I have been looking at the El Monte web site and the pictures look good, but that is the problem. I have to look at photos and if I want to actually look at one I would have to fly with my wife to at least California and hope I see something I like. This could cost me more than I think it may be worth. I would have to pay for airfare one way at least would be about $350 for both of us. Have to rent a car while I drive to the location down there. We would have to board our two large dogs for a week that would run at least another $350 so I can easily see a thousand dollars going out the window. When I get down there if I don't find anything my wife and I like we would have to fly back and spend more money. Would El Monte's rigs be that much better than CA? If I lived closer to an El Monte location I would not hesitate as they seem to have a better selection. I suppose I could call them and ask if they have a policy where they will reimbursed up to $500 of the air fare if you buy one of their rigs. Does anyone here know? Cruise American does. I also don't want one with the El Monte logos on it as I understand they are very hard to get off. CA repaints their rigs so that is a plus as far as I am concerned.
I know this is not part of this particular topic but someone has suggested looking at the local used market, not renters. That has been quite shocking to me here. Looking at RV sales places and even going to Craig's list, I am seeing some prices for comparable MHs that are out of this world. Take for instance a 2009 Four Winds 28A I have been looking at at CA. I can get one with about 140,000 miles on it in the mid 20K range. At the RV lots and private sellers I am seeing the same or comparable rigs with 50,000 miles or so going to almost double or at least in the high 30s. And they in most cases come with no warranty at all. We looked at some MHs here local that when we looked at them they looked as though they would not even make it out of their driveway.We have only looked at a couple but those have discouraged us quite a bit. They looked shabby and even smelled. Also surprisingly there are not that many for sale here.
I thank everyone who has responded to me and tried to help. But breaking it down, I guess here are my requirements for a motorhome purchase.
1. The unit must have a price less than $30,000. or I will just purchase a new one.
2. Must have a made up bed that we can walk around and either one get out of without crawling over each other to go potty in the night.
3. We want the rig to be longer than 25 feet.
4. We want to be able to finance the rig for at least 12 years.
5. We want the rig to be able to have an extended warranty at least on the truck parts.
That is about it other than the things that are normal on most MHs we have looked at, like generators and microwaves etc. One way or another I am going to find something that fits these basic requirements by no late than September of this year come hell or high water. Thanks for reading this diatribe.
