Buying a new motorhome

2004 Alfa See Ya

We've been thinking about upgrading our home on wheels for some time. The primary pressure we felt was the desire for more living space created by having slideouts. We had seen several different brands and different models in each brand. We were strong on the Alfa Leisure brand, and the So-Long floorplan, but we realized that our budget wouldn't support a new one, and that used ones with this floor plan were still too new for our pocketbook.

For better or worse, we found a used Alfa at a dealer in Arizona. We went to look at what was available, and after being shown the high end and the low end, we found an Alfa See-Ya which was ripe enough for us to afford. We signed the papers and went home to worry that we had not made a big mistake.

We were smart enough to demand a 24 hour cancellation clause, and after doing some research on the internet, we discovered that we would be paying too much for the coach. We went looking totally unprepared to buy, and got sucked into the laments of the sales people. At the open of business the next day, we cancelled the deal, offering the sales price as the reason. The sales people made counteroffers, and we made some demands, we gave up some incentives, and reached a new agreement, which we found much more reasonable.

Space, the final frontier

Owning our vehicles though a Montana LLC turned out to be an obstacle for the dealer's finance department, though. They claimed that our LLC limited the options they had for arranging the financing as we had agreed, and we made several concessions, and they made some concessions, and we finally reached a workable agreement.

We signed piles of agreements at least 4 times. On the final signing, the finance manager made a typo on the contracts, and had to start all over again.

That behind us, we're now waiting for the service department to complete their tasks to prepare the coach for delivery. We've begun the ordeal of sorting through the things we have stuffed in various nooks and crannies and deciding if they are appropriate for the new house. Of course, most of them are, but some items won't fit the color scheme. And all the effort I've made to get the media wiring installed as I wanted it will have to be re-thought and reinstalled. Meanwhile, we've begun piling bins and bags of things that will go into the new home when we get it. Once we get everything moved (a major task in itself) and put away (decisions, decisions) then we will have the daunting task of trying to remember where we put everything, a process that will likely continue for a year or more.

Needless to say, we're both excited, and impatient to get into the new place. The new motorhome is 2 feet longer than our old one, which shows up in a little extra drawer/closet space and a little extra living space. Many of the ameneties are similar to what we have now, though some are newer, better designs, like the main awning being electric instead of manual. There are a few things we don't have, like the slideouts and a dome satellite TV dish on the roof, which will help increase our enjoyment of living on the road. The engine is a step up. And of course, everything is 7 years newer, meaning we get to use up those items for 7 years to get them to the same state we have them in now.

A couple things will be a step down. One, the tires are 4 years older than the ones we have now. I would hope we made up some of that difference in the trade-in value. And the washer-dryer is a year or two older than the one we have now, since we upgraded that in 2005.

There will be more reports on this transaction as we continue our travels in our new abode. We can't (but must) wait.