Orphan Coaches

[Coloradobus]

Very well said BrianE. Gentlemen, holster those pointing fingers. We are in this messy situation, together. We all must work hard to get "US" back on its competitve feet.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Back before no documentation mortgages and no money down mortgages you needed to fit into very specific parameters to buy a house. A 42% income to expense ratio, 2 years on the job verifiable a credit score of X or above and prove where the down payment money came from. All good things.

Now we are back to that and that is a good thing too.

Bureaucrats changed the rules to allow that crap and now they point fingers.

The appraisers should all be thrown in jail. They are suppose to give a value based on predominant value and should not be aware of the asking price before hand. They are bought and paid for by Fannie and Freddie and for a decade artificially overinflated values so the whole industry could benefit from the refinance profits taking advantage of the foolish new rules imposed by gov.

It took a decade to get here and it will take a significant amount of time to straighten itself out.

[Will Garner]

Joe,

We wanted to do a rehab project on our house several years ago. When the appraiser came out she asked us how much money we needed so she could make the appraisal high enough for us to get what we wanted. I told her to appraise the house straight up and the numbers would have to speak for themselves.

Needless to say we have not used nor recommended that anyone else use this appraiser.

[Sid Tuls]

Very well said BrianE. Gentlemen, holster those pointing fingers. We are in this messy situation, together. We all must work hard to get "US" back on its competitve feet.

Jim, I notice that you said your getting 8 mpg. Are you towing and also what speed are you going at? I at best get 6.2 towing and drive about 70-75 on the flat open spaces I do have a few pretty good climbs like the graprvine in Ca. and Flaggstaff,Az. Thanks

[phorner]

Sid,

I doubt that you will ever see much improvement in your MPG if you routinely cruise at 70 - 75 mph. Especially towing at that speed.

I usually cruise at 65 mph, towing a Jeep Liberty, and I see a consistent 7.8 to 8.0 mpg.

If you want to save fuel, you're gonna have to slow it down a bit....

[Orren Zook]

Sid,

I doubt that you will ever see much improvement in your MPG if you routinely cruise at 70 - 75 mph. Especially towing at that speed. I usually cruise at 65 mph, towing a Jeep Liberty, and I see a consistent 7.8 to 8.0 mpg.
If you want to save fuel, you're gonna have to slow it down a bit....

How true, I got my best mileage ever running with Jon to Spearfish (6.2 mpg).

[Jon Wehrenberg]

What a coincidence. 6.2 at 62.

Speed, weight, and headwinds are the greatest factors influencing our mileage. Slow down, weigh less, and hope for no headwinds and maybe a tailwind.

Hills will also eat into the mileage. The amount of fuel you save going downhill is almost never enough to offset all the fuel used to climb thwe same hill.

To oysterfest and back, 1060 miles, 7.75 mpg according to the ProDriver which was reset just before the trip. The toad on this trip was the H2 Hummer.

[Orren Zook]

What a coincidence. 6.2 at 62.

Speed, weight, and headwinds are the greatest factors influencing our mileage. Slow down, weigh less, and hope for no headwinds and maybe a tailwind.

Hills will also eat into the mileage. The amount of fuel you save going downhill is almost never enough to offset all the fuel used to climb thwe same hill.

To oysterfest and back, 1060 miles, 7.75 mpg according to the ProDriver which was reset just before the trip. The toad on this trip was the H2 Hummer.

not to mention that I drafted you most of the way.....

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Orren is being polite.......he was pushing me most of the way.

[Orren Zook]

Fleetwood Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Fleetwood Enterprises Inc., Riverside, Calif., has filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions for itself and certain operating subsidiaries in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.

Fleetwood said its motorhome and manufactured housing businesses will continue to operate while the company seeks buyers for these business units. While Fleetwood said it believes it has sufficient cash to operate its businesses in the immediate term, the company is in discussions with its senior secured lenders for new, debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to supplement existing working capital. As of Jan. 25, the company said it had bank cash of about $23.0 million.

The filing also facilitates the closing of Fleetwood’s travel trailer division, which the company is in the process of shutting down. Fleetwood said the division accounted for losses of $65.3 million in 2007 and $16.8 million in 2008. The division closing affects three manufacturing facilities and two service facilities employing about 675 people. The company also is laying off an additional 65 corporate employees.

Fleetwood’s actions come after two other large Oregon-based RV manufacturers, Country Coach and Monaco Coach Corp., were placed in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early March.