit and easily add solar/lithium options to it. Buying new is just a preference.

Perhaps. We were told not so easy, and very costly if not set up that way. It you may be correct.


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[Viperml]

Originally Posted by ponti33602

Perhaps. We were told not so easy, and very costly if not set up that way. It you may be correct.


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There are youtube videos that show people that have added lithium/solar to their class b's.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by ponti33602

Perhaps. We were told not so easy, and very costly if not set up that way. It you may be correct.

I think that the issue is more one of finding the requisite expertise than it is of difficulty or extra expense. These are not yet common systems, so the needed skills are hard to find.

[ponti33602]

Originally Posted by avanti

I think that the issue is more one of finding the requisite expertise than it is of difficulty or extra expense. These are not yet common systems, so the needed skills are hard to find.

I would bet that is correct and why we went new but certainly agree a well cared for 5-8 year old model saves you thousands.


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[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by Voyager1

I'm new to RVs ...

as previously suggested- only YOU can decide which features you do NEED and don't need...and which are worth paying for.

I rented a unit in Ireland- and this made clear to us that we need a fore/aft bed as we are tall- and no climb over.
We also realized that we didn;t need a shower- we are either in a campground, or remote enough to use the outdoor shower which many rv's have

balancing energy use is a new game...

we observe that many solar systems are inefficient -pointing most of the day where the sun is not...they also require the van be parked in the sun and get hot...rather than in the shade of a tree.
choice of parking spot can determine whether you need the AC or not.


for me I bought a gas chev- I or anybody anywhere can work on it with parts from autozone.
I don;t need a dealer with special tools ( does he have an RV lift???) and a parts supply line to germany or italy.
I can buy my tires at costco for $180
diesel is more expensive, the motor heavy and that weight has a mpg penalty and maybe a load capacity issue too.

in the end we spent less than half our budget for an 8 year old pleasure way with all the old proven stuff...propane burners, fridge ( ac/dc too) furnace and water heater, onan genny underneath ( rarely used). gravity tank dumps.
( ANY RV tech can work on this stuff...and so can I- pretty much)
and about the largest bed available
we have just over 25k on this in the past 30 months with trips as long as a month in great comfort


the biggest challenge is determining what you want in an RV- we looked at a dozen units and watched many many videos to watch how people moved around the cabin

features like a large head and extra seating means you loose space for something else, bed size or cabinets.

so there's my 2¢

Mike

[Mat Mobile]

Also keep in mind that there might not be the "perfect" RV. There's always a compromise.

Just find the one where you make the least compromise and you see yourself living in it.