"America's largest RV Show", held in Hershey, Pennsylvania, September 16-20, 2019 was an incredible experience. We were able to scope it out on a Friday night and dive in on Saturday and Sunday. It was advertised as 33 football fields of RVs, and while we didn't come anywhere close to seeing all the manufacturers' and dealers' areas, we definitely had high step counts those two days!
The show includes vendor booths - we were able to pick up information and ask questions about Truma AquaGo, Togo Roadlink, SnapPads, RV insurance, and other accessories and services - and classes, which looked very interesting but which we ended up being unable to fit into our weekend. We were too busy scoping out a possible purchase!
On Saturday, we started by talking to a dealership sales associate about our dream rig (an extended stay fifth wheel). RV show prices really are a big savings over MSRP and even over dealers' regular promotions, but the cost was still going to be a stretch over the next couple of years.
We looked at a smaller fifth wheel from the same manufacturer/dealer. It had a lovely open floorplan, and we could pull it with a smaller pickup truck. The cost of this rig was in line with a more prudent financial plan.
We also looked at Class C motor coaches from several manufacturers. I had researched quality ratings from the RV Consumer Group already, so this was more about floor plans. We were looking for a plan that would accommodate both of us working in the rig at the same time and also allow us to spend leisure time together comfortably. Some coaches were a bit cramped (especially the bathrooms!) for Doug's six-foot height. Others didn't seem to use the available space efficiently for our needs.
We priced the Class C coach that seemed to have the best balance of livability and home office use. Then it was back to the hotel room and weighing the options until 1am! I love a good spreadsheet, and made one comparing the costs and the features among the three options (dream rig, smaller fifth wheel, and Class C), and one detailing our more subjective criteria. Doug, with his Army Reserve and Dept. of Defense background, brought in the Military Decision Making Process (yes, MDMP is an actual process). We listed the items that were important to us, such as driver/passenger/dog comfort, living space, storage space, ability to host guests, working while driving and when settled, ease of traveling, access to nature/cities, and monthly financing and operating costs. We assigned a score to each RV for each item, then ranked the importance of each item, and performed some math to come up with an overall score for each of the three RVs.
The Class C coach came out on top. This surprised us, because we had been planning on a fifth wheel for so long. We rethought some of our values and rankings, but no matter how we adjusted the numbers, the Class C kept having the highest score!
We slept on it, then returned to the show on Sunday. This was the biggest advantage of visiting this RV show - we could "live" in one rig, then walk a few minutes to the other rig and "live" in that. We lay down on the bed, we stood in the shower, we sat on the toilet (lid down!), and we opened the wardrobes and drawers as if we were dressing. I moved around the kitchen area as if I were cooking, we positioned ourselves as if we were working, and we sat on the sofa and "watched" TV. We sat in the driver area of the coach, and compared that to our memory of test-driving a pickup truck. We walked around the outside and planned where we would store our e-bikes, portable charcoal grill, tools, and other belongings. We walked back and forth, "living" in each rig a few times to compare the experiences fully.
All our research up to this point, and our hands-on experience at the show, brought us to a decision: we put an order in on a Class C motor coach, the Jayco Greyhawk 29MV! We expect to pick it up in December.
One other thing about the Hershey, PA RV Show: Every dealer sales associate and manufacturer representative we spoke with could not have been nicer or more helpful. We never felt that we were being pushed or manipulated; instead, we felt that we were dealing with people of integrity who, yes, would like to make a sale, but for the right reasons - because it was the right rig for us at this point in our lives.
Our excitement hasn't diminished in the month since we made our decision and put down our deposit. Now it's back to cleaning out the house with even greater purpose!
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