So you've made all the decisions about colors and options and you've sent in your order with its accompanying deposit check. You've been looking into insurance, financing and registering the rig. Suddenly the phone rings and it's the factory calling to set up your delivery date in about a month. Now you really have to get serious about making plans to get to the factory on the long-awaited day.
If you're already RV'ers, you probably have most of the gear you'll want in your new LD. The factory doesn't mind if you want to ship some boxes of "stuff" ahead of time. They'll put them back in their storeroom somewhere and bring them out the day you pick up the rig.
Arrange those plane tickets and book your motel room. Most folks fly into Ontario since it's the closest and stay at a motel near there. You can take a hotel courtesy van from the airport to the hotel. The next day the factory will send someone to pick you up.Deliveries can be scheduled for either morning or afternoon. If you're from out-of-state and not willing to pay the high California sales tax, you'll need to pay for an ICC-registered driver to drive your LD with you in it to either Las Vegas, Nevada, or Erhenburg, Arizona. The factory will arrange this for you. You'll also pay a $10 fee for a one-way transit "license" which is good to get you back to your home address. Alternatively, depending upon your home state, you may be able to register the vehicle before you leave home; in that case you can take the plates with you and put them on in NV or AZ. Unless you pay the CA sales tax, however, you cannot put the tags on the factory and drive away yourself.
Morning pick-ups are necessary if you plan to use the ICC-driver. He will want to hit the road about noon so he can get back home that night. If you're driving the rig straight from the factory, having paid the CA sales tax, then you can select either morning or afternoon for your pick-up.When you arrive at the factory, you'll be taken into an office where someone will go over all the paperwork with you and you'll get to sign dozens of forms and of course hand over your check for the balance owed. Once that is completed, you'll be taken out to your new Lazy Daze for the delivery inspection and a very thorough demonstration of how everything works. All your boxes of "stuff" that you may have shipped earlier will be stacked beside your dazzling new LD. After the walk-through and demonstrations, they will put the boxes inside the rig for you.
If you have RV'ed before, you should be familiar with how things work, but it still is a darn good idea to pay close attention and to make sure that every works as it should. Now is also the time to be keeping an eye out for any defects - there are usually very few and the factory will correct them on the spot. For example, if a drawer doesn't "catch" in the closed position, they'll make the adjustment. If there are any nicks in the wood finish, they'll carefully touch them up. This is where it pays to be very thorough. But be assured, what, if anything, you find wrong, will be miniscule compared to picking up a new SOB (Some Other Brand).Again - make sure everything works properly. Crank out the awning, check the fridge, light the stove burners and oven, turn on the hot water heater and the furnace. Start the generator and test the micorwave oven and the air conditioner, including the heat strip.
Some folks, especially first-time RV'ers, think it's a great idea to video-tape the walk-through and demo, so they'll have something for reference in the future. Your attention might be better spent, however, on how things work. If you're manning the camera, you are undoubtedly not going to capture in your mind all the details of your new rig. If you want a video of the pick-up, then you should bring along a friend or family member to man the camera, while you focus the explanations and demonstrations of things.If you're putting plates on the rig at the factory, you might consider staying a night or two in the local area while you further check out the rig. In the off-chance that you find something, you could then return to the factory to have it taken care of.
Otherwise, at noon, hop in with your driver and you're off on the first of many great adventures in one of the best motorhomes there is.
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