The Hymer Maneuver

Now down to only three motorhomes that fit our desired criteria, we had a plan when we left our meeting with Phill. He was going to call that dealer down the street to see if perhaps all could be forgiven (spoiler alert - nope!) and, in the meantime, we were going to visit a couple of big dealers to see if we could find a different model and floorplan that might work. In other words, prepare ourselves for compromise.

We returned to our little house feeling kinda depressed. The next morning over coffee, I told Steven that I didn't want to go look at any other motorhomes. Until we had ruled out all possibilities, I didn't want to change course. So we took a closer look at our three options, all of them hours away from our location. 

Merde!  One of the ads for a Hymer B 544 was gone! No longer available! So we zero'd in on the one in Toulouse, which is an eight hour drive south from Saint Julien, 16 hours round trip. That's like flying from Paris to Atlanta and back again! We nonetheless decided to go for it. Phill called the dealer and got all the details and was told the motorhome was in great shape and ready for us to see.

Since we are still waking up super early in the mornings, we thought we'd just hit the road around 4:00 a.m. But that would have us arriving at the dealer at noon, just as they were closing for their two-hour lunch. This lunch thing is common and most businesses do it. On the one hand it is so wonderfully civilized, but on the other, it requires some forward planning on our part that we're not yet accustomed to. (You can't make a midnight ice cream run either, as there are no 24-hour grocery stores around here. Again, forward planning.)

We left at 6:00 a.m. instead and rolled up to the dealership at 2:00 p.m. on the nose. We were once again exhausted, hungry and kind of grumpy. Gautier, our sales rep, walked us to the motorhome in the nether reaches of the lot, unlocked it and we stepped in. Of course we were both hoping to relive the immediate excitement we felt a few days earlier when we spent all of 90 seconds in the first motorhome we visited, but we didn't. We were both completely underwhelmed. 

Steven whipped out his phone, as did Gautier, and via Google Translate we asked for some time alone so that we could really look around. He agreed and left us on our own. I would love to tell you that this little rig was perfect and that we fell in love with it, but that just didn't happen. The main reason is because it was filthy. If you've ever been in Scoopy, you know we're pretty diligent housekeepers, but it was clear this little rig was not given the same level of attention. I'm sure a lot of rigs are like this when they are traded in, but it was obvious that the dealer had put this one up for sale before it was detailed. We will spare you the photos and details, but suffice it to say that it was so gross we didn't want to touch anything. It made us wonder, what else was not taken care of?

We nonetheless spent two and a half hours poking around (wishing for some gloves!), taking photos, checking out the storage underneath. Gautier checked in on us occasionally. We finally decided it was time to go check into our hotel and have some wine, so we thanked him and said we'd be back the following morning. Non, he said. Fermé!  Wait, what? WTF do you mean, fermé?? Closed in the morning for inventory, then there was the two-hour lunch. Once again, dumbstruck. 

But then Gautier spoke up and said if we were there by 9:00 a.m., he would let us in the gate. Whew! Further, he said he'd move the motorhome to just inside the front gate and we could take it for a test drive. I have to admit the thought of a test drive was horrifying to me, we were in a super busy industrial area with skinny roads, so we said we'd wait and see how things went before taking that step. 

Steven’s face at the end of day one says it all.

When we arrived the next morning, there she sat, right by the gate. Gautier fired her up and was ready for us to take off, but we again explained that a test drive was premature. He reversed her out of the way. Steven requested a ladder and he was brought one of those giant step thingies you see in the isles of Costco. So with the dealership closed and everyone else running around taking inventory, no attention was paid to us as we continued to poke around. We talked with Phill on the phone and got his input and advice. We studied our inspection lists and checked items off one by one. We had brought drinks, snacks and lunch. We kind of felt like squatters, lol.  

Around noon I went inside to find the bathroom and the sales team were busily setting up a lunch table. They were bringing in loads of baguettes and wine, and I thought to myself, this two-hour lunch thing is looking better and better. Gautier offered wine, I accepted and carried two plastic cups back into the Hymer. There we sat with our sandwiches and adult beverages. It was a little surreal.

Much like bacon, wine makes everything better :)

Phill had suggested that over lunch we make a detailed list of the items we would want addressed should we decide to make an offer. As we did that, we realized that much of it had to do with cleaning, serious deep cleaning. There really wasn't a long list of things that we had found wrong, per se. Around this time I had stepped outside and Gautier arrived with a guy who spoke English. Turns out he was the director of sales over many locations of this dealership. I think he was there for the inventory party. This turned out to work in our favor, not only because we could actually have a discussion with him, but because he was rightly horrified at the state of the motorhome. (lol, I insisted he take a look at the shower.)

In total, we spent 8.5 hours inside the Hymer. We knew we had to look past the housekeeping to get any real sense of whether or not this motorhome appealed to us and once we did that, we actually found a lot to like. We were surprised at the upgrades that were not included in the listing, things we were expecting to have to do ourselves, and by "do ourselves" I mean pay a professional. For example, solar, AGM batteries, a bike rack. Also, this motorhome is the premium version of the B 544, so it has beautiful silver paint outside, leather seating and spiffy appointments inside. It has an Al-ko chassis with a double floor. This not only provides better insulation, but also creates more storage since fresh and grey water tanks are located between the floors rather than inside the van. All maintenance records are available at the dealer because they sold it to the original owner as well as to the “bad housekeepers”. It's a 2008 model and 6 1/2 meters long. And best of all, it's a Hymer B 544. We decided to go for a test drive. 

Mon Dieu! It’s so big for such itty bitty roads and so many scary roundabouts and crazy French drivers! But the engine is very purr-y and the gear shifting was nice and smooth, better than our rental car, in fact. We survived numerous close encounters, at least they felt that way to us, and made it safely back to the dealer. Now, we had a decision to make. 

Test driving in Toulouse traffic.

Despite dodging the traffic and curbs, Linda briefly takes her eyes of the road and manages a smile.

We decided to make an offer. We both immediately felt good about our decision. I found Gautier and told him we were ready to talk. Perhaps he and Mr. Director could come out and join us in the motorhome, after lunch, of course? He agreed. 

Getting down to business.

We had one more conversation with Phill, and when they arrived, we all sat around the table where negotiations began in earnest. Two hours later, we had a deal! 

Her name is Bijou. 

NEXT UP: All about Bijou!