Travel trailer or a motorized rv w/ toad??
Hey everyone. I am brand new to RVing and do not have one yet. I'm 23 years old, so on a small budget.. but would like to dive into to full time RVing around the U.S. I have 2 pets, 1 dog 1 cat, that are a big concern of mine (especially for giving my cat space). My boyfriend is going with me but neither of us are mechanically savvy. We keep flip flopping between buying a large SUV and a travel trailer, or buying a class A or C to tow my current car with. My car weighs about 3000 lbs. Here are my main concerns:
1) Money. I don't mind financing but would rather keep it to a small amount. Ideally I would like to spend 6,000 up front and keep financing to a minimum. Gas is also an issue. We will be mainly going campsite to campsite with the RV but will take the vehicle out for site seeing and grocery shopping.
2) Reliability and safety. I know with my budget this is the hardest part. The reason why I am insisting on a vehicle and an RV is so if something goes wrong with one, at least I'll still have either a vehicle or a home. I of course, would prefer if nothing goes wrong.. but things happen.
3) Ease of driving. I'm a pretty good driver.. but I've never driven something so big so it makes me a bit nervous. I already plan on getting back up cameras.
With that said, I would really appreciate some advice. Here is what I'm looking at so far:
a) A Nissan Armada or Toyota Sequoia ($8,000-$10,000 with less than 175,000 miles) and some cheap old 80's-90's travel trailers ($3,000-$5,000). I do want an SUV so the cat can be in a crate in the trunk while driving and the dog can have the back seat.
b) A class A or C that can tow my 3,000 lb mazda (would tow on a dolly). The RVs in my price range (up to $12,000) seem to be mainly 80's models with a range of mileage (from 20,000 to 100,000).
I was leaning more towards a motorized RV and then towing my car.. until and RV sales person said that anything in my price range for a motorized RV would be a money pit and would be hard to find mechanics for while on the road. But my thought process is if worse comes to worse if it breaks down and is too costly to repair, just sell it for what I can and drive on back home in my car. I may be a bit biased since my car is my baby and I don't want to sell it! In all fairness its 2008 with 90,000 miles and hasn't had a single issue ever!
Sorry this is lengthy. I'm just a complete loss of what to do and would love some feedback from more experienced people!
1) Money. I don't mind financing but would rather keep it to a small amount. Ideally I would like to spend 6,000 up front and keep financing to a minimum. Gas is also an issue. We will be mainly going campsite to campsite with the RV but will take the vehicle out for site seeing and grocery shopping.
2) Reliability and safety. I know with my budget this is the hardest part. The reason why I am insisting on a vehicle and an RV is so if something goes wrong with one, at least I'll still have either a vehicle or a home. I of course, would prefer if nothing goes wrong.. but things happen.
3) Ease of driving. I'm a pretty good driver.. but I've never driven something so big so it makes me a bit nervous. I already plan on getting back up cameras.
With that said, I would really appreciate some advice. Here is what I'm looking at so far:
a) A Nissan Armada or Toyota Sequoia ($8,000-$10,000 with less than 175,000 miles) and some cheap old 80's-90's travel trailers ($3,000-$5,000). I do want an SUV so the cat can be in a crate in the trunk while driving and the dog can have the back seat.
b) A class A or C that can tow my 3,000 lb mazda (would tow on a dolly). The RVs in my price range (up to $12,000) seem to be mainly 80's models with a range of mileage (from 20,000 to 100,000).
I was leaning more towards a motorized RV and then towing my car.. until and RV sales person said that anything in my price range for a motorized RV would be a money pit and would be hard to find mechanics for while on the road. But my thought process is if worse comes to worse if it breaks down and is too costly to repair, just sell it for what I can and drive on back home in my car. I may be a bit biased since my car is my baby and I don't want to sell it! In all fairness its 2008 with 90,000 miles and hasn't had a single issue ever!
Sorry this is lengthy. I'm just a complete loss of what to do and would love some feedback from more experienced people!
