how to decide on buying a trailer - the dream vs reality

maillemaker wrote:
Well, everyone has to look at their own finances. For me, I can't imagine spending $15K total on a camper, let alone spending $15K a year for some number of years on one.

Lots of people are suggesting pop-ups. As far as I'm concerned from our experience, pop-ups suck. Maybe if you have hookups and can run the AC and keep dry air inside they would be fine, but we always boondocked, and in the south with the high humidity at night when the outside air cools down all your breath condenses on the canvas roof awnings and every time someone rolls over in bed it rains all over the sleepers as the condensation shakes off the canvas roof. That is what drove us to upgrade to an RV. If you can run AC to keep the inside air dry you won't have that problem though.

A lot of folks are saying, correctly, that you can make memories in an old tent the same way you can in an expensive RV, but you have to remember that a lot of wives just ain't gonna go "camping" in a tent where you have to hike to the camp ground potty in the middle of the night and use some nasty campground shower if you want to get clean. There may in fact be a minimum barrier of entry to "camping" family memories. :) We camped for years in tents but my wife is pretty spoiled with our RV now. And frankly, so am I. :)

Another thing to consider is for $15K a year you can have a DARN FINE trip to Disney World every year for a week for half of that. How's that for some memories?


The second biggest thing to consider for an RV, besides initial investment, is time. You have to be able to use the thing or it's a waste of money and they just fall apart on you from neglect. We use ours about every other month year-round. Can you make that time commitment?

Steve

I fought condensation in my popup forever, especially when running the A/C. I finally solved it when I found Clorox gallon buckets of humidity absorbers. I tried other products for the same effect with no luck. But where you are matters. I'm sure in my native Louisiana, there would still be some issue with humidity. It kept humidity out during rain storms last summer though so I am sold on the product for PUP camping.

I think a popup is a great way to camp if you can be flexible on weather. I am evaluating my options to move up because of the rain factor and breaking camp.

Don't forget to add the other incidental costs for the TT and camping. Expect to spent twice or three times the amount on gas when towing. Add in the cost of the site rentals. And insurance. And vehicle maintenance.

When it is all said and done, we figured that we could easily spend a bunch of nights in five star hotels instead of camping.

But when we look back on it, we would not trade our trailer and the experiences we have had as a family for any amount of nights in a luxury hotel.

Our daughter is an only child and the personal growth she experienced in one year of camping has made it worth almost anything we could pay.

My wife and I also both have jobs where it is next-to impossible to leave our phones behind and disconnect. Yet we seem to be able to do it when we camp. Same thing with the internet and email. And TV.

If you look at it solely from a financial position, very few people would ever buy a trailer, and no one would buy a new one. I certainly can not give you financial advice over the internet so I am not going to even attempt it.

But for us, buying a used truck and new trailer was one of the best things our family has ever done.

What kind of investment is a $5,000 Disney Cruise?

How about $3,000 for a week at Disney World? (probably more really)

How about a $3,000 week at the beach in a condo?

We replaced our travel budget with the TT then switched to a MH. That's how we look at it. If we keep it after it is paid off, the cost per year will start to go down.

In reality, it cost us more than we use to spend on travel, but we travel a whole lot more. We have taken many weekend trips to outdoor destinations that we would have never done without the RV.

Just figure out your family leisure budget and see if an RV fits into that. If there is no room for other trips, commit totally to the RV lifestyle or you shouldn't try. If you have room for RV-ing and other non-RV trips, more power to you. The only destinations I can think of that would be bad in an RV are some big cities. We don't want to go to those anyway. RV-ing at the beach is the best! We reserve ahead and get a site right up front.

We rented some really nice beach houses and condos before we got the RV bug. Don't get me wrong, I loved those vacations, but when we left, I felt like we just threw some big bucks away on rent.

With the RV, we are still "throwing" money away but it's down our very own money pit! There will be some residual value left at the end of ownership. I guess some get stuck sending their RVs off to the dump at the end of the useful life. Most have some value and can be sold.

It's only money. Just figure out if this lifestyle is the way you want to spend it.

You don't need to spend $1,200 a month to make memories. Buy a used, but in good condition popup (or a used TT) and go from there. Before you buy used, ask a lot of questions on here about what to look for, as you don't need a "money pit" and that's what a RV can turn into if you don't buy right.

Then, wait a few years and see where you are on the whole camping deal. Are you going more or not as much. If you do decide to drop it, you'll be glad that someone else took the hit on the RV depreciation (and that can be hefty!)

I have had new and used since getting into this in '69. My wife was concerned about having a used mattress. One salesman said get a new mattress and don't feel bad because the new ones from most manufacturers are junk anyhow. The used ones have been the best buys for us. I have had 5 MHs and 6 various trailers from a TT to popups.

If you're unsure, I'd start small. We have 4 kids and a limited budget, so we started with a fixer-upper. We have about $4k tied up in our trailer and pull it with a 1999 Suburban we already owned. We looked at new trailers for years and never dove in because of the investment and wish we would have gone the used route earlier.

We plan to upgrade in the next few years now that the whole family has a blast, but our current trailer was one of the best family decisions we've ever made.

If it's your first camper, I agree with buying used. We tent camped then bought a used pop-up which had some rot so after a couple of years we bought a brand new pop-up. We used the new pop-up for 12 years and this past fall bought a new TT. We take delivery in early May and I can hardly wait! We didn't go too big as children are grown and can use a tent if they join us. We got what we hope will be our last camper and paid some cash so in 4 years it is paid off.

We will really miss our pop-up but want to be able to move around with less set up and have a real refrigerator with freezer etc. This one has a lovely bathroom but I plan to mostly still use the park facilities as we go just to state parks and have had good luck overall with cleanliness.

I am looking forward to the outdoor kitchen and air conditioning!

Well, everyone has to look at their own finances. For me, I can't imagine spending $15K total on a camper, let alone spending $15K a year for some number of years on one.

Lots of people are suggesting pop-ups. As far as I'm concerned from our experience, pop-ups suck. Maybe if you have hookups and can run the AC and keep dry air inside they would be fine, but we always boondocked, and in the south with the high humidity at night when the outside air cools down all your breath condenses on the canvas roof awnings and every time someone rolls over in bed it rains all over the sleepers as the condensation shakes off the canvas roof. That is what drove us to upgrade to an RV. If you can run AC to keep the inside air dry you won't have that problem though.

A lot of folks are saying, correctly, that you can make memories in an old tent the same way you can in an expensive RV, but you have to remember that a lot of wives just ain't gonna go "camping" in a tent where you have to hike to the camp ground potty in the middle of the night and use some nasty campground shower if you want to get clean. There may in fact be a minimum barrier of entry to "camping" family memories. :) We camped for years in tents but my wife is pretty spoiled with our RV now. And frankly, so am I. :)

Another thing to consider is for $15K a year you can have a DARN FINE trip to Disney World every year for a week for half of that. How's that for some memories?


The second biggest thing to consider for an RV, besides initial investment, is time. You have to be able to use the thing or it's a waste of money and they just fall apart on you from neglect. We use ours about every other month year-round. Can you make that time commitment?

Steve

From an old Geezer (me) take this for what it is worth. Take the kids camping as much as you can. If you take them in a half mil Class A or a used tent it makes little difference. You will still build memories. Most important is you do things together.

You say having it in the driveway will make you use it more and therefore have more memory building and family time. Maybe.

It will also, if you redline you finances, make your life more difficult.
As you are paying so much for it, you may feel that is all you can do, and you should be using it all the time. No Disneyland, no other forms of family fun.

With kids in soccer, birthday parties, and all the other things kids do on weekends, you may get to hate that rig. When it just sits there. But that big payment keeps rolling in every month

Also with a young family, you will have bills and things coming up that are not even on your radar scope yet.

Nothing worse than getting home from work, finding the fridge just blew up and wondering how you are going to find a thousand to replace it. Or you can not afford to take a long weekend away with the wife. Things like that can put a lot of stress on the marriage, and the family in general.

I do not know your financial picture, it is none of my business. But from your post it sounded like you would be taking it right to the redline.

My advice as an old Geezer, who has been there done that, and probably should keep his mouth shut is don't go there. Buy something you can easily afford, and don't feel pressured to use all the time

I also agree with not spending so much. I had a pop up for many years and really enjoyed it. You can pull a pop up with what you already have. I would also look for a used pop up. There are a lot of nice ones out there.