Anyone make a mistake buying first MH ?

[Dollar98]

Just curious.. No matter how much research you do , it seems there is no substitute for owning and using a MH.. Anyone buy one and then realize you made a mistake on the first one.. If so, how did you rectify it. I haven't felt this way yet and hope I don't.. With all that is involved, I could see it happening.. I believe the best advice I got was to buy an older one and then see what you really want by trial and error..

[sisodals]

Can't really say we made a mistake, but as time goes bye I do see a need/want/desire/"2 foot itis" requirement for slightly larger with several other features which our current (also our first) motorhome does not have. I believe that we can and will upgrade in the next two years once the DW gets that smile on her face and says I want this one which will have been checked beforehand to ensure it meets our new desires and needs.

So although I do not feel we made a mistake I do feel that the education of the first one does lead us to the requirement for another one.

[Wizzard_of_Odds]

Long time reader, first time poster, and thank you all for taking the time to create such a great place for a newbie to learn about the joy (and pain) of RVing.

We purchased a 1994 23' Jayco Class C last summer, everything looked great initially (I didn't know what to look for) and before we took it out for the first time I had the local Ford dealer do about $3000 worth of maintenance ie. ALL fluids changed, belts & hoses, new brakes, Billstein shocks new tires etc..

I noticed a minor exhaust tick in the left manifold (Ford 460 with 32K miles) and installed a set of Doug Thorley headers to remedy the problem. We also added K&N filters and used synthetic fluids where possible. My philosophy was really "lets do everything that can be done, so we know it's been done".

Our first outing was a weeklong trip to Florida for a family wedding. 99 miles short of our destination we noticed smoke from under the MH, long story short the transmission required a complete rebuild (about $3200 with new cooler) and our trip budget was severely surpassed.

I've had to replace the roof AC unit, repair the reefer, replace the house batteries, repair a minor(thank goodness) roof leak and I upgraded the converter from the Magnatek 6345 to an Intellipower 9300 unit with the charge wizard.

I thought I had done my homework prior to purchasing, and I thought the seller was pretty solid (service manager at his local Ford dealership). But what really happened was I bought a very poorly maintained MH. When we bought it the cosmetics were great, and we paid about $5000 under book for the thing, but now we're about even as far as what it's worth and what we have in it.

With all of the improvements and upgrades I think we'll be very happy when we start travelling this year, and after all of the mechanical repairs and upgrades this MH is very solid in performance and economy. But the biggest lesson I learned from the experience is that next time I venture into something new I'll bring someone along with VAST experience in the field. We're looking into purchasing our first boat this summer, and I'm not even going to look without taking a friend who knows a whole lot about boats!

...Wiz

[socialstudiesmo]

YES! We did very little research and ended up buying too small. Way too small! In less than a year, we traded our class C in for our current Damon. This was done after quite a bit of research. We're happy campers now!

[webervn]

We started 37 years ago with a tent, moved up to a bigger tent, then to a pop-up. The next unit was a mini class C which was fine except my 6'2 husband kept hitting his head on the handle for the roof vent. We then moved to a 26' fiver, which we really loved, but after a 3 month trip to Alaska decided it was a little too small. All our friends and relatives told us we needed a Class A. Really easy to set up, can get a drink and use the restroom while on the road, easier to back up, etc. We shopped for a long time and finally found a floor plan in a price range we liked in a 36'. What a mistake. It wasn't long before we discovered, 2 engines to maintain, insurance cost were doubled, taxes and registration were tripled, we still had to tow a car, still got wet unhooking the toad to get the monster parked. Tried to trade back into a fiver and what a beating the dealers were giving us. Thought we were going to be stuck in that thing forever. We finally found a buyer ourselves, took a $10000 loss, but it was worth it. We now have a new 29' fiver and are back in our element. unfortunately we learned the hard way that we are not MH material.

[Love_Boat_II]

Ya I did
Went back to the dealer to get some work done and walked through another rig while I was there (Traded right there on the spot)
Don't know how much money I lost, but I'm sure some. The new to me one was much better. Had that one for 2 years. Traded it for a 2000 34 foot Bounder I full time in now. :B

[Bob_Dunn]

I purchased a 2003 Fleetwood Flair, 30' - no slides----after putting 5500 miles on it the first year, We trade for a2004 - 34' National Seabreese XL with two slides.
Now we are happy I have about 8500 miles and expect to put about 6000 -to 8000 more on it this summer.

[JTHarley]

What a loaded question.

We certainly made a mistake with our first AND second coach. Both where in regard to the size. Our first was a 24' B class. Just way too small. Traded that one in for a super C 31' long and realized while on a 2 week vacation that the "wardrobe" area was really not sufficient for the next year when we plan on spending up to 12 weeks on the road. Once again traded in for a class A.

We love RV'ing but our experience and fear of going straight to a class A made us error on the side of smaller rigs. Finally decided to just take the leap and stretch a bit.

[bandjw]

Had a pup tent, large tent, conversion van, small travel trailer, and two class A motor homes. All went well till our present class A. Researched, went to shows, visited many dealers. Bought what we thought was what we wanted at what we thought was a good price. After using it a couple times knew we'd made a mistake. For two years have tried to trade and/or sell it. Nothing wrong with the RV but it isn't what we want and we owe about $10k more on it than we can get for it. One dealer at a show would sell us a new one for $450 per month but when he figured our trade said it would be $650 per month? How is that possible? Anybody got a good idea? bandjw

[RestlessWheels]

Greetings from Burrr Hampshire !

We rushed into the purchase of our first escape mobile.

Our first motorhome was too small and we paid too much money for it. We're currently on "Number 6" after 33 years.

Best advice ... Determine what are your Wants and Needs first, then do your homework on brand, model and price.

[jboubelik]

We did it! We bought and then 6 months later, bought again.

As so many do, we thought we should start out small and we did. We bought, at a show in New Orleans, a 21' Gulfstream BTCruiser. We loved it. I carried a 400cc Bergman 'Scooter' on a hitch mounted carrier and it served us well. OK, maybe a little tail heavy with the 374 lb scooter on the back.

At the end of our first 8000 trip we went to a ralley at Gulfstream just for BTCruisers. It was fantastic, but unfortunately, we made some new friends there. They had a 2 foot longer model with a single slide. We quickly figured out that our adament refusal to have a slide was a mistake. Sooo, with our new friends encouragement, we traded our 2004 in for a 2005--2 feet longer and one slide. We took a hit, but we loved the new one more.

But the biggest benefit, was the extra 3 feet of wheel base--2 feet more camper, but THREE feet more wheel base. It has made the scooter almost 'disappear' when driving. We also got more head and galley spade.

All-in-all, we paid for our mistake. But we looked at like this--we could drive the unit we no longer liked for 5 years and then trade it, or we could just take our lumps and get what we wanted.

By the way, we are completely happy with 23' as we don't ever want to be 'stopped out' of going into some park because of length. We can still pull into a regular parking place in Wal-Mart with this one--although the scooter does make it iffy.

[gr8daysahead]

We bought a 32' with only one slide out. I am a little claustrophobic and the small bedroom made me uncomfortable. We traded it in 2 1/2 months later and bought a 37' with 3 slide outs. Much more comfortable.

[tonytong]

I am interested in a 2005 sightseer with duel pane windows an pleated shades I feel the price is more bang for the buck, how is your rig and how are your travels doing
tony stef

[Deen]

Sure, and the second and the third and the....

Actually we're on our 5th MH and we are getting better at hitting that moving target called "satisfied"!!

It's just like when I had boats 12', 17' 18' 23'.....

Or my trailers: 16', 21', 23' 26'....

Now, if I can win the Lotto and afford that Prevost or Newell conversion!!

[Eric_Elliott]

Yup. My Silverado, on a 10K pound BlueOx towbar, kissed the corner of my Country Coach Inspire. No where, in 2 years reading, did I learn the coach might turn sharp enough to be hit by the truck it tows.
Must buy extended tow bar tongue plus extended receiver. Those will be cheap compared to repairing vehicle corners.

[HPYHILM]

First MoHo we had was a 23 ft Class C that had a 350 engine that plenty of power. Got about 7 mpg. Problem was only a 15 gallon tank. A 100 mile range was areal pain in the @** . But it got us hooked into RV lifestyle.