How many of you walk to buy or Fly to buy your New Class Bs?

[paminmi]

I found my 2003 Xplorer Class B (on a Freightliner Sprinter chassis) in September on Craigslist. It was right on the route I was taking my mom to Mayo Clinic, about 200 miles from my home which was perfect. Gave a deposit then went back a week later to pick it up.

Wishing I could have gotten something newer, but it was the one I could afford. I'm getting ready to head south for the winter, so tired of dealing with snow and cold.

[inforiculturist]

I flew and rented a car one-way to checkout, purchase and pickup my 1995 RoadTrek 190 Popular and drive it home, half way across the country - all in the span of 2 days. That isn't a plan for everybody, but it worked for me.

I started my voyage in late 2016/early 2017, not in a hurry, but with a plan/hope to find something in the next year or two that met the criteria needs of both me and my partner. I was first thinking I wanted a small trailer. After much research and looking at numerous trailers and some small class C and B RVs, I decided pretty much that I wanted a RoadTrek. That part took the better part of a year. When out camping, I also asked folks if they would show me their unit as I was looking at options, and they would tell me why they liked their unit and why it worked well for them. And I visited a couple of RV places, too, but they were too salesy for my needs and research.

My criteria may not be for everyone, but I didn't want my travel partner to have to backup a trailer - not in her skill set - and I worried about her just driving with the trailer. We both wanted something small and economical, having been tent campers (I'm a backpacker and river expedition camper as well as car camping with my partner/family). I don't need a full house (i.e. Class A) to go enjoy the outdoors, and we live quite simply overall. I also knew that whatever I bought, knowing it would be used and the price range we were looking in, I'd have to spend time working on getting it where I wanted it to be.

So we set a price range based on the market and our needs, and continued the search. I did miss out on a couple as I learned how the used RV system, full of scammers, worked. A common scam was to request $500 to hold it for me. And there were more scammers on Craigslist than there were real vehicles in the criteria range in which I was looking (95-03).

After searching for more than a year for a RoadTrek meeting my criteria, in Feb 2019 I found what I was looking for with the options and price range and tradeoffs - on CraigsList in Harrisburg PA (and I'm in Austin, TX). After trading additional pictures and info with the seller, we agreed that when I booked air flight the seller would take it off the market, and I would arrange to have us settle up at a credit union so they seller got cash and I was protected. By the time I was ready to go I wasn't really worried, but one must be careful with all the scammers out there.

I got a cheap flight on Southwest to Pittsburgh, setup a one-way car rental and a few days later I was on my way to pickup the vehicle (on a 6a flight). I picked up my car and headed to Harrisburg, arriving at about 4p. It was as described, and generally (but not fully) functional. Having been a mechanic myself, I was able to inspect it without taking it to a mechanic. We went to a title registration place previously researched and made the exchange and I got a temporary license to travel home. My insurance already had the info on the vehicle, and I was ready to go.

I was on the road shortly after 6p, initiating my nearly 24-hour drive home to Austin, TX (made in about 30 hours), along with a brief stop along the way to have breakfast with a friend in Louisville KY. I slept in the vehicle in rest and truck stops on my way home and made it home by midnight of day 2. And then spent the next 6 months going over every piece of equipment and upgrading as appropriate. It's now ready for it's second trip over Thanksgiving, and I'm overall quite happy with it.

Good luck! YMMV, but don't discount the opportunity to leave your local boundaries. I had a friend who did it with an older small glamping trailer. I wasn't finding much in the way of RoadTreks here in Texas, although I see some here and there on the roads. My biggest advice is to plan ahead, and to be ready to pull the trigger.

[larrylwill]

Bought my 08 Roadtrek in Pensacola Fl., I live in North Alabama, I drove the car and toed the car back with the RV. I bought the 2019 Roadtrek in Iowa over the internet, the dealer paid for the flight I paid for the wife, they picked me up at the airport and we spent 3 weeks driving home. We got it about $30k less than list for one with a lot of extras, $69980 and 10K ($80,000) less than a local 2018 without the extras.

[PerkinsCove]

We're from upstate NY and looked nationwide for our 2001 R/T Popular 200 and ended up finding ours in NH. We drove thousands of miles and personally looked at over a dozen of them before finding our LuLu

[FWMiller]

We saw the Roadtrek we wanted online. The dealership had a fly to buy program. They purchased our tickets, picked us up at the airport. They took care of the registration/taxes in the State we lived. Then we drove it from Texas to our home in Florida.

[kpeter02]

We visited the RV shows and looked around. Pleasure Way was the one we wanted, but Panoramic RV out of Chambly Quebec caught my attention just before we pulled the trigger on the PW. I sent an email to Philippe of Panoramic. He was on his way back home from Utah and said he would drop by with his Panoramic RV for us to check it out. Outstanding to say the least. This was in March 2018. By the middle of the next month we set up a visit of his plant in Quebec and drove out there from Toronto. 6 hour drive. Made the deal, with the options we wanted, and left the deposit. During the next few months a couple more visits (dropping off Sumo springs) to see the building of the vehicle. The vehicle is now complete, we will be flying out shortly and he will pick us up and we take possession of the vehicle.

[jaak1993]

Since I had previously owned a couple class A's and most recently a Class B I had a clear idea of what I wanted and didn't want. I found a good match on Rvtraderonline, flew cross country, took care of inspection and paperwork and took a month traveling home, best trip of my life. Carrying enough stuff to outfit the thing required travel via Southwest Airlines due to their checked luggage policies which we maxed out. Our luggage came from thrift stores and didn't return with us in the van.

[teck13]

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and fly to Lichtsinn in Forest City Iowa to pick up my Travato. Had a great experience with the dealer and a really great time driving it back to California. Plus, I got to break in the engine the way I wanted to.

[atlebj]

When we bought our 2016 PW Ascent TS this summer, I flew from Harrisburg, PA, to Columbus, OH to get it. Prior to that, I was considering several RoadTrek Agiles on the West Coast - I would have flown out and driven them back :-O

Atle

[joeski]

I bought my 2001 roadtrek 190 in Springfield Missouri, I flew from Pennsylvania the owner pick me up at the airport, took it for a ride and slept overnight in it. The next day we went to the transportation department to transfer the title. I drove it to Florida for a month and then back to Pennsylvania. I have done a lot of work on it but I am happy that I bought it.