In part 1 of this article we covered three ways to help do the homework necessary to make an informed motorhome buying decision. They are reading current and past issues of RV magazines, attending RV shows, and reading through the RV buyers guides by Trailer Life and Woodall's. But there is much more that you can do to get thoroughly prepared for making your motorhome purchase. Here are a few more ideas to consider:

* Visit the RV dealers in your area and get completely familiar with all the models on their lot that interest you at all. You can expect to be accompanied most of the way by the dealer's sales person and that is their job, but remember that they are most likely not unbiased in their recommendations and so take note of what they say but keep in mind that they aren't necessarily impartial.

Also, very often you will have to go through a lot of motorhomes on each lot and before you know it you can get confused and no longer are able to remember the impressions that you had of each coach clearly. That's why it's a good idea to be organized about this investigative procedure and have a method of recording your findings and inpressions as you go for recall later on. A simple notepad can do wonders for this, or you may even choose to employ a camera, or even a video camera in the process too to help bring back to mind what you have seen.

* Talk to other motorhome owners who already have had some experience with the buying process recently and get their impressions, ideas, and recommendations too. This can be one of the best sources of unbiased, impartial consumer information that you can get, so try to talk to as many RV owners as possible, and gat as much input from them as you can. Again, taking notes as you go can be very important. RV owners are a talkative bunch as a rule so you shouldn't have any problem getting very clear feedback from them on both motorhomes themselves and the dealers who sell them.

However, keep in mind that sometimes emotion can affect the recommendations made by some RV folks as well. Try to determine if they are reasonable in their expectations, or if they seem to be a little overly picky. Also give weight to how experienced they are with RVs. Those who have been buying and selling RVs for a long time will usually have the best information overall. But try not to comment much on what they say, just ask as many questions as you can. Then put together the responses you have received and look for clear patterns that can help guide your buying decision.

There is still more research to be done to be ready to buy your motorhome and that will be covered in Part 3 of this article.