Frustrated with my RV purchase.

TwoManyToyz wrote:
I bought a used 2015 5er. It's nice, kept in nice condition. I think I got a pretty good deal. BUT

Why don't today's RV's come with all the extras that a sane person would think it should come with?

Since I took ownership of my home away from home I have bought, Water pressure regulator, Surge protector, leveling sensor, charcoal filters, micro leg adjuster, hitch pin tripod and the list goes on.

The source of my rant is why don't these things come standard on newer RV's. I realize it's not "needed", but aren't these things good practice? If your going to sell theses things new for $35k and up, and often way up $$$. Isn't there enough margin for some of these safety devices?

OK I'm feeling better now, just had to vent.

Thanks
Kevin

I know what you mean, buy a pick-up and no step bars, bed liner, floor mats, bed topper and the list goes on.

TwoManyToyz wrote:
The source of my rant is why don't these things come standard on newer RV's.

COST.

....And only beginning RVers need that stuff. The rest of us already have it, unless were were "insane" enough to let it go when we sold / traded our RV when it came time to upgrade to a different rig.

Adding items, not everyone wants, then adding a 25-35% margin to those extras simply does not make sence. The consumer can purchase what they want at a lower cost. Believing the dealer should throw these extras in for free, not knowing if buyer actually wants them is not going to ever happen.

Most of the free stuff(aka starter kit) is cheap junk anyways.

Good point BarabooBob. Our new tt did come with a sewer hose. Of course it was a super cheap one, and we already had a good hose, so into the garbage it went. Hope I didn’t pay too much for it.

Expecting everything to be included is about the same as buying a motorcycle and expecting a new helmet, leather jacket, boots, and gloves. Most people on this forum have had previous RV's and already own most of the stuff that they need to set up their unit. When I bought my first TT I had already owned unknown numbers if tents, 2 pop-ups, and one RV . I don't need any more camping equipment except the new TT. I just moved my "stuff" to my new TT. Why would I want the dealer to inflate my purchase price to provide another set of stuff.

OP, if this is the worst complaint you have with a new/new to you RV, you are doing better than 95% of the posters here. The main answer is $$. You'll find everything in this industry comes down to $$. And it gets far worse than no water pressure regulator. These things are built with the absolute cheapest materials by workers being paid to slap them together as quickly as possible.

As for the new v used that has worked its way into this thread I'm in the new camp and thank all those of you perpetuating the "let someone else take the hit" misnomer. The majority of the people complaining overpaid greatly at time of initial purchase. When that occurs, yes, they do "depreciate" like crazy. If you buy right they don't depreciate any worse than when you buy used. My last TT sold quickly on CL for 75% of what I paid for it after 4 years of use. I'm about 4 years into my current 5th wheel and, from looking around at ads, I'm in a similar spot. Similar used units are priced at about 70-80% of what I paid.

Yeah out of all those, we only have the regulator and a few surge protectors (which we also had to buy for our house). Oh and a little handheld level as part of our normal toolkit that we keep in the camper, but we have auto-leveling so it's not really necessary most of the time.

We boondock a lot so even stuff like the regulator and the surge protectors barely get used. I wouldn't mind a water filter on the sink to make the tank water taste a bit better but we usually just stick to bottled water.

TwoManyToyz wrote:
...Water pressure regulator, Surge protector, leveling sensor, charcoal filters, micro leg adjuster, hitch pin tripod and the list goes on...

Of those things you listed, I don't have, need, or want a single one. So I guess I'm glad I did not have to pay for them.

padredw wrote:

Kevin wrote:
Water pressure regulator, Surge protector, leveling sensor, charcoal filters, micro leg adjuster, hitch pin tripod and the list goes on.

Kevin, yours is a friendly post and this one is intended to be. I've been traveling in a fifth wheel for over 20 year (four different rigs). I would look at it this way, you have gained some good information:

Most important, you've saved yourself some money and a lot of trouble by knowing that the hitch pin tripod does not seem to help most of us and the one we have is stored away in the garage.

And the water pressure regulator is better at the city water hookup, not on the RV.

Same for the surge protector because some of us want the portable model rather than the built in model.

That leaves only the leveling sensor and the micro leg adjuster which many I must admit I don't recognize.

I would venture to say that

with experience you will find the items you have mentioned are probably better considered optional with each owner.

Just my thoughts.

X10