Good News! (mostly)

[wabbit]

After doing the travel required to evaluate the top Class B contenders in the quest for the new rig, we settled on one. It will be a Roadtrek Agile. One of the major breakthroughs came when my dear wife told me that she could get used to the smell of a diesel - that was a big one. We decided that the long wheelbase Sprinter designs didn't offer us that much more than the short wheelbase Agile, and that there were significant advantages to being able to use it as an "everyday vehicle".

She didn't even balk (too much) at the price, once the long term finance options and second home things were explained.

She did, however, have one condition. We have to be able to park it in the garage at night. Uh oh. The design and construction of our house make it impossible to put in a garage door that tall. She knew what she was asking. I'm semi-retired and she has only a few years left before retiring and the 2 of us don't really need a 4 bedroom house anymore. Something smaller that requires less maintenance would fit us nicely, and located somewhere where the garage could be raised or a new garage built. I can't argue with her logic and it is a good time to buy. So, now that all of the leg work is done for finding the right rig, I get to do the leg work to find the right house.

[markopolo]

An SS-Agile should be great. I know I'd be thrilled with one.
Their about the same length as more traditional Chevy and Dodge extended vans. Just a half foot or so shorter. As you mentioned, that should make daily driving easy.

A 10' high garage door should do it. I had one of those installed when the garage was built just in case I ever get a Sprinter.

[Davydd]

Could be my age and nostrils but I don't smell the diesel with the Bluetech exhaust system. Only when fueling might I get a whiff of diesel.

Only Roadtrek and Sportsmobile offer the shorter wheelbase Sprinter. Pleasure-way seems to have dropped the Ascent. I had heard rumors that Great West Vans would introduce a short Sprinter but that was before it was sold so don't know if that idea is continuing. I hope so as I think GWVan's tri-sofa design would be ideal for a short Sprinter.

[Davydd]

I'm in the same predicament in regard to a garage. My standalone garage roof structure is a truss system which makes increasing the garage door height impossible. I barely have enough length at 24 feet but the B would be nearly tight and impossible to walk around. I've been thinking of looking into building a second garage if zoning ordinances allow it. A second specialty garage with a 10 ft. door, 30 ft. long by 16 ft. wide would be cool to have. It would give me room for a wood shop too. I have enough land to do so.

[teachergal]

I don't notice a diesel fuel smell with my 2011 PW Sprinter. My parents have a 36' Class A with a great big Cummins Truck engine and I've never smell diesel with theirs either.

I had my heart set on an Agile - I'd done some internet browsing and went to 1 show and in my head the Agile was *the* RV for me. The main selling point was the short sprinter - I wanted to be able to drive it and park it anywhere. I ended up buying a PW Plateau and while it is on the longer Sprinter - 24' - I love it and can't imagine that I ever considered the Agile! There are several things that PW does differently than Roadtrek and that makes the difference for me!

The one thing, and it sounds like this is key for you, is that I can't really park it in a regular parking spot. It has about 4 feet of overhang after the back tires so if you are able to back it in and the overhang can go over the curb then it will fit. You gotta watch though b/c the generator hangs low. I live in a townhouse and I can get it into my assigned parking spaces - I have 2, side by side and I kinda park in the middle of both, but it either sticks out into the "road" (it's a court so the only people coming and going live here) or blocks the sidewalk. I only park it there overnight on the nights before I'm heading out on a trip so the neighbors don't mind too much!

[wabbit]

She misses our old Coachmen van and trusty VW camper as much as I do, so I suspect that her "one condition" is somewhat negotiable in timeframe and is more a statement that it is my responsibility to get off my butt and moving toward the goal of downsizing the house and moving forward into the next phase of our life together. She certainly got my attention!

Meanwhile, I've been going through the list of factory options for the rig in preparation for sitting down with the dealer to discuss dealer-installed options. There is still a lot of work to be done before an order can go in for the new rig.

I can't wait to see the look on the real estate agent's face when we explain what our needs are for the "new house".