Thursday, July 07, 2011

Patiently Waiting

Seffner, Florida

We’re still at the Lazy Days campground waiting for our new motorhome to be ready.  We’re anxious to start moving into the new one, but we want them to fix everything wrong before we do.  We do have 30 days warranty (from the day we drive off the premises), but with the kitties, it is too difficult to bring it back in for service.  So we are being patient.  The more we look around, the more little things we find….like a mirror tile in the kitchen backsplash that was loose. Didn’t see if the first 20 times we looked!    Mike, our Prep guy is very thorough and meticulous, and we feel lucky to have him.  We’re not complaining.

We are going to buy an extended warranty before we leave.  We are still researching them because they are pricey.  We normally do not buy extended warranties on other purchases like tv’s, computers or cars.  However, with a motor home, and especially a diesel pusher, there are so many expensive things that can go wrong, we’re going with the peace of mind and buy one.   If anyone has any suggestions, please let us know.  Lazy Days offers one, but it’s a lot more expensive than the others we’ve seen.  It’s a good policy though and I’m sure they are a good company or Lazy Days wouldn’t recommend them.

We ended up choosing National Interstate for the insurance on the motorhome.  They specialize in rv’s.  At Lazy Days, they have an insurance department (of course)  with a licensed agent who is familiar with rv’s.  He offered to get us some quotes and one of his was cheaper than what we had previously found…with better coverage.  He wrote and bound the coverage right then and there.   It’s an  “A” rated company…an important thing to know.    The annual cost was $1475 which included full-timers liability coverage,  emergency vacation expense, purchase price guarantee and replacement cost personal effects coverage of $20,000.

We have used Gilbert Rv Insurance Agency based out of Orlando, for the last motorhome.  They gave me a few quotes, one of which was with Progressive….for over $4000!   They also quoted us one for $1686 with 1000 comp and collision deductibles and a lower amount for personal effects coverage.

Personal effects coverage is important and we wanted to make sure we have adequate coverage.    We chose the $20,000 coverage, for $99 annually.  I think that will be enough, but we can always raise it if we go over everything and find it’s not enough. 

Another coverage important to us is the “purchase price guarantee’.  In the event of a total loss this coverage will give you the amount you paid for your coach.  Since rv’s are depreciating objects, we felt it was an important coverage to have, and we also had it on our previous coach.  It’s costing us $73 annually.

Now, if we would only have an rv to move into. Smile

Mike, our prep guy called in sick yesterday, and it turns out he has a back up for when he is out, but the back up also called in sick!   They managed to find another guy to work on some of the little things.  He re-glued a mirror tile on the kitchen back splash and fixed the broken day/night shade. I think he may have changed the oil, but we’re not sure. 

I don’t believe our first motorhome (from Lazy Days also) was gone over this thoroughly.  Of course we bought it in February which is their busy season.  Lesson learned, buy in the summer.  When we bought the first motorhome, there were a few things that we eventually realized weren’t right from the beginning, but at first we thought  it was just us not knowing how they worked.  These are complicated machines.

Anyway, Mike has done a wonderful job of installing our new satellite system and the new Blu-ray player.  The surround sound works great and there is even a subwoofer that really gets your attention!  He wired the front tv so that we can watch one show and tivo another (we couldn’t do that before) and that will be a great feature.  During football season, I frequently miss a favorite program due to football.

Today if he is not still sick,  he intends to tackle the toilet.  He isn’t sure if he can get the parts for the old toilet and if not he will get us a new one.  After looking at the Camping World Catalog, I think I prefer the old toilet.  It’s a $799 toilet and the others are much cheaper.

The other day,  I noticed a small gap in the grout on the counter in the kitchen.  To me, it just looked like it needed re-grouting.  When I pointed it out to Mike, he checked and said the counter needed to be adjusted.  He hadn’t noticed that before.   It is going to be a much bigger job than just re-grouting.  These are the benefits of being patient…we’re finding things we wouldn’t have found.  We are anxious to get into the new motorhome though, but we’re being patient.

We checked this motorhome out pretty well before we decided on it, but, we were more concerned with the big things, like engine, chassis, batteries and tires.  We knew that Lazy Days would fix any of the minor things, so we didn’t pay as much attention to those things.  To me, that is the big advantage of buying from a reputable dealer over an individual.  These small things are important though and I’m glad we’re finding them and they are being fixed. 

When  we leave, it will be with 6 brand new tires, 6 brand new batteries, an oil change, a freshly lubed chassis, brakes that have been checked out, a new automatic satellite and Blu-Ray player.  When we will leave, I just don’t know!  Now there is a tropical depression in the gulf and we are expecting lots of rain….probably will be just in time for us to move!

7 comments:

  1. You and the Lazydays folks have been very thorough in going over the new coach. That will save you much time and headaches later I'm sure.

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  2. Patience is not one of my strong traits but in your case, it is really the best policy. Your new home is going to be so wonderful and you aren't going to have to worry about fixing all those things down the road.

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  3. Your patience will be your reward because you'll get it all done correctly... and that is good. We have GMCA Good Sam exrended warranty that we got right there at Camping World... It is pricey but we more then get our monies worth with our coach being 6 years old and us full timing... I was hoping you guys would get up here at Stephen Foster before we leave on the 15th. Then we head towards the Panhandle... St George Island.
    Have Fun, Stay patient & Travel safe
    Donna

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  4. I'm really impressed with your experiences with Lazy Days. Your posts are giving a lot of good information that future and current RVers should find helpful.

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  5. Maybe I should just get on a plane and buy something there! Of course I wouldn't have an RV to sleep in while things were being fixed!

    It sounds like you will have a home that is better than new when all of this is done.

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  6. You may end up coming out of there with a completely rebuilt rig - good deal!!

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  7. good for you for being so patient!!..it will be worth it when you drive away!!

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