Finding Miss Poppy

It was a journey to find Miss Poppy!

I love traveling. This year alone I racked up thousands of miles criss-crossing the United States via all modes of transportation.

My Poppy quest all started back in May. I had just finished a cross-country planes, trains, and automobiles trip and was driving up the freeway from another small outing, thinking about my next trip to New Mexico. Really, I was pondering all things travel. 

Ever since I became mostly-retired, I had ideas about a long cross-country road trip to visit friends and family and to see the grand old U.S.A. I had even sketched out an 8-week adventure for 2021, when I quit my job. I never did the trip, but the calendar stayed on my desk.

I was pondering all things travel on the freeway that day when I passed a Cruise America RV. A lightbulb went off. 

RV!  That’s the (non-plane, non-train) ticket!

Part One: The Thinks

I immediately started researching. My first stop was Cruise America, the huge rental company. Yes, they sold their previously-rented Class C rigs. And for cheap! I could grab one real quick for not much money and start some adventures! If I like it, I can upgrade later to something better with lower miles.

Then I measured my parking space. Ummm, well, maybe something smaller. 

So, I researched and read. And read. And read. And I measured my space again. And I read some more. I visited an RV dealer in Albuquerque on that next trip to New Mexico. I started leaning toward a Class B, which were suited to me and my visions of travel. I read some more and took notes. 

I thought a lot about the use of my RV-to-be. I read in my research someone who described their style as “I camp to travel, not travel to camp.” Exactly! I want to explore nature and cities! I want something that can go anywhere. Class Bs (aka camper vans) were where the thing: compact, can go anywhere a car can go, and fuel efficient (ish! Good for an RV anyway!).

At that time, in late May, I was initially pretty set on a Class B from Pleasureway. I had looked inside a few, and they had really good reviews online. Then I did another check for highly-rated Class Bs and found Winnebago Travato. Ooooh! Winnebago! They make good RVs! Tell me more! 

Travato. Now, there was a rig! It checked all the boxes! 

But even then, I was still unsure. Is it really better than Pleasureway? And which floorpan? Lithium batteries or not? What year? How do I find more information from owners?

I found a Facebook group: Travato Owners and Wannabes (TOAW). Boom, done. I found my tribe. Seriously one of the best groups out there. Friendly, helpful, and they love their Ts! Have a problem? Post it, and a dozen people will quickly offer suggestions. Have a question? Search, and there are ten threads about the same question. And if not, ask! Several of the 19,700 members will lend a hand. Yes, people post about issues and frustrations. But there were many more singing the praises of their Ts. And thousands more who did not post at all, because they were having too much fun traveling in their Travato!

For months I tracked prices on the major sites where dealers and private parties sell their rigs. I read and read and read some more. I queued up YouTube videos. I asked questions. I pondered the costs and the reasons for upgrading to the version with Lithium batteries. I read on model year changes. What could I sacrifice for the sake of the cost? My thoughts started gelling. 

I’m gonna go for it! I’m gonna get the rig I want, cost be darned! I had thoughts of possibly renting it when I wasn’t using it, to help with that darned cost!

Yes. I finally knew: Travato GL. “G” is for the floorpan, and “L” means lithium. The G floorpan has a full-size bed in the back and a dinette table and bench seat up front. At night, the dinette table and seat cushions can fit together to make another full-size bed, fondly known as the “puzzle bed” among Travatoans. It was perfect for me! It’ll be just me and my kitty most of the time, but I have Trish, my lifelong friend and travel buddy, and she will need a place to sleep. I needed a space for Trish, no matter what! 

Lithium batteries mean that the rig will always have power. There is no need to plug it in, and as such, I can park it anywhere and enjoy all the comforts, including air conditioning, without a generator. Stealth camping! Yesssss!

I landed on either of two model years: a 2020.5 or 2021.Those two model years are the "unicorn" of the Gs. There were major upgrades mid-year 2020, but in 2022 Winnebago eliminated the beloved puzzle bed. 

I was going to go for it. Now, to find my unicorn.

Part Two: The Hunt

I had read that Autumn was a great time to buy an RV. People were selling after their travel seasons, new models were coming, and dealers wanted to clear their lots, plus there were fewer buyers heading into winter. So, I watched the major platform sites where people sell, as well as the TOAW group and a couple other RV buy/sell Facebook groups. There was chatter that prices were falling, as there had been a boom in RV sales during the pandemic, and now people were selling. A glut of used Travatos? Yes, please!

Toward the end of September, I was finally ready to pull the trigger. So I gathered up some dough and started seriously looking at what was available on the major selling sites. 

There were a few scattered across the county at prices a bit above what I wanted to pay. I spotted a National Parks Edition Travato on TOAW that had an attractive price and was not too far away, in San Jose. But then, I decided, hey, why not check Facebook Marketplace? You just never know. 

What’s this? Of the several Travatos listed up and down the state, there was only one of my unicorns. Decently low miles. A very attractive price. And just 90 miles away, in Los Angles! I sent a message. 

What happened next was the best buying experience anyone could ever hope for. 

Part Three: The Buy

I messaged Mr. A on Thursday. He responded promptly and answered my peppering of questions. Now, I am a dyed-in-the-wool introvert. I don’t like talking on the phone. So when he gave me his phone number, I had to put on my big-girl pants and make the call. Found the nicest man you’ll ever know on the other side.

He volunteered plenty of information about the van, and I had a really good feeling about him and about the van. In my job I’ve had to get to know thousands of people and personalities. I know how to read people. And Mr. A was a good guy, I knew.

I called my friend Claudia who, early on in my unicorn journey, had volunteered to go with me – even across country – to get my rig when I found it. Claudia was up for a drive to LA the day after tomorrow. Mr. A was available. It was on!

Meeting him, Claudia and I both knew he was genuinely a nice man. He really liked his Travato, but health problems kept him from traveling after his first year of RVing. 

He gave us the tour. He immediately pointed out two minor - and I mean minor - cosmetic issues with the T. And set about showing us what he could. He didn’t know how a lot of it worked, as he never used them! 

TV? Never used it. 

Shower? "I never took a shower; I don't fit!" 

Kitchen? This retired chef never did more than boil water. "Where's the dishwasher?" Does it have a navigation system? Or connect to ApplePlay? “I don’t know.”

Claudia and Mr. A and I soon piled into the van, along with his sweet Weiner dogs Lucy and Soliel (and their bed) for a test drive.

I drove it around the neighborhood streets in LA and on the freeway, and I was impressed. It felt solid but not heavy. It did indeed drive like a car. I had been worried about loosey-goosey steering or mushy breaks, but all seemed good. There were a few rattles, but there’s a lot of stuff back there! An RV is gonna rattle. 

I was liking what I was seeing, so it was time for business. 

I am NOT a negotiator. I hate haggling, so this part was had made me anxious. I also didn’t want to pay more than $xxx. In my head, I had a game plan for negotiations. 

But sitting in his beautiful backyard, it felt relaxed. He had told me that he had other people coming to look at it the same day, so my negotiations plan kinda went by the wayside. He also said that he had other offers before, but they tried to lowball him and he didn’t play. 

So I asked, “So you are firm on your asking price?” 

“I’m pretty firm, but I can go down a little.”

“Will you take $xxx?

“Yes.” 

Done. 

“What can I give you to hold it?” I said, as I prepared to reach for the envelope of cash in my purse. 

“Nothing. I will just tell the other party it is sold.”

And then he said, “I didn’t want to jinx it so I didn’t say anything, but when I talked to you on the phone, I got such a good feeling about you. I thought, ‘OK, I have my buyer. She’s the one.’”

Awwww and I felt the same!

I had planned on it anyway, but all the “I don’t know how it works” cemented my desire to get it inspected before I put my money on it. Hopefully it truly is as good as it seems. Before we shook hands and said goodbye, I told him I would research inspections and get back to him. 

When I got home, I found a text message.

 

A few days later, I jaunted down to take it to a RAM dealer for a checkup, and a couple days after that Claudia drove me down to bring her home. A few hours later, and Poppy was in my driveway.

Ok, I ask you: who has had a better purchase experience?