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03-18-2018, 04:32 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Tiffin Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Hot Springs, VA
Posts: 1,926
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Hardest Thing I've Ever Tried To Buy
Just got back from an RV Show, a little one. These things are months and miles apart making it extremely difficult to see the various manufacturers / models.
Dealers are also many (hundreds) of miles apart making it extremely difficult to touch, walk through, etc. Time between visits makes it difficult to remember what the last one was like.
Buying autos is a piece of cake compared to buying these things. One of the dealers at the show said they are set up far apart intentionally. Why do they want to make it this hard.
Did like the Solitude and Cedar Creek Hathaway best, but everything else was really lower entry level and a lot of travel trailers.
Also liked General RV and did not care much for sales folks at Camping World, who didn't show for the show.
Beginning to think this may never happen.
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03-18-2018, 05:04 PM
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#2
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Community Moderator
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Point Pleasant Beach, NJ
Posts: 31,248
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Going to small shows is a bad idea. There is never much to see and it is usually only local dealers.
Unless time is of the essence, wait until Sept and go to the show in Hershey Pa. It is enormous, almost everyone is there, and you'll mostly likely find what you're looking for. The show is too big to effectively see it in one day. Two to three days and you'll feel better about what you're doing.
Good luck with the search.
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Tony & Ruth........... FMCA#F416727
2016 London Aire 4519, Freightliner chassis, Cummins ISX, 2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, Blue Ox Avail with AF1. TST 507 TPMS
No amount of money can buy you an extra second of time.
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03-18-2018, 05:12 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 252
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We got lucky. Went to a big dealer (return trip) and the salesman was busy so he gave us his master keys. We walked the lot for hours looking at everything with no hawking sales dude. Bad thing is we were thinking we wanted a 30’ TT but now we really like class A.
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03-18-2018, 05:54 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Tiffin Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Hot Springs, VA
Posts: 1,926
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyDi
Going to small shows is a bad idea. There is never much to see and it is usually only local dealers.
Unless time is of the essence, wait until Sept and go to the show in Hershey Pa. It is enormous, almost everyone is there, and you'll mostly likely find what you're looking for. The show is too big to effectively see it in one day. Two to three days and you'll feel better about what you're doing.
Good luck with the search.
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Well, here's the thing. Daughter wedding is Sept. 2nd in Colorado. So if you have a conflict with one of these things you have to wait another year or drive across country. Like I said, it's a whole whole lot easier to buy a car.
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03-18-2018, 06:02 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 1,951
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Not sure what part of the USA you are in or how soon you want to buy but besides the Hershey show there is a big show in Tampa every Jan and also one in Quartzsite AZ in Jan. Also Good Sam have an annual event sometimes in Phoenix and sometimes back east somewhere. Google them to get more info. All of the above are very large showers and most all brands are on display within walking distance from the each other.
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2015 Itasca Ellipse 42QD
2017 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Hard Rock
2011 Harley Davidson CVO Street Glide
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03-18-2018, 06:29 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 380
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Hershey show sealed the deal for me, but we only live about 1.5 hrs from Hershey.
We already had our preferred floor plan chosen, and I’m tall, so full height 5ers was the other limiting factor for me.
Hit the full height preferred floor plan of each manufacturer, took a whole day (Friday, so less crowds), and we had our unit nailed by end of day.
Located two local dealers handling the brand, both with good customer service reviews, played them off each other, ended up with a deal lower than anything found on RV Trader and took delivery in January so we could shake it down before the season.
And here we are on a 3k mile road trip with it, loving every minute, regretting nothing.
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03-18-2018, 06:35 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: East Texas
Posts: 123
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We waited specifically for the big show in Houston in Feb....why are all the shows in the beginning of the year???!!?? Seems a ‘fall’ show would be warranted...but maybe because the beginning of the year is before people travel a lot in RVs? Anyone?
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2018 Palomino Columbus 298RL
2018 F-350 DRW PowerStroke w/ BD3 Trailer Saver
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03-18-2018, 06:41 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Tiffin Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Hot Springs, VA
Posts: 1,926
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TXTiger
Not sure what part of the USA you are in or how soon you want to buy but besides the Hershey show there is a big show in Tampa every Jan and also one in Quartzsite AZ in Jan. Also Good Sam have an annual event sometimes in Phoenix and sometimes back east somewhere. Google them to get more info. All of the above are very large showers and most all brands are on display within walking distance from the each other.
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I live in Virginia, so Tampa and Arizona are megamiles away. Maybe they have one in Alaska and I could fly to Seattle and take a cruise up that way. At this point, I'll bet Jeff Bezos can mail me one.
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03-18-2018, 06:46 PM
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#9
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Community Administrator
Pond Piggies Club LA Gulf Coast Campers Outdoors RV Owners Club Entegra Owners Club Skyline Owners Group
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 40,507
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Looks like you're only about 4.5hrs away from Hershey. Very doable & well worth going. Allow several days to see everything & take a notepad. All the RV's will start to run together after a while.
Lori-
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2016 Phoenix Cruiser 2350S, 2018 Phaeton 40IH,2006 Bounder 36Z, 2004 Cougar 285EFS, 2000 Aerolite 25FBR
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03-18-2018, 06:58 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Colorado
Posts: 534
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Except for Hershey and Tampa most of the local shows are sponsored and produced by GS Shows a division of Camping World. A lot of smaller “C’s and trailers. You will see more class A’s at the FMCA Rallies. Georgia’s just finished. Next one is in July in Gillette, WY.
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2006 Monaco Diplomat
pulling a 2022 JLUR Diesel
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03-18-2018, 07:34 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: East Texas
Posts: 123
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Quote:
Originally Posted by manwithnorv
I live in Virginia, so Tampa and Arizona are megamiles away. Maybe they have one in Alaska and I could fly to Seattle and take a cruise up that way. At this point, I'll bet Jeff Bezos can mail me one.
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Based on my household Amazon spending habits....yes, yes he could. lol
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2018 Palomino Columbus 298RL
2018 F-350 DRW PowerStroke w/ BD3 Trailer Saver
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03-18-2018, 07:39 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Tiffin Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Hot Springs, VA
Posts: 1,926
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I think y'all are just confirming what I said was the problem. The opportunity to look at these things and sort them out is separated by months and lots and lots of miles. This ain't easy. The exact opposite of Amazon - Prime Time - Online - get it by tomorrow Jeff Bezos....kinda of world.
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03-18-2018, 07:40 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Palm Coast Florida
Posts: 12,995
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I have been to both the Hershey show twice and Tampa show 3 times. My understanding is Tampa is 2nd largest show and Hershey is 3rd largest show in the country and the largest is in California.
These shows are worth going to because you get to talk to the factory reps which know a lot about the product. Also you will see the most units...probably need a multiple day pass.
At several dealships:
I have been so bold as to ask for the master key and I would be back with my questions. That I was new and needed to look at lots of units just to get an idea. No salesman wants to spend that much time and gave me the keys.
I think I looked for about 3 months before I picked my 1st TT. It was an ok trailer...not great but not bad either. Once I bought my 1st TT I have been following RV's and trucks since.
Once you pick the type of RV you need to pick the size. RV range from $5,000 for a pop-up to 1.25 million for a Prevost or Newell bus type motorhome.
Little RV's have big advantages. Big RV's provide comfort close to a house.
I do not envy anyone trying to buy their 1st RV.
Good luck
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03-18-2018, 07:54 PM
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#14
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Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 16
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You might think about coming to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and visiting a few dealers over a few days time. I expect that every manufacturer is represented here. We actually went to the Dallas RV show a few weeks ago and were very disappointed that so FEW models were at the show! In fact, none of the ones we were interested in were there. There is limited floor space so it's luck-of-the-draw if the model you are interested in will be there. On the other hand, the DFW area is one giant RV show all the time! You don't have to pay anything, just be willing to drive a few miles to hit multiple dealers - most of which have a wide assortment of models from the manufacturers they represent. McClains RV for instance has Grand Design and KZ, while other dealers represent other manufacturers. Just my two cents!
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2017 Ford 6.7L F-350 DRW FX4 Crew Cab
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