Of course we wandered over to the showroom since we were already there. Thought we'd go sit in a new Bounder for inspiration. A week before, they had three. Today, none. They sold them all. Right out from under us. There are a couple Fleetwood models just above the Bounder, the Expedition and the Discovery, so we decided to take a look at them. Neither one did much for us. The fireplace was nice, but you give up a lot of storage space for it.
The sales guy took us out on the lot, talked to us about what they had, then left us alone. He suggested we take a look at the Alpha before we leave. We did. Uh Oh. Bounder has a challenger. Walking into the Alpha was like walking into a really nice apartment. They changed the basic design for this one. They put the air-conditioning in the basement and raised the roof over a foot. Raising the roof raised all the windows as well. You can stand in this one and admire the view. It feels different. The outside compartments are HUGE. Big doors. Roll out trays with plastic tubs on them. Plastic tubs three deep. If a person was thinking in terms of a second home, as opposed to a few trips, this would certainly fit the bill.
The price was higher. We've been thinking of $100,000 for a gas Bounder, $150,000 for a diesel. The Alpha is listed at $190,000, but they knocked $30,000 off that before we even asked.
We're also thinking maybe $100,000 is all we want to spend. Diesels don't wear out very fast. We could wait a couple more years, then buy whatever year Bounder diesel we could get for $100,000.
No hurry.
