RV Fantasy
 

I keep playing with the idea of getting an RV. I'm probably at least a decade off from seriously considering buying one. Maintenance and storage fees (can't park one at my house) make such a purchase unrealistic at the moment.

The RV would be used for family vacations and probably get driven 1-3 times a year. I've always wanted to take a 2-3 week vacation and drive to the west coast, for example. It will need to sleep a minimum of 6 people. (In case some family wants to tag along.) I'd like the smallest RV that meets my needs.

My current thought is to buy a used diesel class C motorhome.

My thoughts are:
-Diesels get better gas mileage.
-Vehicle parts (brakes, tires, headlights, etc.) for a class C will be cheaper and easier to get as the chassis is from a mass-market vehicle.
-Motorhomes depreciate like crazy and getting a used one is MUCH cheaper.

Based on Hugh's comments, it makes me think that you really only get a year or two of ownership of a new RV before stuff starts breaking. It also seems that RVs are designed to be put together in modules--which can make accessing and repairing things like water lines difficult.

I'd like to start planning now for an eventual purchase.

My questions are:
-What costs do I need to take into consideration in RV ownership?
-What are the big things I need to look at when inspecting a used RV?
-What features should be avoided? What features are must-haves?
-What other things do I need to consider?

Considering insurance, maintenance, needing to tow a vehicle to get around once you arrive at your destination, etc. I'd look really hard at what it would cost to rent a nice RV for a few weeks.

This is based on info from my friends who lived in an RV for 12+ years, finally bought house last year, still are in their RV for 6+ months/year (they "work" at Ren Faires)

Tires, they need to be replaced every 5 years even if they aren't worn out. 6 tires on the road 7th as a spare supporting 11,000 RV

Just remember that an RV is nothing more than a glorious 55mph outhouse that needs to be dumped.

I know a few retirees that have gone down the road in a RV of their own. If you use it a LOT, it is cheaper to own. If you only go a few times per year it is so much easier and cheaper to rent.

If nothing else rent a motor-home than a trailer and see which one is better suited for your needs.

I've got a Phoenix Cruiser 4X4 RV. Running an RV is not easy, but it is worth it to us. I drive on the beach for surf fishing and have taken this up and down the East Coast. Buying one, you gotta check for water damage, know that you are basically driving a house around and there will be issues related to that here and there. So much really that is involved with owning one.

http://i.imgur.com/6AZ8VU0.jpg?2

I use mine about every six weeks, and I park it next to the house with a sewer dump and a 50A electrical service.

Far cheaper to rent a few times/year. I don't tow a car, I rent-a-wreck if I need one at the destination. Tires every five years. It helps if you can start it and the generator every few weeks and move it back and forth a few feet to keep the tires round and from delaminating.

Huge investment for just 1-3x a year. I grew up in a motorhome family, my parents used it for overnight trips to local lake or ocean front camping ~ every other weekend and 1x/yr for a 2-3 week trip. It was a 25' class A motorhome they bought used with 30K miles. We had space on our property to park it as well. It penciled out in the early days but when Dad was in his late 60's he upgraded to a used Monaco diesel pusher bus that was very expensive even used. They drove it around the country 1x and up to Canada a few more. Even buying used he lost ~ $175K when he sold it. Frankly it was just too big for the short trips they enjoyed. Sounds like you are avoiding the size issue with a class C however your overall $/time investment should be seriously considered.

We do plan on renting in the next couple of years to see if it is something we are really interested in. The rentals do seem very expensive. The closest I can pick up a rental is 150 miles away, and they put such big time/mileage restrictions on the use you can't really go anywhere with it.

If you rent/buy, check where you want to go. At most CA State owned beach sites, the limit is 30'.

Mine is now four years old and the engine/frame of it is Ford V10 Triton for a truck and is very solid. What tends to go is the cheap press board of the interior in that screws on hinges work themselves loose, also many things like the grey and black water tanks appear to have been installed before they skinned the exterior. Carpet and upholstery is not very durable. Seat covers and floor mats in the driver and passenger footwells help a lot.

My wife and I have this conversation from time to time too.
We're willing to go a little more "rustic" in that it would be more of a car camping type vehicle, rather than a rolling home.
I've worked in an Airstream custom shop before and had an up close look at how they're built / systems, etc, and I can say with certainty that I would never want to have to dump waste tanks. Carrying 5 or so gallons of fresh water's fine, but showers and toilets are so readily available in this country we see no need to haul one around.
Where we've landed on the ideas is to get a diesel van of the Sprinter variety (but probably a Nissan or Ford) and I'll build out the interior with storage, bunks and a very minimal kitchen. A Yeti cooler can go for a week or so with one load of ice (depending on ambient temps). Then we'd go out for 3-5 days at national park type campgrounds at a stretch, then get a hotel room for a night or two to sort out laundry and supplies, get a long private hot shower, then back out on the road.
We like to do city stuff, like museums and theatre, so having to park a behemoth vehicle in town is a big "no-thanks".

There is a big difference between camping and RVing.

Camping is where you load everything you need in a truck or van and head to the campsite for the weekend. Most of what you do is outside; like cooking, fishing, hunting, watching a race. Real men go camping.

RVing is where you take the house with you with the TV, kitchen and shower. You stay inside most of the time. Women and the men who love them go Rving.

This weekend I'm going to the Rolex 24 at Daytona. I'll be camping, by myself. ;)

Good you put this question on the forum. We have never owned a motorhome but we rented a couple of times. It seemed expensive to rent at the time but as the above says it is cheaper than owning. We rented a 26 foot once and it seemed like we were flying at 55 mph.

I don't think I would want to travel too far in one unless you have lots of time available. Four hours max was about right for me as a typical day of driving otherwise it became a chore. Serviced camp sites seem to be expensive for rv's.

It was a good experiment. We took our young daughter and it seemed to rain a lot and be cold so we spent a lot of time in the rv. Plus when I was snoring in the rv I was not very popular. So ended up staying in the Jasper Park Lodge with the rv parked outside for a couple of days. Yes expensive but did not love it enough to buy one. We do like staying in hotels as a preference because then the rooms are made up and don't have to cook.

Yes to summarize I would suggest start to rent to see how you like it. Oh yes rv's having a big flat front end getting covered in bugs. Plus dumping the waste etc . And if you own one where do you park it?

My 2 cents:
Consider a pull trailer, for 6 people you need a 27-30+ ft.
IMO those things are maintenance free aside from the winterization process cause I'm in Canada.
Same storage costs as an RV without all the hassles and maintenance costs.

What I like of the travel trailer (or pull trailer as some people call them) is that I can just leave at the campground and move freely in the truck to do groceries, museum, parks, etc.. without moving that big tub around..

But no matter what you decide, its an amazing experience.

Good luck

Most good points have already come up:

If you already say 1-3 times / year, it probably is 1-2 tops. So, this is a GREAT scenario to rent.
Add up your fixed costs and you will see that owning makes no sense at all.
Like Hugh points out, anything big and you can't go to most state campgrounds (which are usually a lot nicer than the private stuff).
I also think a trailer with a tow vehicle make more sense for occasional use if you can daily drive a tow vehicle. It keeps you from needing to maintain a vehicle with a driveline that's rarely used. Engines and even suspensions just sitting there are not going to be great as we all know.

I was looking at RVs and my solution was a truck camper. Bought a 4x4 crew cab that replaed the family SUV for daily driving and have a slide in pop up camper that fits my back yard. Zero overhead and can be sold in a few years with maybe a $2k loss. Yes, there is no bathroom and it has only an ice box. But it has been great on vacations, longest road trip 10 days so far with the entire family ...

In addition to being low overhead, I can go >55 mph and get into any spot camping / hunting that a 4x4 large truck will go!


G

When my parents retired they bought one of those giant RVs with all the pop-outs etc.

After they had it a couple of years I asked my dad how he like it. he said "we could rent a stretch limo to drive us anywhere in the country, stay in a 5 star hotel and eat at the finest restaurants, and it's still be cheaper than taking this RV. And a hotel doesn't cost $50 a month in storage when you aren't on vacation".

IIRC the sticker price on it was around $120k, they ended up selling to my brother for $30k after 5 years and $12,000 miles.

But hey, a fool and his money are my best friends.

You can rent them.


Don't buy an outhouse on wheels.

1 to 3 times a years is Hookerville: Rent.

I looked hard at towables and RVs this past year since I am working in NC two weeks a month at the small composites factory I am part owner of.

I penciled everything out: Cost per mile, maintenance costs, loans, price of a camp ground hook-up (they are not cheap), driving experience (I rented an RV for two separate trips) and the RV was by far the most expensive option.

I have the spreadsheets to prove it:)

I rent small SUVs and stay in hotels. No muss, zero fuss.

To use it that infrequently simply isn't worth it. Depending on the season we have ours out almost every weekend then on a long trip at least once a year .

I don't know that I will ever be ready for a motorized RV, we have been using our 30' Dutchmen travel trailer for a few years now and love it (after having popup campers for decades). We need the F250 4x4 for other farm reasons, so a used $5000 trailer is pretty nice for what we need, and about 10 years old.

I see so many huge 5th wheels, and RVs with multiple slideouts, and endless options. I think once the kids no longer go with us, I will buy a smaller 26' or 27' travel trailer with one large slideout for touring the country.

I use the heck out of mine, it's a 4x4 Tiger CX it fits my lifestyle as a cyclist and the family loves to road trip a few times a year.

I agree with much of what is said above, few times a year it's not worth it. But if it fits into another hobby (cycling, moto bikes in the desert, surfing, ect then go for it)

Between weekend Mountain trips and longer road trips I put over 10k miles on mine last year, more than my daily driver.

If you need to sleep six I would suggest a Class C. I would look at a larger Mercedes diesel van based model with a slide that is 2-3 years old with low miles. They seem to hold their value much better, and drive much better.

Six people in any RV for any span of time does get "tight" certainly if a mix of adults and kids.