gas millage

All of this seems rather silly, including the mileage. Why spend the money on an Rv and build some budget for MPG? Spend all that money and fret over what might be a few hundred dollars a year extra in fuel. And the car/hotel travel VS Rv travel has so many variables it could go on (and has ) forever. I don't bother calculating and splitting hairs whether my RV is more economical than car/hotel travel. I know I like to have my own stuff, I know I hate hotels, I know I like having my own food, clothes, bikes, sheets, towels, etc etc. I know I own it and I know who's slept in my bed. If it's more economical, great. I don't care. We all bought Rv's for the same reasons I mentioned above, why does this conversation even come up anymore?

A1ARealtorRick wrote:
Our RV is an additional vehicle, and frankly was initially WAY more expensive than my car, costs more to insure, and more to keep up. So, I can't really buy that line of reason. Sorry, just a stickler for accuracy I guess :C

Where I live my car (a 2013 Elantra) costs $1300.00 per year to insure. My RV (2005 Kustom Koach 28'5") with a valuation of 30,000.00 costs $750 per year to insure.

It is true that upkeep on the Rv is more--but then I drive it 5 times as much as I drive the car. Fuel is about the only winner between my car and RV. There the car is clearly less expensive.

I almost always find when traveling that it is often more economical for me to drive my car (a Honda Fit, which gets around 38-40 mpg on the highway) and stay in motels, rather than take my motorhome and stay in campgrounds. The break-even point basically depnds on the ratio of distance and time spent, and to a somewhat lesser extent the relative cost of motel/hotel rooms and campsites. There are reasons to prefer the motorhome that aren't purely economic, of course; and sometimes reasons to prefer the car, for that matter.

BarabooBob's month in the Rockies would cost me perhaps $500 for gas in the car, which leaves about $115 per day for room and board. $60-$80 a night for a motel/hotel, eating one large meal out, and carrying or buying some breakfast ceral and fruit and stuff to make sandwiches seems quite doable...but it's just a different sort of vacation travel, and probably would involve some different destinations (at least for me).

I drive an F150 that is my daily driver. Due to owning property that requires me to pull trailers for upkeep, my vehicle does not add much except when I am towing my TT. My insurance for the TT is $160/yr so that is minimal. I count the cost of owning the TT as my play money and I can afford to play. If I was traveling the way I do and stayed in hotels or resorts, I would spend more in 5 years of resorts/hotels than I paid for the TT.

dodge guy wrote:

A1ARealtorRick wrote:

BarabooBob wrote:
Compared to staying in hotels (sleeping in an unknown bed), eating in restaurants, and using someone else's toilet, I say that buying gas is cheap. My wife and I can travel for a month through the Rockies, driving 5000 to 6000 miles and spend under $4000. Try that with hotels and restaurants.

Not to play the devil's advocate, but just out of curiosity, does that under-$4000 amount factor in purchase price of the RV, insurance, repairs, and general upkeep of the unit?

In general, however, I do tend to agree with you.

It wouldn’t be much considering the car you would drive to a hotel/motel needs the same basic stuff!

Yes, but the car I would drive is my daily driver, in other words, I need it, and have to own it anyway. I'd almost bet that you have a car as well as your RV. Our RV is an additional vehicle, and frankly was initially WAY more expensive than my car, costs more to insure, and more to keep up. So, I can't really buy that line of reason. Sorry, just a stickler for accuracy I guess :C

A1ARealtorRick wrote:

BarabooBob wrote:
Compared to staying in hotels (sleeping in an unknown bed), eating in restaurants, and using someone else's toilet, I say that buying gas is cheap. My wife and I can travel for a month through the Rockies, driving 5000 to 6000 miles and spend under $4000. Try that with hotels and restaurants.

Not to play the devil's advocate, but just out of curiosity, does that under-$4000 amount factor in purchase price of the RV, insurance, repairs, and general upkeep of the unit?

In general, however, I do tend to agree with you.

It wouldn’t be much considering the car you would drive to a hotel/motel needs the same basic stuff!

BarabooBob wrote:
Compared to staying in hotels (sleeping in an unknown bed), eating in restaurants, and using someone else's toilet, I say that buying gas is cheap. My wife and I can travel for a month through the Rockies, driving 5000 to 6000 miles and spend under $4000. Try that with hotels and restaurants.

Not to play the devil's advocate, but just out of curiosity, does that under-$4000 amount factor in purchase price of the RV, insurance, repairs, and general upkeep of the unit?

In general, however, I do tend to agree with you.

The average M/H owner drives the unit probably 4 to 6 short days a year, if it got 5 mpg they likely still wouldn’t care.

The driving factors, pardon the pun, is size and price and in particular, the biggest size for the smallest price. That is a squared off box on wheels.

Just look at the very low mileage on most of the used units on the sales pages. Fuel consumption is is meaningless if you don’t drive very much.

Until someone builds more aerodynamic streamlined coach the mpg will be kr*p.
Pushing square box thru the air takes lots o energy

Heres an idea
https://youtu.be/gphmbkNnrBY

Seems like way back then engineers and designers actualy cared about improving mpg and handling
57 Flxible Starliner
https://youtu.be/KipEWECwjx8

Compared to staying in hotels (sleeping in an unknown bed), eating in restaurants, and using someone else's toilet, I say that buying gas is cheap. My wife and I can travel for a month through the Rockies, driving 5000 to 6000 miles and spend under $4000. Try that with hotels and restaurants.