I'm Slowly Losing My Identity - Rv Dealers (Ughh)

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

This trip didn't start out so well.  I had made all the reservations in advance: air, hotel, rental car, and RV dealer appointments.  No issues were getting to the airport or parking the car.  Check-in and immigration were smooth.  The flight was only 40 minutes, and it beat driving in the Mexico/Texas heat for eight hours.  U.S. immigration was a breeze, and we were both out in less than a minute.  There is nothing in the system that says I live in another country.  They always say, "welcome home".   You would think that social security and border crossings, along with immigration, talked to each other.

Then reality set in.  We arrived at the car rental counter all smiles.  I pulled out our reservation, my passport, and my driver's license.  She looked at me and said, "Your passport and driver's license don't match.  The new rule, the Real ID Act, is in full force.  My passport is U.S. and my driver's license is Mexican.  No match, no rental car.  She cancelled the reservation and refunded my money.  All the car rentals said the same.  We had to sit down and make a new reservation with another company under Juan's name.  Why?  His Mexican passport and driver's license match.  We found a very nice Avis agent who is from Mexico (30 years ago) and who understood the situation.  She gave us a very good deal.  The line behind us was long, but she didn't want to stop chatting.  I asked about the cost for an additional driver, and she said that as spouses, there was no charge.

This is the model we seem to like the best.  It's roomy for 16ft, has two twin beds or king, and makes into great sofas for daytime use.  It has a full-size fridge, and a smaller air conditioner.  It weighs less than 2800 lbs.  Perfect for us.

We've been out every day checking dealers around San Antonio.  I should have retired here in the U.S. and become an RV salesman.  These guys know nothing.  The small units we are looking at mostly have a small 5000 BTU window air conditioner in a cabinet that works much better than roof air.  All the ones that do have roof air have a 13.5 BTU air conditioner, the same one they slap on all RVs from 12ft to 32 ft or more.  I asked a salesman, and he said, "Oh, they stopped doing the small air conditioner years ago".  Oh really!  I showed him how the Murphy bed worked in one RV, and that the sofa conversion had built-in recliners.  He didn't know.  Out of five dealer visits, we had one that said, "I used to work for the phone company, and after 30 years, I got tired of climbing poles.  I've been selling RVs for three months, and I have learned more from you in the last hour than my company".    And believe me, I am no expert.  I told one old fart he needed to get out of the office and go sit in the RVs and check them out, see how all the bells and whistles work.  This is a highly unregulated business.

We have run into a hitch in the works.  I am no longer a U.S. resident.  When I went to renew my Texas driver's license, I had no proof of residence, which requires a passport, an official Texas ID card, a physical address (our Laredo mailbox doesn't count and the feds are on to mailbox companies), a utility bill, and bank statements that match.  I was greatly concerned about how I would purchase and plate an RV in Texas.  That's our plan to leave it in a Laredo storage and use it in the U.S.  Leave it up to companies that want to sell something.  Three of the dealers said to pay cash, they will issue the physical plates and send the documents to the mailbox, leaving the state paperwork blank with just my social security number.  Now, can we use a Mexican-plate tow vehicle with a U.S.-plated travel trailer?  That's up next.

We had a fun day with our friend Giovanna.  We picked her up and went to Costco.  We buy our vitamins there.  Costco Mexico doesn't sell vitamin C.  In fact, good luck finding high-dose, high-volume packs of vitamin C in Mexico.  At GNC they sell the 1000mg tablets but charge a fortune.  Smaller, expensive bottles can be had at pharmacies, including Similares, but expensive as well.  We had a small brunch at Costco, walking around and sampling foods.  She wasn't that familiar with RVs and was fascinated with one of the visits we made.  

We still have a couple more visits this week, but we have pretty much made a decision on what we would like to buy.