Auto Ramblings

By Dave B.

It is best to do your homework

Welcome.

In the last two posts I went over my choice on a new off road vehicle that would take me on excursions into the wilderness in practicality, style, and overall comfort. I had finally decided on the Sportsmobile Company located 90 miles away, so it was time to sit down and look over SMB’s plans and brochures. I had to make an estimate on how much I was going to spend and what I could afford. I also had to look into the financing and get an idea how much insurance would cost me. There is no sense having a vehicle like this if you can’t afford to put it on the road. It would be foolish to pay 100K for a vehicle that sits most of the year. Renting a vehicle would be cheaper in the long run, not to mention the maintenance alone. SMB requires you to buy or put down a deposit on the van itself when you order it. If you plan to buy a vehicle MAKE A PHONE CALL TO SMB AND DISCUSS THE PROCEDURE. What I did was to put down a minimum deposit and paid for the van when it came in. I had the 32K (the price of the van) in an account ready for SMB when they requested it. Then I prepared several loan rates on the total conversion (what the loan would cost me in the end) that fit my budget. ANOTHER PRIORITY THAT’S REQUIRED; YOU NEED TO HAVE THE VEHICLE INSURED BEFORE YOU CAN DRIVE IT AWAY. I called several insurance companies and found a wide spread among the companies. My driving record was squeaky clean, and even though I drive Class A vehicles, prices varied. I soon found this was a confusing issue. Apparently there is some reluctance to insure van conversions as RV’s. One big selling point for me was that insurance was supposed to be cheaper on a RV than a standard vehicle. But prices changed from agent to agent even within the same company. Going on line to the SMB user groups did help a little, but many times I found what others advised me on was something I could not get. My personal agent (State Farm) gave me a quote that rattled my bones. They said it was impossible to compete with companies that deal with RV’s only. OK, I went on line and started looking and soon found quite a few willing to take me on. I got quotes, phone numbers, and addresses. I did not like dealing with companies I have never heard of, especially if they were out of state. Did they even exist? If I totaled the vehicle could I depend on them to deliver? And what if I broke down in the back country, would they come get me? Well I never did find an insurance company that will pick you up in the back country. If there is one out there, I would like to know. The premiums varied widely with each company. The worst brick wall I encountered was, to many insurance companies, a toilet and black water tank were require to classify a van as an RV. I planned to have the standard amenities, shore power hookup, refrigerator, sink, hot water, shower, sleeping quarters, microwave (stove), D/C-A/C power inverter, and a gray water holding tank. I figured that a Porta Potti would cover the head portion, but there were qualms about this. Was this because it could be removed? If you think about it, most any of these items could be removed if you put your mind to it. This toilet thing varied from agent to agent, and even company to company, so excuse me, it pissed me off! I called around and put the crapper question to all of the carriers that sparked my interest. Geico, Progressive, and Foremost gave me some higher quotes but would not give me a definite answer on the head issue. State Farm and AAA said no way; it had to have a permanently mounted marine toilet. This is strange because several SMB owners have stated that some of these companies cover them with no problems and they have porta pottie’s. Maybe I got an agent or agent assistant that did not know what he or she was talking about. REMEMBER, JUST BECAUSE THE AGENT SAYS YOU ARE COVERED, AFTER AN ACCIDENT, THINGS MIGHT CHANGE! This is no time to try to get a cheaper rate by misleading or being misled by anyone. Good Sam was the best to deal with but on the high side also. Then I found a company called Explorer RV. Great quote over the phone as well as a written estimate sent to me by mail. I called them several times during the vans construction, keeping in touch and updating them on changes in design while it was being built. OK let’s jump to the delivery date. Two days before my delivery date, I called to reserve a rental car and phoned Explorer to inform them I would be on my way to pick up the van. Everything was looked good until the day I was to leave. Crap, rental car problems. After a long and upsetting argument with Enterprise, I was finally off to Fresno my head pounding with frustration and excitement. Then low and behold, when I called Explorer from SMB to give them the VIN # and my money, the premium jumped way up in price. On top of that the agent also said they (Explorer) would not comply with the full replacement value clause that I insisted on. I was in a pinch and ready to chew some butt. I asked for the agent who I had been in touch with for the last 4 months and was told she no longer worked there. This is unacceptable and Explorer RV didn’t even care. So moral of the story, HAVE SOME BACKUP PLANS! Most people don’t go through this but I did. Thank God I had those backups. I pulled out my file I took along and found the Good Sam (GMAC) quote through Camping World. All I could hope for was driving away with a good company covering me. I didn’t have time to do the necessary research, so there was a big jump of faith thing going on here. Kind of scary considering I just got burned. Camping World/Good Sam had my information on hand and within 30 minutes I was rockin and Rollin, well almost Rollin. SMB had a little problem with my front lockers, one of those issues I talked about in the previous posting. Heber, Randy and Leo did a little OT to get me on the road, but later I would have to return to finally fix the bug, but I am getting off the subject here. It got fixed.

As far as the financing, I went through my Credit Union without any problems. The only problem was using the van as a tax write off. Rather that go through the van vs. RV thing again, (the Feds also seem to have an issue with the crapper on what constitutes an RV) I just did a second against some property I own, and this was done well in advance of the pickup date.

The day started off with a headache because of a rental car company, a short drive that took forever, an upset stomach due to a lousy insurance company, mixed feeling being overwhelmed during the walk around, and a feeling of doom because I thought I wouldn’t be driving my new toy home. With a lot of self conscience cussing and a verbal prayer it was over. I was on the road. I made it home exhausted.

Do your homework!

Click here to see the sample insurance quotes>>>Insurance Quote

By Dave B.

Hello 4X4 enthusiasts. In my last post I went over what I was looking for in a camping rig that would get me into the back country where most RV’s can’t go. I ended up choosing a Van conversion manufactured by a US based company known as Sportsmobile. The company has been in business since 1961 and claims to be the oldest RV van manufacture in North America. In all fairness I have to reiterate one item I commented on in the last post. I have had problems with my vehicle. By no means is this a stab at Sportsmobile. It’s a fact that some owners have had more problems and some have had little or maybe none. If you archive the SMBYahoo user groups you will find several posts dealing with issues that some have had. Some deal with workmanship during the install. I knew that I would have problems and took this into account before I made my purchase. We all look for the most high tech stuff we can pack into a package and SMB tries to keep up with this. Most standard RV companies pump out clone after clone on a normal assembly line, and their products are usually put through the ringers before it’s released to the public. In my opinion this would be difficult for a company like SMB where each vehicle is more or less unique. Many of their time tested options have been rock solid and work great. But everything can be improved, and many times new products are coming at them so fast that a buyer might end up as some sort of a beta tester. Of the 17 plus problems I have had (to date), more than half were product failures from the company that manufactures it. Three have been design problems from Sportsmobile, two that happen to be ongoing for my vehicle. Workmanship has accounted for a grand tally of four, in which one was catastrophic that resulted in a long distance tow. As I write this, I seem to be having a charging problem that may or may not be Sportsmobile’s problem. Even I caused one problem that required me to return to Fresno and I was not charged for the repair. During construction there was a problem with where I wanted my 2-way radio mounted, but their crew bent over backwards for me. SMB continues to improve day by day and they are more than willing to work out the problems with the customer, it just might take some time.

During a recent off road adventure, I had a minor malfunction. The picture above shows the removable sway bar disconnect. The red arrow points to the stud that sheared off while driving over very uneven ground. We just disconnected the sway bar and continued on. The sway bar disconnect lets the wheel travel further when removed and adds highway stability when connected. It did give us a smoother ride on the rough road when we released it.

I could have waited to have the stud replaced, but returned to Fresno the next day and had the sway bar repaired. I also had them change out a failed control panel that operates the inverter and shore charging systems.

As I said in my last post, I would purchase again even knowing of the potential problems that might occur. Stuff fails from time to time.

With that said I must admit that when I first started out, I planned on a vehicle priced between 85,000 and 95,000. As I added options to my dream vehicle, it soon became a monetary monster. If I knew that this vehicle was going to end up at over 115K I might have made a different choice. I’m glad I didn’t go with larger rig from some other company, even though I was drawn toward the Earth Roamer. It sure was one nice looking vehicle and being the SMB was looking around 85K, jumping to 115-120K may have been a factor on where I wanted to go. Later after I had used the SMB in the field, I found a big advantage to a smaller vehicle. Folks with Jeeps might think the same thing about my SMB. Many off roaders think it looks like a tank, but I found that luxury out weighed many other elements while camping or when boondocking off four wheel drive roads. So what I am saying here is this; at first I was more worried about the inside being large enough to be comfortable for me with plenty of space to haul all my equipment. This steered me toward larger vehicles. It was only after I made my purchase that I realized how versatile my Sportsmobile was and where it could go. Sometimes bigger is not better. I had done my fair share of off roading, but with this vehicle, moving from spot to spot became easier, especially on long trips. In the future this is something I plan to do more of and being able to tear down and set up fast sure makes it nice. Many of the trails I have traveled over have been tight for me, and if you are worried about scratching up your vehicle, a larger rig might be right up your alley. So if you have no wish to travel on narrow trails with low clearances you might want to buy something that is roomier. With a big rig you have to stay on the larger trails or plan to make a lot of stops with some kind of a saw. Even I carry pruning shears, but I still rely on a spotter to guide me.

In tight situations like this I usually hear stuff like “Go, OK, Whoa, or the standard loud yell STOP!??? I hate cutting my way into an area. Now here is the next thing I have to say; don’t plan on going everywhere a Jeep can go! It’s just not going to happen. You can get close, but physics is going to come into play here sooner or later, just like the fact that a Jeep can’t go where a quad can. And don’t think a 10,000 pound four wheel drive van is going to fly over one foot ruts like a Baja rig. This will not happen either. If you hit a hard bump going 30 it will usually scatter all kinds of stuff inside the van. A Sportsmobile is actually more suited to rock crawling. Are you going to rock crawl like a Jeep? Nope. But you would be surprised what this vehicle can do. I have seen quite a few grins from off roaders when they see a vehicle as large as mine crashing through the brush or chugging up a trail. Needless to say, my van has its share of scratches because where it’s been. I still hate the screeching sounds of brush scraping the sides and avoid it when possible, but sometimes you’re stuck with no way to turn back. It’s up to the buyer to determine whether or not this vehicle suits your need. What it did for me was to open a new world, giving me the opportunity to explore the US in a different and unique way. It sure put a few other hobbies on the back burner, but I’m not complaining at all. So if getting away from the mass population and being adventurous is up your alley a Sportsmobile might be for you.