That was fun....

[Javi]

We decided to head to San Antonio this morning and visit my mom. Normally when we go it is on Sunday but since the DW retired this Friday, it seemed like a good day to take off. Our normal pit stop before getting to mom's place is a camping/RV store in New Braunfels and the RV sales side is always closed on Sunday so we never get to browse the 5th wheels.

When we got there this morning they were having a big sale on RV's and the parking lot was full of salesmen and customers.

Anyway...... we finally got a salesman to talk to us and boy was it an education... :D

I learned that my '12 F250 could easily handle a 14.5K 5'er and that no one should ever pay any attention to the payload sticker on the door post... it's just there for "insurance purposes".

Even more interesting is the fact that the load limit on my tires is also just there to CYA the insurance company and the 6200 lb combined limit on my tires is really like 10.000 lbs... So... I have plenty of load capacity even with the beautiful 5er with a dry pin weight of 3180 lbs and a 14.5 GVWR.. I'll have plenty of room for a load of firewood and a big cooler of iced beverages.

We passed on the deal, but it was attractive :rolleyes:

[GaryWT]

I can see you passing on it. Why settle on something so small and light. Keep looking to find that sales person who will sell you something bigger.

[chuckster57]

Good one!! Reminds me of a wonderful experience I had. We were getting ready for our cross country excursion and thought a new fiver would be neat.

Started looking and found this big beautiful 36' 4 slide unit on sale. First thing I did was look at the UVW and noticed it said 11,350. I told the nice sales lady I don't think my truck is rated to tow that. She got out her handy tow guide and said " your truck is rated for 11,500 lbs..you've got 150 lbs to spare...

[Javi]

I was very specific about what we were looking for and that we were very interested in buying now that the DW had retired, so we are free to travel a bit more. I explained that even though I saw they were not Cougar dealers that we had been sold on the floor plan of the 333MKS and explained the features we were interested in.

I even spoke in detail about the GVWR and pin weight that we are looking for, explaining to the fellow that I wasn't interested in any trailer that didn't meet those specifications. This was all done in the cool A/C of the showroom, before moving outdoors in 101 degree temps.

I'll admit that we both would love to own many of the larger, more plush trailers but that isn't really how we live. And I stubbornly refuse to pay more than we paid for our house for a trailer or pickup. Somehow that just don't feel right. So I gave him a maximum budget, and reiterated that we were not interested in any trailer beyond that price, weight, and floor plan.

The very first trailer he took us to exceeded the budget by $20K and the GVWR limit by 2K and I explained that we were wasting both our time and his if this was all he had.

After a couple of minutes of reflection we took off in the little golf cart to another trailer that according to him we were going to love. As we pulled up to the Raptor I was pretty sure I'd already told him what we were interested in and a toy hauler weren't it.. :confused:

We hung on as he did a pretty good imitation of the Dukes of Hazard reversal of direction... I never knew golf carts could drift turn.. :eek:

And back to the showroom we went... When we got inside, we were offered an ice cold water which we gratefully accepted, then sat down for a lesson in "HOW THIS WORKS" by the young fellow and an older gentleman who appeared to HELP explain "HOW THIS WORKS" to us obviously new to RV'ing and towing folks..... that's when I learned all of the above...

[bsmith0404]

Well it definitely sounds like you learned a lot. Now you just need to buy a different house so you can open up you options on price range for the truck or RV :D

[hankpage]

Maybe you could just leave the fire-wood home, drive real slow and don't go far. (Can't leave the cold beverages of course)
Congrats to the DW on retirement, mine goes out on Jan. 2 .... I think I will have to get a job to get some rest. :D

[kellydog98]

Perhaps the ideal would be to raise your house, apply the lightest load tires, and pull it all with a gas saving 4 cylinder model. Best of both worlds. Again with a big congrates to the newly retired DW. Only 4 more for me and several more for my DW. (I married a young'un).

[Festus2]

While your recent experience might have been "entertaining ", the sad part is that this same young salesman and his older sidekick have probably convinced scores of young, inexperienced, and unsuspecting RVing "newbies", to buy units that are well beyond the towing limits of their TV.

Unfortunately, not every potential customer has the expertise or the experience to be able to tell the difference between truth and fiction. Surely, the guy works here amongst RV's - he must know what he's talking about. If he's a good salesman, then he will say all the right things that will convince you that he really does know his stuff.

Aren't you glad you're older and wiser? Or should I say "more experienced"?

[Javi]

I just wished I'd had a camera crew and more time.... :D

[vampress_me]

I know that reading this I shouldn't be shocked at the salesman, but wow! What a switch from when we went shopping for a living quarters horse trailer some years ago. We had our '99 Dodge 2500 Cummins at the time and the dealer wouldn't even talk to us about purchasing the trailer we wanted until we could show them our truck was rated for the trailer, fully loaded with horses, liquids, and "stuff". I loved how adamant they were about safe towing, at least as far as they could be.

[Javi]

I know that reading this I shouldn't be shocked at the salesman, but wow! What a switch from when we went shopping for a living quarters horse trailer some years ago. We had our '99 Dodge 2500 Cummins at the time and the dealer wouldn't even talk to us about purchasing the trailer we wanted until we could show them our truck was rated for the trailer, fully loaded with horses, liquids, and "stuff". I loved how adamant they were about safe towing, at least as far as they could be.

Yes it is a far cry from how it was done in the dealership I worked for back in the early 80's as well. The owner there was extremely conscientious and adamantly refused to sell a trailer to someone without an adequate tow vehicle.