Am I nuts?

[Udetective]

Taking a cross country trip with a family of 5. I currently don't own an rv, looked at renting one, but was surprised at how much they. My idea, buy a 2-3 old class c rv, use it for 6 months to a year, taking some smaller trips to get use to it. After the cross country trip, sell it. The age my kids are, we would not use it very often at this point in our lives. Obviously I wouldn't be able to sell for what I bought it for, but looking for advice on what class c holds the most value. Am I completely nuts? Thanks!

[mikebreeze]

I bought a used rental about 4 years ago and have had no major issues. Doing preventative maintenance is the key. I may sell mine next year. If I ever sell it I know it will sell fast because people are always looking for inexpensive starter RV's. The big question will be: How much will I lose over what I bought it for.

[IAMICHABOD]

As others have noted renting a RV is expensive,another alternative is to buy used at a good price but there are downsides to that too,mostly condition and previous maintenance may not be up to par which can be expensive to remedy.

Another avenue is to look at the Rental Market,Click Here for more on that,it is long but has a lot of good information.

Here you have a well maintained unit,it has to be,that will give you good value for your money. There are more than 70 happy owners of Former Rentals with very few problems and most put a lot of miles on them with no problems at all.

[Udetective]

kyhawk wrote:
You might want to consider buying a travel trailer instead of a motor home if you have a vehicle that can tow one. They are a lot cheaper to buy and to maintain.

I have a truck, but 3 kids in the back seat will be tight for that much driving. Prefer the rv and comfort of the family moving around while I'm driving. Thanks.

[kyhawk]

You might want to consider buying a travel trailer instead of a motor home if you have a vehicle that can tow one. They are a lot cheaper to buy and to maintain.

[Udetective]

mgirardo wrote:

Udetective wrote:
Taking a cross country trip with a family of 5. I currently don't own an rv, looked at renting one, but was surprised at how much they. My idea, buy a 2-3 old class c rv, use it for 6 months to a year, taking some smaller trips to get use to it. After the cross country trip, sell it. The age my kids are, we would not use it very often at this point in our lives. Obviously I wouldn't be able to sell for what I bought it for, but looking for advice on what class c holds the most value. Am I completely nuts? Thanks!

Renting an RV for a cross country trip will be extremely expensive. Cruise America charges for mileage, not sure about other Rental Companies, so factor that into the equation. I believe Cruise America gives you a 100 mile/day allowance. They charge 35 cents a mile over that.

Depending on the market in your area, I would expect a 2 to 3 year old Class C that is in good condition will not depreciate that much in 1 year if you keep it in good condition. Most likely a 2 to 3 year old RV is not going to need new tires. If it does - we just put new tires on our Class C back in April. For 6 Michelin LX M/S2, mounted, balanced, taxes, fees, etc., it was $1370 and change. That is about the price of a 1 week rental for a family of 7.

I think you would make out better buying a used RV. I also think you might find that you will use it more often than you think. Our kids were 8 and 6 when we bought our Class C. We used it a lot more than we expected. We took lots of day trips with it to the beach and local parks. When gas was $4/gallon, we did a lot of day trips with it since we didn't camp as much.

We also used it for kids sporting. For our daughter's last soccer tournament, we took the motorhome and camped out in the parking lot. We got permission from a town police officer. It was cold the first morning and her teammates appreciated having a place to warm up. It's nice cooking our own food instead of buying greasy concession stand food all weekend.

-Michael

Awesome stuff. Thank! We have kids in soccer too!

[Tyler0215]

I'd say buy used. The trip is going to cost a lot of money either way you go: buy or rent. Buy a good used unit and enjoy the trip. Sell it when you get back, or keep it and enjoy many more trips.

[Udetective]

Bordercollie wrote:
Try to take into account all taxes,DMV registration, insurance, storage lot costs as applicable when considering buying and selling a newish rig. Balance that against the cost of renting. Have you tried tent camping, motels, etc. Motorhome ownership, maintenance and overall cost and effort involved has a lot of "pros" and some "cons". If both you and your spouse are enthusiastic, and both will "pitch in" that's a definite advantage.

We are both very enthusiastic, and it's definitely a bucket list item for me. However, I don't want to to destroy me financially either. I'm definitely a risk taken, so willing to on this 🙂 just enjoying everyone's opinion to make sure I'm thinking everything though. Thanks for the info!

[Udetective]

PartyOf Five wrote:
I like the idea, we did something along the same lines. My calculation going in was that if I kept it for 5 years and used it 3 weeks/ year + a weekend getaway every month, I would break even by then.

Our summer road trip ended up being a little longer than expected 🙂 and will actually Break Even much faster. I also don't expect it to depreciate much more. Either way make sure to have fun!

Can I ask what rv you purchased?

[Bordercollie]

Try to take into account all taxes,DMV registration, insurance, storage lot costs as applicable when considering buying and selling a newish rig. Balance that against the cost of renting. Have you tried tent camping, motels, etc. Motorhome ownership, maintenance and overall cost and effort involved has a lot of "pros" and some "cons". If both you and your spouse are enthusiastic, and both will "pitch in" that's a definite advantage.

[PartyOf_Five]

I like the idea, we did something along the same lines. My calculation going in was that if I kept it for 5 years and used it 3 weeks/ year + a weekend getaway every month, I would break even by then.

Our summer road trip ended up being a little longer than expected 🙂 and will actually Break Even much faster. I also don't expect it to depreciate much more. Either way make sure to have fun!

[mgirardo]

Udetective wrote:
Taking a cross country trip with a family of 5. I currently don't own an rv, looked at renting one, but was surprised at how much they. My idea, buy a 2-3 old class c rv, use it for 6 months to a year, taking some smaller trips to get use to it. After the cross country trip, sell it. The age my kids are, we would not use it very often at this point in our lives. Obviously I wouldn't be able to sell for what I bought it for, but looking for advice on what class c holds the most value. Am I completely nuts? Thanks!

Renting an RV for a cross country trip will be extremely expensive. Cruise America charges for mileage, not sure about other Rental Companies, so factor that into the equation. I believe Cruise America gives you a 100 mile/day allowance. They charge 35 cents a mile over that.

Depending on the market in your area, I would expect a 2 to 3 year old Class C that is in good condition will not depreciate that much in 1 year if you keep it in good condition. Most likely a 2 to 3 year old RV is not going to need new tires. If it does - we just put new tires on our Class C back in April. For 6 Michelin LX M/S2, mounted, balanced, taxes, fees, etc., it was $1370 and change. That is about the price of a 1 week rental for a family of 7.

I think you would make out better buying a used RV. I also think you might find that you will use it more often than you think. Our kids were 8 and 6 when we bought our Class C. We used it a lot more than we expected. We took lots of day trips with it to the beach and local parks. When gas was $4/gallon, we did a lot of day trips with it since we didn't camp as much.

We also used it for kids sporting. For our daughter's last soccer tournament, we took the motorhome and camped out in the parking lot. We got permission from a town police officer. It was cold the first morning and her teammates appreciated having a place to warm up. It's nice cooking our own food instead of buying greasy concession stand food all weekend.

-Michael

[Dusty_R]

If you do but a used mh you might decide to keep it. Nothing wrong with that.

[Udetective]

Thanks for all your input. I was looking at buying a 2-3 year old one that hopefully won't need new tires. The other plus of buying, I get to try rv'ing out, work out the bugs. Makes me a little nervous picking up a rental the day before a 2 week trip. I'm totally aware of the risks. The rental fee for for 2 weeks is about $5500. I feel like buying one, using for 6 months, practicing, could I at least break even and sell it for around 5k less than what I paid for it. Thanks again for all the input.

[PghBob]

If you decide to buy, consider buying a used rental unit from a rental co. In most cases, the rental cos. try to maintain their units.

[midnightsadie]

rent gonna be cheaper, six tires on a C will be 2grand.