First RV for full timing: Used or New?
Hey everyone, I'm new here and I'm soon to be new to the Full time RV lifestyle as well, and I was hoping to get some advice from some experienced Full timers.
First for a little background, I'm 21 years old, and I'm in that phase where I'm looking to move out of the parents home and stand on my own two feet. I currently have a job that pays decent, but isn't portable at the moment. I've been decently smart with my money and I have 25,000 dollars in the bank to start my life. I'm looking into Class B/C motor-homes, and my "Dream" motor-home would be a Leasure Travel Unity Murphy Bed, however I know my first RV might not be my dream one and I'm content with that. One more bit of background information before my question, and that is I am VERY anti-debt. I hate oweing money to anyone. I don't even own a credit card because I can't stress how much I despise the idea of debt. This is actually one of the hugest contributors to why I want to live in an RV. Even the smallest houses I can find are just way to big for me, and I don't feel like slaving away for the banks for 30 years with a mortgage.
Ok so onto my big question, for my very first RV should I look for used or new? Obviously if I'm looking for a new RV, I'm going to have to take on some debt which again is something I just loathe, and at first I was dead set on buying a used one. However, while I've read several books, follow many bloggers/youtubers on the subject of RV's, I don't have the actual experience of owning an RV, and I'm afraid if I buy used I might overlook some issues that can end up costing big in the long run. I'm going to be shopping by myself as I don't have an experienced RV friend to shop with, so I know dealerships are going to see that and try and exploit my inexperience.
Some of the used RV's I think are good for me are in the 20,000 range, which means I could flat out pay my RV down in cash, and not have to worry about that huge debt, but I fear that for RV's to be that cheap they must have problems that I'm probably not going to recognize until its too late. Buying new would be more towards the 100,000 price tag, and even if I put down every dollar I own as a down payment, debt is still going to be a real factor. However buying new seems like its a safer bet for a new RVer since I know from day 1 everything is going to work fine, and I can learn how to tackle problems as they appear. I know I've done everything I can to educate myself on the lifestyle, but no amount of reading can really compete with real experiences.
As for the job situation, I plan to not do much moving for a while, until I find a way to make money on the road. But once I do, I do plan to travel as often as budget will allow. That seems like a factor that favors buying New over Used.
So what do you guys think? Should a new Full Timer who has a decent financial start, and really wants to stay out of debt buy used or new?
First for a little background, I'm 21 years old, and I'm in that phase where I'm looking to move out of the parents home and stand on my own two feet. I currently have a job that pays decent, but isn't portable at the moment. I've been decently smart with my money and I have 25,000 dollars in the bank to start my life. I'm looking into Class B/C motor-homes, and my "Dream" motor-home would be a Leasure Travel Unity Murphy Bed, however I know my first RV might not be my dream one and I'm content with that. One more bit of background information before my question, and that is I am VERY anti-debt. I hate oweing money to anyone. I don't even own a credit card because I can't stress how much I despise the idea of debt. This is actually one of the hugest contributors to why I want to live in an RV. Even the smallest houses I can find are just way to big for me, and I don't feel like slaving away for the banks for 30 years with a mortgage.
Ok so onto my big question, for my very first RV should I look for used or new? Obviously if I'm looking for a new RV, I'm going to have to take on some debt which again is something I just loathe, and at first I was dead set on buying a used one. However, while I've read several books, follow many bloggers/youtubers on the subject of RV's, I don't have the actual experience of owning an RV, and I'm afraid if I buy used I might overlook some issues that can end up costing big in the long run. I'm going to be shopping by myself as I don't have an experienced RV friend to shop with, so I know dealerships are going to see that and try and exploit my inexperience.
Some of the used RV's I think are good for me are in the 20,000 range, which means I could flat out pay my RV down in cash, and not have to worry about that huge debt, but I fear that for RV's to be that cheap they must have problems that I'm probably not going to recognize until its too late. Buying new would be more towards the 100,000 price tag, and even if I put down every dollar I own as a down payment, debt is still going to be a real factor. However buying new seems like its a safer bet for a new RVer since I know from day 1 everything is going to work fine, and I can learn how to tackle problems as they appear. I know I've done everything I can to educate myself on the lifestyle, but no amount of reading can really compete with real experiences.
As for the job situation, I plan to not do much moving for a while, until I find a way to make money on the road. But once I do, I do plan to travel as often as budget will allow. That seems like a factor that favors buying New over Used.
So what do you guys think? Should a new Full Timer who has a decent financial start, and really wants to stay out of debt buy used or new?
