Much of our extended time in Oregon was spent having conversation after agonizing conversation trying to figure out what we were going to do about the damage to the rig. One thing we knew with certainty, is that we needed to head south before the winter rain came to the Northwest. We had made tentative plans to get us down to southern Arizona around Thanksgiving time, so until we figured out next steps, we just decided to follow that plan.
We were able to talk to an authorized repair center in Oregon that worked up a quote for us (and insurance) based on conversations and pictures that Brian sent to them. All things considered, the damage wasn’t too terrible and in a normal year, under normal circumstances, getting the repair work done would have been a no-brainer. Unfortunately, this was not a normal year and these were not normal circumstances. This was the year of the COVID pandemic and massive wildfires and RV Sales had gone through the roof with people trying to find other ways to vacation and quick places to live when their homes were threatened by fires. Because of this, RV Dealerships, Manufacturers and Repair Centers were completely backlogged. If we went with the repair center in Oregon, we were quoted a wait time of 8-10 weeks (if we were lucky) just to get the parts in. Then additional time where we would need to find other housing while it was getting repaired. They made it clear to us that this was the state of affairs all over the country
We were reading horror stories in the forums of people that had been told something like 8-10 weeks for repairs and it had turned into 4-6 months. This was not a happy situation, and while the rig was water tight for now, it’s not like it could last forever.
The way we saw it, we had 3 options:
1. Do nothing. We could test our luck and just see how long the temporary fix would last and hope that the RV market would settle down after a whiled we could fix at some distant point in the future.
2. Aim south to avoid the weather and find another dealer that could do the repair work – it would involve us also needing to find a place to be stationary for a while to wait for parts and a place to live during repairs
3. Replace the rig.
To be perfectly honest, none of the options were appealing. They all made me nauseous. We spent hours going back and forth over the pros and cons of every decision. Even something as seemingly simply as “replacing the rig” was fraught with other questions. Should we just get the same model all over again? We had some pain points about the current layout of the Reflection 312bhts. Although we loved the bunk room space for the kids, our main living area just didn’t give enough space for our whole family to sit together. Living in the RV for the past month and a half had really brought to the forefront just how much we all like to sit and cuddle together in the same space. If we did get a new rig, would the truck have the towing capacity to handle it?
While we weren’t certain yet of the final outcome, while we were staying at a cute little Alpaca Farm in southern Oregon (Thanks again, Harvest Hosts!), we made the decision to upgrade the truck so we would at least have the flexibility to move in whichever direction we landed. The next day, we drove to a new campsite, unloaded the white truck and Brian disappeared for a few hours. We had found the perfect truck for the perfect price online. Brian had haggled over the phone with the dealership and the upgrade on our tow vehicle now made sense.
So, at least there was one step done. One decision of many was finally made!
