The dreaded, "Buyer's Remorse"

[spindrift]

Hi Folks...obviously new member here. I'll try to be brief.

We've been looking at fifth wheels for quite some time. Last year we looked at our first, what I'll call premium coach, the Redwood. We looked at other less expensive units and seriously started looking to make a deal on something around the first of this year. Yesterday we looked at the DRV Suites front living room model and we were impressed but not ready to negotiate. On the way home, I asked my wife about the Redwood 36FL that we looked at last year and we both agreed that our memories were fuzzy enough so that we should take another look. It was still early yesterday so we made a detour to the closest Redwood dealer, Stoltzfus RV in West Chester, PA.

We walked into the Redwood and all I can say is that the feeling was somewhat similar to the emotions we felt when we finally found our current home. You know the feeling, "when you see it, you know it", or something like that. This is where my story gets embarrassing...for me. I got completely caught up in the WOW and all of the emotions that came with that. I'm normally the kind of guy who analyzes something to death. Before I know it, we're back in the office negotiating a deal for the unit on the lot. I figured I could get the best deal by taking something from the lot as you just don't find that many front living models. And I believe I got a good price; that normal major reduction off MSRP and basically the full body paint for free.

Last night I'm rolling around in bed...haven't told my wife yet, and realize the coach has Goodyear Marathon Load Range E tires on it. It was the first premium coach we looked at that had load range E tires. Personally, I'm surprised that Redwood would even consider this tire and axle set-
up for a coach of this quality and weight.

What do I do?! We put down a deposit and signed a Purchase Agreement.
Edited by: spindrift

[COLJDM]

I would call the dealer, make a change to upgrade to the Goodyear G rated tires and upgraded wheels to handle the tires. Estimate additional cost is approximately $2500 or less. Another option is to purchase on your own, Sendel T04 or another model Sendel wheel that supports 3750 lbs and purchase tires, take them to your dealer on delivery have them installed and sell the marathons with wheels privately. Sendel is the manufacturer of fthe wheels on your 36FL and you currently have a T03 model that supports 3580lbs. We own a 36FL and we purchased, after 2 blowouts, new wheels and tires. Recommend you change the tires and wheels as the Marathons cannot support the use. We purchased our coach in Feb 12 and between June and August of 2012 we traveled 22K miles. We gave the coach a workout and the standard tires (Marathons) did not hold up.

[piper guy]

I agree with John. Until you actually take delivery and pay the rest of the balance, you're still in the negotiating seat. Definitely put the "G"s on it. You're gonna love the coach, we bought ours with the same reaction when we walked in.



When you get it, if you're headed south a bit, let us know and we can have a couple of Redwoods at a campground. We're headed to the Outer Banks probably 2nd weekend in March if anyone wants to go .

[piper guy]

forgot to mention, we're just north of Baltimore

[spindrift]

Another option I'm thinking about is to start from scratch with a new order. Delete the full body paint option (more than $10K), and delete the convection oven with drawers under the range. Those two options alone I think would pay for 8K pound axles, tires and wheels, no? I don't know what delivery time on a new coach would be but we're really maxed out at the current price point. College debt on four of the five kids is a major budget concern for us and will be a factor for a few more years.

[BradPAjax]

In Canada we have what is called a "Cooling Off" period of up to 10 days for exactly what you just experienced to protect buyers from what used to be high pressure sales tactics in the auto industry and door to door solicitation. If they are a reputable dealer, you should be able to get out of the lot model knowing full well you a ordering a new unit from them.

Our experience was almost 10 weeks from signing the deal to receiving the coach. I upgraded our order to G tires and disc brakes as the first consideration. If you ordered a new one now, you could take delivery in early May.

Good luck.

Edited by: BradPAjax

[Oriana]

I also agree with John. We also own a 36FL, which we purchased from the dealer as soon as it arrived from the factory. We can't get away until the late summer, so although we own it the dealer provides free storage and care/custody. The price was exceptional, which is why we bought early.

Our coach has all the nice consumer options, but not what I now consider the critical safety options. As we haven't taken possession I have requested our dealer to provide pricing to upgrade the tires to G rated and also address the plumbing of the 2 grey water tanks, as 1 tank only services the washer/dryer, which we never intend to install.

Once we have some experience with towing I'll decide on whether to upgrade the brakes to disk and the axles to 8K, butI believe the G rated tires are essential.If I was ordering from the factory today those would be the first 3 options on the list.

[lillyputz]

We have had a bad case of "buyer's remorse" for going on ten months.

Lillyputz

[spindrift]

Originally Posted by lillyputz

We have had a bad case of "buyer's remorse" for going on ten months.

Lillyputz

OK, I'll bite. Since you have over 450 posts, I'm assuming there's more to the story?

[spindrift]

Can I install the G rated tires on the existing wheels?

[Adamsvr]

No, you'll have buy new wheels too.

[Tobys Home]

We live in Connecticut and purchased in Mass. We always get buyers remorse because we hold on to our rigs for a long time. But I do believe you should have three days to back out of the deal. You understand this is when the _____ hits the salesman's fan and they will try an scare you or they will be smart an work with you. A good time to test there fiber. Good luck.
PS make sure you get two matched 27 batteries.

[spindrift]

Originally Posted by piperguy

When you get it, if you're headed south a bit, let us know and we can have a couple of Redwoods at a campground. We're headed to the Outer Banks probably 2nd weekend in March if anyone wants to go .</span>

Thanks, Piperguy. We haven't been down to the Outer Banks in years. Elk Neck State Park is one of our favorite destinations.

[Beechguyjim]

Skip the G tires and go for H I've seen Gs throw the tread at 30,000 miles I put the H 17.5 Goodyears on for $2200 for four wheels and tires

[Bill Wright]

We too bought our unit off the lot, we then negotiatied with the dealer to swap out the marathon tires and wheels for a factory set of g tires and wheels for 1700.00 inclusive. Just a suggestion

[spindrift]

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Is this the SenDel T04 I'm looking for?

[spindrift]

Originally Posted by Bill Wright

We too bought our unit off the lot, we then negotiatied with the dealer to swap out the marathon tires and wheels for a factory set of g tires and wheels for 1700.00 inclusive. Just a suggestion

What were your thoughts regarding the 8K # axles?</span>

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by spindrift

Another option I'm thinking about is to start from scratch with a new order. Delete the full body paint option (more than $10K), and delete the convection oven with drawers under the range. Those two options alone I think would pay for 8K pound axles, tires and wheels, no? I don't know what delivery time on a new coach would be but we're really maxed out at the current price point. College debt on four of the five kids is a major budget concern for us and will be a factor for a few more years.

First welcome to our growing family.....You'll get a lot of opinions and friendly advice on this forum and most of the folks here will be happy to help.

Buy a RV for what you're going to be using it for. It the trailer is going to see a lot of miles I'd get disk brakes and G rated tire or higher. The disk brakes I can't say enough good about them and they saved me last night when I almost hit a Elk. What ever you decide, DON"T SKIMP on what you want.

Happy Trails

[Bill Wright]

I think that the 8k axles are overkill, if you want to improve the suspension,the cheapest easiest and i feel the most effective means is by going to the air ride hitch, the 8k axles and springs will actually make things worse inside the trailer by stiffening the ride, not to mention the added weight.

[spindrift]

Does anyone know tire size for the G and/or H load range? I'm assuming it's the same size regardless of the load range.


G load range in a Goodyear:
http://www.goodyearrvtires.com/tire-selector.aspxEdited by: spindrift