Cost of Ownership

[tmas]

I'm thinking about buying a USED Class A gas RV. Probably in the neighborhood of 5 years old. What, as a rule of thumb, is the cost of ownership? Repairs and upkeep, insurance, storage, etc.

I know its a broad question, but I'm just trying to get a ballpark figure so I'm not surprised down the road.

[John___Angela]

Not getting into fuel or insurance or campgrounds or depreciation, maintenance including tires for us has been just short of 1100 per year for the last 10 years. We are full timers so in it most of the time except when we are in our little C or tent trailer. First set of tires lasted us 9 years, had to replace the fridge and had some other minor stuff, lift pump, water heater board 3 TV's etc. We don't change our own oil or filters but do the rest of the maintenance and repairs ourselves. Probably 7000 miles per year avg, I think I have a few fixes coming up and a carpet to replace with laminate. One of the furnace motors is getting squeaky, need to replace both slide toppers. Fuel hasn't changed much in the last 4 years so hard to predict what will happen there. I think it will be steady for another 3 or 4. We are about 10 years into our 20 year full timing plan. Still totally affordable, still love our coach.

Good luck.

[BUTCHPHI]

How about this reasonably close estimate. Bought new gas Tropical (2000 model year) in May 1999 for $86000.00 including tax and license. Financed $60000.00. Still have the RV and still travel about six months a year. We have driven the RV 132000 miles and driven toads another 180000 miles. We fulltimed in Rv for 8+ years. I figure the whloe adventure has cost about $250000.00. Once in a while I wonder how many cruises could we have taken for that amount??? Hmmm. By the way - nothing but routine service except for a furnace, a water heater and a refrigerator. Never a breakdown while travelling. Never visited a service facility except for a scheduled item. Did virtually all maintenance myself.

[Mr_Mark1]

There is no doubt that having an RV is not cheap. Everyone has their budget and as long as you stay within it, the cost is bearable.

Honestly, I don't worry about depreciation as I went in with my eyes wide open. It it what it is and I accept that. The fun that we have had is worth every penny.

MM.

[deandec]

It is likely on a 5 year old rig, that the largest ownership cost will be depreciation.

Our experience over 11 years is similar to the $700 per month depreciated value experienced by Peaches and Cream in their recap above.
This cost happens whether you use the rig or do not.

Buy older and maybe you will incur heavier repair costs with maybe less depreciation.

If you never sell the rig, then your heirs will realize the depreciation hit.

[xctraveler]

The major costs I do not bother to track are food and entertainment. I figure we will most likely eat whether we are on the coach or not, actually we are less likely to eat out when on the coach than when in our S&B. Entertainment such as park admission fees, concert tickets, gallery admissions etc also are likely about the same whether we are traveling or not.

I track fuel cost closely out of curiosity. I am fortunate in that I don't have to limit my travel distance for budget reasons. It is a significant and controllable variable. Travel greater distances spend more, stay close to home, spend less. We are doing some air travel, much more costly than fuel for the same distances, but then again it is hard to drive over the Atlantic Ocean.

[ferndaleflyer]

I use mine but can't tell you how many mpg I get but in the summer I put about $200 a week in fuel in it. All fluids get changed once a year, insurance, propane for the heat & cook burners, tires will age out before they wear out. Its been paid for for a long time.....I have not a clue what it costs per year but so far I can afford it I guess----hurts me when it sits out there doing nothing which isn't often.

[gone2dadesert]

tmas wrote:
I'm thinking about buying a USED Class A gas RV. Probably in the neighborhood of 5 years old. What, as a rule of thumb, is the cost of ownership? Repairs and upkeep, insurance, storage, etc.

I know its a broad question, but I'm just trying to get a ballpark figure so I'm not surprised down the road.

$100\month = $1200\year for Storage
$460\year CA license-reg
$800\year insurance

Monthly payment will vary, but can be used as a tax write off if financed.

Your gas cost will vary depending on usage, but I plan for 6mpg @ 65-70gal each fill up (I have an 80gal tank). So, about $280 each fill up.


$1.50\ qt. 6 quarts of motorcraft oil (from wally world)
$5 Motorcraft oil filter (from wally world)
$15 Motorcraft air filter (from amazon)
$36 Motorcraft trans filter (from amazon)
$7 qt Motorcraft trans oil (from amazon)

$15\gal Anti-freeze\coolant


Generator maintenance
$10qt Onan oil (from amazon)
$10 Onan oil filter (from amazon)

*****ALL prices are estimates, your costs will vary.*****


I haven't replaced my tires yet and I have no major repairs so far.

[ArchHoagland]

I figure about $2,000 a year just to sit beside our house...That's insurance, tags, maintance...tires,etc. I do all my own oil and transmission fluid changes.

For a couple month trip I figure $100 a day covers everything, food, campground, gas, tours, etc.

But now the tricky part comes in.
How do you calculate enjoyment of life?
Can't put a number on it, can't quantify it, so how do you measure it?

[Crespro]

From 1998 to 2005 we drove a 37 foot 1989 Pace Arrow about 6,000 miles per year. The cost for all expenses ran $6,000 to $7,500 per year. This is probably a good number for a used gasser with very little depreciation.

[peaches_cream]

I posted this a couple of months ago.

Sold my Class A this week. Thought I would give a report on expenses to any newbe thinking of doing as I did. I purchased the MH, a 2005 Holiday Rambler Ambassador 36PRT, 40 mo. ago. It had 14,000 miles on it and was in great condition. I paid $100,000 for it cash.This was below NADA wholesale at the time. In 40 mo. it depreciated $29,000 to $71,000 which is above NADA wholesale. In the 14 mo. I spent $7,000 on fuel, $2,700 on Insurance, $2,500 for tires, $400 for wheel alignment and ride height setting, and I did not keep up with the cost of oil chg, filters, etc. as I did all the work myself. During the 40 mo. the MH was never at a Service Center or Dealer. I did not keep up with campground expenses. This figues out to $2.97 per mile or $1050 per month. I am very pleased as I traveled alot of the country and met alot of people. Just want to make RVer's aware, purchasing a newer MH is not cheap. I am sure many do it cheaper, but they did not have more fun than we did.

[workhardplayha1]

Tires have to be replaced every 1,825 days so take the going price of a set of tires and divide it by 1,825 and you will have the daily cost of just the tires.

[JerryDT]

bigred1cav wrote:
The costs are considerable the fuel is a killer now.

Ditto!

[bigred1cav]

The costs are considerable the fuel is a killer now.

[wny_pat1]

So many variables to consider. Depending on what part of the country you live in, RV shop and chassis shops range from $60 a hour to $120+ per hour. And the reviews of their work ranges from A+ to F-! If you have work done at a F- shop, you have to go somewhere else and have it done again.