RV Station Resort

Very disrespectful display of a customer's time and effort. I drive 90 miles North, in the rain, to see a 2005 Chinook Motor home (asking $49K+) , and they don't even have the ability to demonstrate that everything is working. My wife will not camp in a tent, and I need the ability to tow our 4000lb boat (we make yearly trips to visit my mother in Tampa, and visit the Florida Keys for SCUBA and Fishing). In the past year, I had driven 2 other Chinooks, one of them also being a Glacier (with more featres, cool/warm cup holders, and for only $39K) and I was convinced that a Chinook Motorhome could tow my boat and satisfy my wife's comfort level while we camped/fishing/SCUBA. We had visited other RV sales lots, and I simply don't like the current selection or Quality of the Winnebago (my wife likes these) or other Class C/B+ motor homes. After seeing this Chinnook for sale on RVtrader for the past 3 weeks, I decided to bring my wife and view/test drive this unit. I called, and spoke to the sales representative Gerald, and he indicated they would pull the unit from around back (sounded like it was "blocked-in" by newer units). Gerald clearly demonstrated that he didn't know anything about this model/manufacturer. He failed to get the slide-out to work, or the generator to power on, until another representative (while we waited) arrived to provide instructions (emergency brake has to be engaged for the slide-out). That afternoon, we NEVER had success in getting the fantastic fan's to power on. The refrigerator also appeared to be failing (cool to about 60 degrees), we couldn't test any of the plumbing (sink, indoor/outdoor shower) because they failed to have water in the unit. On the test drive, we ran south on Hwy 75 , across the Red River, to the Texas Rest area (where we returned back North). The unit was having issues (made lots of noise that originally sounded like the transmission, but it only has 49k miles) accelerating onto the highway. My wife did not like this motor home (very poor example of a Chinook). I still believed that it had promise, but needed some engine/transmission work that i requested they have reviewed by a mechanic. After repeat attempts to reach Gerald (sales), or obtain return phone calls (he also failed to respond to my email where I provided him youtube videos of these units being represented by sales people from around the country..I figure it would help him learn more about this unit), I was able to reach the Manager, Walter. Very nice guy, and even provided me the phone number to contact the previous owner. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to the previous owner (he also visits Florida and stays in similar areas). were we discussed the previous usage and issues with this unit. This only left me with more questions (why was the DVD/VHS player missing, when the previous owner had it in the unit when he traded it in?). The unit appeared to be neglected, even more so during the 100 days at RV Station. Walter indicated that they would have everything working, and replaced (example: Fan's, Hot-water heater, transmission/engine) AFTER the unit was sold, and before leaving the lot. However, there is no warranty on this unit. My response is, if everything is not working, then this indicates severe neglect, and quality. Putting temporary band-aides to get everything working (temporarily) isn't going to make for a happy customer in the long run (when things start to again break-down a few weeks after the sale. Walter appears like a nice enough manager. However, I completely disagree with their method of representing a product. They still want top-dollar, but are presenting a very poor example of this product. I simply wouldn't want to do business with him, unless I had very comprehensive manufacture's warranty (that allowed the RV to be services at other locations closer to home) on a new product (I have nothing good to say about their service center, because this unit has been on their lots for over 100 days, and they hadn't fixed a thing, and items appear to have been stolen).