OK, so Norah and I headed to the local RV show yesterday with the
intention of going on a pure research mission to learn about travel
trailers. We told ourselves "we're not here to buy, just look and learn."
Yeah, right. Us, have self control??? :-)
I forgot about the fact that they always have show specials on the price
and financing. They were sure ready for me.
Now, in our own defense, we didn't get the first one we saw, and we also
walked around almost the whole show to check out every trailer in our
price range. Even after we found the one we wanted, we kept looking
around to make sure.
What we found was a 2004 Pioneer (built by Fleetwood), model 19T4. The
Pioneer trailers are here:
http://www.fleetwoodrv.com/brands/b.asp?brandID=pi
although that picture is rather larger than the one we got. As for the
interior pictures, the "living area" pictured looks nothing like ours, but
the other three pictures are pretty much right on. The floor plan for
ours is at:
http://www.fleetwoodrv.com/specs/s.asp?model=PI19T4
For our budget, this was by far the nicest trailer at the show. Lots of
room, nice layout, loaded with lots of extras. It comes with a microwave,
propane oven, propane fridge and freezer, CD stereo, awning, furnace and
so on. The only option we had to pay for was air conditioning.
The only drawback I can see is that the weight is considerably higher than
the other trailers we were looking at (it also seems to be a bit bigger).
But, since we've got these nice Dakotas with 5000lb hitches, it won't be a
problem. I'm sure people with minivans have to pay the extra for the
ultra-light models :-).
The final price with the A/C was just shy of $17,000 CDN (about $11,300
US). Before going to the show, I had been thinking we were going to be in
the market for a used trailer. Most of the halfway decent ones I had seen
on eBay were going for at least $8-9,000 US. After we got back from the
show, I did a bit of searching out of curiosity for our same model, and
found a guy in Michigan who is selling a 2001 model, asking $12,000 US.
So I don't feel too bad about buying new, especially since the financing
is easier that way.
Not sure yet when we're going to be getting it. We won't get an official
answer from the bank until some time during the week, then the dealer has
to figure out if they have one on their lot, or if they have to order one
built for us. I don't mind, since there's not much we can do with it
until spring, anyway.
Now all we have to do is find room for it in the driveway :-).
-- Jason Bleazard http://www.bleazard.net Toronto, Ontario his: '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, blackDidn't you read the disclaimer? http://www.they.com/disclaimer
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