Camping World RV Show – Sunday 4/17/11

I got to the Lake County Fair Grounds and found the parking lot pretty low on cars. I had expected to see the place swamped. Since it’s Sunday the mandatory 25+mph winds were here, this has become a tradition.

                  Where to park??                          Looks like a lot of rigs!

                

The RV’s, all of them, were dirty, a few of them were filthy. The older rigs, didn’t even look they have been cleaned up since they were traded in or however they got them. I realize tomorrow is the last day of this sale/show but if I’m going to show vehicles to sell, at least clean them up so people might have some interest, I’m talking about the interiors, almost all of them smelled bad, even the newer ones. Collier RV does a much better job at presentation than Camping World judging by this show.

                One row of Class A’s                         Second row of Class A’s

                

                               2006 Winnebago Vectra 40KD $149,995

  

The star of the show in my view, the 2006 Holiday Rambler Imperial 42PLG, there were other nice rigs, but they were locked or sold so I couldn’t view them. As the owner of a Class A gas rig, I can tell you one big thing I found when walking into other gas rigs and then going into the diesel pushers. When you walk into a gas rig, it settles or rather, leans toward you and it rocks a bit when you get into the main cabin. Step onto the first step, for example this HR Imperial and it doesn’t budge, not even a twitch! AWESOME. I want it!

  

  

Inside the toilet room there is another sink which is nice, great quality!!

  

  

‘06 HR Endeavor 40PDQ, Sold            ‘01, Harney Renegade Sedona, locked

  

2011 Winnebago Adventurer 35P $139,995, unimpressive interior design

  

         Winnebago Sightseer, sold               ‘07 Coachman Sport Coach – sold

 

2011 Winnebago Vista 30W, $89,995, looks like a good value for the money

  

                                   ‘07 Allegro Open Road, $67, 995

  

     ‘06 Georgie Boy Pursuit 3190DS, $57,995, lousy kitchen layout, very tight

  

  1997 Fleetwood Flair 29V, $14,995, needs a good cleaning but could be nice

  

2006 Damon Challenger, $59,995, very tight with slides in, HUGE bathroom!

  

This actually would be rather large inside with the slide out considering how deep it is! This deep slide unfortunately means it has to be out to make the rig useful, this doesn’t bother everybody but it would kill the deal for me. The shower faucet is about a foot from the floor, what were they thinking??

  

The bedroom is definitely hard to use with the slide in. Look at that wall!

  

There was a locked ‘03 Travel Supreme going for $89,995, I would have liked to have gotten inside this rig. Interesting graphic on the side.

 

There were several other rigs that I looked at but my camera died so I couldn’t take pictures of them!! My Samsung camera did not hold up in the battery dept.

I learned something about Fourwinds quality today, all of the Class C models had quality like pictured here. Look at this door, it scrapes against the vent!! The picture on the right shows a gap at the edge of the counter, you’d think you could just push it back in right, nope, it’s solid, as if somebody did it on purpose! This got past QC?!? This rig cost $79,995!!!! Really?!?!? Unacceptable, why does the dealer accept this?

I wanted to take a lot more pictures but had no idea my fully charged camera would last about 50 minutes before giving up the ghost. I actually took the Travel Supreme pictures with my new HTC Thunderbolt cell phone but even that was running low on battery so I needed to conserve it since I need to get work email on it.

I walked around and looked at quite a few 5th Wheels with huge amounts of space. You have to admit, a 5th Wheel can be a great way to go if you have the right truck to pull one around. I looked at a bunch of TT’s and Pop-Up’s as well and the TT’s have some huge slide outs and are also a good option if you have a good truck.

Last were the Pop-Up’s, did you know they are putting big slides in them too?? Wow! I could never go back to a Pop-Up but if I were in my early 20’s again I could see buying one, although now they are pretty pricey! Knowing what I know now, a used Class A is one heck of a way to get the most bang from your buck, but that’s my prejudiced opinion of today so who knows what I would do as a 20 something in 2011, no way to tell.

That’s all folks! I had a good time but wished there were more Class A’s to ogle at.

RV Show Day And Blog’s…

This morning as I sit here lazily reading blogs as Ronda cooks in the kitchen (I ask to help, but get “the look”, so I sit on the couch) I see all the wonderful blogs I follow and can’t seem to keep up with. So many stories that are interesting to read, follow and learn from.

Thank you all for sharing your lives so freely and openly. Believe it or not it helps me shape some of my days, makes me smile or even cry (don’t tell anybody!) and gives me a lot of ideas for the future which probably wouldn’t be possible if I hadn’t read many of your blogs.

Ok, time to eat and then head out to the RV show! Woohoo! Oh, I have been given one standing order, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING!! Who me??

Saturday Thoughts… RV Show Tomorrow

It’s Saturday and I didn’t call the dealer yesterday or today, and they didn’t call me… I’m practicing getting in touch with my Zen side, my boss mentioned staying Zen during situations you can’t control and he’s right. So, today I am Mr. Zen, glad ta meetcha.

Tomorrow I’ll be going to the Lake County Fairgrounds to look at a bunch of rigs I can’t afford but can drool over. Looks like nobody wants to go with me so I’m going alone. I’ll bring my camera along and take lots of pictures!

RV Dealer Too Busy… Forgets To Call…

We dropped off the rig last Monday to get the slide topper/awning repaired and so far they haven’t touched it. Promises are made to get back to me but no response from email or voicemail. I call them and it’s like “oh yeah, meant to call, I think we might be able to get some parts, let me talk to the tech and call you back” do they call me back, no. If they find out they can’t get parts there will be more delays while they order a new awning and it will continue to sit.

This tells me we just aren’t important enough to call. They told me they were busy when we dropped it off and I told them this wasn’t a problem, and it isn’t, where I have a problem is when they tell me they’ll call with an update and then forget or don’t bother. A good service tech will always call the customer back, if he wants recurring business. Unfortunately I am learning this is the norm in the RV business. I read Dennis and Carol’s blog and find that they go through the same crap. Right now they are trying to get work completed by RV Renovators and cabinets are cut to the wrong size, the workers go on to other projects when they should be completing the one they are on. It just boggles the mind how opposite companies are run today compared to the past when satisfying the customer was paramount. Not anymore,

I digress, Scott’s RV is waiting for their turn as well so the water pump can be repaired and they are getting busier and busier. I have a feeling if I want any of this to get done I’m going to have to get upset with somebody (ask my wife, this usually works but I hate it). Let me ask you good folks in blog land why is it that honey gets you nothing but getting pissed off gets action? Ok, it’s a rhetorical question, I know the answer but feel really disappointed by it.

In my job when I tell a customer I’m going to do something, I don’t stop until I’m done or arrangements have been made that are satisfactory to my clients, period, even if I LOSE MONEY. You do it right and if you screw up you make it right. Why has this been lost today, why is mediocrity the accepted norm?

Good news is, State Farm will cover this under our comprehensive with no deductible at any dealer or RV repair center, so that is looking like a smart decision on our part when we insured this thing. I’m going to avoid calling them today, I’ll call them tomorrow and I’m sure there will be apologies and excuses but hopefully there will also be progress. Or on Saturday I’m going to go there and remove the rig and tell them I can get crappy service from where I bought the rig, I don’t need this aggravation.

I’m just a tad bit frazzled…

House “Bucket List”….

While waiting for the verdict on the repairs to our awning and water pump I figured I would get a list of items I need to attend to in the ‘ol sticks and bricks house we own. I know it’s not really a bucket list, but I like the name.

Outside Stuff:

1. Clean up the front yard, the dog has pretty much ruined the front yard and winter has done her fair share of damage as well. I need to fill some holes the dog dug and spread some top soil and put down some seed so I can get the yard to the beauty it typically is.

2. Cut up the tree that was knocked down by a previous storm a few months ago. This will provide serious wood supply for camping this year.

3. Repair the brick deck out back, clean out the grass/weeds from the rock beds that surrounds it and level the bricks again and replace the plastic border that surrounds it. This will be a big job.

4. Get our town to finally fill the hole next to the storm drain, they used to come out and fill the hole whenever the sink hole would form but they haven’t responded for over a year. Maybe if I broke my leg they’d respond? They own this as they keep telling me when I ask to put up a shed.

5. Rake and prepare for summer, put down Spring weed and feed for the lawn and repair the West facing spigot that broke last Fall.

6. Clean the garage, it’s a disgusting mess.

Inside Stuff:

1. Finish the bathroom I started, I fully gutted this bathroom in 2009 and stopped working on it when my Mother died. I bought a new tool that will help me remove the few thousand staples they used to put down the sub floor, it’s almost like they got paid per staple, it’s overkill on a new scale.

2. De-clutter the basement and the “cats room” which is also now the catch all room and trust me, it has caught it all!!

3. Paint the dining room, foyer, living room and the walls leading upstairs. This is another big job that will require ample time to complete.

4. Clean Berber carpet in the dining room, living room and stairs. Remind myself to never buy Berber again!!

RV Stuff: Why not include this, it’s stuff to do right?

1. Repair slide topper awning if the price is too high from the dealer.

2. Get water pump fixed and water system tested, Scott’s RV is caring for this.

3. Clean the remaining basement bins on the driver side of the rig.

4. Change engine and generator oil.

5. Replace 4 rear tires.

6. Wash and wax the rig, pray my arms don’t fall off while in the process.

7. GO CAMPING!!!!

Slide Topper/Awning Update

Received a response from Collier this morning, it’s looking like we’ll have to replace the entire awning with a new one. Problem is cost and next is the new ones don’t mount the same way so we have to figure out how to cover the holes from the previous brackets.

The slide topper/awning did indeed lock when it was new and there is supposed to be a warning sticker right above the slide in/out switch. I cleaned off some residue after we bought the rig from above the switch, now I know what was there. So they pulled off the sticker and hoped we would never figure it out I guess. It is possible the dealer got it this way, but they shouldn’t have sold it this way, it’s dangerous!

I also received the operating manual for the slide topper/awning from Holiday Rambler/Monaco this morning and saw the information below. I’m a bit angry right now… I want to call the dealer and raise holy Cain but I know it won’t get me anywhere. Time to take a breath and figure this all out.

RV Repairs Update

I spoke to Collier RV today, apparently we have been driving to different places with our slide topper “unlocked”. Ummm Unlocked?!? The dealership never mentioned anything about locking or unlocking our slide topper. The service tech says we’re lucky it didn’t rip off of the RV, also, the extended warranty company denied the claim because “the slide topper was unlocked”. Oy vey, I can’t confirm or deny it was either except I knew we never had to do anything to put out the slide or retract the slide. So most likely it was sold to us broken and never repaired as the dealer had claimed, why does this not shock me.

The cost to repair this slide topper since it’s no longer in production is $400.00. This will restore full functionality and also can be used as an awning for the kitchen and living area which will be fantastic. I believe this is the last item the dealer “touched” that we have to re-repair, I have to go through the list to make sure. This also means we need to add the unlock and re-lock to our check list when we make and break down camp.

I’m tempted to call the dealer and ask why they did what they did but having a full fledged embolism isn’t something I look forward too and I’m sure somehow they would just blame it on me or tell me “an RV is a method to get to a destination, it’s not the destination” blah blah blah. Yeah, I’ll forgo that phone call to stay sane.

EDIT: Hold the phone, I just found pictures I took right before we bought the RV and several pictures after that clearly shows the mechanism in what I believe is the unlocked position. I left a message for the service tech explaining this should prove the dealer had it unlocked since day one or it’s been broken since day one. I’ll post an update tomorrow when I speak to them again, cross your fingers!

Keep in mind, this picture is prior to us buying it so it’s disgustingly dirty. Look at the claws in the open position, I believe they should be closed when the slide is in. If anybody knows please comment ok? Thanks!