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Old 01-10-2019, 03:00 PM   #41
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Great post, thanks. Between this and the YouTube videos described above I'm not sure what to do! Seem's like I could stay in a lot of nice hotel room's for the price and maintenance of a $30,000+ RV.
I think you are catching on.

I am a failed RV owner. I was not mechanically hopeless, as I kept 2 Volvo's for just short of 700,000 miles. But RVs are a whole other thing.

The only way I got rid of my derelict RV sitting out in the pasture of my former home is to sell all the junk in the pasture along with the home and property because the property was attractive and in a hot area, to a buyer who had a trucking business and he was not intimidated by hauling this crap away if that was a condition of getting my property.

Two things I will never do again-marry or buy an RV!

Ha
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Old 01-10-2019, 04:12 PM   #42
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Definitely an eye opener after following a few different RV Facebook groups and talking with friends. I owned a tent trailer for years but of course that's a whole different trailer.

In my case I'd have to rent a place to store it for $100. a month around here. Add 10 years of that plus nearly $35,000. out the door for a nice trailer plus gear and I'm looking at $50,000. for 10 years of use. That same $50,000. will buy 25 nights a year at a nice hotel for 10 years.

Of course there's also big RV Show this weekend, wish me luck!
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Old 01-10-2019, 04:48 PM   #43
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RE: Lehto's Law

This has to be one of the funniest websites ever. I just watched one about Lehto and the case of the frozen lasagna lunch entree.



Ha
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Old 01-10-2019, 06:39 PM   #44
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Originally Posted by Drake3287 View Post
Definitely an eye opener after following a few different RV Facebook groups and talking with friends. I owned a tent trailer for years but of course that's a whole different trailer.

In my case I'd have to rent a place to store it for $100. a month around here. Add 10 years of that plus nearly $35,000. out the door for a nice trailer plus gear and I'm looking at $50,000. for 10 years of use. That same $50,000. will buy 25 nights a year at a nice hotel for 10 years.

Of course there's also big RV Show this weekend, wish me luck!
So buy a modest second hand trailer. If you don't like pop ups and don't need a lot of space, look at an A-liner or one of its imitators. You can stick those in the garage if you like.
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Old 01-11-2019, 08:38 AM   #45
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We paid 14k for a used motor home 11 years ago. We have spent 3k on repairs. It is a 1993 but came with only 34k miles. If you don’t buy new they are reasonable. Plus we can park it on our property.
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Old 01-11-2019, 10:17 AM   #46
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Thanks for the comments. I guess part of the issue is that I retired somewhat young and have more then enough funds to buy what ever I want but at the same time I'm not the type of person to throw money down the drain.

I've been excited at the prospect of buying a new $30,000+ trailer for retirement but the thought of dealing with non-stop issues along with paying over $100. a month for storage is leaving me with doubts. Not to mention most of these storage lot's aren't the most secure in the first place.

I have a close friend who recently purchased a new trailer and it had a waterline leak on the first trip, certainly didn't surprise me. Now he's worried about subfloor damage because of the standing water.
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Old 01-11-2019, 10:36 AM   #47
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I've been excited at the prospect of buying a new $30,000+ trailer for retirement but the thought of dealing with non-stop issues along with paying over $100. a month for storage is leaving me with doubts.
Apparently the pluses of RV ownership don't amount to much for you. That is, the RV'ing activities you'd participate in and really enjoy amount to a petty short list. So, when you list the pros and cons of RV ownership, the "con list" far exceeds the "pro list." Don't buy one.

The same could be said for other retirement hobby-type activities such a boating, a vacation home, etc. Things and activities have to net out positively on your personal pro and con list to make them worthwhile and that's very personal.

DW and I own a modest camper, a hard-sided (no canvas) pop-up called an Aliner. We've had it for 9 years and it's been a joy. (Note: we're more campers than RV'ers.) We average about ten weeks a year out on the road, mostly in remote locations but not always, and from coast to coast. We sometimes bring our canoe or our kayaks on top of the truck. It's our thing and for us the fun far overshadows the storage expenses, maintenance chores and the need to have a tow vehicle as our second car. But, our non-camping friends think it's a ridiculous activity that they'd never consider. We get it..... and respect their opinion as we wave goodbye!

Do whatcha wanna do! That's why you got yourself into a position of being FIRE'd.

Waiting for the ferry to take us back to the mainland after a few days camped on an island in the Apostle Islands chain, Lake Superior.
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Old 01-11-2019, 10:42 AM   #48
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Thanks for the comments. I guess part of the issue is that I retired somewhat young and have more then enough funds to buy what ever I want but at the same time I'm not the type of person to throw money down the drain.

I've been excited at the prospect of buying a new $30,000+ trailer for retirement but the thought of dealing with non-stop issues along with paying over $100. a month for storage is leaving me with doubts. Not to mention most of these storage lot's aren't the most secure in the first place.
Your concerns are well-founded. Anyone who doesn't already own an RV should not purchase one, and anyone who already made that mistake needs to quickly find a buyer before the current RV boom cools.

I'm about to start trip planning for the Spring and don't need additional competition for reservations in my favorite campgrounds.
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Old 01-11-2019, 10:48 AM   #49
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I'm about to start trip planning for the Spring and don't need additional competition for reservations in my favorite campgrounds.
We're heading south for warm weather. After the Fla Panhandle was devastated by the hurricane and two of the beach-front state park campgrounds we had reservations at were closed indefinitely, we really had to scramble to find new spots. It's amazing how competitive making reservations down there at federal, state and county campgrounds is, especially beach-front!

You're right, too many campers/RV'ers!
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Old 01-11-2019, 11:10 AM   #50
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I can tell from reading this thread, that in so many numerous ways, I am simply not suited for RV ownership!

I have long thought that really, the main ways to spend huge gobs of discretionary money are:

(1) travel, or
(2) buying a vehicle for travel (boats, planes, RV's, expensive sports cars, etc).

Since I have no desire to travel, I am safe from these budget-busters! Which is not to say that ALL travel is expensive but a lot of it sure can be unless one has planned carefully and judiciously to avoid excessive expenses.

An additional advantage of not owning an RV is that I have never seen, nor will I ever see, a black water tank (shudder!). Another is that my big, beautiful detached two and a half car garage with the 20 foot high ceiling and extra big garage door does not have an RV in it so there is plenty of room in there for my Venza. And last but not least, I am home enjoying my wonderful Dream Home which is my idea of a wonderful retirement.

Carry on! Have fun reserving campgrounds, complaining about how inconsiderate the other people camping there are, cleaning out your blackwater tanks, cooking crummy stuff on a camp stove, and doing all that stuff. Bet I'll have as much or more fun than all of you put together, here at home just soaking up the peace, serenity, and contentment of living my life exactly as I always wanted it to be.

Yesterday I actually saw a raccoon in my yard here in the city, and a few days before, there was a possum out there! And when I opened up my side door to air out the house last night, a squirrel almost ran inside (but luckily didn't). Any time I want to see nutria, egrets, ducks, geese, or seagulls I can drive by the canals a block away. That's enough wildlife and wilderness to last me for a while. Also the yacht harbor on Lake Ponchartrain is within walking distance and has a place to sit and enjoy a nice view of the lake and all the sailboats.
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Old 01-11-2019, 11:21 AM   #51
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DW and I had never RV'd, but after she followed me into ER (we were then 54 and 52) we bought a new Roadtrek Class B. Practiced for six months in the Golden State and then left for a year, driving around all 48 lower states and Alaska, plus 10 Canadian Provinces and all the way down through Baja to Cabo San Lucas. Did about 45,000 miles IIRC. Then for the next year we did shorter trips and visited all 58 counties in California.



In our third year we are doing more select trips, often to Vegas (inlaws) and AZ (daughter) and elsewhere around CA. We are planning a ten week trip back east this summer.

It wasn't perhaps a sound financial decision at the outset given the cost and our lack of familiarity with RVing, but it has turned out to be a wonderful experience, and perhaps even brought us closer... even given the close quarters for such extended periods of time.

Like youbet said, Do whatcha wanna do!
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Old 01-11-2019, 11:21 AM   #52
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I can tell from reading this thread, that in so many numerous ways, I am simply not suited for RV ownership!
Yep! Whatever someone decides to do with their time and resources, it needs to be what they want to do with their time and resources! Why does the billionaire with resources to do almost anything want to put life and limb at risk and climb a mountain instead of sitting home reading in front of the fireplace? Why does the person who enjoyed world travel for years change and decide that life in the home neighborhood now suites them best? Because we're all different! Isn't it great that FIRE gives us the time and resources to do what we want?
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Old 01-11-2019, 11:44 AM   #53
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Mattbaxx and Youbet, your camping photos make me breath in deeply and get online to make campsite reservations lickety split. Buying a camper van, motor coach or travel trailer is definitely a lifestyle decision, not a financial one.
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Old 01-11-2019, 03:14 PM   #54
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Totally agree with the sentiment that if you don't want an RV, don't buy one. The ratio of RVs to campgrounds gets slimmer every year, so why make the problem worse?
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Old 01-11-2019, 04:12 PM   #55
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If you really want an RV and don’t want a huge one look at the fiberglass “egg” trailers. A few have already been mentioned here. They are solid one/two piece construction with no corners, seams, or rubber roofs to leak. In general they are quite well built, minimal problems and have excellent resale value. Due to the construction method the maximum size is limited. Some of the most poplur brands are: Scamp, Casita, Escape, Bigfoot, Oliver (in order of least to most expensive). Good luck!
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Old 01-11-2019, 06:57 PM   #56
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We rv’d for 20 years while the kids were babies to late teens with friends and family and the experiences were the absolute best, this was in the mid 80’s to 2005. We upgraded the RV 3 different times during 20 years and the tow rig also, to include buying two brand new Dodge diesels and our last 5th wheel was a top of the line Alpenlite which we bought from a neighbor which was just slightly used.

The good was the memories we had with friends and family, the kids now in their 30’s still talk about the good times!

The bad, it is expensive, from maintenance to purchasing both tow rig and RV. A lot of people buy too big of an RV and tow it with a rig that is not designed to tow the weight, so you are under trucked and over RV’d and you are just asking for problems. Next problem is most community developments do not allow for RV’s parked at your home, so you have to buy storage somewhere, and if you have a 20-30k RV, you probably do not want it sitting in some gravel storage area, we were fortunate to have a nice carport so it was always under cover and plugged in during storage protected from the elements, rain and dampness in our area.

RV vacations were all we did for 20 years while the kids grew up, they went off to college and I moved into a new position with my mega corp company which was more money, more responsibility and a lot less time to RV. We also moved to a new home and had to store the RV off site (not at the house).

We ended up selling RV and tow rig and now hop on an airplane and fly to our destination, which is to Florida or Puerto Rico and board a cruise ship and absolutely LOVE it, 24 cruises since 2007 and counting! I do not regret the RV days, they were great, but at this point in our lives, 1 year from retirement and this fits our lifestyle perfectly. RVing is not cheap, campground reservations are harder to come by and highway traffic is horrible in our part of the country (Seattle area), many things to consider with your decision, good luck!!
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Old 01-12-2019, 04:01 PM   #57
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My cousin and her husband bought a really big one a few years ago. Used- but fairly new. They have had issues with it and the trailer and even with things like hitting into something when parking at the camp site.


Then there's the issues with trying to get reservations.


They keep the huge ugly thing covered in their driveway.



I look at them as a big hassle and a lot of work- things I don't go on vacations for.


I like our drive to timeshares. Just show up to the condo and enjoy.



Other places we rent and reserve condos at resorts or through Home Away and fly to. Get a rental car and we are golden.
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Old 01-12-2019, 04:11 PM   #58
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They have had issues with it and the trailer and even with things like hitting into something when parking at the camp site.
Hitting things while parking can't really be blamed on the RV. I tried that and DW shot me down.
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Old 01-12-2019, 04:19 PM   #59
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Every summer we spend 2 months in different locations. We find a nice resort type campground in an area with lots to see and do, then pay by the month (cheaper rates that way...usually it works out to $20 per day on avg) and make that our home base. We leave the RV and travel out. If we wander too far, we get a motel and then return. It allows us to stay gone much longer this way.
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Old 01-12-2019, 04:25 PM   #60
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Hitting things while parking can't really be blamed on the RV. I tried that and DW shot me down.

I know- but driving one is certainly a challenge and needs to be factored into the equation.
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