Chaser vs. Dinghy

rhagfo wrote:

Second Chance wrote:
Here's a little different perspective... We're full-timers, and in a fifth wheel rather than a motorhome. When we hit the road, we knew we didn't want to use a crew cab diesel truck (our current truck is a long bed dual rear wheel, to boot) as a daily driver. We had a Toyota sedan at the time and the advice from the folks on the Escapees forum was to try the "chase car" for a year or so. If we didn't like it, we could reconfigure. Turns out, we like it a lot. My wife doesn't mind driving on travel days. She gets to listen to her audio books and music whenever she likes (I don't like anything on in the cab in heavy traffic or big cities). She can keep the thermostat up where she likes it, etc.

We average about 12K miles/year with the rig but put another 6k - 8K on the car touring, sightseeing, shopping, or running back and forth between wherever we're staying and kids/grandkids/siblings/parents houses. We typically do not travel more than 150 miles per day on travel days, so it's not that much time apart. We sold the Toyota and bought a Honda CR-V last spring and we're still very happy with the the "chase car" approach.

We have a document with the pros and cons from our POV - but it's aimed at full-timers in towables. If you're interested in that document, let me know.

Rob

Interesting POV, we just traded our chaser car for a 2016 Ram Laramie 6.7 CTD DRW. Will sell the 2001 Ram 2500 soon and be a single vehicle family. The Ram is plush and comfortable, size is something you learn to deal with. It will get smaller the more you drive it. I figure the cost to be a wash, the 2012 Equinox we traded insurance cost was only $24 more per month to insure the Ram above the Equinox. As soon as we sell the 2001 Ram expect to see a noticeable drop.
No it will not fit into the same spot as your Toyota, but in time will get into some tight spots.

Perhaps it would have made more sense had I said that my wife doesn't/won't drive the truck. She would see it as a loss of independence if she couldn't jump in the car and go to a yoga class or something. Happy wife, happy life...

Rob