You get what you pay for...Well, sometimes

Aloha chapter 5- After looking at all the things missing in the motor home that I just bought, I need to first make a shopping list of the parts that I need to buy. The biggest thing is going to be a generator. I am also going to need a new inverter, converter, coach batteries, and a automatic transfer switch. Thinking that would be enough to make a good start, I went to the R/V store in town.
I talked to the salesman and told him what I was thinking of buying. They gave me the usual answer of, "we don't have any, but we can order one for you, and it can be here in a few days". I asked what kind of price he could give me for the generator that I was looking at in his catalog. I was saying wow, to myself, trying not to look surprised when he told me his price. I could buy a cheap motor home for that price, keep the generator, and through away the motor home. The price was a bit too much, I said I wanted to look around first.
I asked about getting some new water tanks and I got the same answer, we can order you some if we know what size you want. I didn't know what size I really needed and could only guess what size, so I said I will measure the bed box first. I thought they would have at least one in stock of some common size. I ended up buying a water pump, primary filter, and an accumulator to smooth out the water flow. I also picked up a water hose and a sewer hose. It seemed the R/V store might not be of much help to me on certain things.
I don't feel like giving them over $100. bucks an hour, to screw up my motor home, when I can do that myself for free.
I went online to look for parts. With just a little research, I was able to find cheaper prices then the R/V store. And with a little more research I was able to find some pretty good prices on a few items. I found a 3000w inverter for $700, the R/V store wanted over $1500. I found a color rear view camera with a 7in. LCD screen for $200, they were trying to sell me one that cost $1100. They look exactly the same with a different name. I can understand the stores need to make a profit, but don't ask me to bend over. I am not as stupid as you think I am. (But that could be debated, I think.)
I ended up later finding a deal on a 7000w Onan generator that was still new on the crate. Someone else had bought, and returned it. The guy that had bought it said it was too big, and did not fit his motor home. I got it for $2K less then the asking price. The dealer told me they make most of their profit on installation.
Being a welder for many years, it will be easy for me to make some custom frame brackets to hold the generator. I also needed to fix the slide out drawer that holds the coach batteries. I will start with 3 group 27 R/V deep cycle batteries and maybe add some more later when I get some new solar panels.
So now I have ordered a bunch of parts from across the US. The parts will be coming in the UPS truck. I hope the driver can find my house. It is pretty hard to find and can not be seen from the road.
I am doing 5 projects at once. When I get to a stand still on one job, I move over to another. I think of what to do next when I am half asleep. I really can think out simple problems when my mind is relaxed. It makes the next days job easier with less problem solving to do. I am starting to make some progress, but I know there will be more things to fix that I have not even found yet. I hope I can get this motor home ready to use before spring.