Breakdowns are actually pretty rare, if you keep up with routine maintenence and daily inspections of things like tire condtion, air spring condtion, fluid levels, and things that can leak. Though large motorhomes, like big trucks, are fairly complex, they tend to be more trouble free, statistically, than most private cars because the operators generally are more conscientious about maintenance and day to day care. A lot less likely, for example, to start off the day driving on an already flat tire, or with an almost empty fuel tank (running out of fuel # 1 for breakdowns) or ignoring a starting battery that has been slowly dying.
Towing is expensive, if needed. Towing insurance is available, and insurance that covers what a large vehicle needs will be more expensive than emergency road service policies for cars, particularly what you pay for the limited service "free" road service tacked on to insurance policies as a sales incentive.
Routine maintenance is more expensive than for cars, particularly for big diesel engines that might need 5-8 times as much oil as a compact car. Service rates tend to be higher, unless compared to those of luxury brands that have more comprehensive service regimes. You find out what it costs and budget for it. Most RVs get a level of use that means routine maintenance of the chassis and motor will be once a year, and you can probably expect to pay another $200-500 a year on taking care of the house, if you don't do the inspections and maintenance yourself.
Tires for a MH that size are probably going to cost at least $500 a piece, could go higher if materials costs continue to increase. Figure preventive maintenance by replacing before they wear out, or rot from age, budget $100 a year per tire on a five year cycle.
Stuff in the hiuse can also fail, some of it expensive, and you can buy service plans to cover parts of this if not too old; often sold as extended warranies. These tend to become more costly as the RV ages, until it gets to where they will no longer sell you insurance at any price.
I've never gotten value from an extende warranty, one of my kids has (on a car), but experience varies. Note that many of these plans are sold with 100% commission in the up front price, so that might be negotiated down, and the part that goes to the insurance or service plan underwriter still lets them make money, so on the average, it is a losing situation, but some people will have bad enough luck with their car or RV to win the lottery of having something fixed that costs more than they paid for insurance over the years. But I can say the same for emergency road service, and my comprehensive and collision.
Tom Test
Itasca Spirit 29B
