Yikes we did it......

[RDGee]

We went to a close out sale yesterday which we thought had good prices and bought an RV. We have never even driven one..........just wanted to do it. It's a 2010 (but new) Fleetwood Encounter. They are going to give us lessons and instructions when they move the RV to a location closer to us. They want us to stay at least overnight in their owner's park, to try and make sure everything works as it should. We saw one almost like the one we bought but actually only saw pictures and video......We are excited ..but have a lot to learn.

Here is a video of the one we bought ....Ours has a vinyl that looks like wood instead of the tile looking one in this video and we don't have a glass shower door. Other than that, it looks the same. We have learned a lot that we need to know from reading this forum and are excited. Doing a happy dance! and smiling big time.

[HoRotica]

RDGee,

Best of luck to you on your families' your new addition. I like the 2nd dinette and the bunk above it. Looks like a very well laid out use of space!

Chris

[Elkhartjim]

Congratulations. I would suggest printing out one of the many PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) checklist. If you possibly can, spend more than one night and then plan on leaving it for days to weeks to have the "stuff" fixed that you will no doubt find.

Check this thread on pre purchase inspection form and help needed

[bdpreece]

Congratulations on your purchase. When you do the overnight have them let you actually do the set up and tear down your self don't just watch. Take lots of notes as when you actually go out on your own it will be like; now where is that or how did they say this should work. We have been rv'ing for many years and find that even now when we take delivery of a new coach we will have something that we don't understand. It seems so easy when they do the walk through but when you are out on your own suddenly things can seem confusing.

[micd]

Wow, that looks great. I like the floor plan. One question? Can you get to the bathroom with the slides in? It was hard to tell with the shape of the kitchen slide.

Michelle

[JohnRR]

Well it seems you certainly started out in style.

[pvrick]

Congratulations and welcome to RV ing.

I strongly recommend you invest a few hundred $$ and take at least a one day driving course. Money well spend and learning to drive something this long and being comfortable backing into sites is well worth the money

Enjoy

[RDGee]

I should have mentioned that they have a driving course for anyone who needs it. We liked the floor plan and most of the time won't need to use the table/bunk area as two bunks or even as a second little dinette....It's designed as a children's area ...I suspect we'll use it as a computer station or maybe just leave it down as a bed for our Australian Shepard or maybe extra storage...but we won't otherwise need the bunks because there is just the two of us .......All our kids are grown but we have grands...there will be the rare occasion when they will come into good use for the kids.

It was necessary to get one of a reasonable size because my husband doesn't do well in cramped spaces....and he'd spend about two hours and say ok, I'm ready to go home....we had to find a decent shower too for the same reason.

And thanks for the checklist idea...I have already printed one off to use. Our plans are also to take the video and try to capture on video the how to's of setting up but the idea of doing it ourselves is a good one.

Yes the bathroom is accessible.....

Thank you all for taking the time to comment. I have been religiously reading here every day to learn as much as I can. I have a file that I have saved things to remember.

[nbounder]

One important item : keep a runing list of the 'strange' things you encounter, and be sure to get (& record) the answers. A buddy brought along a video cam when doing the walk-thru on his rig. This has 2 great advantages - you do not have to remember what was promised, and - the sales type doing the walk-thru was so nervious that he broke a sweat . . .in April! Bottom line - everything got fixed to his full satisfaction.