2 - Dealing for an Orion

There are lots of Coachmen dealers, but not a lot of Orion dealers. I found Orion sale listings in Michigan, Nebraska, Texas, Montana, Nevada, California. The only dealers convenient to us were in Scottsdale, AZ, and Colorado Springs, CO. In early May, 2016, we decided to look at a 24RB model that the Scottsdale dealer had on our migration from our Yuma winter home back to our Colorado home. The Orion looked good to us, but the salesman declared it would not be capable of towing our Smart ForTwo car, which was absolutely necessary. So we left discouraged and having to rethink our needs.

A couple of weeks later, the Scottsdale manager emailed me to say the salesman was wrong. Despite the limited use warning label by the hitch, he said the hitch was rated up to tow 3,000 pounds as long as we did not exceed the Transit gross combined weight limit and  300 lb. hitch weight. Since our Smart is less than 1,900 lb. loaded, it seemed we would be OK to pursue a Transit Orion. I expect the RV manufacturers rate things with an abundance of caution against liability from people doing stupid things.

So we looked to the Colorado Springs dealer. They only had a Promaster Orion in stock but, being almost identical in layout, we inspected it closely to see if it was really right for us. When we tried to get specific with the salesman, who was also the dealership owner, we were left with the impression that (1) he was going to do things his way, (2) he was in no hurry to order a new Orion since he had one to sell, (3) his price was the price, (4) he would reluctantly consider our trade but indicated it wasn't worth much.

Being in no particular hurry, we decided to market our Lexor ourselves while enjoying some summer camping and travel in it. By August, 2016, we had no reasonable offers for the Lexor. The Scottsdale dealer contacted us to say they had a Transit Orion and would trade if we were still in the market. I said we were; what would a trade look like? He gave a trade figure that was not bad. I countered with what I wanted and he accepted. With the sales tax saved on a trade vs. a full retail purchase, and the price Scottsdale had on the Orion ($3k less than CO Springs), we felt it was a good deal.

So, near the end of August, we were ready to do the deal.