Cruisers Forum
Main Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: garmp on September 05, 2016, 04:55:23 pm
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How many times did you visit the PC plant before buying your PC? And/or how many walk thru's, personal up close, tire kicking experiences did you have before you signed on the dotted line? We're interested in a 2100, but have never even seen one other than on line. Headed to the UP of Michigan and passing near the PC factory & want to stop in to ask a ton of questions. DW is anxious to start the ball rolling, but I have to have an up close tire kicking experience before I make a commitment. What's your experience been?
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Toured holly's in Florida, visited the factory on the way back to MI, sold ours, bought a PC. Just LOVE it!
Janey (still restless in MI)
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We did lots of online research, then took a week trip around the Midwest to tour the plants of the four finalists. Phoenix emerged the clear winner. That said we did not see our specific model before we ordered and and we should have insisted on seeing the paint color we chose on a vehicle. Everything turned out ok but our expectations were not matched by what was delivered. It is a big investment take your time.
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We visited the plant 3 times and purchased on our 3rd visit. We did see our model 2351 on our 2nd visit. We visited 4 manufacturers in total so we had a pretty good idea of the build process. That said, we modified our 2351, took out the bathroom wall, so we never saw our unique model until delivery. But seeing the quality that is put into any model helps to build confidence about your own specific model.
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We have been kicking tire for two years. Look at used PCs and notice color schemes and interior materials. Full body paint just looks so good, if you want to out the coin to get it. Also we are leaning to cloth interior vs simulated leather. I actually saw a Coach House for 90k+ with driver and passenger leather seats wore out and shedding.
Ron
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We kicked the tires of a 2350 at an RV show before ordering that same floor plan minus the slide out. I would not recommend ordering a floor plan you have never walked through. Find someone in your area with the floor plan you are serious about. What might look right for you in pictures and floor plan diagrams, may not work in reality. It is hard enough to get it right after walking through the one you want. Just ask the people who traded in their first on a second one, a few people did that twice to get it right...3rd time's a charm.
We did good with our choices for us with our taste and desires from our previous RVing experience. There will be always something trivial to do differently. I was able to address some things myself after the fact. We are still on our #1 after nine years and plan to keep it that way until our drivers licenses are taken from us. At age 58 now, that is still some time away. Then it will be back to #0.
I think it is good to walk through the floor plan you want via a private owner's unit as well as at the factory. If the owner is honest, he will share the bad along with the good. That is something you can't get from the factory. The owner could enlighten you about the lack of storage, issues with sleeping accommodations, lack of sufficient cooling, poor handling.....as some examples. If it's an older unit, he could share how well his rig has held up, issues dealt with, etc. At the same time, you can get much of that same kind of information from us here. But seeing it rather than reading it will be better education.
But don't skip the factory visit either, even if they don't have your floor plan. You'll learn tons from that visit.
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Do what makes you comfortable. That is different for everyone.
I saw one used PC bigger than I wanted. Don't remember specific model but design and finishes impressed me. Was really looking for a used RV (down to 3 manufacturers) when a killer deal was offered on a new custom ordered PC 2100. The original purchaser cancelled. Took the measurements and made an outline on my garage floor. Walked it for a day and bought it. My one concern was the tight space between the end of the bed (when couch is open) and table. It was solved by giving my husband who rarely gets up in the night the far side of the bed.
I was also very luck that we had very few minor problems that were quickly fixed after i returned to Colorado. Have had it for four years and only problems have been self-inflicted, not manufacturing defects.
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We walked the 2350 and 2552 at the Hershey RV show then added Phoenix to our list of 5 finalists to research further. We linked up with Tom Hanlon here on the forum and walked his 2552… twice (thank you Tom!) Tom made us stand in the shower, sit on the toilet, lay down on the beds, sit on the couch and so on. We went back to measure space and take pictures. We then drove to the factory and walked the assembly line asking questions about the installation of our cell phone booster, potential options we wanted, and so on. We ordered that same day. Note that when you visit the factory, you may not see the model you want but you do see every step of the assembly. They usually have a unit at each station from the bare frame with heat shields being installed (where we talked to the installer), through the plumbing and electric (where we talked with the electrician), on through four or five more stops where the cabinets, bath fixtures, TV's and sound systems, refrigerators, slides, etc. are installed. If the installer is on site, you can talk to him/her. We were able to tour several units in the finishing area that were being picked up in a day or so plus any trade-ins on the lot. Besides seeing many of the interior and exterior colors in person waiting pick up, we sat in the customer lounge and checked out the sample boards for each color scheme offered before selecting ours. I agree that you should tour the factory if at all possible and if you can find the unit you want, check it out. Earl might be able to help you. He contacted us directly to ask if we’d show ours to a couple of potential buyers that wanted to see a 2552 in person and we were happy to oblige for one of them but were out of the area for the other so Tom jumped in and showed his rig. Most Phoenix owners are happy to show off their baby.
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We mostly kicked the tires online (this forum and the PC website). We drove from the SF Bay Area to the LA area to take a look at a used 2551, but that was the extent of our experience with a real live PC before we purchased our 2552. Didn't need much more to make our decision. Our layout, colors, etc were all stock and available to see online. We didn't go to the factory and we had our rig delivered to us (Kermit's son drove it out to us)
If we would have done anything differently it probably would have been to pick up the unit at the factory ourselves. We had a few 'simple' initial issues (all related to some of the 'custom' work we had done) that were difficult to remotely resolve. If found while we were still at or near the factory, they could have easily been rectified.
- Mike
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We had a smallish Gulf Stream BT Cruiser, and went searching for a larger rig we could travel in for longer periods. We looked on line and when we found the site for Phoenix cruiser we watched each and every video half dozen times, we were convinced this was the RV for us. The construction videos were what really convinced us. We found a used 2011 3100, and last Wed. we flew down to Florida to look it over. It is exactly as we expected. We drove it back to New York the next day, a few steps ahead of the hurricane. I would have preferred to visit the factory and meet these fine people in person, but sometimes you just have to take the leap.
BTW, this is my first post, but I look forward to sharing experiences, asking advice, and generally joining the PC community.
Peace
Nancy G
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You are welcome Holly for the fine comments about our first two meetings.
Welcome Nancy.
(w)
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Thank you!
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We first saw a PC at an RV show about a dozen years ago, back when they had a dealer network. Saw another one after a few more years at an RV dealer and looked it over carefully.
Five years ago, we decided to move from the Class B World to the Class C World. We researched online for many months and concluded that for our needs the PC 2350 was as close as we could get to our list of "wants". The size of the tanks was a big consideration since we mostly camp in the boonies. I took the online drawing of the 2350 and carefully laid out the floor plan in chalk on our driveway. Now, that my friends is really thinking through the layout!! I monitored this and other forums for a time, examined all the pictures, videos, etc of all the models and watched some youtube, non Phoenix produced clips featuring PCs. We monitored rvtrader.com.
OK, we will fly up to Chicago on good old Southwest points, pick up a car and drive over to Elkhart to spec out a 2350. We had carefully gone through the list and figured out most exactly what we did and did not want. Well, almost simultaneously an eleven month old PC2350 was suddenly listed for sale.....less than five miles from our house. 7700 miles and essentially two trips on that baby. We called the guy, went over there to meet him an hour later, examined it carefully, checked out who he was (a prominent local home builder retired a few months earlier who now wanted a diesel pusher) and made a deal in less than sixty minutes, closed that day. Three years later, we are still amazed at this coincidence and have now enjoyed this rig for exactly three years.
Our rig is equipped at a higher level of options than we would have ordered, so we got a lot of "extras" as a bonus. We couldn't believe our luck. How many PC 2350s are even made in a year? I don't know but I do know the number is low. Very low.
We knew what we wanted. We have had two other Class Cs and three Class Bs over the years and I have done all the coach maintenance on all of them, so I have a pretty good understanding of RV construction and quality. That allowed us to make a deal in an hour and save a lot of dough compared to a new unit.
Paul