New Coaches @ Newport Rally

[EngineerMike]

Reminds me of the movie The Money Pit where Tom Hanks and Shelley Long continually ask how long till their coach, oops, I mean house remodel will be finished. The perpetual answer: "two weeks."

The quote for how long the factory needs our '06 for slide repair:
"Two Weeks."

Since I started this thread admiring the new '08 coaches, I suppose it is only fitting to update it thus:
The 3rd photo on Hugh's last post, page 1 of this thread, is our new '08 FDDS. Needless to say this is a vote of confidence in both the dramatic upgrades of the last two years, and in the new management. Dave Hoeffler, the new Chairman of the Board appears to be solidly dedicated to building a great company; he attended both the Newport Pre-Rally and the Redmond, OR, FMCA rally on behalf of the company, and he didn't have to do either. WRV sponsored a fabulous pizza bake at Redmond that gave us all a chance to schmooze and fatten up. And Burk Morgan (24 years w/WRV IIRC) swung into action at the Newport show when SWMBO expressed interest in one of the '08 coaches (she wants full tile floor which Burk promised for a modest fee ).

Guaranty RV of Junction City, OR, and I-5 Uhlman RV of Chehalis, WA took spectacular care of ACA (over 100 coaches at Newport for the largest pre-rally ever, and over 50 coaches in the Rally caravan to Redmond for the largest caravan parade of Alpines also). But it seems someone put something in the wine at that wine & cheese mixer, cuz we never expected to buy a new coach.

So the factory has our '06 for slide repair, and in two weeks you can call Guaranty for a quote on a clean, 11K mile, full tile floor 36FDTS w/Vagabond RO, Silverleaf, HHot, buddy chair, cord reel, quieted AC's (sorry I couldn't do more there, but now I have two new ones to debug), etc. Hope it finds a good home.

And Burk's quote on when the new coach will be ready:
"<span class="ev_code_BLUE">Two Weeks!!</span>

[takepride]

Great E-Mike, congratulations. I can't wait to hear about the delivery. I hope they gave you a good price. I'm sure they've seen all your posts and realize the sway you hold here! Word of mouth can make or break them. I'll bet their PDI will best the best to date.

Good Luck!

[hrhuggie]

Congrats on the new coach E Mike! Great shake down cruise to Baja!

[OldForester]

EngMike:

Congratulations on your new coach!

I'm curious -- what is the most important 1 to 3 things that made you switch from your 06 to the new model--

Was it the discussion with the Chairman of the Board, the interior height, the new decor inside and out, the SmartBeds, the slide problem with your 06, or something else?

Thanks for your thoughts-- owning an 06 with 20,000 miles on it already in 1 year have made me curious.

[jerry davis]

Hi Mike,

Just arrived home from Yakima after spending a week parked next to your old coach in Camp WRV. I must say that the coach looked pretty sad. Hope you gave it a good "pat on the back" before you left it sitting there all alone.

Your new coach was the one we would have picked from the group at Newport...........beautiful coach.

Our experience at the service center at WRV was mostly positive. They are certainly trying. The cocktail hour group in the parking lot seemed to have all the answers. Isn't that the way it should be?

[WeBrzn2]

These new 08's look great! Now if only WRV would do some kind of "deal" for those of us that "invested" in the future of the company by purchasing an Avalanche in 04 or 05! I am encouraged that the company seems to be on it's way to improved product quality. Don't worry about the higher coach, they fully debugged that on the Avalanche (that is one item that has not been an issue) and the improved head room is very likely nice for those much taller than me, but it does feel more open with the higher cielings.

[gjstacy]

EMike,

Congratulations on your new '08!! Wow, I never would have thought...it sounded like you were successfully keeping Ann away from the display area. Nothing like a wine and cheese social to liven things up...gee, wonder why they do those in the display area!!

I truly hope you enjoy the new one! They are quite beautiful, and have wonderful new features.

Safe travels & happy days!!

Gail

[EngineerMike]

From now on its nothing but whine & cheese for me.

WRV is doing a great job on meeting the "<span class="ev_code_BLUE">two weeks</span>" to get our new coach's preliminary bug list & Ann's full tile floor together. The tile was done in a few days; the coach was reported back in Izzy's hands a coupla days ago, and we are leaving Tuesday for a Thursday pickup next week. Seems like buying a house with concrete footings and a fenced yard is less taxing.

Can't wait to start pumping out those 1100?, particulate-filtered emmissions!! Whuda deal

[VAGABONDMAN]

Mike, I guess you're gonna want to reclaim your tools and scooter.

We had a garage sale last week and got $150.00 for the tools and only $200 for the scooter. I hope that meets with your approval, as we've already spent the money for a party with our neighbors. 'Too bad you weren't here to enjoy the festivities. The Crown special Reserve was really great! I guess you will have to settle for lunch - we can go to subway with the change left over.

[Basil Shannon]

Greetings from Camp WRV,

Mike, they just put a new coach in the delivery room yesterday. Must be yours. Come on up. The weather is great!

[EngineerMike]

Frank- you are a cruel man makin' a guy sweat over his scooter

Basil & Sue- do you guys officially call Yakima home now? We'll be there by the 6th.

[Basil Shannon]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Basil & Sue- do you guys officially call Yakima home now? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yep, Yakima is our new home. We even put up a mail box on Sutherland Dr and registered to vote.

[Tom and Patty]

Mike,

Congrats on the new coach.

But here is the deal, you really screwed up our plans. See, you were supposed to keep the '06 for a few more years. Finish all the other mods you were going to think of over the next 2-3 years. Then we were going to buy it!!!
Oh well, we can keep our '00 a few more.

[EngineerMike]

Tom- Sorry for screwing up a pretty good plan.
I've already ordered a new Vagabond RO upgrade, and new battery gauges for the batt compartment. I didn't get around to AGM batt's or Koni's, but I had already "upgraded" the drawer latches on the 06 so the small wood mounting blocks (that were stapled onto the face frame to mount the cabinet side of the drawer latches) w/screw reinforcements, done some mods to the air chuck, sealed the open holes into the basement, tidy'd up most of the wiring wads w/zip ties, de-tuned the AC noise, etc, so I presume I'll be doing at least some of that all over for the 08.
Sorry to set you back a coupla years. Maybe we should strike a deal now so I know what all I'll be responsible to complete before you take delivery on our, oops- I mean your 08 coach?