kurt, Bemidji, 52, still working for the county so this is a summer weekend coach, not a snowbird coach. i bought it in june and a couple people asked in dave's thread so here is mine.
2020 Forest River Georgetown 5 Series 31L5, V10, 24,300 miles, full body paint, the floorplan with the bath in the back and the big pantry. it was sitting at a lender yard in Ocala Florida and listed through lake park auto connection. i bid 79,800 sealed and got the email four days later. no premium on top. delivery was the first 1,000 miles free and 70 cents after, and Ocala to Bemidji is 1,690 road miles on their sheet, so 690 miles times 70 cents, 483 on the invoice. driver had it here in 13 days. Florida title from the bank, lien satisfied, one page bill of sale.
now the surprise, which is on me. the coach is a 2020. the VIN on the door sticker photo, which was in the listing the whole time, decodes to a 2019 F-53. i did not decode it until the tire shop asked me for the chassis year. it matters for three things: which recalls apply, the tire date codes, which were 2018 because the chassis sat at the Forest River plant before it got a body, and the insurance quote which asked for the chassis year. not the broker's fault, the listing said what the title says. i just should have spent the thirty seconds.
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pat_fixes_slides
Full-TimerKerrville, TX26 posts · joined Aug 2025
#2
that year split is on almost every gas coach ever built. the builders buy chassis in batches and a coach with a 2020 sticker on the door is very often on the previous model year F-53. it is not a defect and it is not a misrepresentation, the coach IS a 2020. but for tires, for recalls, and for knowing which chassis parts you have, you want the chassis year. the Ford 3 year 36,000 chassis warranty clock started at the coach's first retail sale by the way, not at the chassis build, so that part did not cost you anything. 5 Series 31L5 is a good floorplan, the 5 Series had the bigger basement doors and the full paint.
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f53_chassis_ron
WagonmasterOcala, FL34 posts · joined Aug 2025
#3
the tire dates are the real story here. 2018 date codes on a coach you bought in 2025 is 7 years. i know you bid on it with those tires but i would put fronts on it before the next long trip. and check the chassis battery date, the ones from the Ford plant are stamped on the top.
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winter_in_yuma
SnowbirdYuma, AZ14 posts · joined Aug 2025
#4
i bid on that listing, or on one with that floorplan in Florida, in june. put in 76,000 and lost. no hard feelings, that is how sealed works, but people should know before they try it: you get one number, you do not find out what won, and there is no second bid. i asked the lake park people afterward and all they would say is that it sold. so kurt, i guess i now know what beat me. 3,800.
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bemidji_gasserOP
RoadtripperBemidji, MN8 posts · joined Aug 2025
#5
sorry lorraine. or not sorry, i like the coach. fronts are on, two Toyo M144s from the truck tire shop here, 1,180 mounted. rears in the spring. ron, chassis battery was stamped 6/19 and it ran fine all summer but it came out for storage anyway.
one honest note on the buy since dave gave his. the email answers were slow, two days on a question about the generator hours, and the phone was a lot faster. i would just call.
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denise_on_the_road
Full-TimerBillings, MT19 posts · joined Aug 2025
#6
how did the paper go with an out of state bank title into Minnesota? we are full timers with a South Dakota address and i am curious whether the Minnesota DVS fussed over a Florida title with a bank on it.
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bemidji_gasserOP
RoadtripperBemidji, MN8 posts · joined Aug 2025
#7
paper was fine. Florida title reassigned by the bank with the lien satisfaction on it, and the bill of sale showing the outfit in lake park as the broker, one page. the Beltrami county DVS office did it in 25 minutes and charged tax on the bid price. coach is in the barn now, see my storage thread in Coach talk. 3,100 miles of my own on it since june and the only thing that broke was a slide topper spring, 40 dollars.
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