Friday, December 28th, 2018
We planned a Winter trip months ago, when we received an advertisement that Angel Fire was offering Teachers a $99 season pass. This is a really great deal, even if you only go one time, because lift tickets can cost as much as $80 a day! We also were able to purchase a Four-Day Pass for me, for a reduced price, so we were sure that was where we wanted to go skiing this year. On top of that, we got a great RV Park rate using our Escapees Member discount, saving 50% of the regular rate!
Tony was off all week, but I had to work, so we planned to leave right after I got off work on Friday. Tony had the rig loaded, hitched and ready to go when I got home, and we pulled out about 5:30PM. We were doing just fine, until we headed up a hill near Baird, not too far from home. The truck decided to turn on the check engine light, and we had to pull off the road. Once we got off the highway, turning the engine off and on seemed to return everything to normal, and we decided to head home to address the issue. There was no point in trying to travel 600+ miles if the truck was going to be "iffy".
Saturday, December 29th, 2018
We woke up, and decided we absolutely had to do something different. We needed a reliable vehicle for the trip, or we would have to scrap the trip altogether. Tony decided this was the last straw. We had just put a lot of money into the truck in October having some sensors replaced, so he was ready for a change. We had already been looking at options since October, as mentioned in a previous blog post. We had planned to wait until AFTER this trip to look seriously again, but we decided it was definitely in our best interest to move now.
We did some more research and located a few options. But calls to the dealers netted just two possibilities, one of which was a color we didn't really want. So we negotiated with a dealer in Oklahoma, and had a pretty good-looking deal in the works. We told them we wanted to come and look at the truck, and would be willing to make a deal today if it was what we wanted. They also asked for info on our trade, and I sent photos inside and out. They made a reasonable offer on it, so we felt pretty good about the potential for a deal.
We headed out about 2:00pm and arrived at the dealership about 6:30pm. (They were open until 9pm.) Our salesman had the truck cleaned up and ready to take a test drive so we hopped in and headed around town. The truck performed as expected, with no red flags. We then looked it over top to bottom, and inside and out, testing things.
After that, we went back in to talk to the salesperson. We had given them info for running credit prior to our departure, so the negotiations were short. We liked the truck, the pricing and proposed payment were within what we wanted to pay. So they moved us over to talk to the finance guy for the paperwork. That lasted about an hour, and we had a deal -- along with an extended warranty.
We then got the keys, and moved our stuff from one truck to the other -- the hitch, the stuff under the seat, and in the compartments.
We left the dealer about 9:30PM, and immediately had to get fuel. (We didn't realize they didn't fuel it up!) On the way home, we decided to name the truck "Norman," since that's where it came from. Norman handled the trip just fine, and we both really like driving it. Even though it's only 3 years newer, there are a number of improvements we are really going to enjoy.
We headed back home to Texas, and got home about 2:30AM Sunday.
We did some more research and located a few options. But calls to the dealers netted just two possibilities, one of which was a color we didn't really want. So we negotiated with a dealer in Oklahoma, and had a pretty good-looking deal in the works. We told them we wanted to come and look at the truck, and would be willing to make a deal today if it was what we wanted. They also asked for info on our trade, and I sent photos inside and out. They made a reasonable offer on it, so we felt pretty good about the potential for a deal.
We headed out about 2:00pm and arrived at the dealership about 6:30pm. (They were open until 9pm.) Our salesman had the truck cleaned up and ready to take a test drive so we hopped in and headed around town. The truck performed as expected, with no red flags. We then looked it over top to bottom, and inside and out, testing things.
Nice looking/driving truck!
After that, we went back in to talk to the salesperson. We had given them info for running credit prior to our departure, so the negotiations were short. We liked the truck, the pricing and proposed payment were within what we wanted to pay. So they moved us over to talk to the finance guy for the paperwork. That lasted about an hour, and we had a deal -- along with an extended warranty.
Swapping our stuff took about 15 minutes.
We left the dealer about 9:30PM, and immediately had to get fuel. (We didn't realize they didn't fuel it up!) On the way home, we decided to name the truck "Norman," since that's where it came from. Norman handled the trip just fine, and we both really like driving it. Even though it's only 3 years newer, there are a number of improvements we are really going to enjoy.
We headed back home to Texas, and got home about 2:30AM Sunday.
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