Since our original thoughts of buying an RV, we have attended 8 RV shows and visited 5 RV dealers. There’s so much to look at out there and so many choices. There is literally an RV style and model for every purpose.
Our goal from the beginning was to travel full-time. We needed space for everything we use in daily life.
Since we already had experience with travel trailers, 5th wheels, and class A’s, we kind of knew what we wanted to go with.
Tiffin makes many different coaches with different floor plans. Our must have list included diesel pusher, good basement storage, all-electric, king size bed, and comfortable seating in the living space. We wanted some kind of recliners. Laura really wanted a fireplace, maybe a dishwasher.
The more we looked, we gravitated towards the Tiffin Phaeton 40IH. It’s a model that really sits in the sweet-spot of what works in a 40 foot coach. No wonder it’s the best selling model for several years. Unfortunately, Laura did not get her fireplace. We chose the theater seats on the drivers side across from a pull out sofa-bed since we would need some sleeping space for the occasional visitor. So, no fireplace…
Of course once you get the layout picked, then you need to start picking colors. Cabinet wood, floor tile, and fabric colors are all variable. There are also exterior colors to pick. We liked the amber glazed wood option along with the lighter floor tile (polished ivory), counter tops (opal), and fabrics (cumin). Additional options we chose were solar prep with upgraded wire (4 gauge), pre-wired for traveler satellite, Winegard Connect, 1 exterior slide tray, Mobile Eye, stacked washer/dryer, U shaped dinette, no artwork, and custom paint. The custom paint is a color scheme borrowed from the Allegro Bus line called “Smokey Teal”.
After reading Tiffin related message boards for months and visiting several local dealers, we decided to place an order with one of the three dealers that specialize in custom, direct orders. We knew we weren’t staying in Florida, so buying from a local dealer didn’t really buy us anything and we wanted the best possible price. These dealers generally discount 27-30% off of the MSRP. They also don’t provide a whole lot of service or hand-holding, so you need to be somewhat knowledgeable and self-training.
We went with Davis Motorhome Mart in Memphis, TN. The order was placed on January 25th. At that time, Tiffin was quoting a 15-16 week lead time, a little more than we had counted on, since we needed to be out of our condo by April 27th.
About March, we were at a local dealer for no good reason, just anxious to get our coach and wanted to just browse. We looked at several 40IH’s on the lot, bounced back and forth between two in particular and realized we needed to make two changes to our order. Did we still have time? Could we get it done? We wanted to change the wood color to mocha. It played off the contrast with the lighter counter tops so much better than the amber glaze. Also we wanted to change the U shaped dinette to the computer workstation / dining table & chairs. Thinking about the hours I was going to have to spend in the coach working remotely seemed to make the dinette not the best option. I also wanted the Winegard Connect deleted. My feeling is that it is old technology, not that useful, and expensive for what it does.
The next day we called Davis and requested the changes. Tiffin reported that yes, they still had time, the coach hadn’t quite made it to the build queue yet. We were close! The other good news was the schedule had been moved up and it would ship about April 23rd. Wow, we needed to get busy…
While keeping in touch with the dealer and trying not to bother Tiffin too much, we found out the order had been mangled somewhat. A confirmation letter showed the sleeping dinette (which we never wanted) selected and the Winegard Connect back on the list. Several frantic emails and phone calls later got it straighted out, but it was a lesson learned to stay on top of your order and insist they send you confirmation paperwork directly from Tiffin…
For the next month, we scrambled to get rid of more stuff, move everything we didn’t need into our storage unit, make plans to move out of our condo, and drive to Memphis.
On April 16th we got a call from Davis – It’s here!
