First Time Buyer...Updated 03/06/2006
This post is intended to be helpful to the first time buyer of a motor home. For those of you who don't fall into that category or believe this post is incomplete or off the mark, do us all a favor, a...
Forum Discussion
Have not read all of the replies to this post, but those I have read did not touch on some important safety issues.
Do believe that this post offers more information to the first time buyer than anything I have seen/read before. The only area where I presume to offer additions is in the research area of drivability and highway control & safety.
I believe that any and all manufacturer's MHs being considered for purchase should be driven on a long test drive that includes quick to emergency lane changes and other quick maneuvers that are regularly required in todays traffic on highways. The quick maneuvers must be done in a safe area on clear roads/highways/large open parking lots.
The topic of driving is mentioned under research by the statement "test drove most of them." and as one of the checklist items under TAKING DELIVERY. I would say that driving the MH prior to ordering and/or purchase is paramount for determining how the MH will handle and if the buyer will be comfortable behind the steering wheel and should be expanded in the RESEARCH paragraph and the TAKING DELIVERY checklist.
As mentioned on this forum many times, people purchase a MH and find the drivability to be poor and the safety to be suspect and then set about correcting the problems that probably would have been found in a long test drive.
Drive the same model that is being ordered and the actual MH you are buying prior to signing the final sales contract!
If my suggestions and ideas are incorrect or detrimental to MH purchaser's, please inform me where I'm wrong/off base/fouled up.
Do believe that this post offers more information to the first time buyer than anything I have seen/read before. The only area where I presume to offer additions is in the research area of drivability and highway control & safety.
I believe that any and all manufacturer's MHs being considered for purchase should be driven on a long test drive that includes quick to emergency lane changes and other quick maneuvers that are regularly required in todays traffic on highways. The quick maneuvers must be done in a safe area on clear roads/highways/large open parking lots.
The topic of driving is mentioned under research by the statement "test drove most of them." and as one of the checklist items under TAKING DELIVERY. I would say that driving the MH prior to ordering and/or purchase is paramount for determining how the MH will handle and if the buyer will be comfortable behind the steering wheel and should be expanded in the RESEARCH paragraph and the TAKING DELIVERY checklist.
As mentioned on this forum many times, people purchase a MH and find the drivability to be poor and the safety to be suspect and then set about correcting the problems that probably would have been found in a long test drive.
Drive the same model that is being ordered and the actual MH you are buying prior to signing the final sales contract!
If my suggestions and ideas are incorrect or detrimental to MH purchaser's, please inform me where I'm wrong/off base/fouled up.
