The new Motorhome Apr. 24 - May 10, 2007:

Many of our CoolJourney followers have asked about our new motorhome and how we like it.  A good and timely question with a response that is overdue.

So here is the short version:  Our motorhome is beautiful, but a bit flawed here and there.  It is comfortable to drive, but when filling its 100 gal. tank the cost of fueling can be heart-stopping!  While Monaco (the manufacturer) made some errors they tried to rectify them.  And most importantly, the DeMartini dealership from whom we bought the coach was outstanding in their support.  If you are interested in the grueling details, read on…

Let's start from the beginning shall we.  On or about April 18th we asked Nate Davey, our salesperson, how the build of our new motorhome was going and if it would be ready by late April as originally anticipated.  He said, "Let me check…", moments later he said "Wow, its already built and in Monaco's ready-to-be-delivered lot.  Great news!  He said we could pick it up at their dealership in Wakarusa in 3-4 days.  Since we were in Louisville, KY at the time we were just a short distance away.  A day or two later while we were on the road to Wakarusa, IN we got a phone call from Nate with some unfortunate news.  He said our rig had just been delivered to their facility in Grass Valley, CA.  WHAT??!!!  Seems that some "dispatcher" at Monaco didn't read the paperwork and thought it was to be delivered to California.

Well, I am here to tell ya that we were mighty disappointed.  Many questions raced through our minds regarding who made the mistakes, what kind of manufacturer would have such loose procedures that this could happen, shouldn't someone have been doing more to check up on our rig, etc., etc.  After spending a big bunch o'bucks on a motorhome one does not want to hear that mistakes like this could happen.  Ok, we finally got over the initial shock and called Nate back to discuss what could/should be done.  It is in this type of situation that having a good dealer makes a big difference.

DeMartini really stepped up to the plate to remedy the situation.  Tim DeMartini, the owner, immediately called Monaco and pushed the right buttons to authorize the extra cost for dual drivers to rush our rig back to Indiana.  Nate called Monaco and obtained their agreement to provide us with a 7-year, bumper-to-bumper extended warranty on our new motorhome as compensation for the extra wear and tear.  Once we arrived at the DeMartini dealership in Wakarusa, Rod Martin (the manager) and his entire staff bent over backwards to "make it right".  Rod's personal efforts to make the best of a difficult situation gave us great comfort that we were in good hands.  Prior to our motorhome arriving, Rod drove out to our campground when we arrived (so we wouldn't have to tow it to the dealership) to look over our truck/5th wheel since we were trading it in.  Throughout the process, Rod and his staff worked tirelessly to get our rig ready for the road, which was even more impressive when one considers that they were not involved with the sale.  All the very good things we had heard about the DeMartini company prior to our purchase were proven over and over by their very capable staff in Indiana.

Our motorhome arrived at the DeMartini facility in Wakarusa from California on April 26th with 4,300 miles on the odometer.  Rod had our rig rushed to a local facility to have the oil and filter changed along with other maintenance requirements due on or about 5,000 miles.  This was quite a savings to us since the engine takes 7.3 GALLONS of oil.  Yikes!!  On Friday, April 27th the motorhome was checked over by Rod's staff to discover any system/operational problems with the rig.  We moved  our truck and trailer from a local park to DeMartini's on Friday and began our stay at what we would later affectionately call "Camp DeMartini".  They parked the motorhome next to the 5th wheel, hooked us up with electricity/water and that evening and over the weekend we went through the arduous process of moving our "stuff" from one rig to the other. 

Now you might think that is not such a big deal to move from one rig to another considering that our trailer is so much smaller than a house, but it is a very difficult task.  Along the way we started running out of room!  What happened??  We were moving from a 32' 5th wheel trailer and truck into a 40' motorhome and were running out of space??!!  A couple of things happened, 1) we spread out our belongings a little more in the motorhome, not wanting to be packed in like sardines and 2) we did not have a tow vehicle to jam full of stuff like the truck. Over the past few years, we packed and shoehorned "stuff" into the trailer.  Plus we had belongings packed in a truck box in the bed of the truck, behind the front seats, and in a storage bag on top of the trailer. All of this "stuff" had to find a place in our new home.  Some of it didn't make the cut and was left with the trailer for its next owner or tossed.  After we finished the "move" we spent time going through the motorhome in great detail to find things that needed to be fixed.  Best to do it now rather than find the problems many days and miles down the road.

We compiled our list of issues:

• The finish work inside the rig was not up to par.  Nicks in the wood cabinetry, grout on the tile, dirt on the carpet, coffee stains on the wood (from the multiple drivers), etc.  We marked them all for easy identification.
• The track for the front windshield sun screen was installed upside down.
• The bedroom air conditioner would not run on low fan.
• Some sealing tape on the roof was peeling back.
• An awning on one of the 4 slide-outs needed replacement.
• The front Monaco emblem was damaged.
• The stereo system made a loud buzzing noise when any 12 volt device was used.
• The kitchen blind was scratched and needed replacement.

On Monday, April 30th we handed the rig over to DeMartini's excellent service techs.  All of them, Scott, Bryan and J.C. worked on our rig at one time or another over the next week and a half and did a great job.  J.D., the service manager, was our contact for the day-to-day progress of the repairs and he did a good job of managing the process.  While waiting for replacement parts to arrive, Rod personally gave us some hands-on driving lessons.  The process to fix the problems we found with the coach was beginning to take longer than we expected.  Unfortunately, some of the parts they needed were still on backorder and no one could be sure when they would arrive.  They were things that could wait for a return trip to Wakarusa in October.  So we decided to get back on the CoolJourney trail and bid fond farewell to the DeMartini staff and other co-campers at Camp DeMartini.  With clouds on the horizon and a song in our hearts, we headed out on our own (finally!) on Thursday, May 10th for Gettysburg, PA.  SCREEEEECCH!!! Not so fast, grasshopper.

There we were humming along the freeway peacefully about 130 miles east of Wakarusa.  The storms were starting to pelt us.  No problem, driver Bill just tightened his grip and didn't let the 18-wheelers whizzing by make him too nervous.  The storm increased its intensity and it was time for the 'ole windshield wipers.  Ahhh, now that's better I can see now.  However, Mother Nature decided to teach me a lesson, so she unleashed torrential rain, lightning and thunder.  No problem, just bump up the windshield wipers to high and wipe away that rain.  Just then, a flash of lightning and immediate crack of thunder seemingly a few hundred feet away startled us - in that instant our windshield wipers quit functioning.  Hmmm… driver Bill tightened his grip so that one could see his 10 white knuckles easily from a distance.  Stark fear and panic began to grip him… "Dear", he said to his copilot, who was beginning to rue the day she bought this motorhome, "is there a rest stop nearby?".  Fortunately, there was one just 3 miles (might I add long, blurry miles) down the road.  We arrived finally, carefully pulled into a parking space and began to breath a sigh of relief.  That was when water started pouring in over the top of the closed and locked entry door.  Houston, we have a problem.

We sat in the rest stop and while baling water out of the motorhome (just kidding) we evaluated our options.  Continue down the road after the storm passed, drive 130 miles back to DeMartini's for repairs (that's 260 miles round trip or 30+ gallons fuel on a toll road) or call for a mobile repair service.  We called DeMartini's and told them what happened and that we would be coming back.  We arrived there at about 4 PM and immediately two service techs (thanks J.C and Bryan) and J.D, the service manager, all started working on our coach.  Other people having their rigs worked on recognized our plight and did not complain about techs being pulled off of their rigs to help us.  Rod Martin came out as soon as we arrived and assured us they would make the repairs.  As another example of his GREAT customer support, he authorized the techs to remove the needed windshield wiper parts from a new rig to put on to our rig so we could be back on our way.  Once again, DeMartini came to the rescue.  Sure, we were unhappy that something broke, but they did everything in their power to "make it right".

After once again bidding farewell to the DeMartini staff, we headed down the road.  We ended up staying at a designated camping area in an Ohio Turnpike rest area.  It was quite nice and we sure needed the rest.  The next day we went to Berea, OH near Cleveland to have a M&G brake system installed on our 2007 Honda CR-V (Kermit).  Susan managed to guide Bill down some narrow local roads and across a load-restricted bridge to Berea Automotive Engineering - with no apparent parking.  After resolving that issue we handed Kermit over to the capable folks at Berea Automotive, admired the numerous Bentleys and Rolls Royce undergoing renovation next door, and explored the neighborhood. 

After they worked on Kermit for a few hours it was noon and we had lunch with the owner (Charley) and technician (David) at a local eatery.  David did a great job and it was everything was buttoned up by mid-afternoon.  We then headed off to our next fabulous accommodation at 'Camp' Wal-Mart in a small town called Mt. Pleasant south of Pittsburgh.  On our way we discovered that the Pennsylvania Turnpike was much more expensive than the Ohio Turnpike and that Bill could negotiate a bus with tow vehicle through a roundabout.  Neither of these discoveries was particularly welcomed.

After a few more driving "challenges", including miles of construction, reduced lane widths, jersey walls, narrow mountain roads, and 19th Century streets, we arrived safely - and much relieved - at Artillery Ridge Campground in Gettysburg, PA.