The RV is SOLD!!

The 2004 Coachmen Freedom 258db was sold last night and the buyer picked it up today, cash in hand. Now before you 'sprint' to the comment section, let me explain.

"She" fought hard to stay. The buyer did a very detailed look over, even on the roof. Let the engine idle but turned down my offer of a test drive. ONLY LATER after he left I found out why his refusing the offer was a GREAT idea. See even from the first day of buying this RV, Murphy's Law has always been sitting on my shoulder and last night was a glowing example.

The buyer left, gave me a deposit that was not asked for and said he would be back today to pay in cash and pick it up. I thought I would drive down to the local station and top off the gas tank for him, as I did just a couple of weeks ago when I checked tires.  Only this time while the RV had been sitting on leveling blocks on ground that was more than saturated from the winter weather but this past Monday we had 2" of new rain.

You are getting the picture.  Here is a hint ... don't laugh too hard.  :)

Yes, you're right ... The 'sold' RV was stuck in the mud. So with a calm response (surprising), a shovel and some plywood .... and time ... I was able to drive it out of the muck. 

That lead to another hour or so, hosing off the under carriage, in between the dual tires that had solid mud between them and the tire sidewalls inside them and outside. By the time I finished everything looked like new, including my Keen shoes.

The Coachmen never felt like the right vehicle. I had buyer's remorse very soon after the purchase. The more time I spent inside with the hounds, the bigger the hounds looked and the less space the RV looked like it had. The more I looked at my list of things to take, the storage was an issue. I'm not planning on taking a ton of stuff but just the basics. I would have had to tow to travel off the beaten path once camp is set up plus have a vehicle for emergencies without packing everything up and driving only the RV.

I basically bought this RV 11 days  after swearing last September I would not buy anything until I got down to just one basset hound and giving any of the hounds away was NOT an option. It was local buy, only 12 miles away which had me thinking of the $1,000's of dollars saved by not buying out of state. It was in great shape, yada yada yada.

All the options of towing or not towing were analyzed beyond the norm. I didn't want to tow the Mini Cooper because that would be a terrible off road vehicle. Towing the H3 Hummer with the 5.7L and camper weight was borderline at best. Storage was the next concern. With what I would need to take with me, just traveling with the RV was out of the question, very little storage in that model of Coachmen.

I plan on selling my all of my vehicles, raise more cash, combine that will my vacation pay that is owed and other separation pay I will receive when I leave my job on May 30... then buy something for cash.

It is great to be shopping again for addicts like myself.

I have a plan in place to still hit the road. I still plan on retiring May 30 and at the minimum take the 3 hounds out west on a 'vacation' in some sort of camping vehicle.

Of course one of my local friends suggested keeping my Mini and towing something like this ... LOL.  The trailer does fold out into the tent that is pictured below.

Stay tuned for future developments! I've got to get to Utah no matter what.

Bought a 2004 but Find Out It's a 2003

Should I be concerned?

Would you be concerned, if what the RVT ad showed and what I was told by the seller before I made the purchase, was different than what is confirmed by the VIN number on the title today?

A few weeks ago I posted on an RV forum that I was looking at a 2004 Coachmen and was looking for any kind of feedback on a 5.7L engine and that RV traveling in the western states. I was then told by the seller it was a 6.0L engine, which would make a difference in buying replacement/repair parts, possibly performance. From that forum post from a couple of weeks ago, I confirmed today that I have a 2003 Coachmen with a 5.7L engine instead of a 2004 Coachmen with a 6.0L as advertised. The 8th digit from the left on the VIN shows R, which is a 5.7L. Not until 2004 did they change to the 6.0L based on information that came from two GM Tech's. The local GM mechanic told me about the 8th digit from the right of the VIN shows it was a 2002 chassis earlier this week.

So, should I be bothered that a small list of things the RVT ad showed as well as what the seller told me before the purchase is confirmed to be different that I have bought? Or, am I just on the paranoid side for buying a used RV?

As far as the oil cooling line replacement, I plan on starting Saturday morning early unless there is heavy rain and lightning. The forecast shows only a 40% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow and 50% chance of thunderstorms on Sunday.  I am anxious to see if the connectors are what I think they are instead of what I am told. That will mean no tool for my guess or using a connector tool on theirs.

A Completed Transaction!!! 2004 Coachman Freedom 258db

A deal has been completed!!! 

The hounds are ready and excited to travel in the new vehicle.

After returning home 11 days ago, 1,100 miles without the trailer I was planning to buy, I wondered and doubted my rv plans. My last blog post said I would not blog again until I was traveling. I didn't know when that would be because at the time I felt there was no way I could travel with my bloodhound. That assumption was based on traveling in my H3 Hummer and towing a trailer. After a couple of days of getting away from blogs, 4sale sites, pictures of traveling, etc ... I returned to read my blog roll, look at some Class C's and Class A....but no trailers. These were the types of RVs I was considering in 2011 and 2012 before I thought of going smaller. I was just looking with no intentions of buying anything until my dogs were gone or at least until next spring.

Then this past week, Al over at The Bayfield Bunch, not knowing anything about my bloodhound dilemma, wrote and posted pictures about the first time he and Kelly traveled towing a trailer with 3 dogs in the back seat of the pickup truck. They said it was not a good combination and moved into a Class A after their 6 month trip with much better results for them and their dogs. Al's pictures made me think a little more about having the right rig, maybe the bloodhound would be a better traveler in a different rig??

I went to the Bloodhound group I am a member of on Facebook and asked if there were any bloodhound owners that RV'd or camped with a bloodhound. All responses were positive. So it was possible? I continued to look and think. Long time blog readers know that is a dangerous combination for me...thinking.  LOL

That thinking process had been going on for about 8 days, looking a lot at Class C and Class A RVs. Then on Tuesday night I decided I would do a search for Class C's within 50 miles of my zip code. Three Class C's for sale showed up after that search but one of the three was very interesting ... 16 miles away ... but only 1 picture on the ad ... never a good sign. I thought about it, then forgot about it, then a couple of hours later I emailed the seller asking for more pictures of the interior.

The interior looked to be in mint condition. I never wanted to buy a RV that was from the Midwest because of all the stories you read about rust, mildew, more wear and tear from the extreme weather changes even when the RV had been stored inside. Still, I emailed the seller back, telling them I would like to see this rig as soon as possible. By the looks of the pictures, and the price ... I didn't think this rig would not last long.

The next day, this past Wednesday I got the call from the seller and drove over to look at it inside, on the roof, underneath. The test drive was smooth and quiet. Interior was spotless and in brand new condition.

I called the seller back the next morning telling him I would buy it and we could arrange payment and pickup around both of our busy work schedules. That day happened to be early Saturday morning, September 21.

Just some highlights:

- 25' of living space
- New TempurPedic Mattress
- New Blistein Shocks
- New Fantastic Fan installed center of living area
- A new tow package and brake controller that was never used
- Backup Camera
- Maintenance performed as scheduled
- Preventive roof maintenance this summer
- LED lighting installed
- Wired for multiple batteries
- Microwave/Convection Oven
- All appliances look like they have never been used, they are that clean.

This is the rig I could not pass on ... in great condition. It's a 2004 Coachmen Freedom 258DB

The seller is the 2nd owner of this rig while the original owner bought it new and drove it every winter all over the western states before they would return to their Wisconsin farm to work between April - November. The original owners were an older couple and by the time they sold it in 2012, 8 years later they were in their 80's had put on close to 75,000 miles on the rig. While in Wisconsin the rig was parked inside their barn out of the weather. It was used as designed and taken care of.

The seller owned it for a year, made a few trips and loved it. He told me he had been towing trailers all his adult life when camping but after this first Class C, he would never go back to towing a trailer. That was good to hear, kind of reaffirmed I was going the right direction compared to where I had been.

Currently my plans are for local camping trips with the hounds on weekends. I do have some great state parks in a 40 mile radius from where I live. The seller also mentioned a spot locally where they boondocked, so I will definitely find and try that area.

The only 2 mods I see doing presently are making the overhead bed area some sort of entertainment center/storage area and later installing solar panels on the roof. Everything else is great.

So, my plans for traveling are back, stronger than ever and I really believe I have the right rig to accomplish those travels while having enough room for the three hounds. I plan to retire and travel no later than next spring as I originally planned in 2011, with a desire to move that departure date up before the Midwest winter weather hits. The house stays as a base camp.

What a long, strange trip it has been, backing out of 3 different trailer purchases in the last minute with funds in hand to complete the transaction... but things look like they are finally coming together and moving in the right direction.