Obsessed2findARuggedHybid
Well-known member
Looks like the CO xplore dealer has the x 145 stage 3 listed under 100k which is 13+ K less then other dealers. IMHO this is were they should have originally been priced.
Imperial Outdoors Xplore XR22
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SlimPickens
New member
In other news.... finally got my flex panels working.... After i pulled the AC and unscrewed and scrapped up the old panels, i removed the middle roof rack cross member and dropped a couple panels fairly open in between the outer cross members, added a third between the AC and the roof rack, connected em all in series, played around for a while to get the polarities correct, plugged it in and nothing... double checked connections, the roof gland (MC4 cable entry plate) to the RVC 30 inputs was reversed, swapped blk into the + in and red into the - in and kablaamo, 20A+ on a sunny day up here in BC Canada. Best part is, i still have a roof rack. Got my folding boat up there to head out for the weekend.
And the crappy old panel locations:
And the crappy old panel locations:
Treefarmer1
Active member
Raspy said at one point in this thread:
"There is more to the best deal than simply price. And it's not a good idea to pit one dealer against another by making false comparisons about price in order to set up a bidding war. Anyone can do their own research on line or by phone or in person. Forums are best used to simply make recommendations or share other information, etc. Not for posting negotiable prices or written offers."
Unless you're buying and RV direct from a manufacturer, you are essentially buying a commodity that multiple sellers offer. In that case, there may be more to the best deal than price, but price is still king (as in 95%+ of the decision). Forums like this can be all about helping people with price discovery. Forums like this can also tout dealers that may be better than others at handholding newbies after the sale. I would say that if forums like this push dealers to offer lower prices and better service, then we've done a bit of good in the world. I personally place no value in what a dealer can do for me after the sale. The car analogy is a good one. I've only owned three brand new cars in my life, but I never returned to any of the dealers after purchasing the car from them. In the case of an RV, I'm likely to be nowhere near whatever dealer I may have purchased it from when I need to fix a problem. I also have no patience for half-assed, slow and unwieldy warranty repair options. So if I was buying an RV model produced in volume and sold by dealers, I would scour the Internet and burn up the phone lines for the best combination of price and dealer location. This is one forum to look for opinions and info. So if you are looking for something like an Xplore X195, just find the best price/location and pull the trigger.
I may disagree with Raspy on this point, but I also believe he is a wealth of information. For example, I specified a McHitch for our trailer after seeing ROA videos, doing some research, and getting info. from Raspy on where to buy them in the US. Whoever makes money in all of that is fine by me as long as I get a good product. Unlike Raspy, we don't buy a new RV every couple of years, so I'm really interested to see what he gets after the R1. Hopefully it will be more interesting than something like an R2. 🙂
"There is more to the best deal than simply price. And it's not a good idea to pit one dealer against another by making false comparisons about price in order to set up a bidding war. Anyone can do their own research on line or by phone or in person. Forums are best used to simply make recommendations or share other information, etc. Not for posting negotiable prices or written offers."
Unless you're buying and RV direct from a manufacturer, you are essentially buying a commodity that multiple sellers offer. In that case, there may be more to the best deal than price, but price is still king (as in 95%+ of the decision). Forums like this can be all about helping people with price discovery. Forums like this can also tout dealers that may be better than others at handholding newbies after the sale. I would say that if forums like this push dealers to offer lower prices and better service, then we've done a bit of good in the world. I personally place no value in what a dealer can do for me after the sale. The car analogy is a good one. I've only owned three brand new cars in my life, but I never returned to any of the dealers after purchasing the car from them. In the case of an RV, I'm likely to be nowhere near whatever dealer I may have purchased it from when I need to fix a problem. I also have no patience for half-assed, slow and unwieldy warranty repair options. So if I was buying an RV model produced in volume and sold by dealers, I would scour the Internet and burn up the phone lines for the best combination of price and dealer location. This is one forum to look for opinions and info. So if you are looking for something like an Xplore X195, just find the best price/location and pull the trigger.
I may disagree with Raspy on this point, but I also believe he is a wealth of information. For example, I specified a McHitch for our trailer after seeing ROA videos, doing some research, and getting info. from Raspy on where to buy them in the US. Whoever makes money in all of that is fine by me as long as I get a good product. Unlike Raspy, we don't buy a new RV every couple of years, so I'm really interested to see what he gets after the R1. Hopefully it will be more interesting than something like an R2. 🙂
Treefarmer1
Active member
Now that's a useful post for people on this forum. Good dealer. Good, maybe best, price.
Treefarmer1
Active member
I see what you mean, but don't discourage all pricing discoveries. Whether it's a new trailer or something used, having people give tips about where to find the best pricing is a major value added of this forum. If/when you sell your R1, I can't wait to hear what you're asking and what you're getting next!
Obsessed2findARuggedHybid
Well-known member
As usual you explained it so much better then I.
Raspy
Active member
Totally agree on the original crappy location of the panels. As well as the crappy installation work while putting them there. But there was no way they were going to fly off, they were very difficult to remove on mine. Why did you wire the new ones in series? Was it because you'd have too many amps, in theory, for the stock wiring? I may be wrong, but I assume with the shading you have with the boat, you'll get no output at all with series wiring, whereas you might get some with parallel wiring. Thoughts?
Here's a pic of my solar upgrade on my X22. I ran a new set of #6 wires in 1/2" EMT conduit down from the roof, on the back wall of the trailer and into the battery box, for the three main panels on the rack (460 watts), and used the original wires to handle the two front panels (200 watts). Then combined them at the original 30 amp controller. The panels wired in parallel on the roof in two groups, and the two groups wired in parallel at the controller. Fortunately, in my case, there was no shading to deal with.
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Raspy
Active member
I agree completely about recommendations and tips. Nothing wrong with giving a dealer a pat on the back for excellent customer service or fair pricing. I'm just against internet posting of what might be fake offers in order to start a bidding war. And to be clear again, I am not opposed to dealers making a profit. I want them to stay in business and be available. We all must make a living to thrive in this world. But we must all too, as buyers, be careful and thorough in our shopping and in our research. Colorado RV and ROA are two dealers that I feel comfortable with and there are others. With my last three purchases, I did no shopping around amongst dealers.
Treefarmer1
Active member
I'd definitely buy from either of those two dealers. I'd really like to see more direct from manufacturer options like you had with Oliver.
theek
New member
You'd might want to look at Kingdom Camping, which sells direct. Not as fancy a finish as Imperial Outdoors or Roamer One but much better price for quite good kit. A used one is available.
forum.expeditionportal.com
**** SOLD **** For Sale: NEW 2023 Kingdom Camping Caravan XL
Sadly, I am selling my brand new Caravan XL trailer from Kingdom Camping due to family crisis. $89,900 Firm. This is of course less than what I have in it. Serious inquiries only please. If you don't know anything about these trailers they are fully off-grid off-road capable with...
forum.expeditionportal.com
SlimPickens
New member
Raspy,
I left the three panels in series because the boat is only up top enroute and still gets decent current, wide open the rest of the time and the RVC algorithm is supposed to be optimized for high voltage. I was going to add the 4th flex panel in series to not likely exceed the 30A RVC max in my northern neck of the woods. If I travel down towards Mexico or southern states i'll drop one of the panels from the active series connection, use it in series with the duralites when parked instead (all 20V panels). I was pretty pissed at the flex panels initially and couldnt fathom why they would produce such poor product, now.... I think they are great when deployed properly. On the wiring front, 10AWG connections from panel loop to RVC. I dont think i could justify any rewiring gains with bigger cable.
And for the record, the dealer I had, interesting.... lots of pre-purchase interaction (expected), great interaction with the finance and support rep when we picked it up, not so good interaction with some other dealer folks and I haven't heard a follow up word from anyone since I drove off the lot (Nov 2022) which was unexpected based on the videos of how customer satisfaction driven they claim to be. My experience. I will relay differently if anything changes. The videos did sell me on the concept, so kudos there. For my planned upgrade in 9 years I will get in touch with the other dealer who seems more in line with what I need and expect or the Kingdom folks
I left the three panels in series because the boat is only up top enroute and still gets decent current, wide open the rest of the time and the RVC algorithm is supposed to be optimized for high voltage. I was going to add the 4th flex panel in series to not likely exceed the 30A RVC max in my northern neck of the woods. If I travel down towards Mexico or southern states i'll drop one of the panels from the active series connection, use it in series with the duralites when parked instead (all 20V panels). I was pretty pissed at the flex panels initially and couldnt fathom why they would produce such poor product, now.... I think they are great when deployed properly. On the wiring front, 10AWG connections from panel loop to RVC. I dont think i could justify any rewiring gains with bigger cable.
And for the record, the dealer I had, interesting.... lots of pre-purchase interaction (expected), great interaction with the finance and support rep when we picked it up, not so good interaction with some other dealer folks and I haven't heard a follow up word from anyone since I drove off the lot (Nov 2022) which was unexpected based on the videos of how customer satisfaction driven they claim to be. My experience. I will relay differently if anything changes. The videos did sell me on the concept, so kudos there. For my planned upgrade in 9 years I will get in touch with the other dealer who seems more in line with what I need and expect or the Kingdom folks
This dealer has some great pricing on the X145 and X195 if anyone is in the market. They must be closing out the 2023 models.
Treefarmer1
Active member
Tom's isn't known for post sale support, but those are the best prices I've seen on those trailers.
Raspy
Active member
Those prices are amazingly low. I'm surprised they charge for the pre-delivery inspection. Never heard of that. I wonder how much?
Obsessed2findARuggedHybid
Well-known member
They also say for " finance deals" only. Said finance is likely at a very high interest rate. If anyone is interested I would ask for price for cash. If one is considering financing with them might be best to bring your lawyer friend 😉
All said 80k for a 145 is very low. I assume it's stage one but if it's stage three man I would refer those interested to the famous quote from Ferris Bruler " if you have the means I suggest you pick one up"
All said 80k for a 145 is very low. I assume it's stage one but if it's stage three man I would refer those interested to the famous quote from Ferris Bruler " if you have the means I suggest you pick one up"