DallasSteve,
I think you've gotten some good responses so far. While I know your question is just about the difference in initial costs, and perhaps that information is important to you, I certainly wouldn't make this decision based solely on cost. There are many variables, and the largest is your anticipated use of the RV.
Is this going to be your first RV experience? If so, then you're right to do lots of questioning and analyzing up front. Way, way back in 2002 when we started looking, we thought we wanted something to tow behind our Honda Odyssey. After 2 years of research (much of it done right here on these forums)and questions we realized that with our best match would be a gas class A motorhome home. We went from looking at units which cost about $15k to ultimately buying something around $100k which we use to TOW our Odyssey. We were fortunate that we could make all of the solutions we arrived at in between work financially, if needed. We have never regretted our decision and still have and use that first RV, and hope to for another 10 years....possibly longer. We have yet to find another motorhome which has a floorplan we like better than our dual-sofa layout. (Well...there was that Prevost conversion...but I drew the line somewhere south of $800k! WAY south! LOL)
What drove our decision was how we figured we would use the RV. We had 4 young children when we finally purchased in 2004, and a truck/fiver wouldn't have worked (we also had a dog). We almost went with a full-size van pulling a TT...but then we were in the Class C price range. From there, it was just a hop, skip and a jump to get into the Class A's. :)
The motorhome was the best answer for us. It WAS the most expensive. But it was also apparent that if we spent $60k on a new or recent vintage van/TT and it didn't get used as much, what were we saving? We wanted something that would also provide a lot of convenience, and we felt the motorhome would be the most convenient option. We could use it for day trips, which we have done and still do. We wouldn't do that with a trailer. But, you do pay for that convenience.
Good Luck in your decision. Take your time, the right unit is out there, but you have to do your research and homework to find it.
~Rick
