I often post a MH is the nicest and most expensive way to go RVing. I also suggest that you not buy an expensive toy until you can use it 100+ days/year. Even paying cash, this has not been a cheap sport... For 11 years my depreciation has been $14K/year, insurance $1200/year, 1000 gallons fuel/year ($2-3000)... at 100 days/year that's $160/day so it can move down the road. At 180 days/year it's $90.
If you are at the mercy of someone else fixing things at $100+/hour it takes a lot of fun to offset the pain. Fortunately I'm still able to do all the repairs and maintenance myself, especially since I'm 100 miles from the nearest dealer. It would help if the dealer fixed things on the first try and in a timely manner, but from what I read... rarely does that happen and that would take a lot of the fun out of RVing.
The most expensive item has been my NoCold 1200 refer. Between a auto fire system, new Amish cooling unit, new control board, new ignitor... $1800+ in the last five years. I just finished replacing it with a home refer and here's my
DIY post. In hind sight and even though we boondock often, I should have done this long ago as a 21 cu ft refer only draws 100 watts when running.
I also learned the hard way that you should buy more RV than you think you need... ONE TIME. Has it been worth it??? click on "How I spend the winter" below and put a big :B on my face.
