Pros and Cons of owning a class A RV

[scottyballs]

Owned a truck and 5th wheel for 5 years and loved it. Unfortunately circumstances caused me to sell both last fall. Thinking now about buying another when I saw a 1999 Class A with less than 100,000 miles and very clean inside. Price was very reasonable. To my surprise I have seen a few others that appeal to me also. (older, clean models with low mileage).

Any suggestions as to pros and cons of Class A vs 5ers. Anything special I should be looking for in a used one? Vehicle would be used for one trip annually from southern Ontario to Florida, plus a few summer camping excursions nearby.

[Big_Katuna]

The heated arguments comparing costs are a red herring. The OP never asked which was cheaper.
People have a budget for an RV. Pick your reasonable price point. You can find a suitable class A and toad combo for the price of a fiver and a truck.

We happen to like the view in a class A and being able to use the head easily.

We like driving a smaller car instead of a dually monster truck when I get there.



I

[time2roll]

If you can rent one for a week it would give perspective on how it works for you.

[Spacecowboy7]

Pro: ease of use, everything is near by.
Con : with everything near by you can hear everything rattling, and bouncing around.
Pro: No tow vehicle needed.
Con: You have a toad, or load up the whole rig to just go to the store.
Con: Maintenance required on motorhome even if you don’t move it, tires, fluids, hoses, plus smog checks, I could go on and on.

[Lantley]

WilsonCampers wrote:
Lots of talk about comparisons - but one thing is missing... we all have different situations and different preferences.

If I already owned a capable truck, a 5er would be cheaper for me.

I already own two toads, so I would never count them in the calculation comparing a motorhome to a 5er.

I would never buy less than a well equipped turbo diesel truck for towing, but I would gladly buy an F53 with the 3 valve V10.

Case in point? A motorhome is a cheaper option for me because I own two toads and would prefer better than a $35k 5er. Unless some day I decide to re-tool and own a truck. A 5er is always a cheaper option for my neighbor... because he already owns a truck with a Power Stroke.

The original question was about preferences... My vote is motorhome any day, but if I owned a truck -- I'd strongly consider converting to a 5ver for the cost savings alone.

I get what your saying in terms of already owning a big truck or a capable toad.
But for comparison sake you need to compare the cost of tow vehicle and 5'er vs. class A and towed. The fact that you already owned it does not impact the comparison. The idea is to compare the value/cost of each type of RV.

[camperdave]

well the obvious advantage of the A vs towable is being able to use the house while driving. That was the decision point for us going from TT to class C last year. Personally, I love driving and camping and would be fine in anything. But if a motorhome makes the wife/kids happy and keeps them wanting to travel, then that's good enough for me. No one liked long days in the van. Long days in the motorhome are great. I'm often 100 miles down the road before anyone else is even awake now. And when they do get up, they can make me some coffee and a sandwich between card games. :B

If you go to one place and set up for a while, this is negated. But if you travel, it's definitely a valid consideration.

[Big_Katuna]

You are correct. Cost isn’t a factor to me. I can. I can make either choice fit my budget.

I’ve had long pickups and Suburbans and I don’t want to drive a big hard to park truck at flea markets and restaurants etc.

I enjoy driving a nimble decent mileage SUV.

[WilsonCampers]

Lots of talk about comparisons - but one thing is missing... we all have different situations and different preferences.

If I already owned a capable truck, a 5er would be cheaper for me.

I already own two toads, so I would never count them in the calculation comparing a motorhome to a 5er.

I would never buy less than a well equipped turbo diesel truck for towing, but I would gladly buy an F53 with the 3 valve V10.

Case in point? A motorhome is a cheaper option for me because I own two toads and would prefer better than a $35k 5er. Unless some day I decide to re-tool and own a truck. A 5er is always a cheaper option for my neighbor... because he already owns a truck with a Power Stroke.

The original question was about preferences... My vote is motorhome any day, but if I owned a truck -- I'd strongly consider converting to a 5ver for the cost savings alone.

[msturtz]

crawford wrote:
in a advent you need to evacuate my class A ready to go with my whole family yes my husky's are my family also i left no one behind. I keep can foods bottle water.fuel with treatment full,cloths,Locked box with copy of important papers needed. Up to date maps, Up to date,weather radio,Up to date GPS. You never know If fire, storms,Floods or a great get away may happen but which ever happen remember restock .

This is exactly what we do! 🙂 We keep the water tank full, stocked with sealed shelf stable non-perishable food, and at least two cases of bottled water. We also keep clothes and other critical items in the rig. If we have a major Cascadia Earthquake we will be ready! I did try to keep the trailer ready before we had the motorhome however since it took so long to hook up to move it wasn't nearly as "ready" as I would have liked. Funny anecdote, when my daughter was younger and had piano lessons I used to drop her off with the RV so I could sit in comfort and watch TV while I was waiting for her to get done. I would never ever consider doing that with a towable. We also sometimes use the motorhome for day trips simply because it is so much more comfortable than riding in a SUV or car. We did the same thing when we were touring a national park when our twins were still infants and required feeding and changing every hour or so. We just dropped the connections on the ground and left camp. Parking was harder but we didn't have any problems seeing what we wanted to. Never, not one time did we ever do this kind of stuff when we had a towable. It was simply too much work!

[crawford]

Yes but I'm on the road before you hook up and minutes do count in some cases being alive counts more then your numbers CBA

[DallasSteve]

way2roll

You're ignoring the numbers in my complete example when you compare $35K yo $90K to try to make your point.

msturtz

You spent many years owning towable units. I spent many years as a CPA

I'm not going to spend any more time pulling up examples to prove my point. A Class A + Toad is significantly more expensive than a comparable Fifth Wheel + Truck.

Believe what you want.

Steve

[crawford]

in a advent you need to evacuate my class A ready to go with my whole family yes my husky's are my family also i left no one behind. I keep can foods bottle water.fuel with treatment full,cloths,Locked box with copy of important papers needed. Up to date maps, Up to date,weather radio,Up to date GPS. You never know If fire, storms,Floods or a great get away may happen but which ever happen remember restock .

[msturtz]

DallasSteve wrote:

msturtz wrote:

The problem is that the listed 5th wheel towable unit is in no way equipped similarly to a Class A. There is a reason for the apparent price difference. For example the motorhomes come with an onboard generator and usually have a large battery bank and inverter. No one is disputing that an inexpensive 5th wheel plus the equivalent of a work truck can be purchased that costs much less than a motorhome however you are not comparing the same things either. Option for option feature for feature. Does the motorhome have an automatic leveling system? Then so should the 5th wheel trailer. I can tell you from personal experience that riding in a work truck and riding in any motorhome is not equivalent either. Nor is the fuel range equivalent either without aftermarket additional tanks which I added to my setup. The F350 gas may only have a 40 gallon fuel tank at most the motorhome has a 80 gallon fuel tank. I know about these limitations because I lived it. I used to have to carry many gas cans with me till I installed the auxiliary fuel tank. Again in any comparison it is important to consider all the facts. Since I have built a great towable setup before we got our motorhome I am acutely aware of the difference in features between both platforms. Bottom line is that it depends on the individual requirements of the person using the equipment. I have a CDL and work for a heavy truck manufacturer I look at an RV like any other tool. I try to determine what our requirements are first and then look for most logical solution that fits within the budget.

I did a cursory check for 5th wheels on RV trader equipped with generators and residential refrigerators and the discounted prices start at about $90k. I am assuming that they have automatic leveling systems.

I think you're "moving the goalposts". I don't see a residential fridge in the $90K class A units I searched so they are comparable to the fivers. Do they have generators? Probably. Does that close the $40K difference in my example? Hardly.

I agree with Lantley's post. If you trick out the fiver, and you trick out the class A, it's still much more expensive.

No, I'm not the basic 5th wheel units at that price point have much fewer features than any Class A. That is the reason for the price difference. Remember, I spent many years owning towable units. I work for a large heavy truck manufacturing company. If you have equivalent functionality and features you will have roughly the same cost. In both scenarios you have a dwelling and power unit. There is no magic in manufacturing. An engine, transmission, refrigerator, inverter, batteries, Air Conditioners and other components all cost the same regardless of whether they are installed in a 5th wheel, travel trailer or motorhome. Where you get into differences such as major missing components such as generators now you get some price differences a Cummins generator can cost well over $6K depending on model. In a typical two AC RV you would need a minimum of a 6K generator to run both ACs. Now, I am not talking about the high end Class A (gas or diesel) rigs that have tile floor and solid surface countertops etc. I'm talking about the family friendly lower cost Class A units that have vinyl floors etc. In my experience they are much better integrated than anything in the lower end towable space. To get equivalent features in a towable market you will need to go much higher end unit. Now, if those feature differences are not important to the customer then a really good deal at a much lower price point can be had in the towable market. We used towable units for many years. We restored a 1969 Terry travel trailer to usable condition years ago. That trailer only cost us $700 before we fixed it. The towable market can be a lower cost way to get into RVing if you have a suitable tow vehicle and are willing to tailor your use to fit the capability of the RV and put up with the limitations of the platform. Making blanket statements of which I have been guilty of doing myself don't help people understand the very real differences in the various options. When I help people figure out what they need I try to listen to what is important for them. I point out the things I have learned including the quirks of each platform. I have in the past been guilty of making blanket statements that equivalent towable are always less expensive. That isn't the case and is missing a lot of the factors that may or may not be important.

[Jayco-noslide]

One great thing about buying used is that price almost becomes irrelevant. By that I mean that if you set a budget amount; such as $30000 you can find nice units of any class of RV. For an A you might have to go for something with a few more years or miles than a C but very doable.

[way2roll]

DallasSteve wrote:
way2roll

I did a comparable search on RV Trader. I looked at new Forest River products to keep them comparable. I looked at about 35 feet long. I'm looking at gas, not diesel on both a motorhome and a tow vehicle. I see Class A motorhomes starting about $90,000. I see new 5th wheels starting about $35,000. As Don Henley says "Are you with me so far?"

I looked at new gas Ford F350 DRW. That should be plenty of truck. NADA says they run about $40,000. True or false? I don't know. I suppose you can spend $75,000 on a King Ranch F350, but all of this is targeting economical and comparable. I'll figure a new economical toad, not a Jeep; say about $25,000. Here's how my numbers look.

$90,000 Class A
$25,000 Toad
$115,000 Total

$35,000 Fifth wheel
$40,000 Ford F350
$75,000 Total

I doubt there is $40,000 of "fudge" in my quick and dirty numbers.

Steve

The "fudge" is in your weighted numbers for the fiver and truck in your favor. A $35k Fiver is not comparable to a $90k Mh and good luck buying a new F350 equipped to pull a comparable fiver for $40k.

[way2roll]

DallasSteve wrote:

msturtz wrote:

The problem is that the listed 5th wheel towable unit is in no way equipped similarly to a Class A. There is a reason for the apparent price difference. For example the motorhomes come with an onboard generator and usually have a large battery bank and inverter. No one is disputing that an inexpensive 5th wheel plus the equivalent of a work truck can be purchased that costs much less than a motorhome however you are not comparing the same things either. Option for option feature for feature. Does the motorhome have an automatic leveling system? Then so should the 5th wheel trailer. I can tell you from personal experience that riding in a work truck and riding in any motorhome is not equivalent either. Nor is the fuel range equivalent either without aftermarket additional tanks which I added to my setup. The F350 gas may only have a 40 gallon fuel tank at most the motorhome has a 80 gallon fuel tank. I know about these limitations because I lived it. I used to have to carry many gas cans with me till I installed the auxiliary fuel tank. Again in any comparison it is important to consider all the facts. Since I have built a great towable setup before we got our motorhome I am acutely aware of the difference in features between both platforms. Bottom line is that it depends on the individual requirements of the person using the equipment. I have a CDL and work for a heavy truck manufacturer I look at an RV like any other tool. I try to determine what our requirements are first and then look for most logical solution that fits within the budget.

I did a cursory check for 5th wheels on RV trader equipped with generators and residential refrigerators and the discounted prices start at about $90k. I am assuming that they have automatic leveling systems.

I think you're "moving the goalposts". I don't see a residential fridge in the $90K class A units I searched so they are comparable to the fivers. Do they have generators? Probably. Does that close the $40K difference in my example? Hardly.

I agree with Lantley's post. If you trick out the fiver, and you trick out the class A, it's still much more expensive.

Talk about moving the goal posts. In a previous post you are claiming that a $35k Fiver is comparable to a $90k Class A. Oranges to basketballs. Of course with that sort of distorted comparison the Fiver and a used truck to pull it will be cheaper. As I said before, you can come up with multiple configurations to try and prove your point, are they comparable - based on your examples? - No. And a quick search revealed quite a few sub $90k Class A's all with residential refers. You are distorting facts to prove your point. Moving on.