6 Steps to Picking Up Our New RV (We Weren't Ready for #4!)
Behind our RV upgrade
We spent the first 3 years of our RV life living in a 240-square-foot travel trailer. It was one of the most popular ‘couples coach’ floorplans and provided us with just the space we needed, but we had also put thousands of miles on it and we knew that we were nearing the end of its time.
In May of 2023, we decided to upgrade from a travel trailer to a fifth wheel. There are a few reasons why we made this decision, but overall the biggest benefit to us was the additional living space, and we were ready for something different. After many hours of online and in-person shopping, we ultimately purchased a 2023 Brinkley z3100 through General RV, using their online sales team to complete the deal.
6 things we had to do when picking up our new RV
While every RV shopping experience will vary, we are sharing 6 things that we had to do when we picked up our new RV. As full-time RVers who travel with two dogs, we made arrangements with the dealership in advance of delivery to allow ample time for moving, and to understand their onsite pet policy.
The more you can plan ahead for the day you pick up your new RV, the easier it can be for you and your family to start enjoying. We hope you find our experience to be helpful!
1 | Deliver the trade-in: We traded in our travel trailer, so this may not be something that you need to consider. Before arriving, we were provided with directions on where to pull our trade-in into. As part of the deal that we made using their online sales team, we also were prepared with how to handle some of the items that would be staying in the trade-in, vs. what we would take with us. As we pulled into the spot upon arrival, we were immediately greeted by a member of the team who informed us of what we needed to do.
2 | Install the hitch on the truck: Because we upgraded from a travel trailer to a fifth wheel, we also had to upgrade our hitch. We tow our RV with a 2020 Chevy Silverado 2500, and it was already equipped with the mounting points that are required to install a fifth-wheel hitch. The complexity of this step will vary depending on your tow vehicle, and overall they estimate about 4-5 hours. Because of this, they also take the truck back right away, to begin working on it.
3 | Walk-thru the new RV: While our trade-in was being assessed by the service team, and our truck was being prepped for the new hitch, it was at this point that we were greeted by the delivery team, to complete the walk-thru of our new RV. We were escorted out to the new unit, which was plugged in, cooled down, and ready to welcome us inside. During the walkthrough, it can be helpful to take video or photos of how to use any new functionality, or if you observe any damage, etc. Many new RV owners will also hire an RV inspector to join them in the walkthrough, to ensure there are no issues overlooked. Luckily for us, there was only one small issue of a broken blind, and the service team had already taken note of it.
4 | Complete financing: Once the walkthrough was completed, we moved on to financing. This part might not always be the most fun, and regardless of how prepared you are, it still tends to feel like it takes forever. Because we used the online sales team, we also worked with financing over the phone. We had our deal all ready to go, including the trade-in value, down payment, monthly payment, and interest rates. Depending on the amount of time that passes between the original deal and the date delivery is taken - rates could end up changing.
What we weren’t expecting …
To our surprise, the finance team had pulled our deal one more time before we took delivery, and they were actually able to find us better rates than we had expected. After crunching the numbers every which way to make this deal work for us, this was such a welcomed surprise!
5 | Meet the service team: Once financing was complete, we met with the service team. Here, we learned about the policies that are specific to their dealership, and they went over everything that we could expect, should we bring our RV in for service. During our financing, we also chose to add on ceramic coating, so the service team cared for that during this time as well.
6 | Get ready to move: While this step may not apply to everyone picking up their new RV, for us - it was the most bittersweet. We had to move. Since our trade-in was also our home, we had arranged in advance to stay the night in the parking lot. This particular dealer had 5-6 parking spots along the outer perimeter of their parking lot, each one with electric - however, they did not have water or sewer so you would need to plan ahead. This made our move so much easier because otherwise, we would have been trying to squeeze into a travel trailer with packed boxes all around us for the week or so leading up to the move.
By this time of the day, there is a lot of excitement. Our truck was pulled around with the new hitch in place and the service team did a walkthrough of how to use it, and then our new RV was also pulled around too. Such an exciting moment!
Our new RV was parked door to door with our trade-in, and both RVs were hooked up to shore power with an adequate supply of freshwater in the tanks. After arriving at the dealer at 1PM we had just finished almost 4 hours of tasks and it was time for the dealer to close.
It was quite a surreal experience taking the keys to our new RV, and starting to move boxes while also watching all of the employees pack up their things and head home.
That night, we moved boxes for 3 to 4 hours straight, until we had our trade-in completely emptied. We did one last walkthrough together and put the stairs up and the handle in, one last time.
Overall, one thing that we can say for sure is that they have delivery down to a science. There were rarely any times that we were waiting on something to happen, and if we were - their team was super friendly, loving on our dogs, and checking in on us. On a day that can be a bit emotionally taxing, it’s important to know what to expect so you can plan ahead - especially if you will have kids or pets along with you.
Are you buying a new RV?
Let us know what questions you have, or if you want to know more about our RV buying experience!
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