Did you research your purchase?

[MuddyPaws2]

We like watching the RV shows on tv and always find it interesting the folks that seem to just decide to go buy an RV. My favorite was a couple and the woman said 'I didn't know they had water in these things!"

We are researchers, especially for larger purchases. So I'm curious, did you research before buying? How long did it take you to decide on what you wanted?

We started looking in 2012 at 5th wheels first. However, we decided pretty quickly that we didn't want a towable and ended up looking at C's and A's. We narrowed down to A's not long after that and have just been waiting for the industry to 'catch' up to what our wish list was. I mean a purchase this big you should get exactly what you want!

Angie

[Pa Miller]

Takes me 6 months to buy a new pair of boots ... so yes on everything.

[Fiesta48]

Actual research no. Think about it a lot yes. Being an engineer I analyze about cost, price (not the same), reliability, usage, maint, storage, want or need, wife's opinion, age (mine and purchased item), future regrets and any other pertinent data.
My 15 Discovery, though my largest purchase ever, has been one of my best so far. And so was getting rid of house.

[timjet]

Originally Posted by MuddyPaws2

We like watching the RV shows on tv and always find it interesting the folks that seem to just decide to go buy an RV. My favorite was a couple and the woman said 'I didn't know they had water in these things!"

Yea, some of these episodes are funny, you'd think the potential buyer knows very little before showing up on the Lazy Days lot.

I always do a lot of research when buying a big ticket item. I enjoy the routine and learn a lot in the process.

I researched MH's for about a year before buying ours. We had just gotten back from an extended 3 month cruise on our boat. I knew we were going to sell it but had not quite gotten to that decision. I joined the 3 biggest RV forums and asked a lot of questions. A couple of months later I put the boat for sale. 5 months into the sale the first serious offer presented itself and coincidentally I saw our future MH for sale on Craigs List.

I contacted the seller, explained that we were selling our boat, had a serious buyer and would like to see the coach with the understanding that if the boat sale doesn't go through we would not be buying his coach. Being a boat broker himself he understood the routine and invited us to come take a look.

Initially I had decided I was not going to buy a DP older than 2010. American Coach was not even on our radar screen believing it was out of our budget. This was an '07 and older than I wanted but I wanted to take a look. DW and I couldn't believe the condition of the coach when we saw it. We met the seller at the storage facility, he takes us to his storage unit which is completely enclosed, opens the garage door and the rig looks darn near brand new.

Now I'm really hoping the boat deal goes through which it does. I call the MH seller on the way home from selling the boat, we swing a deal and it's ours.

So yes I did research our MH purchase. It was fun and I knew we had a keeper when I saw our coach.

[richamor]

Barely. DW and I knew what we wanted. Me...a TT under 25' and under 6000lbs from a reputable manufacturer preferrably from a dealer with a national presence. Her....a big bath and enough room to walk around but not a lot to clean and plenty of storage. And when we walked into the Coleman we found exactly what we were looking for. In fact the only additions were a FantasticFan in the bath, a power tongue jack, and an extra battery.

[IC2]

Absolutely do my research on about everything. I didn't do it initially on the 5er we now own but a different brand which had everything we wanted. This one was sitting along side of that other brand, is a more well known brand, was longer with even more desirable items and by the time we were done, a better price and expected cost of ownership. I did my in-depth research before signing the final delivery papers though.

We enjoy the RV shows but are amazed at the naivete that the "real people, not actors" exhibit - even the so-called previous experienced owners. But it still is scripted TV. We sure looked at way more then 3 choices and for sure didn't tell a salesman what our max budget was, just what we wanted and didn't want in a 5er and saw many.

[will stevens]

We purchased a Rexhall for 20K and tried out the lifestyle. We enjoyed it so much we started looking for an upgrade. After about six months we were getting a good idea what we did and did not want in a diesel pusher. After another five to six months we found what we liked at a price we liked.
The process was enjoyable also, and we were in no hurry as we had a motor home to enjoy while we looked.

[3XACHRM]

In addition to much of the above, I spent many, many hours researching this forum as well as specific manufacture forums to understand pros and cons of motorhomes under consideration.

[pbucha]

I watched/watch those RV shows endlessly. Loved that one about having running water. It's crazy how there are hundreds of motorhomes to choose from, yet somehow they only get to choose from 2 or 3. I appreciate editing for content, but at least say something like, "Tom and Tina Jones have narrowed it down to 3 choices".

Always curious about how much vendor input goes into the production. They show a couple a motorhome that is almost double their budget and lacks specific features that they have already stated are must-haves. Why?

Nevertheless, those shows along with hundreds of hours of research made it easy to choose when the right deal popped up for us.

[rockriver]

as a kid we had a pop up...
as a married fellow, a tent...
-
yes. to the question.. we did lots of research of the various products and the various retailers... once we sniffed out the liars and the baloneys that narrowed things.
we settled for a small c.
it looked so much larger than our tents!!
I didn't consider the size limitations..
so.
back to the research
lol... but it's fun.

[petrel]

1yr research on the first travel trailer. 3yrs research on the motorhome. However, mine is an on and off approach. I like to set a luxury purchase aside for various periods of time to be sure that momentum has no influence on the decision.

[MotorPro]

It's tv......do you think Supergirl really flies?...... Zombies are taking over the world?........Fox is actually news?

[David3811]

My parents had motorhomes but after I'd left the house so I really didn't spend much time with them. It was always in the back of my mind though for something after retirement. After my wife and I retired we started seriously thinking about it, We started binge-watching youtube videos (just search "motorhome" and see what you get) on Sunday, looked at a few in Elkhart and Indianapolis, and bought one in Lexington, Kentucky, the next Friday. Unfortunately, we didn't pay attention to the advice one of the salesman gave us "buy your third motorhome first" and traded in our Tiffin Allegro RED 33' DP for a 40' Phaeton less than a year later. I'm always researching though so who knows what's next.

[OCM]

On the other hand, I did no research, had no desire to own a motorhome, and wound up owning a 2000 Damon Ultrasport DP. It was one of those deals that someone owes you some money, owns a motorhome, let's make a deal. I paid cash for the difference, and drove it away. Never driven something like that, 1500 miles from home, bought a tow dolly to get my truck back, and hit the road. Truck came loose in Tennessee, no harm, but got a quick lesson on dolly straps, and how often to check them.
Now 2 years later, I'm a diesel mechanic, electrician, plumber, Jack of all trades, and one of the happiest men around. I've put thousands of miles on it and every one was fun. I've been places, done things, that I wouldn't have done otherwise. Now, try and get me out of my motorhome and you better bring your lunch and help.