New 2017 and-a-HALF Coachmen Mirada 35BH
I am pretty sure we have literally the very first 2017-1/2 that came off the assembly line. That could either be good or bad. We've had it three weeks and have taken it on a local shake-down camp-out. All is well other than some VERY minor issues such as trim that came loose.
Here's the story leading up to buying this rig:
We shopped for about 4 months. During that time, we narrowed the search to Class A, then to a bunkhouse (we love to take the grandkids along), then to the Coachmen Mirada 35BH (we love the bath-and-a-half and the huge rear shower). Winnebago/Itasca has a very similar model, but it's quite a bit more expensive and we liked the look of the Coachmen better. We also like the Azdel well construction on the Coachmen. Although we liked the 2017 Mirada 35BH model, it had some minor issues that bugged us.
In talking to our local dealer, we found out that Coachmen decided to make some mid-year 2017 changes. He told us that he was going to the factory in a week and would come back with pictures and specs. He did just that! He had several pictures of one about three-quarters through assembly. He also gave us a partially completed new brochure. We were excited to see that they had addressed pretty much all of our "wants".
A greatly improved dashboard with a quick access top cover
Improved doghouse look and design with better soundproofing
A better-looking and improved design for the co-pilot computer tray
Wrap around co-pilot armrest with integrated A/C vent
A better choice (in our opinion) of exterior colors
Improved design on the couch
LED light strip under the awning
Metal cover over the awning
Those are all pretty minor things, but we decided to wait for the 2017-1/2 so we could get them. We were told that the first one would not be available until late November and would be shown exclusively at the November 28 to December 1 National RV Trade Show in Kentucky. Only after that would it be distributed to dealers. We saw online that MHSRV had a bunch on order, but they told us they would not receive any until after that show. We decided not to place the order quite yet.
Living in Southern CA, we decided to go to the Pomona RV show in October just for fun. We went on opening day. Boy were we stunned to see a new 2017-1/2 Coachmen Mirada 35BH sitting at the Dennis Dillon RV display. I don't know how they pulled that one off. Not only that, it was the EXACT colors and configuration that we would have ordered:
Full Body paint in "Mist" (new colors - blue, black, gray & white)
Stonewash interior fabric pallet
Dark "Cappuccino Cherry" wood
Drop down loft bed
Stainless Package which provides an 18 cu ft residential fridge
1000w Inverter with 6V batteries for the refrigerator
Auto-start for the generator
Upgraded front A/C to 15,000 BTU with heat pump
We had not gone to the show expecting to buy anything, but they told us the display unit was for sale and they were willing to deal, so we decided to negotiate a bit and see if we could get close to the price we wanted. Thankfully, we had done our homework and knew the best deal we could get on the original 2017, so then it was just a matter of how much more the 2017-1/2 was going to cost.
The negotiation went very quickly. We told them the price we wanted. They said "No". We said, "Then we'll just wait and order one". They said, "Hold on a minute, we'll check." THE Dennis Dillon walked up, introduced himself, said "Well, this one's going to hurt a bit, but congratulations!" as he signed the paperwork for the deal. We agreed to let them keep it for the rest of the show. They put a sign in the window that it was sold to us. We picked it up a few days after the show.
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