(I was going to turn this into a blog post for SmallHouseBigWorld, but I decided Id prefer to post it here. Our site isnt public yet because my GFs employer is not yet aware of her pending plans to go remote...) Well, after cutting about ten billion listings on RVTrader, CraigsList, eBay, etc down to about a dozen, we went looking at our top candidates in the Detroit area yesterday. Theres exciting news, but first, heres what the day looked like. Our first stop was disheartening, as we looked at a 95 Sahara DP that was badly rusted, including the pics of the busted-up roof I posted yesterday. They were asking $16k and I had a feeling that it would end up a money pit. We walked away. This was at General RV in Whitelake Michigan. After reading reviews online, General is to be avoided. Considering they didnt have anything to say about the condition of the rusted-out LP tank, Generator, and jacked-up roof, I wasnt surprised. They seemed like they had no problem selling junk to a young couple. They had some other units online, but it turns out they are all sold or in too poor condition (even by their own standards). We made our other stop at Michigan RV Brokers and looked at a couple 30 $5000 units to see what 5k gets ya. Answer: not much. We also looked at a 96 Mountain Aire for $18k, which was a beautiful unit but a bit above our price range, and a 98 Georgie Boy Cruisemaster for $9k, which was...fine, i guess. Then he showed us a 96 Fleetwood Pace Arrow 37 Class A. Asking price, $8500. Miles: 57k. Interior: Damn near perfect. No slide, but washer/dryer. Lack of slide was not an issue, as it was spacious on the inside. Had one of the more unique floor plans Ive ever seen; the hallway loops around the bathroom! Its even got an ice maker. Not in the freezer. Not even in the kitchen. Inside a small wooden table in the living room. We cant be leaving our seats to refresh our drinks, now can we? This was clearly a high end unit in its day, and despite being 22 years old, its in spectacular shape. The generator (7kW Onan) needs looking at; either a wire is loose or its battery is shot. But it looks to be in good condition. The jacks also need a mechanics touch, as theyll lower and immediately raise again. Beyond that, its in great shape. The tires have good deep tread, but are showing some early signs of cracking. The brokers advice was to replace the tires before embarking on a long trip into rugged terrain (e.g. the Canadian Rockies). The tires are basically pickup truck tires (not giant bus tires), and its a tag axle with 8 tires in total. Parts and Labor will come to about $1500, based on our research. The seller had already accepted an offer of $7000 from another party that eventually couldnt come up with the cash, so we know our true starting point for negotiation. TBQH (and Dennis the Broker, I hope youre not reading this) wed be glad to pay 7 if thats what it came down to, but were going to come in a fair bit lower than that, especially because were looking at at least $2k worth of work to get it on the road. More, if the generator is in worse shape than first glance (though I believe it will be a quick fix). The broker is getting the jacks and generator looked at this week, with a quote to get them repaired. Even in a severe scenario, we can probably get this thing purchased and road-ready for less than $10k, which is the cash budget weve set aside for this. The good news is that we loved it so much we put down a small deposit on it. Its refundable, of course, but the only situation in which wed back out is if the gene and jacks are just -shot-. Well haggle aggressively on this (I am a former collectibles dealer, after all), but ultimately were willing to pay the 7k price if thats what it comes down to. This is finally beginning to feel real. Until now, Ive just felt like a stupid boy dreaming about the open road. Now there are a few bills on the table, and weve got the liquid cash - cash on the barrelhead, as they say - to close the sale whenever we get the go-ahead from the seller. If this falls through, its pretty much back to square-one. Were prepared for that to happen, but damned if our little hearts arent set on this Pace Arrow. And now, we wait. If everything goes well, its going to be merry freakin Xmas.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 13:40:14 +0000
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