From a big B to a small C......observations
OK, I finally did it. We have had three Bs over the years including a Horizon (little brother of the Falcon), a 1996 190 Dodge RT Popular, a 2007 Chevy 210 RT Popular. Like many on this forum, we thi...
Forum Discussion
Hi Folks,
How I found my CLASS B RV.
I started about 5 years ago looking and thinking what I would buy. I first made a decision to purchase a CLASS B for two main reasons. Cost of gas. There was no way any CLASS C could match the efficiency of a CLASS B. Gas CLASS A's and CLASS C's were just to expensive to operate. My desire to purchase a CLASS B came also from what I was going to use it for, traveling the USA. I wanted to see my country. I am basically an explorer. The second reason, which came from owning a VW VANAGON CAMPER twenty years ago. I discovered that one can hide a VW CAMPER in the middle of a city if you left the top down and the windows covered. Also today my RV PARK of choice is WALLMARTS.
I also made the decision that I would have to inspect any RV I decided to buy. Also it had to be used. I explored the internet and asked questions on CLASS B sites and blogs. The RV had to be located in New England but could be no more than 300 miles from Hingham, MA, my home town. This cut down a lot of RV's located all over the country. I was also had to be aware on being ripped off. The best source was GRAIGS LIST and E-BAY. In fact, I came across a site that listed both E-BAY and GRAIGS LIST by state.
From the information I got on the internet, I was able to calculate the average going price of CLASS B's By the date of manufacturing and the mileage. (Old low milaage was bad. new high mileage was bad.) For instance, a used CLASS B built before 2000 with over 100,000 miles could be had for between $5,000.00 and $10,000.00 about in my price range.
For CLASS B's, I liked ROADTREK's best, with a close second on the PLEASUREWAY and older COACH HOUSE. I liked the layouts and the other stuff that they had.
With all this stuff in my head, one day I saw an ad for an RV dealer in Southern New Hampshire. I picked up the phone and called them, and they had a 2002 ROADTREK for sale. Next day I took a ride up there, and bought it for a good price. It had 74,000 miles on it and was in good condition.
Moral to this story. You have to decide what you want, with some flexibility, how much you want to pay, and if things have to be done to it, what it will cost and whether you can do it.
Another thing I did was to take it to a shop that fixed RV's, hired a man who took me through the whole RV and showed me how to run everything, and made sure it was working well. That one act will safe money over time. Hiring labor to fix things can add up.
Happy Hunting,
Heapie
How I found my CLASS B RV.
I started about 5 years ago looking and thinking what I would buy. I first made a decision to purchase a CLASS B for two main reasons. Cost of gas. There was no way any CLASS C could match the efficiency of a CLASS B. Gas CLASS A's and CLASS C's were just to expensive to operate. My desire to purchase a CLASS B came also from what I was going to use it for, traveling the USA. I wanted to see my country. I am basically an explorer. The second reason, which came from owning a VW VANAGON CAMPER twenty years ago. I discovered that one can hide a VW CAMPER in the middle of a city if you left the top down and the windows covered. Also today my RV PARK of choice is WALLMARTS.
I also made the decision that I would have to inspect any RV I decided to buy. Also it had to be used. I explored the internet and asked questions on CLASS B sites and blogs. The RV had to be located in New England but could be no more than 300 miles from Hingham, MA, my home town. This cut down a lot of RV's located all over the country. I was also had to be aware on being ripped off. The best source was GRAIGS LIST and E-BAY. In fact, I came across a site that listed both E-BAY and GRAIGS LIST by state.
From the information I got on the internet, I was able to calculate the average going price of CLASS B's By the date of manufacturing and the mileage. (Old low milaage was bad. new high mileage was bad.) For instance, a used CLASS B built before 2000 with over 100,000 miles could be had for between $5,000.00 and $10,000.00 about in my price range.
For CLASS B's, I liked ROADTREK's best, with a close second on the PLEASUREWAY and older COACH HOUSE. I liked the layouts and the other stuff that they had.
With all this stuff in my head, one day I saw an ad for an RV dealer in Southern New Hampshire. I picked up the phone and called them, and they had a 2002 ROADTREK for sale. Next day I took a ride up there, and bought it for a good price. It had 74,000 miles on it and was in good condition.
Moral to this story. You have to decide what you want, with some flexibility, how much you want to pay, and if things have to be done to it, what it will cost and whether you can do it.
Another thing I did was to take it to a shop that fixed RV's, hired a man who took me through the whole RV and showed me how to run everything, and made sure it was working well. That one act will safe money over time. Hiring labor to fix things can add up.
Happy Hunting,
Heapie
