Since we last spoke, we figured out what was wrong with the Free Spirit SS we looked at in Oregon. If you put all the pieces together, the rust and corrosion with the fact that the case on the back for the spare tire wasn’t factory, it was clear that particular one had been in some sort of accident. Once we figured it out (and read some more reviews online) we felt confident proceeding with the purchase of a Free Spirit SS. We just had to figure out where and how.
We talked to Jen’s dad about it and he agreed to take a trip over to the closest one to his house. Unfortunately, the closest one was a 4 hour drive from his home to Pennsylvania. The salesman at this dealership was pretty lazy and unhelpful but, in the end, he had what we needed with no sign of rust, corrosion, or evidence of an accident. At this point, that was good enough for us. The negotiation was a little strange and they didn’t seem to want to budge much off their original price. We later found out that since the Free Spirit SS is made by a smaller company (Leisure Travel Vans) so dealers aren’t allowed to order another one until they have sold their last one. The demand is high and the factory is small, focusing on quality rather than quantity. The manager of this dealership was using this model as a show piece to draw people on to his lot because there is a lot of interest in this model (it is the first Sprinter based RV with a slide). But we were persistent and, thanks to Jen’s dad, we were able to get the RV for 15% off msrp. I was very happy with the price that we got. I was surprised that we were able to get it because the sales guy didn’t seem to care if he made the deal or not even though the RV had been sitting on his lot for 6 months.
I have to say it was a weird experience making the most expensive purchase of my life from 3,000 miles away. Jen’s dad is currently driving the RV from Pennsylvania to his home in Virginia and we will be flying there soon to pick it up and drive it back to Washington and get it equipped with solar panels etc. (more on this later).
Since we are about 3,000 miles away from our new RV right now, I don’t have any pictures to post but I promise to make it up to you by posting pictures and videos of everything when we get there. I do, however, have a picture of the bow wreath that I crocheted to put on the grill for our maiden voyage. I think it came out adorable if I do say so myself!
Home Sweet Motorhome 