Shopping for first Motorhome near Houston

mlslcan wrote:
You might want to find other RV dealers in the area depending on the time you have to look around. I was thinking of a trip to that area but the dealer (http://www.bestpreownedrv.com/) had already sold the RV I was interested in.

Mike

Thanks for the link. I'll add that dealer to my list.
DeMontronde RV is also advertising online a unit that I might try to view on this trip.

Has anybody interacted with Best Preowned RV and/or DeMontronde RV?

Anybody have suggestions for a company for a pre-purchase inspection?

Thanks,
Windy

You might want to find other RV dealers in the area depending on the time you have to look around. I was thinking of a trip to that area but the dealer (http://www.bestpreownedrv.com/) had already sold the RV I was interested in.

Mike

garyemunson wrote:
I found using RV Trader to search nationwide found us the best deal on our new unit. We live by Reno NV, the coach we found was in L.A. We were able to negotiate a $250 delivery charge and, after sending the dealer pictures of our coach, were able to agree on a trade in value (dependent on the delivery man's inspection to make sure we weren't lying) so he was able to drive ours back. The logistics might not work out so well for you but RV Trader saved us many thousands of dollars over the other places we looked. Think of picking up the RV as a mini vacation..

Mini vacation is a great way to look at this rv shopping trip. I enjoy visiting Texas, and I enjoy seeing different floor plans, so it is easy to adopt that attitude. I do hope we find the right one on this trip. If not, we will continue to look.
I have been looking at rv trader, and have found some leads. Your purchase story is inspiring. As a newbie, I am not as confident as you were, so I will want to see and drive the rig rather than arrange delivery. Maybe I'll be that confident on my next one.

barmcd wrote:
Look carefully at PPL's list of RVs for sale. They also have lots in Cleburne and New Braunfels which are quite a ways from Houston. The coaches at the other locations are noted in the title and easy to overlook.

I appreciate your input. Most of the ones I hope to see are in the Houston location, though I'd be willing drive to one of the other locations if need be...I am motivated to find the right starter unit.

I found using RV Trader to search nationwide found us the best deal on our new unit. We live by Reno NV, the coach we found was in L.A. We were able to negotiate a $250 delivery charge and, after sending the dealer pictures of our coach, were able to agree on a trade in value (dependent on the delivery man's inspection to make sure we weren't lying) so he was able to drive ours back. The logistics might not work out so well for you but RV Trader saved us many thousands of dollars over the other places we looked. Think of picking up the RV as a mini vacation..

Look carefully at PPL's list of RVs for sale. They also have lots in Cleburne and New Braunfels which are quite a ways from Houston. The coaches at the other locations are noted in the title and easy to overlook.

LOG wrote:
There are three large motorhome dealers in Texas for used and consignment motorhomes. PPL (which was already mentioned), Motorhome Specialist (Alvarado, Texas), and Motorhomes of Texas (Nacogdoches, Texas). Motorhomes of Texas deals in mostly high end motorhomes, Country Coach, Newell, and Foretravel. They seem to always have a very good inventory. Motorhomes Specialist is the largest Motorhome dealer in Texas and has a large inventory of new motorhomes and a nice inventory of used motorhomes. Also in Nacogdoches, Texas is the Foretravel factory which has new and used Foretravels.

Thank you for the info on other major dealers. Motorhomes Specialists current online used inventory does not seem to include the right unit for us, but I will keep watching. We are seeking a less expensive starter unit. Motorhomes of Texas and Foretravel are out of our league for now; maybe in a few years.

imgoin4it wrote:
If you find and purchase one why not make the "storage" part of the purchase. In other words buy with an agreed upon future pick up date.

good idea. I could try that, though I'd still like to have another option or two.

Houston Remodeler wrote:
Were you looking for covered + electric storage? Covered only ? Uncovered ?

I was just thinking of uncovered storage....somewhere safe so I won't be worried about my new purchase for 2-3 weeks whiles do handle some personal business out of state.

Four states with a lot of motor homes for sale are California, Arizona, Texas and Florida.

Southern California and Tucson/Phoenix in Arizona are pretty easy to shop. Texas and Florida are a little harder because they are more spread out.


We've shopped PPL pretty hard the last few months, but haven't found our coach yet. We've been to MHS several times too. In our experience PPL lets you walk the lot by yourself. MHS tries to direct you to their coaches and away from the consignment units.