maybe never will :/ but
I think this company (Advanced RV)
has some very well thought out and unique innovations
like a 48V electrical system
that I haven't seen anywhere else.
7
Don’t get any of the ones with slide-outs; the gaskets quickly start to crack, leak and then there are issues with the whole assembly sagging and having to be supported. I noted recently an RV owner having to shore theirs up with tall sawhorses.
Don’t buy a new one but if you do, don’t buy a Winnebago.
I’m often tempted to buy an rv, but the maintenance is a bit discouraging. I don’t even like to pump gas in my car.
The class A rv’s are comfy — ok, I’m only 60” high and around 90 pounds, so I’d be comfy in a Keebler tree trunk. However, larger individuals will probably feel cramped in the C.
Best advice: rent one for a few months. You’ll never have a better way to know if it’s for you or for the birds.
If you buy, buy one lightly used.
I like the truck/travel trailer option, myself. A trailer can be parked somewhere and the truck used for excursions, etc. A truck that gets driven more often will have fewer mechanical problems over the long run than a motorhome, as well.
Another thing I would advise is to not buy new. A new motor home can cost a significant fraction of the price of a house, but depreciates nearly as fast as a new car.
Don’t.
I have only ever had a 6 pack camper, which was a pain in the arse, but tend to think 5th wheel is the way to go.
The trucks gonna cost some money , but you cant get last years camper for 50%
Park it and you have a great truck to run around in
There are advantages and disadvantages of motorhomes and 5th wheels.
With a motorhome, you will usually have a vehicle aka a towed or known as a toad. This will require maintenance, insurance, etc for two engines. The diesel pushers are the powerful ones that will get you up and down the mountains. The advantage you will be able to disconnect the small vehicle and tour around.
With a 5th wheel, you will have much more living space and storage space, but you will need a very large, expensive truck. Diesel will be required and that will be your touring vehicle as well as the transporter of your RV. The other advantage is that the cost to maintain the truck will be cheaper than maintaining a motorhome, but will be more expensive to drive to tour around.
Different people have different needs. Join online groups to explore the best and the worst of each option. Are you buying new or used? Both will depreciate, 5th wheels are more difficult to back into the campground sites. There are books to help you pick which one is best for you and which brand of that type is the highest quality. Both are books are written by Randall Eaton. We started out wanting a travel trailer but ended up wanted and buying a 5th wheel after reading his book. There are ratings for the brands and include years past to give you information on used units.
Many people have romantic ideas about how fun and exciting life is going to be on the road. You will have good days and bad days just like life before retirement. Allow each other times to be apart and to do things together. RVing is more expensive than most people think and plan for. Campground fees can get very expensive and RV require regular maintenance. You can PM me if you have more questions.
My Wife and I having Traveled pull behind TT for 25 years. Our current Trailer is 2002 Montana 33.5 ft.(Bot.New) Pulled with 2003 Excursion V-10. (This combo 68k miles in 17 years.)
I suggest 27-34 ft. TT and F250 Ford. Buy New.
Also...RVs are overrated. Fly to your destination and pay a company to set up an RV in advance.
FWIW.
As many have said, buy USED, depreciation is huge.
Look in retirement locations: Florida, Arizona...
You want one that someone else bought new and decided they did not like it.
We had a Class C motor home, which is too small for long-term living, but good for traveling.
Biggest advantages of each:
Trailer — the motor is independent of the living quarters and you can use the truck for touring.
Motor Home you can make a rest stop without ever opening the door. If you have pets this is important. You will need to tow a car — be sure the car can be towed will all wheels on the ground.
Start reading rv.net before you buy anything.
I spent a winter in Kansas in a RV. Two adults, one large dog. Heat tape for the hoses and sheet insulation plus straw bales solved the worst parts of the first ice storm.
We, the dog, and the RV survived until Spring. The RV bug died on the prairie.
Whatever you do, don’t buy a new one! You can buy used, very nice ones for a fraction of what they originally cost. My uncle bought one new with a Cat diesel, paid over $100k for it several years ago. When he passed away, it sold for around $30k and only had 11,000 miles on it. He got to the point that he couldn’t drive it anymore but still took care of it. The new owner got a very nice, well maintained motor home that just needed the dry-rotted tires replaced.
There are probably hundreds of them around like this.
I saw Tiffin mentioned. If you stick with Tiffin, newmar or winnebago you will be fine. Stay away from Thor, Forrest river or coachman
You're average msrp mark up is 30%. There is a website my wife used (she had to pay) to get the specific details for every model and model year.
Buying new: You can expect to get 20 - 40 issues that you will have to return to the dealer to get fixed. That is just the way it is. And I don't care who the manufacturer is. They can tout quality workmanship til the cows come home, but that is just the way it is.
That pay for website my wife used included driveability. That alone was worth it. If you can't drive the dang thing for more than 2 hours because your arms are shaking, don't buy it.
Case in point: First MH - a 25 foot forest river. Nice little rig. Terrible for driving. 2 hours and i was done.
2nd rig: 30 foot forest river. An absolute dream to drive, and you would never even know you are pulling a toad.
I know there was a freeper here that used to be in the RV business who said ALWAYS buy the extended warranty. FWWIW.
Make sure you get an RV/Trucker GPS. It'll make you mad, but, probably worth it.
Get a dash cam.
And yes, if you are patient, and know what exactly you are looking for, there are plenty of used RVs to be found.
It's like buying a home. Don't get sucked into the pretty pictures.
Good luck brother.
Beware of people who tell you stuff like this.
You must understand just EXACTLY how much weight your rig can carry inside, and tow.
Just because you have room for it, does NOT mean that you should carry it.
One of the most important things to look at is the CCC- CARGO CARRYING CAPACITY.
You could have the bestest, prettiest, RV around, but if you cant carry stuff, what good is it.
CCC includes YOU, WIFE, GAS, WATER, DOG, and that is 800 lbs before you put a single shirt, pants, pots and pans, etc. into the rig.
Good luck on your research.
https://www.escapees.com/
Do yourself a favor, escapees will have a plethora of information for you. If you can attend an escapade, you will learn a lot.
I think that there is a consistent consensus here..... rent before you buy being an obvious takeaway. I would totally concur with this approach and in fact would go further....plan to always only rent. These things invariably end up costing way more than one plans for... fuel, park fees, maintenance, insurance, storage and worst of all, depreciation etc. Then there is the unknown time and expense of trying to sell it once you are done with it... these don’t move that fast as you can see on many used RV websites... some of them are on there for years. It’s a good rule of thumb to not buy stuff that you can’t get rid of... especially big expensive stuff. Tastes change and things such as fuel hikes creates gluts on the market for toys like this. One sees the same thing happening with larger cruiser style boats.
I own an almost new 33 foot fifth wheel but it’s permanently parked with a roof over it at a lake... the only way it may ever get moved is if I sell the property and a new owner doesn’t want it, or I build a cabin there and the RV becomes redundant. I’ve rented numerous class As and Cs over the years and always had reasonably good experiences... fly to LA, pick up an RV and away you go. Fly to Orlando, pick up an RV and away you go. Fly to Vancouver, pick up an RV and away you go. This avoids all the tedious driving, the high ‘getting there’ transportation costs and gets you to a place where you can relax and do things that befit being retired. You can buy a lot of airline tickets on the fuel that you don’t burn. And if there are problems with a rental, those are somebody else’s problems. If you find out that the RV doesn’t do what you want, then you can return it for another one or put up with it for the limited time you have it....
Two other comments... 1. My brother-in-law bought a nice Class A that was lightly used a number of years ago. It was a beautiful (and expensive) unit. He quickly found that it had a water leak that drove them nuts trying to source it out... don’t know if they ever did. These aren’t things that don’t typically get picked up in an inspection no matter how thorough. 2. There was an earlier comment about the negative aspects of slide-outs.... a lot of people with these end up with mice inside and if that happens, it’s very difficult to get the slide-outs to seal up tight enough to keep the varmints out.
Whatever you do, do not buy a Gulfstream. Their electrical system is insane, and their plumbing is not much better.
It is like they were designed by monkeys on LSD and they consider everything in them to be a proprietary secret. They will not tell an owner anything about repairs, won’t sell you a repair manual or repair parts. They expect you to go to one of their very few factory trained mechanics.
For 1200 a month, you could rent a nice apartment steps from the Pantheon in Rome on an annual lease. I don’t care what you drive or where you drive it, it will not be as comfortable as an apartment and the location will not be as nice as Rome.