It's Official - We Are Now Owners Of A New To Us 2005 Newmar Northern Star

After months of searching we have decided on what coach, made our offer, the previous owner agreed, we completed our loan application, were approved for the loan, lined up our RV insurance and will travel to Alvarado, Texas and Motor Home Specialists (the dealer) on Monday next to become the owners of our "new to us" Newmar Northern Star.   We will own a 2005 Newmar Northern Star next Monday.

It is a relief to have the research, search, decision on what manufacturer, model and year coach we wanted finally done. Next on the list is to bring home the coach from Alvarado, Texas, and get it back to Fayetteville, Arkansas where we will rent a slot at a nearby storage facility.

Our plan is to use MHS's own customer campground for our first night in the coach. There we will familiarize ourselves with the various operations of the coach and be within reach of the service departement should we need to ask questions. Tuesday we will motor home.

We've decided to give the coach a deep cleaning, do any maintenance or repairs that are required and consider what else we need to do before departing for parts unknown during Thanksgiving.

Our next outing will be for the entire month of December, starting by spending two weeks at Ft. Pickens State Park on Santa Rosa Island and Pensacola Beach Florida. The next two weeks is still up in the air but now we will pursue finding another temporary home in Florida for the last two weeks of December.

So, this is our new money pit!  Isn't she beautiful?

We May Have A Winner - 2005 Newmar Northern Star.

We may have some news in the next few days. We found a consignment coach at "Motor Home Specialist" in Alvarado, Texas that we made an offer on.  It is a 2005 Newmar Northern Star.  She is a beauty. Now we wait for the owner to give a thumbs up or a thumbs down on our offer.

The coach has below normal wear for it's vintage and it has obviously been pretty well kept. The tires are all brand new, the batteries are three years old, the slides don't show signs of leaking and the roof needs minor sealing here and there.  All appliances, receptacles, heat, air, and other mechanical systems work. Engine was recently serviced.  All doors and cabinets open and shut as they should. No scratches or signs of abuse on the cabinetry.  Overall, it's the conditions we have been looking for. 

Living area

Kitchen

Bedroom with King Bed

Cockpit

This coach is a diesel pusher with a 350hp Cat engine, 6 speed Allison Transmission on a Freightliner chassis with 39,259 miles on it. The basement is heated, 100 gallon fuel tank (scary as hell), 105 gallon fresh water tank, 65 gallon grey water tank, 45 gallon sewage tank and a 45 gallon LP tank. 

We think this will make a great coach for us.   Now we wait and hold our breath while the owner is contacted.

Once Again We Didn't Find The Right Class A

Well we spent the better part of 8 hours hunting for the perfect Class A. No love again today. So, the search continues. I will post again once we are ready to restart the search.

"Once More, Into the Breach" - Heading Out To View More RV's

Today we are headed toward Springfield, Mo. to look at RV's.  We've found several we are interested in. The bonus is that we found a Tiffin Allegro Bay that is priced reasonably. We really like Tiffin but financially they've been out of reach.  While we are in Springfield we will also look at a Gulfstream Crescendo and a Damon Ultrasport.  Wish us luck and stay tuned.

2007 Tiffin Allegro Bay

We'll also be viewing a Gulfstream Crescendo and a Damon Ultrasport that both seem to fit what we are trying to find

2007 Gulfstream Crescendo

2000 Damon Ultrasport

Went RV Shopping Today - No Love

We went to three RV Dealers looking for "the one" today. Our hopes were to find a used 2009-2010 Forest River - Georgetown 373 in good condition. We did find one but it was in really bad shape. The faux leather seating on driver, passenger, euro recliner and couch were all in deteriorating condition. This was something we have found in two cases now. Fit and finish in these units is also not good. So, scratch these as a candidate for full timing at least for us.

The first dealer Coachlite RV Sales turned out to be a complete bust for us. We found the Georgetown which we quickly dissed as poorly built. The second RV was a Newmar Canyon Star toy hauler that I wanted to see but couldn't get in. I walked to the office and asked for sales to meet me at the RV I waited 20 minutes and nobody showed up. When leaving I saw a sales person and said out loud "excuse me" and he stopped, turned to look at me and then turned on his heels to talk to a friend in a car and never made an effort beyond looking at me. That's no way to treat a customer. We left.

The second dealer Colaw RV sold RV's on salvage titles, they buy them with repairable damage from insurance losses at auction and rebuild them. I decided that a salvage title might not be best as we will have to finance and I really don't want to jump through those hoops.

The third dealer Consignment RV Sales had several we were interested in but pricing wasn't where we wanted them and the owners weren't likely to come down in pricing.

During the day we once again eventually realized that we still were leaning toward a Gulfstream Sun Voyager 8389 and have decided to divert the search to finding this particular unit (for the moment).

We still have time. We are looking to purchase prior to the last week in November so that we can use our reservations at Ft. Pickens National Park in Pensacola during the first two weeks of Decemeber.  Wish us luck.