Advice on long-term plan
- I am very unfamiliar with RVs. Never spent a night in one. - Never spent a night in a campground. - Have done some tent camping in my youth. - I am very active and in good shape for physical ac...
Forum Discussion
C-Bears wrote:
As NoVaRT stated, start visiting large RV shows. You can go through some big Motor Homes, Travel Trailers, and 5th Wheels to see what you think. When we started initial planning we always thought a TT was the way to go. After going to several RV shows and visiting a couple dealers we soon discovered that we would need a large 5th wheel. Much also depends on your finances. If you are looking at a new diesel MH you can spend $500,000 pretty quickly depending on how big and fancy. If you are looking at a new 1-ton diesel PU and 38'-40' new 5th wheel you can spend anywhere from $140,000 to $200,000. Obviously if you start out with used rigs you will invest half of those figures.
In terms of finances -- if I was to start now, get my feet wet, RV on weekends, etc., -- I would not even consider spending more than $ 20k now, even if I had billions. Pay a place to store it with an hour of Manhattan, so I can just go, hitch up on Friday evening and go.
If could finance at 3-4%, and not use my own money, which returns 6-8% annually, I might do it.
My conversion van is 3-4 hours away, but my City car ('14 Pathfinder 4WD) is rated for 5000 lbs tow. I picked up the towing option on it.
That would put me in a 4000 lbs TT, I guess? Which is a 20 footer or less.
I looked at CruiseAmerica for rental in a few places -- NJ, CT and NY downstate. No TT options, just small Ford MHs. No mileage, and about $ 500-600 for 3 days. Which is an expensive test-drive.
I will call a few places by phone.
