When to start looking

[mojoracing]

Start looking now. Frequesnt the rv shows. If you are going to go to dealers, do it during the week when they are less busy and let them know your a few years away. We are happy to help as well as keep you up to speed on new things but it makes it hard on a busy saturday when the guys have folks ready to go. A year out is a good time to get serious. If you are financing, its much easier when you have your regular income as opposed to retirement income. Its also a bit more involved if you are going to be a full timer so again easier when you still have a permanent address. I also think you need a good six months to get a new or used coach up to speed and outfit it for your needs. Leaves you plenty of time to learn the coach and do a few trial runs. Have fun! Dont you wish it was sooner!!

[ahicks]

For a lot of us, purchase of a Class A is a big deal financially. I'm not one to buy new, as I've learned there's a huge hit depreciation wise for those first couple of years. To figure that out, and the hundreds of other variables, I'd suggest that it's going to take you a year or 2 to educate yourself on what you're looking for, and to recognize a deal immediately when you see one.

Re: realizing a deal, realize that banks become difficult to deal with when talking about 10 year old plus coaches. Because of this, sellers are required to become very "motivated" to attract buyers who are able to pull off a purchase with limited or no help from a bank. This brings coaches onto the market that will often represent the most value/bang for the buck. The down side is you can expect to look through a lot of junk to find one that been well maintained and is still in good condition. Something to keep in mind when shopping as well, is the financial hit one can expect to take as their 7 or 8 year old coach turns 11 or 12.

Last, a coach that's in good condition, that's well maintained, age is not that big a deal (it'll be more about how it's equipped). It's when they are ignored/unused that they'll deteriorate very quickly (even if they're reasonably new).

Good hunting!

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by tpiketrooper

Hello All,



It is coming quickly, yes RETIREMENT!!!!!. It is in about 7-8 years. My question is, when and where to start looking for that Class A. We will be selling house to purchase our new home, so looking for some help>>

Tony K

Tpiketrooper

I'm on my 3rd and retire in 10 years and my opinion only I'm keeping my house because I hope
to live longer than I can Rv.

[dix39]

My thought would be to get something now and start using it within the parameters of your work/vacation time to get a feel for what it will be like, and to help determine if you will like full timing. We traveled for many years with a TC before retiring and at retirement time decided against both a class A and full timing. We bought another TC and continued to travel all over the US with it.

Now at 77 and 70 we still travel and have our first class A, albeit an older one. This was done to a large degree because of health issues that preclude climbing in and out of the bed and through the boot to access the camper while moving. With our budget the lower operating cost and versatility of the TC left fuel dollars for us to travel all over the US both before and after retirement. It also fit our lifestyle perfectly.

I'm not in any way suggesting a TC for full timing because, IMHO, that wouldn't work. At least it wouldn't have worked for us. What I would suggest is to find something within your budget that will allow for a few extra fuel dollars and wander around the country a bit prior to retirement.

Just my 2c.

Steve

[Brian W]

Originally Posted by bluepill

Gee, I just went to the dealer and bought the one my wife liked best. Isn't that the "Proper" procedure?

She seemed to think so.

Otherwise, I get this:

My wife told me it was the proper procedure.

[Brian W]

We plan on buying our full timer coach 1 year before we start. The reason for this is it seems it takes about a year to get all the bugs worked out.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by mojoracing

If you are financing, its much easier when you have your regular income as opposed to retirement income. Its also a bit more involved if you are going to be a full timer so again easier when you still have a permanent address. I also think you need a good six months to get a new or used coach up to speed and outfit it for your needs. Leaves you plenty of time to learn the coach and do a few trial runs. Have fun! Dont you wish it was sooner!!

We ran into an "interesting" situation with ours. We have an annuity with a guaranteed yearly lifetime payout but had not yet taken any draws on it. The bank refused to count that as income as it didn't show on our income taxes. We had double the amount we were borrowing in the annuity but it didn't matter to them. So we paid more down and got the loan. Now we're taking the annuity money and it more than pays the monthly payments on the rig.
However, since we got the rig my DW has been diagnosed with inoperable (other than a transplant) liver cancer and has used up her short and long term disability income.
Plus they now suspect that I also have cancer, waiting on test results now.
Health is never guaranteed.

[tpiketrooper]

Dexter,
We have never owned a class A, but my wife did own a 36ft fifth wheel in her prior...... We have put down the pros and cons of both. That is how we decided.
Tony tpiketrooper

Originally Posted by dexters

I'm a bit curious. Have you RV'd before and how did you decide on a Class A?

[tpiketrooper]

I want to thank ALL OF YOU for your reply's. They are all very helpful. My next question would be...Maine is not the best place to go to RV shows, so that being said where are some of the better shows. I have no issue on flying if need be to start my venture.
Tony
tpiketrooper

[Brian W]

Originally Posted by tpiketrooper

I want to thank ALL OF YOU for your reply's. They are all very helpful. My next question would be...Maine is not the best place to go to RV shows, so that being said where are some of the better shows. I have no issue on flying if need be to start my venture.
Tony
tpiketrooper

Hershey, PA and Tampa, FL. Biggest shows there are. Plan on 2 days at each.

[mojoracing]

As usuall, I agree with Brian. Start a year early as that is the time needed to sort out a new coach and tampa and hershey are the biggest and best shows.