Thursday, June 20, 2024

Got our New "Camper Van" Motorhome

 

Here is our 2024 Thor Sequence.  Not ready to give in-depth pictures yet, but that will come.  I am trying to figure out all the electronics, those that are in the "driving" of it, and those that are in the "living" in it.

General RV Center is the nation's largest family owned RV dealer.  The are a huge seller of Thor RVs, but also brands.  They have five Florida locations in Fort Pierce Jacksonville, Ocala, Orlando, and Tampa.  Also located in Huntley, Illinois, Salisbury, North Carolina, North Canton, Ohio, Elizabethtown and West Chester, Pennsylvania, Salt Lake City and South Weber, Utah and Richmond, Virginia.

Thor Industries, Inc. is an American manufacturer of RVs through its subsidiary brands including Airstream, Heartland RV, Jayco, Livin Lite RV, and many others, along with, of course, the name of Thor.  The Thor Family of companies are the largest manufacturer of RVs.

As with ALL RVs and RV Dealers, there are good reviews and bad reviews.  The key for us was that when we went to visit back in February just to "see" if Marcia could get into a van easier than the Dynamax that we had back then.  Had they not just sold a used Thor Tellaro, made before the pandemic, we probably would have put a down payment on that...but it was sold.  So we stuck to our "just want to get into one and check them out" plan, and left thinking I would come back within a week and drive one and see if we could spring a deal.  They assigned Monique to be our sales representative, and immediately we felt a bit of a connection.  Not pushy, very accommodating, always a straight shooter with us.  Right away we realized that trading our old motorhome in was going to be problematic...and then I saw a new Doctor pertaining to my knees and realized that if we bought one, we would not be able to really go anywhere for half a year...so why buy one and then let it sit around???

Fast forward to June.  We had already donated our old motorhome to help a Veterans Organization...if we were going to give it away as a trade in, might as well give it away and help someone by doing so...a win win for all.  After keeping an eye on many dealers and many Camper Vans, I came upon one being sold in Stanford Florida at an "un-named" dealer that I really did not want to deal with, for $15K less than being sold for in Tampa.  I called Monique and she said, "I think we will match that price..."  And they did.  Had we only financed the Camper Van through them, it all would have gone smoothly...but I had developed a relationship with a Credit Union and they had a Interest Rate a 1/4 percent lower.  Since we are paying it off in 3-5 years (it is a 5 year loan that we got) the 1/4 percent does not amount to much more than $100 per year.  THAT is when the two reputable businesses started standing their ground causing undo hardship on us.  I put much of that blame on General RV Center for 'doubting' that this Credit Union, with over 2 Billion in assets, would not send them a check once all the paper work was in order.  Through all of this, Monique did a wonderful job, going above and beyond what she needed to do as a sales person.  Well, that is all water under the bridge now...it is time to learn all about this one, and deal with any issues that might arise, and enjoy the new Camper Van as we adjust to the smaller space.  We both agree that it is a very smooth ride.

The picture above is the Camper Van parked at the RV Storage next door to our condo.  Last night it stayed in one of the visitor spaces next to our parking space, and it just fit without sticking out in the street at all. 

Friday, June 14, 2024

So Close to Getting New Motorhome...

 

When Nancy emails me and asks for the status of the new motorhome, it kinda tells me that I had better write another Blog about this...

So, the bottom line has not changed...the Credit Union wants their name as the Lien Holder on the Title before releasing the $$$, the RV Dealer wants the $$$ before they release the motorhome to us EVEN THOUGH we are the registered owner with the DMV, all the dealer paperwork shows we are the owner, so...here we sit.  BUT there has been progress...


We received our Florida License Plate today...and our Vehicle Registration!!!   Wait, if we have those, shouldn't the Title show the Credit Union as the Lien Holder?  Well, it does (as of yesterday) AND it doesn't.  


Although the Title shows the Credit Union as the Lien Holder, it still lacks the words ACTIVE where above it says, PENDING DEALER TRANSACTION.   Florida Law is very clear that it is the DEALER who has to file the title ELECTRONICALLY as soon as possible.  Here is a portion of a memo sent to all dealers about four years ago:

"This important message is regarding your dealership’s responsibility to process transactions promptly.

Section 319.23(6)(a), Florida Statutes, provides that in the case of the sale of a motor vehicle or mobile home by a licensed dealer to a general purchaser, the certificate of title must be obtained in the name of the purchaser by the dealer upon application signed by the purchaser, and in each other case such certificate must be obtained by the purchaser."

So today, after communication with the bank when I came to realize that the "PENDING DEALER TRANSACTION" was important, I sent an email near the end of today's business hours, asking them to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! file this electronically ASAP, and sent a link to the full memo from the State of Florida to dealers, and a PDF of the Title showing the PENDING DEALER TRANSACTION on it.

I am sure that there are times that the amount of paperwork these businesses have to do is enormous.  However...the amount of patience that WE HAVE is about to run out. 

UPDATE:  As of 8 pm, I checked the Florida Title Search and our Electronic Title now shows ACTIVE!  I think we should have our new baby home with us by Wednesday!!!