Motorhome purchase? Pros/Cons!

[kat]

But you have more people in your clan. I can't drive both at the same time. I can't even rationalize that I might.

P.S. Don't ask me how much time I spent seeing what my Honda could tow. (Nothing.)

 

[brewer12345]

But you have more people in your clan. I can't drive both at the same time. I can't even rationalize that I might.

P.S. Don't ask me how much time I spent seeing what my Honda could tow. (Nothing.)

People in the clan doesn't really matter. Only one of us can drive the van+trailer at a time.

What honda is it? Civic? Hard to believe that an accord would not have some sort of tow rating. Even a low rating would let you pull a pop-up, some of which are pretty snazzy. We saw one last month that had a hard roof that popped up into a triangular roof shape that looked pretty snazzy.

 

[kat]

Someone on this board pointed me in the direction of a lightweight pop-up which advertised as being towable by just about any car. I was eager. Then I checked the book for my budget model four cylinder Honda Accord. Not even close. Not do-able. Then I thought van, get rid of the car. I can't stomach that yet. I want to. And I don't have to do a lot of bargaining with myself to do what I want to do. It's just such a great car otherwise. Shitt, I should sleep in the car with my dog, and bring my three tents and hammock for outdoor rooms.

 

[brewer12345]

Someone on this board pointed me in the direction of a lightweight pop-up which advertised as being towable by just about any car. I was eager. Then I checked the book for my budget model four cylinder Honda Accord. Not even close. Not do-able. Then I thought van, get rid of the car. I can't stomach that yet. I want to. And I don't have to do a lot of bargaining with myself to do what I want to do. It's just such a great car otherwise. Shitt, I should sleep in the car with my dog, and bring my three tents and hammock for outdoor rooms.

Last I checked, you could buy a really nice tent for a couple hundred bucks, and all the rest of the gear for a few hundred more. If it is just you and the dog, I would think that would be a nice way to go. I used to tent camp all the time, but doing it with two small children is a non-starter. So for me, a healthy chunk of the motivation to shell out for the camper was to get to go camping again (at all).

 

[kat]

I'm going to have to try that. I have the tents. I am an avid hiker in the mountains in the northeast US, especially the Adirondack High Peaks. I was told back when I started that there are some places I would need to camp at, couldn't hike to and climb a remote mountain in a day. So I bought all the fine gear. And then I found out there are guides/leaders with the Adirondack Mountain Club who want to start the day at 3 a.m., and that's what I ended up doing.... So I pretty much have all the gear. I should use it some day.

 

[brewer12345]

There are lots of nice places to camp. Check out the NY state parks, for example.

 

[Milton]

I bought all the fine gear. And then I found out there are guides/leaders with the Adirondack Mountain Club who want to start the day at 3 a.m., and that's what I ended up doing.... So I pretty much have all the gear.

To bad you didn't just join the army! You could have enjoyed the early starts, and the experience of long-distance forced marches in the rain, etc., without having to pay for all the expensive kit.

 

[OAG]

Yeah, they GIVE all the gear to you. Even send you to some exotic places to do that hiking stuff. Some even get to do live video game stuff.

 

[kat]

To bad you didn't just join the army! You could have enjoyed the early starts, and the experience of long-distance forced marches in the rain, etc., without having to pay for all the expensive kit.

I'd rather pay for my entertainment.

 

[audreyh1]

Is the motor home becoming extinct?

Sometimes, these days, it sure seems like it!

It's been pretty interesting perusing this thread 2.5 years later.

About the extinction - earlier this year several well known Class A RV manufacturers closed the doors on their businesses. Including ours! At least they were nice enough to wait until a week after we had our final factory service completed before closing down - just at the end of our 3 year warranty too.

So as you can see the current gas prices/economic conditions have been very hard on the industry. In addition to the business shut downs, several other big manufacturers have had huge layoffs and cutbacks.

Diesel now costs TWICE what we were paying when this thread was started.

Fortunately for us, we have enough extra in our budget to cover the increasing costs, so we personally have not suffered other than repeated sticker shock. But I think many RVers have had to cut way back.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem mean that campgrounds are emptier. People are staying local instead. We're on the Oregon coast at the height of the season, and this 500+ site state park campground is full every night! Lots of tent campers. But virtually all of the license plates are from Oregon - out of state license plates are extremely rare. One camper came by when we set up to tell us that we were the only other TX license plate he'd seen in a long time, and that it never used to be that way.

So just a snapshot of current RVing conditions. We're still having a blast, but a lot of our fellow RVers are complaining.

Audrey

 

[NW-Bound]

But virtually all of the license plates are from Oregon - out of state license plates are extremely rare. One camper came by when we set up to tell us that we were the only other TX license plate he'd seen in a long time, and that it never used to be that way.

In another thread, I reported that a local 5-star resort where my daughter works in accounting had cut their staff to 32-hr work weeks. Their competitors in town are cutting room rates to ridiculous levels. Now, you are seeing some other bleak conditions.

It looks like we forum members can make up our own FIRE Beige Book!

We can have a lead on the market. By the time the public sees the Fed Beige Book, and sees that it was bad, we will be buying already.

 

[huskerblue]

I have a 26 ft Lazy Daze class c with this being our fourth summer. It is a great lifestyle if you love the outdoors and love travel. When we finally FIRE, we will use it a lot more including July and August in the Rockies - perhaps we'll campground host and earn a buck or two while getting free camping. $4 gas sucks but if you don't move every day, you don't spend that much per day.

 

[audreyh1]

Another thought about the fuel prices......

When we started our adventure over 3 years ago, we were well aware that gas prices could go much higher. Prices were quite cheap at the time on a historical basis, even if not quite as cheap as a couple years earlier. But we figured - the sooner the better on fulltime RVing, because it was just going to get more expensive later.

Of course, lo-and-behold, hurricane Katrina attacked New Orleans a few days after we sold our house and the very day we left Austin finally officially fulltimers. Instant fuel price jump! I remember taking the motorhome by a station just a couple days later and topping off the tank up just in case there were nationwide shortages.

We have a great knack for timing major trips to coincide with the next run-up in fuel prices. Left TX for the Pacific Northwest mid-March 2008.

It's all an adventure, no matter what the sticker shock!

Audrey

 

[Westernskies]

How can you put a price on sleeping in your own bed every night ? I have spent too many nights in hotel rooms (ranging from Asian hovels to Grand Hyatts- probably 2500+ nights) over the last 25 years to want to do it on vacation. I'll take a nice class A motorhome with the same mattress I have in my home over the Motel 6 any day- which is probably the closest you can get to Class A campground fees.

If you try to justify a motorhome as a purely financial decision, you can't. If you enjoy it, have the budget for it, and feel you are getting what you want out of owning it then you have your answer.

 

[Westernskies]

But virtually all of the license plates are from Oregon - out of state license plates are extremely rare. Audrey

Don't a lot of folks license their high-value vehicles in Oregon to avoid paying state sales tax?- I know when I lived in Washington a few years ago Oregon plates on Porsches and motor homes were a big problem- and I know my uber-wealthy BIL has all his vehicles licensed thru a shell corporation there.

 

[audreyh1]

Don't a lot of folks license their high-value vehicles in Oregon to avoid paying state sales tax?- I know when I lived in Washington a few years ago Oregon plates on Porsches and motor homes were a big problem- and I know my uber-wealthy BIL has all his vehicles licensed thru a shell corporation there.

Don't know about that, but I'm camping with mostly small passenger cars, trucks and small trailers. I doubt there are many folks in this campground pulling that stunt - this is low budget state park camping here.

When camping at the fancy resorts around the country I sure see a lot of big fancy motorhomes with Montana plates though. Often with the towed vehicle with another state plates. That seems to be the popular tax dodge these days. Colorado starting cracking down on it though, and they were very successful. I suspect several other states will follow suit now.

Audrey

 

[REWahoo]

Not sure about Oregon but one well known way to avoid paying state taxes on a motorhome or other high-value vehicles is through a Montana LLC. I looked into it when buying our motorhome but found it to be way too questionable for my comfort level.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Not sure about Oregon but one well known way to avoid paying state taxes on a motorhome or other high-value vehicles is through a Montana LLC. I looked into it when buying our motorhome but found it to be way too questionable for my comfort level.

How does that work? Are LLC's tax exempt in Montana? Residency required?

 

[REWahoo]

How does that work? Are LLC's tax exempt in Montana? Residency required?

No Montana residency is required and there are significant tax savings. Google and you'll find many Montana attorneys who will set up a LLC for you for a small fee. Here's one example: Tax Free RV Services will form a Montana LLC (Limited Liability Company).

I looked at it and determined I'd be clearly violating my state tax laws, but that doesn't stop everyone of course. They guy I bought my MH from had a LLC and my check for the purchase price was made out to the LLC, not him.

Be careful, very careful. As Audrey mentioned, Colorado is taking action on LLC used to register RVs and other states may follow.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

No Montana residency is required and there are significant tax savings...
Be careful, very careful. As Audrey mentioned, Colorado is taking action on LLC used to register RVs and other states may follow.

No, not something I would consider. But I do know a lot of people who list Florida as their primary residence, stating they live here for 6 months and 1 day per year, 3 months of which they are invisible for some odd reason. Did I mention we have no state income tax? (I'm sure Texas has the same thing).

Full timers often claim Fla residence for similar reasons.

 

[Nords]

Be careful, very careful.

Every year we have a few entrepreneurs who become citizens of the Sovereign Kingdom of Hawaii and stop paying their state/federal taxes.

It works great until the auditors catch up with their backlog...

 

[Milton]

Personally, I don't 'get' the RV lifestyle. Based upon this article [globeandmail.com: The end of the road], it seems to consist of obese elderly people driving gas-guzzling [-]behemoths[/-] 'rigs' from scrubby trailer park to distant scrubby trailer park (with perhaps a few overnight stops at empty Walmart parking lots en route), where they plunk down their oversized persons in lawn chairs and smoke and consume junk food. To each their own, I guess.

Every year we have a few entrepreneurs who become citizens of the Sovereign Kingdom of Hawaii and stop paying their state/federal taxes.

Here you go: Self-Proclaimed States.

 

[REWahoo]

“Americans are what used to keep this place going,” she says. “Now they're gone. Gone, gone, gone.”

 

[audreyh1]

Personally, I don't 'get' the RV lifestyle. Based upon this article [globeandmail.com: The end of the road], it seems to consist of obese elderly people driving gas-guzzling [-]behemoths[/-] 'rigs' from scrubby trailer park to distant scrubby trailer park (with perhaps a few overnight stops at empty Walmart parking lots en route), where they plunk down their oversized persons in lawn chairs and smoke and consume junk food. To each their own, I guess.

LOL! That describes an entirely different universe than the one I live in!

Not saying that it doesn't exist. But I have never stayed in a scrubby trailer park (yes, they exist), and never overnighted at Walmart (though I would if that was our only option) and most RVers I encounter are pretty active folks and enjoy and appreciate the outdoors - which is the whole point for most campers.

And lots of obese people in the US sit around in big chairs and eat junk food and smoke and it has nothing to do with owning an RV or not.

Scrubby trailer park? I think not! For many folks getting to spend days and nights in these fabulous surrounds but in their own bed/bath/kitchen is what RVing is all about. (Palo Duro Canyon in the TX panhandle for those who don't recognize the cliffs).

Audrey

 

[REWahoo]

Personally, I don't 'get' the RV lifestyle. Based upon this article [globeandmail.com: The end of the road], it seems to consist of obese elderly people driving gas-guzzling [-]behemoths[/-] 'rigs' from scrubby trailer park to distant scrubby trailer park (with perhaps a few overnight stops at empty Walmart parking lots en route), where they plunk down their oversized persons in lawn chairs and smoke and consume junk food. To each their own, I guess.

Brings to mind another quote.

Ignorance of other cultures is regrettable. Boastful ignorance is shameful.