Retired and went full-time in a used Class A off harberts

ok so my husband and i finally pulled the trigger on the thing we have been talking about for fifteen years. he retired from teaching in may, i was already out two years before him, and we decided we are not going to sit in this house in Tulsa and watch the seasons go by anymore. we sold it. closed in early September. and now we live in a motorhome. still feels strange to type that.

figuring out WHAT to buy was the part that gave me a stomach ache for about three months. new Class A diesel pushers are insane money right now, like the nice ones are pushing past what we paid for our first house, and we are living on a pension and social security plus what came out of the sale. so new was never realistic. we went round and round on travel trailer vs fifth wheel vs Class A and landed on a diesel pusher because Ken (the husband) wanted the basement storage and the ride quality for long days, and honestly after one test drive of a gas Class A on the highway in a crosswind i agreed with him real fast.

used was the answer but the used market is a minefield. private sellers who get cagey when you ask for service records, dealers who mark a five year old coach up like it is brand new. we looked for weeks. our son in law is the one who found harbertsautosales.com, he buys work trucks off auction and said look at this place in Waco they do everything online and they ship.

so the coach. 2019 Thor Palazzo 33.5, Cummins 6.7 on a Freightliner chassis, 31k miles. one owner trade, not a repo, full maintenance binder. two slides, residential fridge, the layout we wanted with the bath and a half. the price made me actually call harberts to ask if it was a typo. it was about 34 thousand under what the same year and floorplan was listed for at two RV dealerships we had walked.

i was nervous buying a coach sight unseen but the guy at harbert's auto sales sent us a video walkaround that was like 25 minutes long, he climbed up on the roof and showed the sealant, opened every bay, ran the genset, extended both slides, started it cold. did not feel like a sales pitch. he even pointed out a scuff on the front cap and a slide topper that was getting sun faded. we had it shipped to a transport yard outside Tulsa for 900 bucks and it showed up exactly like the video.

we have been on the road since October heading south for the winter. i will report back. but i wanted to write this up because when i was searching for full timer advice on buying used i could not find a single honest first hand account of going through an online auction lot, just sales fluff. so here is mine.

quick update from a KOA just outside Tucson, we made it this far and the coach has been wonderful on the road. one honest thing to report so this stays a fair review.

the bedroom slide was hesitating to come in and out, would judder and stop partway. i was sick about it for a day thinking we bought a lemon. turns out it was the slide topper awning that had gotten sun faded, the exact one the harberts guy pointed out in the video, the fabric had stiffened on one edge and was binding the slide. a mobile RV tech met us at the campground, swapped the topper fabric, lubed the slide rails, and we were done in under two hours. 240 bucks all in including the part. he said it is the most common thing he fixes on coaches that have sat in the sun.

ken i did exactly this, had the tech check the roof while he was here since he had the ladder out. sealant was in good shape, he touched up two small spots and called it good. so glad i did not wait. thank you.

heading to Marie next, where do we even start with finding a winter spot, my inbox is open.

nancy the title was honestly the part i worried about most and it turned out to be the easiest. since this was a clean trade in and not a repo, the title was already in hand at the waco lot. harberts overnighted us the signed title and a bill of sale, and they sent a temporary trip permit so we could legally drive it home before we registered it. we took that paperwork to the tag office back in oklahoma and registered it like any other out of state purchase. one trip, done in an afternoon.

tell your husband the out of state part is not the monster he thinks it is. the only thing i would say is ask up front whether the title is in hand before you pay, that is the question that matters. a repo can take longer because of the lien release, but a clean trade like ours was quick. the harberts online auction listing actually noted the title status right on the page which i appreciated.

and honestly, start with a bigger travel trailer before you jump to a motorhome if you are not sure. nothing wrong with working up to it.

Updateafter a full snowbird season, we are back up in oklahoma visiting the grandkids for the summer and i wanted to close the loop on this one.

best decision we have made in twenty years. we wintered near Mesa for two months on Marie's advice (thank you, the monthly rate tip alone saved us a fortune), then wandered through the arizona desert, spent three weeks near Quartzsite where we did finally meet Greg and his wife around a fire, and slow rolled home through new mexico and the texas hill country. about 6,300 miles total on the coach.

the palazzo held heat beautifully Ken, even in the high desert cold the furnace kept us toasty and the basement stayed above freezing. fuel mileage settled in around 8.5 to 9 mpg loaded which for a 33 foot diesel pusher i am told is right on the money. since the slide topper fix in november the coach has not needed a single thing other than routine oil and filters. we towed a little jeep the whole way and Ken was right, it is the way to do it.

total spent on the coach plus the one repair is still tens of thousands under what a comparable new or even dealer used unit would have cost us, and we own it free and clear. for anyone reading this on the fence about buying a used coach off an online auction lot like harberts, my honest take after a full season is do your homework on the specific rig, ask for the long video, confirm the title is in hand, and the savings are real. we are already looking at their listings for friends.

see everybody down south next winter. the road is good.