Living the Dream
“We didn’t buy this coach to go park it somewhere. We bought it to drive, and go see the country.”
In 2017, Mr. and Mrs. H said goodbye to corporate life, sold their house and set out on a quest to explore America full-time – a quest for which a succession of brand new Class A motorhomes proved woefully unprepared. After spending a solid year driving the third and last one from service bay to service bay (what Mr. H describes as “death by a thousand cuts – every time that thing moved, something broke!”), in March (2018) they moved up to a 2009 Liberty Coach and haven’t looked back.
We caught up with the couple in May on I-84 outside Caldwell, Idaho, “fly-fishing our way across Montana and Wyoming.” From there they were headed for the RAGBRAI bike ride across Iowa and on toward an autumn rendezvous with caribou and moose in Newfoundland. They shared a few thoughts on their Liberty experience thus far:
On the Liberty ride: “We couldn’t be having this conversation in our old coach driving down this road. [We’re on speakerphone as they’re cruising eastbound on I-84, and it is indeed amazingly quiet.] To give you an idea of how smooth the Liberty is, we have a Mercedes SUV. This coach rides better than that does. You absolutely cannot overstate the difference.”
On interior quality: “The couple we’re traveling with walked in and said, ‘Oh. They’re putting in new furniture for you.’ I said, ‘No. This is the original furniture.’ It’s pretty amazing that we bought a 9-year-old coach and it’s in way better shape than any of those three brand new, fresh-off-the-line fiberglass coaches.”
On the buying experience: “The customer experience is a huge part of any RV purchase. It’s a lifestyle and if you are truly living it, you need to know the coach manufacturer and their staff have the skills and are empowered to support you… We spent several hours talking with Frank and his team, and Frank in particular was incredibly knowledgeable about the details and advantages of the systems Liberty uses. It was clear that the whole customer experience was a priority for him, and that he felt ownership of it. That kind of passion is exactly what we were looking for.”
On Liberty owner support: “Again, it’s all about the customer experience. (As coach owners) we need to know that when something breaks, you’re going to be there to help us. Forget warranties. In my (business) experience, all that’s gonna do is limit what I want to do for you. Whereas if I manage your customer experience successfully, you’re not going to think about buying anything else. Liberty gets that. I mean, we don’t go looking on anyone else’s website for another coach. We’re looking at the inventory Liberty’s bringing in.”
