Posted on 03/27/2022 5:01:41 PM PDT by blam
The point is not only correct but our Jayco’s owner’s manual has bold print telling us our RV is NOT INTENDED AS PERMANENT HOUSING.
The RV trend peaked during the last year of Trump’s presidency when fuel was much cheaper.
The RV market is on the verge of total collapse. The sales lots are filled with acres of unsold new units.
My brother-in-law and his wife were to leave next week for Utah from Washington state. They have a big motor home with a 100-gallon diesel fuel tank. They were to join a caravan of other motor homes pulling jeeps to do rough, off-road jeeping.
Trip cancelled.
Fuel is way too high in price and there is concern diesel fuel may not even be available in remote areas.
America’s economic problems are very serious and there is no escaping this problem by “hitting the road.”
Comparing a Beaver(top line) or Admiral(mid-range) to a Jayco is on a par with Lada vs Lexus. Completely different animals, the only similarity is they are both designed for sort-of similar use.
Literally thousands of people live in their RVs, some seasonal, others year-round. They don’t live in the typical smaller lightweight units, unless they are just trying out the RV lifestyle.
Friend made a wildly inaccurate statement. I snarkily responded. Have a good day, I am done with this.
My wife and I lived full-time in our bumper-pull trailer for several years. We lived in New Mexico in winter and further north in summer.
An RV requires endless maintenance when pulling it great distances. You are driving your “house” many miles and the effect is like a constant earthquake on the entire structure and components.
There are two kinds of RV’s...those that leak and those that WILL leak.
In terms of cold weather, you are living in a “house” with very thin walls and it is expensive to heat. Your water hose has to be heated in cold weather or it will freeze solid.
If you extend an awning from you RV, you may find it torn off by unexpected winds if you leave on an excursion.
When RV-ing, you must carry a large assortment of tools and by handy with them. You are plumber, electrician, mechanic and carpenter when you least expect it.
Warranty? We were once staying near Yellowstone when a new motor home had a motor failure of one of two motors on its large slide-out. It was virtually brand new. The nearest warranty service was 400 miles away. If the owners drove to the “Camping World” service department, they may have waited weeks for repairs. What are you supposed to do while you wait.?
Another very serious problem in America right now is this:
PARTS ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR MANY REPAIRS.
We lived full time in a 32 foot trailer. We had a few issues with repairs Etc. but when gas prices climb we just stayed lonter where we were. Park rents by the month were lower than by the week and we spent all winter in one place. Gas is not that big a problem — and yes we could afford a lot more than many full time rv types. But we did have to give it up as we aged.
Many RVs in our town are parked in driveways with extension cords to the house.
Surprising! I would have thought that a high-tech attack helicopter would have been more his style.
Regards,
Maybe Californians are buying a place to live.
Probably within ten miles of my rural house there are several that have been set up as homes in people’s back yards. I don’t know if they contain family, or renters, but they are obviously operated as permanent dwellings. Why? I’m a landlord and I get several calls each month from people who are former renters or who have gotten my number from a renter they work with. Homes have gotten so expensive people can’t buy them so they’re renting. I’m sure there are other reasons but the average home price in my area is $350k. Few people can afford the service on that loan.
My guess is a hefty percentage of the RV’s sold will end up as permanent dwellings. BTW, this is against the zoning codes. I’m waiting for the code enforcement people to crack down. It could happen on any day so they’re running a risk of fines at the minimum. The law also allows the county or city to assess taxes on however long they think the dwelling was there. These and penalties could end up in the thousands of dollars. As more and more people do this, it will raise this up as a problem. (I’m wondering about how they’re disposing of sewage, for example, as the ones I’ve seen obviously don’t go anywhere so they’re not driving off to an RV service area to dump it.)
On our road had a guy buy an acre that already had water, septic and electric on it. He got plans approved for his cabin and workshop...the workshop was gonna be bigger than his cabin. Lived on a boat at the lake but moved his RV to the acre when he started the grading. Great guy...got to know him while he was prepping the land and getting ready to build. Then he died. Grifter adult kids tried to move into the RV and setup their lives on that land.
We visited the County Zoning Office and the next day they had the RV red tagged. It was legal for him to live in it while building...not for them to squat in.
More to the story but this was one time I was thankful for the County Zoning Dept.
The TAXES on a Class A are horrible! In most states...taxed at same rate as an auto.....like 4 1/2% in Virginia.
Would be ok if taxed like your house, but as a vehicle, it’s absurd.......
The Who even wrote about it... “Going Mobile”
I chose the ‘lyrics on screen version’ for this fun song...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFAlJOIR74w
With the price of fuel and where you can actually go with them, this surprises me.
Watch the police and the taxman miss me, I’m Mobile!
My son’s former in-laws were RV’s and I never could get the concept. If I want to spend time out doors I go camping with a tent and sleeping bag or army cot. For the record I went camping with my uncle lots of times as a kid and ended up hating it. It was hot, the ground was hard and taking a dump in the woods wasn’t any fun. If there wasn’t fishing involved I wouldn’t have went.
If I want to be near nature I buy a house in the woods-which I did and I can walk a couple hundred feet and I am in the woods when I am done with the woods I walk back inside my heated/cooled house and I don’t have to connect or clean the sh*ter.
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