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So, we were all set to attend the Tampa RV show. It’s the largest RV show in the States and we thought it would be fun to check out all the new designs.

We also planned to check out a couple of used coaches that were nearby while we were in the Tampa area. I have been scouring RVTrader and RVT.com for used motorhomes for quite some time and a new listing popped up that I wanted to check out. We arrived in the Tampa area Tuesday and the show didn’t start until Wednesday morning so we made arrangements to go see this 2008 Newmar Dutch Star that afternoon.

We planned to just go and take a look and then attend the RV show on Wednesday and Thursday. Well, we never made it to the show. We bought the coach! It was in very good condition inside and out and had all the must have items on our list and most of the highly desirable features as well. We got a great deal that fit our budget and so we just had to pull the trigger. We had pretty much zeroed in on the Dutch Star as the coach we wanted so it was just a matter of time before the right coach at the right price came on the market and this one did.

I have been researching the purchase of a coach for full timing for close to two years. Lots of reading through the various forums (check the resources section) to get educated on the various RV types, floor plans, must have features etc. We went to a smaller RV show a year ago to walk through various models and get a feel for how that would work for us. You can read that post here. I’ve also developed a pretty good feel for prices for various models and model years. I knew what the going rate was for this model motorhome. The deal we got was a good one and we knew we had to jump on it.

Another big plus on this coach was fairly new tires and batteries. Both are only a couple years old. Tires for these big motorhomes are expensive. $600-$800 each times eight tires. They need to be replaced every 7-8 years regardless of wear so having fairly new tires was huge. It would not be unusual for a 2008 model to have original tires and would need replacement right away. This coach also has six batteries, four to run the “house” and two to start the engine and having those relatively new avoids yet another expense. We do plan to add a lot of solar capacity in the near future so more battery capacity will be needed but for now we’re good to go on these two items.

The dealer that we’re buying it from has some items to fix yet and they will clean and detail the coach since they had just gotten it in shortly before we came to see it. We are going back to Tampa to pick it up this week and get a thorough walk through of all the systems so we know how everything operates. We’ll also get some time behind the wheel with a knowledgeable instructor before we head off on our own. The whole delivery process will take about two days.

It looks like a big coach and it is. But it will be our home. We will have no house besides this one and it’s only a few hundred square feet inside. For us, this not just a motorhome but a “vehicle” to a new lifestyle. A lifestyle focused on experiences rather than material things. It will allow us to spend the required time in an area to experience it more fully before moving on. We can then travel to the next destination without having to go “home” in between trips. Because now, home is where we park it.