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Old 09-09-2014, 11:33 AM   #1
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If you were looking for a used motorhome at PPL Texas???

We're going to put our 2004 Newmar Dutch Star on the consignment lot at PPL the end of October.

If you were looking for a RV, would you be more likely to look in person at PPL's Houston lot (more congestion getting there but bigger lot) or the New Braunfels lot (smaller place but less congestion in the Hill Country)?

If just looking online PPL lists all units grouped together with a notation if it's at the New Braunfels lot so looking online doesn't really matter I guess. You find the one you want and go look at it. We're more interested in just looking in person. Any help appreciated!
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Old 09-09-2014, 04:47 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by twogypsies View Post
We're going to put our 2004 Newmar Dutch Star on the consignment lot at PPL the end of October.

If you were looking for a RV, would you be more likely to look in person at PPL's Houston lot (more congestion getting there but bigger lot) or the New Braunfels lot (smaller place but less congestion in the Hill Country)?

If just looking online PPL lists all units grouped together with a notation if it's at the New Braunfels lot so looking online doesn't really matter I guess. You find the one you want and go look at it. We're more interested in just looking in person. Any help appreciated!
I'm in Houston. Went to PPL often before my recent purchase. I have not been to the PPL New Braunfels location but considered going a couple of times when they had something of interest. That being said, I'm of the opinion that the Houston location will get more traffic just by the shear number of people in Houston. It's a numbers game and the fact there are more people in Houston increases the chances of finding a buyer there. I have no data to support this of course but as someone who just finished the buying process that was my MO. The more people who walk by your coach whether they are there to look at yours or not specifically opens up the possibility to more buyers. Just my 2cents.

Edit. I think this mostly applies to lower to middle priced coaches. Buyers looking for coaches in the 100K plus used market are more likely targeting specific coaches and would travel to New Braunfels to see something that is on their radar. It's slightly over 3 hours away from Houston. For these coaches I think location is more of a wash.
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Old 09-09-2014, 04:58 PM   #3
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Houston. But I might consider consigning at mhsrv too
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Old 09-09-2014, 05:14 PM   #4
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BTW I have had my coach 1 month now. You think it's to early to upgrade? A 2004 Dutch Star would be nice . I would list it on the classifieds here. Have you decided your asking price yet?
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Old 09-09-2014, 05:27 PM   #5
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Houston. More buyer traffic.
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Old 09-10-2014, 08:56 AM   #6
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Do they just put your rv on the lot with slides and awnings out not plugged in and the entry door unlocked?
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Old 09-10-2014, 01:17 PM   #7
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Do they just put your rv on the lot with slides and awnings out not plugged in and the entry door unlocked?
Haven't heard this...do they? When we looked at the pic of the lot it didn't look like slides or awnings were out. I can't imagine leaving awnings out because of wind.

Not being plugged in is no problem - we have plenty of solar on the roof.

Unlocked? During the daytime is fine and I would expect they lock them at night and have some kind of security system/gate?

These are questions we need to ask. It seems to be a popular place for buying and selling.
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Old 09-11-2014, 10:52 AM   #8
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Do they just put your rv on the lot with slides and awnings out not plugged in and the entry door unlocked?
pretty much!

And people track mud, and dirt, and kids press buttons, and the air leaks out of the air bags, and it looks like a pick and part yard.

The good units move FAST, leaving only the disheveled behind most times.

During the day, they just open all of the doors on the units, and when people show up, they make them register, then you are free to walk the lot on your own.
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Old 09-11-2014, 10:56 AM   #9
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They usually leave the slides in, no awnings. The units are packed pretty close together.

In the morning they open the doors, at night they just close them after making sure no one is inside.

the entire place is fenced, no one is going to break in or anything. But I have noticed things like... what looked like a missing CB with wires handing, stuff like that.

Have also noticed bay doors left open, surely they close them at night? Most of the left over units smell like grandma died in there. I wonder how fast they shut the doors when the rain starts?

Not trying to discourage you, but honestly, the times I have been there, I was like whoa....

the more high dollar the unit, the closer they store it to their building. How far away are you from the lot?
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Old 09-11-2014, 10:56 AM   #10
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Houston would also be more convenient for fly in lookers.

Good luck!
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Old 09-11-2014, 12:20 PM   #11
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This is my personal opinion mind you, and other people may not share it at all, but if I were buying or selling a 10 year old or newer high-line coach in good shape in would not be at PPL.
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Old 09-11-2014, 01:42 PM   #12
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I had two people look at the same coach for me at PPL Here is one of the replys I will look for the other. This was a 90k coach. The person I talked to at PPL assured me the coach was in excellent shape and would buy it himself.

Mike,
To put it bluntly, this poor vehicle has been "rode hard and put up wet" (Texas for "it needs a LOT of work - translated = money) The pictures on PPL's ad do not indicate the true condition.
Leather on the pilot/co-pilot chairs is heavily cracked. Both sofas are badly stained and appear to have been "lived on". Wonder if this was a full timers vehicle? They did have an animal as the chair skirt had been chewed/ripped. Windscreen was cracked from top to bottom in front of the co-pilot. The 3-M coating on the entire front of the vehicle looked terrible and needed removal then repainted $$$. The slide awnings were ripped to the point of replacement needed, not repair. Carpet was stained (probably beyond cleaning). Looked in the engine compartment - couldn't see much for all the dust, dirt, grease and wasp nests. Storage bins were the same. Exterior paint had the "checking" which is known in this era Monaco. Ours has it but not as bad as this vehicle. Tires were a hodge podge from the 2010-11 time frame. good tread and slight cracking.

It was in such bad shape that the maintenance would be VERY suspect but we had no time to find nor inspect the records.

I'm a do it yourself type with a steel barn and concrete floor - Wouldn't even think about this one. If you do, a mechanics inspection and engine/transmission oil analysis should be done before money changes hands.

Stickers indicated a San Antonio vehicle and it was apparent it had never been inside so sun "worn" everywhere.

Sorry to be so negative,

And here is the other...

Good to hear XXX had the same opinion. Everyone looks at stuff differently and has different tastes and opinions of what is good and bad. I was very hesitant to call it a POS, but that is the best description one could give for it.

I am with you on the PPL deal. Lots of people rave about them, that is the only reason I went down to look at a couple coaches. To me, that is the absolute worst place you could take your coach to sell. They dont care about the coaches, they just sit out in the weather and get hammered. They don't clean them or do anything to them to take care of them. We had some crazy high winds come through recently, they did not take the slides in on any of those coaches, several awning were ripped and torn up as a result.
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Old 09-11-2014, 03:24 PM   #13
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We've been to the Houston location a couple of times, and to the New Braunfels location a number of times. Several of the coaches looked, like Mike said, they've been rode hard and put away wet. I have to blame owners for that too. One coach that was well priced and in our interest range had the inside entry door handle torn partially off, the bedroom door was off the track, the cover for the side camera was missing, etc. Really makes you wonder how the rest of the coach was maintained!
Houston has a better selection, but it depends on what you want.
When we get ready to buy, we'll try to sell ours ourselves first before we put it on a lot. A little spruce-up goes a long ways.
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Old 09-12-2014, 01:33 PM   #14
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Mike Brez: appreciate your friends' observations and we have a couple comments...when you put a RV on a consignment lot, we wouldn't expect the RVs to be cleaned up - inside or out. It's just like selling a vehicle yourself. You can clean it up to sell or not. That's the owner's responsibility if they want to sell it for a good price and fast. If we were looking for a used RV we would expect some RVs to look very worn. They're not all going to look sparkling.

That's a reflection on the owner's care and those are RVs that we would definitely pass up.

PPL does have a detailing service for a charge. I suspect many owners don't think detailing is necessary. Many car owners take their cars in for detailing very often. Those are owners that really care about their vehicles. Some owners never detail their vehicles. Yes, some dealers will make every unit sparkle but then you really wouldn't know the background on that vehicle as to care.

We're sure there's a lot of junk on a used RV lot. It's to be expected. It's up to the owners to clean up their RV or let PPL do it. Some choose not to do so. When you buy used you have to go through a lot of them to find one to suit you. That goes for anything used.

Another comment about "sitting out in the weather and getting hammered". We understand this is an outside lot so, yes, the RVs are going to get rained on and the wind is going to blow - just like being in a campground. This is a good test to see if the RVs leak. There's no reason to bring slides in and cover up a possible leaking problem. We'd want to know if the RV leaks.

Also, a picture doesn't reveal everything. You need to see things in person. We'd never buy a vehicle without seeing it in person.

I guess we're torn on this. We've heard many high recommendations for PPL although we're sure there are some bad-looking RVs put on a used sales lot. That's not PPLs fault. It's the owners and I suppose if we were buying we'd like to really see just how owners care for their RVs. If not cared for, they'll be passed up. So these issues can be looked on in two ways - positive or negative.
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