Wanderlodge is now at a work stopage....

[turbobrat930]

Well, I live about 20 miles from the Wanderlodge factory at Blue Bird. I have a friend who's father is the number 2 guy in charge of the Wanderlodge division. They laid off the whole Wanderlodge division on Monday indefinately. They cited the economy as the factor (duh), as the new version of the Wanderlodge goes for over 1.5 million!

Did not know if anyone really cared, but thought that I would post just in case... I know I can not afford one...hopefully someday though (if I did, I still would not buy one... I would stay with a different brand and then buy a second house with the rest of the money!!)

[luvrbus]

Turbo, all the high end converters are having problems with the exception of Newell they have a 1 year waiting list,FWIW if you have the money now is the time to buy high end conversion we were offered a new Prevost (2009) for about 1/2 the list price and they would deliver for no charge   good luck

[John316]

Luvr,

You should have gotten it...LOL

God bless,

John

[Dreamscape]

Then you could give me the pink slip to your Eagle..........

[mikelutestanski]

Hello:    Think about the markup.  In 1991 you could get a wanderlodge for $319,000    .  how much has the price of material changed in 10 years?   certainly not 5 times for every item in the coach.    300K vs 1.5 mil
    money talks   BS walks   so if you have it why not spend it..   However  in times like these if everyone took a little less profit maybe more people could afford some of this stuff and more people could keep their jobs even if they only work 3 days per week. 
     I guess I dont understand people  too well.  Seems like the luxury market is driven by other values than common sense.
   Regards  and happpy busssin  mike
       

[Van]

Paul,that would have to be me I'm closer ;Dbut than again the pink slip to which one?(eagle)

[Jeremy]

I don't claim to know anything about the economics of building luxury motorhomes, but if it's anything like the economics of building luxury boats then there really isn't much profit made anywhere - or, more accurately, there isn't much net profit being made by the company - it may be that the gross paper profit on an individual unit looks very healthy, but a comparatively small number of units have got to cover an awful lot of overhead in that kind of business. In particular, the overhead on luxury items usually includes very very high marketing costs - not just advertising and brochures, but building demo vehicles, attending shows and exhibitions around the world etc. Those cost adds up very quickly.

There is a story I have heard several times about Aston Martin in the 1960's. Some up-and-coming actor / playboy sort requested a meeting with the boss of the company and proposed a deal whereby he bought the latest Aston Martin model at cost price, in return for which Aston would receive lots of free publicity from having such a high-profile customer. The boss smiled broadly and agreed immediately; he then went to the accounts department and returned with the exact cost-price figure for the car in question - which was 30% more than the selling price.

Jeremy

[cody]

Kind of like a billing I recieved for the hospital for the only aspirin I asked for, on the itemized bill it was listed at $278.37, I asked the billing department to explain and they said it was only 10 cents for the aspirin but the additional cost was delivery, I figure the nurse made 24 dollars a step to bring it from the nurses station that was just outside my door lol.  Strange thing is they wouldn't hire me for med delivery lol.

[Busted Knuckle]

Kind of like a billing I recieved for the hospital for the only aspirin I asked for, on the itemized bill it was listed at $278.37, I asked the billing department to explain and they said it was only 10 cents for the aspirin but the additional cost was delivery, I figure the nurse made 24 dollars a step to bring it from the nurses station that was just outside my door lol.  Strange thing is they wouldn't hire me for med delivery lol.

Of course not! They are afraid that you'll get hurt or have another attack and then they'll have to pay that bill!   BK 

[gus]

I've often wondered, while driving down the highway in my cheap lil' ole 4104 and seeing all those high dollar rigs cruising past, about just how many were actually driver owned and how many were owned by banks.

I've heard a few of those owners talk about making payments and thought that this is about the craziest thing I ever heard of. I can only imagine the size of the payments! How could anyone commit themselves financially to something so expensive that is used so little?? I suppose a full timer could justify owning one.

Of course I know that a bunch of folks have that kind of money  (or did until a few months ago!!) and to them that many bucks does not mean a lot. But to me that is hard to imagine when I can get a nice bus conversion for so much less.

[Jeremy]

I've met people with megabuck boats that will freely admit that they daren't take them out of the marina. In the case of boats especially I think a very high proportion are (technically at least) owned by businesses rather than individuals, and are written down in the accounts as 'client entertainment' or some such. If you've made a big profit one year why not radically reduce the size of your tax liability by buying an expensive boat (or bus) with the proceeds?

It isn't real money in the way you or I think of it.

Jeremy

[TomC]

Just got my new Motorhome magazine that has a Newell in it at just under $1.5 million.  If I had that kind of money, I would by a nice limo, hire a driver, and stay at the nicest 5-6 star hotels-and that would be on the interest alone!  Also was a sticks and staples 40ft'r at $500,000.  I figure my entire truck project should cost under the magical 6 digit figure-and it will be paid for completely when done.  Good Luck, TomC

[PP]

Just got my new Motorhome magazine that has a Newell in it at just under $1.5 million.  If I had that kind of money, I would by a nice limo, hire a driver, and stay at the nicest 5-6 star hotels-and that would be on the interest alone!  Also was a sticks and staples 40ft'r at $500,000.  I figure my entire truck project should cost under the magical 6 digit figure-and it will be paid for completely when done.  Good Luck, TomC

Ace is probably jumping up and down because the entire quote isn't fitting in his BB screen. We're bleeding for you Ace LOL
Anyway, before I get sidetracked, I wasn't going to even log on today, but TomC, you struck one of my chords. I'm retired (or so I've been told) and I don't draw a gov't or company check each month, I live off my investments that I made while I worked my A.. Off. To think that you could buy a limo, hire a driver (don't forget his insurance on top of the limo's), and stay at the finest hotels is ludicrous! You'll be just like the majority of lottery winners out there that had to file bankruptcy because they believed there wasn't any end to the dough and they lived like the interest was always replenishing. Have you checked interest rates today? Lowest in the history of the United States Banking System. And invest it in the stockmarket and you're liable to see it dwindle faster than you could actually spend it!
I like you TomC from the posts that I read, and I definitely don't mean this to sound mean and 'UnHoliday' like (must be in a bad mood today). Your advice and opinions are among the few that I respect and look forward to recieving as well as reading when commenting to others. Have a great Holiday! And please don't sick the big guy with the broken knuckles on me 

[luvrbus]

Just do the math guys you pay 400 grand for a new shell with slides from the factory and all  the manufactures say it takes about 4000 manhours to convert where can you spend that kind of money on a conversion.I have been to Marathon several times and believe me they do not use the best grade of anything and cover it up with all the whistles and bells.    good luck

[cody]

One friend that works at marathon used to say that laminate covers a wide range of sins lol