In May 2013 I had the plugs and boots replaced for $350. The mechanic (he is a real mechanic and the shop owner - not some 'technician') said that all 10 of my coil packs were fine and did not need replacing.
When the other shop wanted almost $1,000.00 to replace plugs, boots, and coil packs (their 'tuneup') I declined and got a second opinion.
2005 Cruise America 28R (Four Winds 28R) on a 2004 Ford E450 SD 6.8L V10 4R100
2009 smart fortwo Passion with Roadmaster "Falcon 2" towbar & tail light kit - pictures
But now I have heard of El Monte RV. I have looked at their web page and I know I can call them but I do not want a salesman ringing my phone off the hook so I thought I would ask someone here how they work. Let's say you saw a MH on their web page you liked. Did you travel all the way there to just look at it, or did they make some other arrangements. The closest one to me is in Las Vegas I guess and that seems like a long way to just look. I understand they will pre-qualify you, but still I may have a long round trip just to inspect one. How did you guys handle it if you were a long way away?
2009 Four Winds Majestic 28A
http://www.cruiseamerica.com/rv-sales-locations/rv-sales-seattle-everett/
El Monte seems to have many units with fewer miles, again I did not get to look at theirs but kept thinking that would be a good thing. One of my concerns was if I decided to sell or upgrade after 30,000 miles or so how hard would selling a unit with 150,000 miles vs 110,000 miles be. Both are fairly high and many younger people are use to cars lasting 200,000 but I am still a throw back to the age when you got rid of a car with more that 60,000 because thats when many problems started. I keep telling myself that newer vehicles last longer but I cant get that rid of that uncomfortable feeling.
Anyway El Monte says they provide service records from day 1 so you have some reassurance and they give you a 1 year warranty.
By the way I ended up buying new because the price difference on the unit I wanted was not that great but larger RV's would have been substantially more.
Sam
03 Dodge Ram 1500 QC LB Hemi
2015 Four Winds 22E Chevy
Our way of doing it, has been to put enough money down, so we are never under water on it, and keep the rest in the bank. Gives us a warm fuzzy, for emergencies.
If memory serves we did 12 years on a 4 year old one, not sure if you get a 20 on a used one. We got tired of it ( the payment) and paid it off early.
But 12 or 20, my thought run an amoritization schedule, calculate the interest you will pay, figure in the second home deduction, and see where your comfort level is.
I think one should not be paying so much on it every month, that they feel that's all they can ever do for vacation. Which is why the longer terms and lower payments are not all that bad of an idea in my opinion
* This post was edited 03/29/15 11:37am by winnietrey *
It's a former rental unit. If you own a home I recommend getting a home equity loan (aka: 2nd mortgage) for the purchase price + taxes, and pay cash to the dealer. At least you'll be able to itemize the mortgage interest each April, AND you'll have the title to the RV.
In 2011 when I bought my 2005 28R it had 109,000 miles on the odometer. I paid $22,565 USD (before taxes) for it. I did not buy Cruise America's extended warranty or their awning. I paid cash.
On my first Motorhome,I bought used and financed. Now that worked out well because at the time I needed the deduction for the interest paid,as others said it is treated as a 2nd home and thus the interest was deductible. But I found out that about half way thru the 15 year loan period I was upside down,by the time I sold it it was just barely worth what was owed on it.
This is what I found on most of the RVs that I looked at when I was searching for my current RV. They were worth less that what was owed on them,about half way thru the loan period.
With the interest rate low I looked at maybe financing as a way to go. Now I am retired, less money and no need for more deductions and I couldn't afford any more payments.
With these low interest rates and after crunching some numbers I found that If I refied my house not only would it lower my monthly payment considerably,which I needed on this fixed income,I could take enough out to pay cash for what I wanted.
That is what I did, I have a much lower payment and a RV that is paid for.
My only advice is to do as I did and crunch some numbers and see what is the most favorable to you and your finances.
Just my 2 cents worth.
![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/biggrin.gif "biggrin")
Good Luck.
2006 TIOGA 26Q CHEVY 6.0 WORKHORSE VORTEC
Former El Monte RV Rental
Retired Teamster Local 692
Buying A Rental Class C
SimiRV.com markets his stuff as well. my moms rig is a roadbed used rental. Awesome rig
My mom's is this one
here are the actual pics. here
2014 RAM 2500 BigHorn CrewCab 4x2 ShortBox, 6.7L CTD
2014 Keystone Springdale 294bhssrwe - Hensley Arrow!
The best wife, 2 kids and a bunch of fun