Wednesday, May 25, 2011

She is legal now!

Finally the purchase of my 2011 25 Foot Airstream Flying Cloud is complete and legal.

After 2 painful trips to the RMV (Registry of Motor Vehicles) my trailer is finally properly insured, registered and even has a plate. You wouldn't believe the entire long story of what I had to go through to get all this coordinated, of course it didn't help that the trailer is in NJ and that the people behind the counter didn't know what a trailer type RV was.

Here is the plate! I am happy to have it and my blood pressure has returned to normal. I also scheduled the pickup date for June 9th!


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The Truck has been found!

Found the truck I was looking for... or at least someone did.

It was a lucky happenstance that the new local Airstream dealer was a offshoot of a large Ford dealer. After he wouldn't give me a good deal on an Airstream I offered him a chance to find me a F150 with the Max Tow Package. There wasn't a single one of these anywhere in MA. He got back to me in a couple days with 2 choices, one of which was was a good fit. It was a couple hundred miles away but it would only take a few days to get here.

We agreed on a good price, I am not sure if it was just that trucks aren't selling so great with almost 4$ gas or that he knew I didn't want to dicker around on price after losing the chance to sell me a trailer to another dealer who gave me a better price. Either way I was happy with the price and the truck which is a 2011 F-150 Super Crew Cab with Max Tow Package. It is Ford Blue with a Silver accent.


Saturday, May 7, 2011

Truck Search Begins

Here is the problem... I have a deposit in on 25 foot Airstream Trailer but my current vehicle is a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. Clearly this isn't going to pull the 7000+ pound trailer.

My Fusion is about a year and half old and has been a great car, it is comfortable and gets great mileage, 40+ mpg in the summer and about 35+ mpg in the winter for a 70/30 mix of city/highway driving. Any truck I buy isn't going to come close to this. Lucky for me the bad economy has the used car market really hot combined with high gas prices should result in a pretty good trade in value for the Fusion.

Right now I'm thinking about a 2011 Ford F150, I had a Ford Escape for 7 years before the Fusion and I loved it so I will probably like the F150. Actually I almost bought a F150 instead of the Fusion, in the end I decided I didn't need the truck yet so I got the Fusion. To tow the 7000+ pound Airstream I need to find a F150 with what Ford calls the "Max Tow Package" which are pretty rare here in New England. I could probably squeak by with the regular tow package and the trailer brake controller but I think finding a Max Tow Package is worth a little extra effort.

Monday, May 2, 2011

A Quick Start

For a long time we've talked about getting an Airstream. I think we've been to a dozen RV shows over the years and checked out all the different brands, every time coming to the conclusion that no other brand was worth it. Actually no other brand produced a trailer that wasn't hideously ugly.

I started checking out trailers sometime in February checking out all the dealers online and finding trailers that matched what I wanted. A new dealer in my local area actually opened this past October, unfortunately they had a very limited inventory. It was good to go there and see several of the latest trailers in person, it really helped in making some decisions about the size, features and colors.

Countless hours, emails, and phone calls followed over the next few months, attempting to find the best deal. I am not exactly sure what pushed me over the edge but I went and put a deposit on a trailer in NJ. It is a brand new 25 ft Airstream Flying Cloud with the "Mica" interior and a few upgrades.