Purchasing our Fleetwood Discovery

If you have been following the blog for awhile then you know that we have had our camper for a few years now, but it never really met all of our needs. We purchased our motorhome because it was a good deal. It let us see if we really would use it and enjoy it before jumping into a large purchase that would set us into payments for years to come.

Our Coachman served us very well. It took us to Yellowstone, Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Grand Teton, Florida beaches, Great Smoky Mountains, plus numerous weekend trips. Up to this point all of the post we have made, have been based in our 1999 Coachman Mirada 30qb. It has left us stranded a few times, but ultimately gave us years of memories with our children. Possibly the most important thing is, it gave my children the love for the outdoors. I will always be grateful for that.

With everything the motorhome gave us, there was just as many things that it could not give us anymore. The boys just keep getting bigger and bigger, leaving us less room to move around every time we went camping.  With no slide outs, there really is not much room for even 2 people to move past each other in the kitchen. The summer sun proved time and time again to be more than the single AC unit could handle. With multiple break downs the confidence to take the camper across the country was slowly disappearing. Pulling the jeep behind us was proving to be more of a load that the old Chevy 454 could handle.

Time to go shopping

With all that being said, it was time to do some shopping. So, we set out looking for our new to us second home. We knew we wanted to stay in a Class A. It just gives us so much more comfort while traveling with the kids. We definitely wanted to have slide outs, preferably in the main living area of the coach. A washer and dryer would be a plus, but not a deal breaker if it did not have one. I wanted outdoor kitchen and entertainment. Having 50 Amp service with 2 AC units is a must! I would prefer to have a diesel but felt that would be way out of our price range.

We went to the St. Louis RV show to look around. While there were plenty of units for a great price, there was not one that we found within our price range that checked all the boxes for us. So off to the internet we went, searching all the RV dealers in the St. Louis area. That is when we came across Apache Village RV Center. They had a 2007 Fleetwood Discovery 40x diesel pusher with a Caterpillar C7 engine!  It was right in our price range, but with no pictures online it was hard to say if it would work for us.

After a quick phone call, we scheduled an appointment to go and look at the unit. I must say I was fairly excited. Never did I think that we would actually be walking away with this camper. Once we got to the showroom, they took us out and I could not believe my eyes. This unit was beautiful! It was surreal to us that this was in our price range and was in such good shape for its age!

Apache Village RV Center

If you are looking for a new camper I highly suggest giving Apache Village RV Center in Hazelwood, Mo a shot. Talk to Jon or Adam. They both treated us great! I scheduled a time to go in and look at the Fleetwood Discovery. They even stayed open late for us. It was raining and our kids was a little crazy, but they treated us like old friends. Laughing at the kids and allowing us to get comfortable in the camper.

After looking into everything it was unfortunate to find that we just could not comfortably afford the monthly payments associated with the Fleetwood Discovery. What we did not want to do was get ourselves in a situation that we had the perfect camper, but could not afford to use it. Unfortunately, we had to walk away from the deal.

About a week went by and we received a call from Adam stating that him and Jon had been working on the deal. They found a way to get us in the camper for a price that we can afford! I cannot tell you how excited, skeptical, and nervous that made us!  The camper was perfect for our family, and was worth going in and seeing what they could do for us. After a few calls back and forth, they actually did it. They got us where we needed the payments and the dream of owning this camper was starting to become a reality. I cannot thank Adam and Jon enough for all the work they did getting this deal together and allowing our family to be able to own our dream!

The walk around

After deciding we were going to purchase the Fleetwood Discovery, we set up a day to come in for paperwork and walk through. This is a critical process that I feel you have to make time for. This is where they are going to walk you through every detail of the camper. They are going to show you how everything works and answer any questions you may have.

Make sure you have a list of questions and a pad and pen to take notes. There is going to be a lot of information tossed your way very quickly. Apache Village RV Center did an amazing job showing us how everything works, where the vital equipment is, and how to drain low points. They cleaned the entire unit including the carpets and answered every question we had. They once again stayed open late and never made us feel that we were inconveniencing them with all of our questions.

After the walk around, it was in to fill out the remaining paperwork, that they had ready for us. A nice surprise for me was they even took my wife out to a large empty parking lot to teach her how to drive the camper. Keep in mind this also was after hours for them and they did not have to take the time to do that. I am eternally grateful for them showing her how to drive such a large unit. Surely this will come in hand on those long days on the road!

Fleetwood Discovery 40x is ready for a year of travel

The biggest advice I can tell you if you are looking for a new camper. Never be afraid to walk away from the perfect camper. If it is meant to be then it will be. If not, they made thousands of the same exact model. Just keep looking!

Long story short, we now have a 2007 Fleetwood Discovery 40x that is our dream camper from top to bottom. Of course, fuel is now just under $6.00/gallon here. Even though that is going to put a hurting on us, we are not going to let it keep us grounded. We are going to focus this year on trips and campsites that are close to the St. Louis area as well as some St. Louis family attractions. Keep an eye on the blog because we are going to be adding more content for the 2022 year very soon!