how long do you keep

We had our first one, a Terry, for 16 years. It was still as good as new when we sold it. I didn’t replace a single major item during that time just normal maintenance stuff (tires, brakes, awning cover etc.). We only sold it because it had a corner bed that was only 49” wide and we were getting older. Our current one (with walk around bed) is 7 years on and I don’t suppose we will ever replace it until we quit camping.

Of course we were beyond the kids stage when we started.

We went through 3 TTs in 3 years before we got a keeper. In our case, I've done a ton of great and otherwise unique mods that we'd never find in another TT anywhere close to it. I don't ever want to go through the time and $$ of doing it again, not to mention I'm really starting to feel my age.

5 seasons on our TT now and unless it's accident damaged, stolen, rots out or literally falls apart, it'll be around for as long as I am able to still hook it up and tow it down the road.

Having said that, I am getting tired of things breaking and failing and needing time consuming maintenance but these will happen with just about any age of TT. Few weekends ago I had the camping trip from h*ll when the toilet over-flowed overnight and had to pull down the underbelly in the CG and re-install it over 3 days. Good thing it was on an extended 6-night weekend trip and not on a long road trip with pre-booked CGs along the way. O, the joys of TT ownership (sigh)... :(

I've replaced my 5th wheel every 3 years or so as an average but we may end up keeping this one indefinitely. We are considering painting the exterior, adding a third axle, adding a self levelling system and renovating the interior. So far I haven't seen a trailer that I would rather have than what we can turn this one into.

I've only got rid of RVs when my situation changed, so years doesn't factor in the decision. I've had my current one, a truck camper, the longest at just over 12 years. I had a TT the shortest at 1 year to buy a Class A. Sold the Class A when the kids left for college. We had it about 8 years. It was too big for us.

I bought mine used at the 6 year mark.....cash.

This is my 3rd year.

I am quite handy and can fix pretty much anything.

That being said....this will probably be my one and only RV.

I'll keep it as long as I can but the plan is to retire in the country, lakeside, within 5 years.

I probably won't NEED to camp, at that point.

In our 53 years of our RV'ing we have had so many various RV units. Fro popups to big MH's and all between. Always had from 2 to 4 (almost all were purchased new) owned and used at anytime because no one type of RV does all we want/wanted to do the best or even good or reasonably so!

Over the years, the shortest time any of our RV's were owned was 2 years and the longest was 26 years. It's simple if you think about it. Buy the right one and quality for your wants and needs and you have to actually find a reason why you want to part with it. Buying cheap and not well made or the wrong layout means usually you might want to see it GONE! Also, lives and needs/wants do change over the years from having the needs for more beds/kids and more room etc to just for the 2 of you or even one. Thus, a change of RV's may be in the answers. One person can do well in even a 40 footer but very difficult for a family of 6 or more to be comfortable in an 18 footer. Let the RV purchase match your needs and budget! Weekend or less warrior or long term or full timing needs makes a lot of difference in choices of RV's and how long they are kept.

About 10 years on average. We use ours more than the average owner. About 30 nights/year (which ain't bad for a working couple). I kept count, and we stayed 344 nights in our last fiver. At that point they're starting to fray around the edges so we just get a new one. We're on our 6th camper since getting married 39 years ago. The first two were tent campers and we didn't keep them long, so I'm not counting them in the averages here.

lithiumprosjoe wrote:
what is the average time you keep your rv (any type) before you replace it?

I don't "replace it" just for the sake of it needing replaced...

I get a different one when my needs change. Happens every 6 years or so

bought my 2003 in July of 2002. 16 years old this year and we took it cross country 2 years ago. still use it long weekends and a couple of 2 week trips.

We had our old trailer for 14 years, loved the floor plan and it was in great shape. We both retired and started taking longer trips, and found out that trips longer than 2 weeks started to get cramped. We upgraded to a larger 5th wheel.

Steve