Going to Arizona to buy a used diesel pusher

[Brad247]

We live in Portland Oregon and we're thinking about going to Phoenix Arizona to buy a used diesel pusher it seems like the prices are pretty good there anybody got any thoughts on that thanks all

[R.Wold]

That’s what I just did in Tucson. There is a lot of hype about RVing taking over the travel industry and sales people will tell you how great business is and how fast stuff is selling to try to stay close to their asking price, but the reality is that the public is still reluctant to shop. So I say go forth and conquer. I was planning to wait until mid or late winter to buy but a coach came up that I wanted and the deal was good.

[Isaac-1]

Just honestly figure in your retrieval cost, and ask if it is worth it. I bought my current coach from a private seller about 1,000 miles away in Florida, and my retrieval cost was close to $2,000 depending on how you figure it. Plane tickets, provisioning it for the 4-5 day drive home (sheets, pillows, towels, pots, pans, etc.), food, fuel, rv parks, even the $75 for parking my car a the local-ish airport while I was gone all add up. Sure some of those provisions were kept for a while, but others were soon replaced with better items. Also ask yourself if it does not look as good in person as it does in the photos (something I can almost guarantee), will you be willing to walk away after flying half way across the country?

[asuperheat]

I would find what I was looking for and work the deal remotely before traveling there but I see no issue traveling to purchase. Actually I have never bought one that was local when I found it, they were all either brought in or I went and got them.

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Professional inspection, Professional Inspection, PROFESSIONAL INSPECTION! BOTH chassis and coach. And be prepared to walk away if it has significant issues . . . and they won't budge on price and you feel you can accomplish the repairs yourself . . .

CHECK TIRE DATE CODES! Not just tread depth.
Have batteries LOAD tested.

Did I mention Professional Inspection?!?

Good luck on your venture, and please keep us apprised as to what happens.

[txcpl]

We did that same thing. Before you complete your purchase, check out how you can title and register the RV in your home state, without having to transfer the title. Can save you quite a few $$$.

[timjet]

Your post is a little unclear, are you traveling a thousands miles to just look and see what RV's Arizona has? If so everything for sale all over the country is listed on RV Trader or RVT.com.

[BillJinOR]

I agree the way you worded the question it sounds like you are going to “look” ? if so unless your visiting or making a vacation of it no.
If you’ve actually found “the” coach online, had contact with the seller lots of photos and info and are confident in the final price ( actually have a handshake deal ) based on a passable inspection of your choice then .... maybe , and I’d still be willing to get back in the plane and go home, better to have spent a couple grand on a goose chase than take it and spend another 10-20 grand fixing a hidden issue.
We are from Portland originally , looked nationwide , but bought a used coach for a slightly higher price at a Bend dealer .. which was good because we had to have a couple items taken care of after the fact that they handled. Arizona was a prime search location however with lots of full timers getting out for one reason or the other.. normally a spouse could no longer travel or had passed.

[Waiter21]

Selections are probably better in the south, Phoenix, Houston, Orlando. Also, if the MH has lived its life in the south, this should reduce corrosion (salty roads) damage , but may increase UV light damage. (paint, interior, exterior plastics).

We snowbird in the Phoenix area and usually go out and look at all the RVs (tire kicker). The LaMesa show at StateFarm stadium is always nice, they bring over a couple hundred units. Brand new Bounders and Southwinds on F53 chassis for $130k.

There are a lot of consignment places in Mesa and Surprise.

This may be a good time of the year to buy in AZ, its getting hot and not a lot of demand.

Check your states sales tax. you don't want to pay the Phoenix sales tax, odds are good its higher than yours. Drive your toad down there and be prepared to tow it home :-)

Good luck..

[R.Wold]

Speaking of La Mesa, I made my deal over the phone on my new (to me) Ventana with La Mesa in Tucson. It was the better of two available nation wide that showed up after a year of watching and saved search emails from RVT and RVTrader so I didn’t have much to choose from - this floor plan was offered in 2016 only. And they matched the best deal I could make on the other one.

So I found what I was looking for an off I went. Retrieval cost was around $780 for air fare, fuel, one night at an airport hotel, and one night in a KOA on a 900 mile trip home. It came with 3/4 of a tank of fuel. And no I didn’t bother with an inspection. I’m comfortable doing this myself and La Mesa did a first class job prepping it.

So back to La Mesa, after I made the deal, they changed the oil in the engine and gen, replaced all 6 house batteries, did on annual on the Oasis (which is fairly extensive), did a nice wash and interior cleaning on a coach that already looked clean to me, filled the propane, flushed the tanks, tested everything, and it had about 75 gal of fuel in it. I didn’t ask for or expect any of that except the engine oil change which I asked for because they couldn’t produce service records. But it only had 18k miles so that didn’t worry me too much either.

I spent 8 hours kicking around the dealership while they finished up, and it was 107* but this was fine by me. By the end of the day a couple staff members asked me if I was a new employee there. But the trade off was a very well prepared coach. I saved them the orientation and demonstration thing (I didn’t need it and it was too hot anyway) and hit the road taking my time and making a two day trip of it home.

So it just depends on who you are dealing with. I had no idea La Mesa operated with such a high degree of customer service. They even set up a service at the local La Mesa in West Sacramento to adjust a slide since I didn’t want to wait around in Tucson. All in all, a very positive experience.

[NevadaNick]

We bought our Phaeton new from LaMesa in Az and had the same experience as Wold other than ours was new.

[Capt Steve]

I'm not sure what the registration requirements would be since the OP is from Oregon but know that private party sales in Arizona are exempt from sales tax which can be a large number {probably near 8%}. If you trade in a coach to a dealer you only pay sales tax on the difference between the trade in and the new purchase.

We bought our Nexus Class C {lightly used with just 6,205 miles} nearly 7 years ago from La Mesa RV in Tucson and had a very good experience to include some follow up work a few years later {new control board for the furnace}. Got it for $47K saving $600 on the sales tax with the trade in of our 22' TT.

With the internet you can literally shop nationwide but buying in the Arizona summer should yield lots of choices and probably some pretty good deals.

[Brad247]

Thank you all very much you giving me some good information and it sounds like la Mesa is a probably the place to go to again thank you all very much

[TXTiger]

Besides La Mesa RV, take a look at National Indoor RV Center (NIRVC) in Suprise a suburb of Phoenix. I have never done business with them but have heard a lot of good reviews. Also the same for Freedom RV in Tucson.