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.

[Lantley]

Executive wrote:
Not too sure where you guys are finding 40k new trucks that you'd use to tow with. This would be the smallest I'd choose....Dennis

Size is one thing. Features and options are another. While 40K maybe on the low end of the budget, you don't need to spend 80K to get a capable truck either.

[Executive45]

Not too sure where you guys are finding 40k new trucks that you'd use to tow with. This would be the smallest I'd choose....Dennis

[tropical36]

crawford wrote:

DallasSteve wrote:

way2roll wrote:

DallasSteve wrote:
Class A is maybe the most comfortable for traveling and surely the most expensive to buy..

I have to disagree. Lots of Mh's on the market much cheaper than a comparable Fiver and the truck to pull it. I've seen just the trucks big enough to pull a fiver with a higher sticker price than some brand new entry level Class A's. That's not counting the price of the trailer. Trucks have become insanely expensive.

Comparing apples to apples a Class A is more expensive than a fiver. If you compare an old gas Class A with no toad or an old beat up old toad to a new fiver with a new diesel truck, then it will be cheaper, but that's not apples to apples. A Class A needs a toad to get around. Or you can compare a small Class A to a huge fiver and you win, but again that's not apples to apples. There are a few who buy to big and can't handle then and sell them for a song thats how we got ours. You just need to be able to wait till you find your price range and what you need .

I knew somebody would argue the point, but I stand by my observation.

The thing is, you can still get out of town, with a MH and no toad, as we did for years, but without a truck, you can't go anywhere, with a fiver. Wouldn't be so much of an argument, if one could pull a big one, with his everyday vehicle, like my F150, but one is really limited there, for size. Even if, you have to ride in the truck, rather than in the house. Are you kidding me and for that, there is no comparison, so no use to list all of the downsides of that, here....

[crawford]

DallasSteve wrote:

way2roll wrote:

DallasSteve wrote:
Class A is maybe the most comfortable for traveling and surely the most expensive to buy..

I have to disagree. Lots of Mh's on the market much cheaper than a comparable Fiver and the truck to pull it. I've seen just the trucks big enough to pull a fiver with a higher sticker price than some brand new entry level Class A's. That's not counting the price of the trailer. Trucks have become insanely expensive.

Comparing apples to apples a Class A is more expensive than a fiver. If you compare an old gas Class A with no toad or an old beat up old toad to a new fiver with a new diesel truck, then it will be cheaper, but that's not apples to apples. A Class A needs a toad to get around. Or you can compare a small Class A to a huge fiver and you win, but again that's not apples to apples. There are a few who buy to big and can't handle then and sell them for a song thats how we got ours. You just need to be able to wait till you find your price range and what you need .

I knew somebody would argue the point, but I stand by my observation.

[scottyballs]

Wow! Certainly a lot of information here. Wide variety of opinions too.

Several of the earlier posts had me convinced that I was going to get a MH. However, TOMMAN58 addressed some of my real concerns.

Since I am retired and on a limited income, no way I can afford new, or even a "newer" model of MH. I bought my 5er (2006 Cougar) and the truck (2003 GMC 2500HD with 72,ooo mlies) as a package in 2013. They were in amazingly great shape and I did my best to keep them that way. Previous owner changed the factory tires to better ones, and in five years never had to replace tires or do brakes. If I did there were only four wheels. Tomman58 mentioned replacing tires for a motorhome, and the cost and availability of parts if you break down somewhere. That really concerns me. As well, I can only imagine the cost of doing a brake job on a MH. These concerns would definitely have merit if I purchase an older MH.

[japaynehs]

3 years ago I was bored and decided I wanted to start Rving so I started looking at motor homes and towables. I loved them all! I eventually started dragging my husband to dealerships and RV shows. He tried to put me off by telling me we would talk about in 5 years when he retires. After continually looking and dragging him places we finally agreed that we would have to start "cheap" because we didn't know if we would enjoy it. Because the only truck we had was a Toyota Tacoma and we would need to buy a bigger more expensive truck in order to pull a towable, we decided to look for an older motorhome. Shortly after that decision, I saw online that a local dealership had taken in a short diesel pusher as a trade-in over the weekend. Monday morning I looked at it and called my husband and we ended up buying our 1999 Safari Sahara for about $35,000. The salesperson told us up front to set aside $5,000 for repairs. We love our old motor home! We do mostly local camping but we've taken it to Texas and South Dakota. When traveling on long trips, I put food in a crockpot that sits in the sink. The food is ready when we stop about 6 hours later. We plug in, put out the slide, use the automatic levelers and we are done for the night. It is just that easy in the morning when we are ready to leave. For a toad, we bought a 2009 Saturn Vue for about $10,000. We've thought about upgrading, we've looked, but we've decided to just update the furnishing in our coach. Our old Safari is built like a draft horse. It will continue to run as long as we take care of it.

[tomman58]

msturtz wrote:

tomman58 wrote:

msturtz wrote:

tomman58 wrote:
Almost everything I read here I can do with my 40" TT. I have had to hook up in the rain (20 minutes tops)but most of the time if we are leaving in the morning I pull in the slides except the bedroom and unhook the sewer and water AND TV THE NIGHT BEFORE( ALL OF WHICH YOU HAVE TO DISCONNECT IN A MH.) Our water and toilet work of course when we are between sites.
Our trailer has auto level so I just push a button and when we reconnect it raises the gear and puts the tongue at the hook up level.
We have almost zero costs and the tires which we replace after 60,000 miles are about 500 bucks in a Class A they can run 2400 bucks and the other maintenance is also expense and not readily available in several areas and God help you if you need something major as it can be weeks for the repair.

The only other thing I can think of as a deterrent is the space my TT slides open further and I have more usable space.

Lastly is cost my TT costs 48000 how much is a MH? 180 to 500 thousand that is a large investment almost as bad as owing a sailboat!!.

Your TT seems very nice. To be safe I had a $3000 Hensley hitch which adds cost. Your point about tires being less expensive is correct however I went through about 6 tires in 10 years in my towable unit because the ST tires are not made to the same standards that Motorhome tires are. With my motorhome if the weather is going to be poor I routinely disconnect everything but power since it has 110 gallons of fresh water and a 50 gallons black and grey capacity. With automatic generator start I don't worry about requiring power. We spent over 3 days dry camping in 100F heat in a farmer's field with the ACs running. I could not have done that period with a TT. I would have had to refill both water and gasoline for the generator at least once. We had a situation with our motorhome when the power went out and the AGS system kicked the generator on automatically and the rig was nice and cool and the batteries were not dead. I know of very few towable units that have this technology. It isn't that it isn't possible. My point is that if the fewer features available in the towable market work for a person then great it can be much less expensive, however if you want or desire the more advanced features available in the motorized market then that can be a good value as well because by the time you add all the features you get with a motorized unit to a towable unit you are in the same price range with the same features. Bottom line feature for feature, item for item if you have equivalent features both platforms cost a similar amount. Now if a person already has a suitable truck then the equation changes quite a bit. Each person's situation is different. For us, we couldn't handle a towable due to our kids being born prematurely. In addition, I have some health issues that make handling the extra work of a towable harder to do. We have found that we make many more trips than we ever did with a towable because it is so much easier. Even with a toad I can be hooked up and ready to go in a few minutes where with a trailer this isn't even close, it takes a long time to get hooked up and ready to leave.

Never needed a Hensley. My hitch has been on 6 TT. your excuses for having a Class A are noted but not the rule. A Class A is not even close in cost. 250,000 compared to 48000 for a TT is not even close. As for my truck it has uses other than camping and is needed for my runs up the slab to our northern house. If you want to time a hook up with me you had better practice often, we put on 1000's of miles a year as I can normally be on the road is 20 minutes in an rain storm.
Tires are far better now and as for weather that is what GPS was invented for .... to miss the big issues on the road.

I'm sorry but quoting made up numbers for the cost of a motorhome is not helpful to the OP. Our current DP we purchased new was being advertised when we bought it for about $130K. Used is much less. We priced out a new diesel truck plus the extra fuel tank etc. and the cost was well over $75K, an equivalent towable with auto level and generator, glass wall, satellite, 2K inverter, AGS, massive battery bank, residential refrigerator etc. costs upwards of $100K depending on model. A gas class A can be had for less much much less than we paid for our DP. There is a huge spread between the asking price and the actual sale price when it comes to motorized. I had a very difficult time getting much of a discount on the towable unit. We did get a good deal. Bottom line we have purchased multiple towable units and motorized units. We have the actual experience for both to reliably comment rather than speculate. There are pros and cons to both depending on the use case of a particular user and I would recommend either depending on who I was talking with and what they wanted to do with it. However, blanket statements that motorized units are "always more expensive" simply are not true. It is fairly easy to find a cheap stick and tin towable on a loss leader for sale to compare to a Prevost and that is a nonsensical comparison that helps no one. What people really need is to understand the features and benefits of each platform as well as the costs of both. Sometimes the additional costs justify the additional expense in either situation.

A side note on the Hensley hitch I would never have another towable without one. It is absolutely impossible to jackknife a towable with a Hensley Hitch. They operate on a 4 bar method which mechanically prevents the trailer from turning separately from the tow vehicle. We were coming back from a camping trip and got caught in a major snow storm. We were on compact snow and ice. On my one ton truck I had studded snow tires however that doesn't help with the trailer. When I had an emergency full ABS stop because I was cut off by another driver the trailer never came around the truck as it would have if I had not had a Hensley Hitch. I can't recommend them enough. They are expensive but worth every penny.

Just a side note..... I have always liked the Hensley hitch but I have been using my hook up for 24 years and have never had a problem. We make it a point not to be where the snow is ever! I put up with it for 59 years and no more. I have yet to determine the state with the worst drivers though..... thinking that it will likely be a NASCAR state.

[msturtz]

tomman58 wrote:

msturtz wrote:

tomman58 wrote:
Almost everything I read here I can do with my 40" TT. I have had to hook up in the rain (20 minutes tops)but most of the time if we are leaving in the morning I pull in the slides except the bedroom and unhook the sewer and water AND TV THE NIGHT BEFORE( ALL OF WHICH YOU HAVE TO DISCONNECT IN A MH.) Our water and toilet work of course when we are between sites.
Our trailer has auto level so I just push a button and when we reconnect it raises the gear and puts the tongue at the hook up level.
We have almost zero costs and the tires which we replace after 60,000 miles are about 500 bucks in a Class A they can run 2400 bucks and the other maintenance is also expense and not readily available in several areas and God help you if you need something major as it can be weeks for the repair.

The only other thing I can think of as a deterrent is the space my TT slides open further and I have more usable space.

Lastly is cost my TT costs 48000 how much is a MH? 180 to 500 thousand that is a large investment almost as bad as owing a sailboat!!.

Your TT seems very nice. To be safe I had a $3000 Hensley hitch which adds cost. Your point about tires being less expensive is correct however I went through about 6 tires in 10 years in my towable unit because the ST tires are not made to the same standards that Motorhome tires are. With my motorhome if the weather is going to be poor I routinely disconnect everything but power since it has 110 gallons of fresh water and a 50 gallons black and grey capacity. With automatic generator start I don't worry about requiring power. We spent over 3 days dry camping in 100F heat in a farmer's field with the ACs running. I could not have done that period with a TT. I would have had to refill both water and gasoline for the generator at least once. We had a situation with our motorhome when the power went out and the AGS system kicked the generator on automatically and the rig was nice and cool and the batteries were not dead. I know of very few towable units that have this technology. It isn't that it isn't possible. My point is that if the fewer features available in the towable market work for a person then great it can be much less expensive, however if you want or desire the more advanced features available in the motorized market then that can be a good value as well because by the time you add all the features you get with a motorized unit to a towable unit you are in the same price range with the same features. Bottom line feature for feature, item for item if you have equivalent features both platforms cost a similar amount. Now if a person already has a suitable truck then the equation changes quite a bit. Each person's situation is different. For us, we couldn't handle a towable due to our kids being born prematurely. In addition, I have some health issues that make handling the extra work of a towable harder to do. We have found that we make many more trips than we ever did with a towable because it is so much easier. Even with a toad I can be hooked up and ready to go in a few minutes where with a trailer this isn't even close, it takes a long time to get hooked up and ready to leave.

Never needed a Hensley. My hitch has been on 6 TT. your excuses for having a Class A are noted but not the rule. A Class A is not even close in cost. 250,000 compared to 48000 for a TT is not even close. As for my truck it has uses other than camping and is needed for my runs up the slab to our northern house. If you want to time a hook up with me you had better practice often, we put on 1000's of miles a year as I can normally be on the road is 20 minutes in an rain storm.
Tires are far better now and as for weather that is what GPS was invented for .... to miss the big issues on the road.

I'm sorry but quoting made up numbers for the cost of a motorhome is not helpful to the OP. Our current DP we purchased new was being advertised when we bought it for about $130K. Used is much less. We priced out a new diesel truck plus the extra fuel tank etc. and the cost was well over $75K, an equivalent towable with auto level and generator, glass wall, satellite, 2K inverter, AGS, massive battery bank, residential refrigerator etc. costs upwards of $100K depending on model. A gas class A can be had for less much much less than we paid for our DP. There is a huge spread between the asking price and the actual sale price when it comes to motorized. I had a very difficult time getting much of a discount on the towable unit. We did get a good deal. Bottom line we have purchased multiple towable units and motorized units. We have the actual experience for both to reliably comment rather than speculate. There are pros and cons to both depending on the use case of a particular user and I would recommend either depending on who I was talking with and what they wanted to do with it. However, blanket statements that motorized units are "always more expensive" simply are not true. It is fairly easy to find a cheap stick and tin towable on a loss leader for sale to compare to a Prevost and that is a nonsensical comparison that helps no one. What people really need is to understand the features and benefits of each platform as well as the costs of both. Sometimes the additional costs justify the additional expense in either situation.

A side note on the Hensley hitch I would never have another towable without one. It is absolutely impossible to jackknife a towable with a Hensley Hitch. They operate on a 4 bar method which mechanically prevents the trailer from turning separately from the tow vehicle. We were coming back from a camping trip and got caught in a major snow storm. We were on compact snow and ice. On my one ton truck I had studded snow tires however that doesn't help with the trailer. When I had an emergency full ABS stop because I was cut off by another driver the trailer never came around the truck as it would have if I had not had a Hensley Hitch. I can't recommend them enough. They are expensive but worth every penny.

[tropical36]

scottyballs wrote:
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.

Motorhomes are meant to roll and to keep rolling, as we like doing. Our 3 mon trips and more have racked up between 7 and 9K miles and for the most part, seldom spend more than a night or two in the same spot. We do a lot of weekenders, out of home base, as well.
If we were to be sitting in one spot for months at a time, I'd probably go with a fiver. In fact, wouldn't even buy the monster truck, that usually goes with it and for just paying for having it delivered. These trucks don't make for a very good dinghy, anyway, IMO.
Now when you say annual trips to FL, this could mean taking a lot of time for getting there and for taking different routes, other than the straightest and quickest line for getting there. This being the case, a big A would be the way to go, for having comfort both on the road and for extended stays.

[DFord]

Like I mentioned earlier - different strokes for different folks. That's why they make so many different styles in so many different price ranges. Select the one you feel most comfortable with within your budget that meets your needs. Enjoy. Problem solved.

[tomman58]

msturtz wrote:

tomman58 wrote:
Almost everything I read here I can do with my 40" TT. I have had to hook up in the rain (20 minutes tops)but most of the time if we are leaving in the morning I pull in the slides except the bedroom and unhook the sewer and water AND TV THE NIGHT BEFORE( ALL OF WHICH YOU HAVE TO DISCONNECT IN A MH.) Our water and toilet work of course when we are between sites.
Our trailer has auto level so I just push a button and when we reconnect it raises the gear and puts the tongue at the hook up level.
We have almost zero costs and the tires which we replace after 60,000 miles are about 500 bucks in a Class A they can run 2400 bucks and the other maintenance is also expense and not readily available in several areas and God help you if you need something major as it can be weeks for the repair.

The only other thing I can think of as a deterrent is the space my TT slides open further and I have more usable space.

Lastly is cost my TT costs 48000 how much is a MH? 180 to 500 thousand that is a large investment almost as bad as owing a sailboat!!.

Your TT seems very nice. To be safe I had a $3000 Hensley hitch which adds cost. Your point about tires being less expensive is correct however I went through about 6 tires in 10 years in my towable unit because the ST tires are not made to the same standards that Motorhome tires are. With my motorhome if the weather is going to be poor I routinely disconnect everything but power since it has 110 gallons of fresh water and a 50 gallons black and grey capacity. With automatic generator start I don't worry about requiring power. We spent over 3 days dry camping in 100F heat in a farmer's field with the ACs running. I could not have done that period with a TT. I would have had to refill both water and gasoline for the generator at least once. We had a situation with our motorhome when the power went out and the AGS system kicked the generator on automatically and the rig was nice and cool and the batteries were not dead. I know of very few towable units that have this technology. It isn't that it isn't possible. My point is that if the fewer features available in the towable market work for a person then great it can be much less expensive, however if you want or desire the more advanced features available in the motorized market then that can be a good value as well because by the time you add all the features you get with a motorized unit to a towable unit you are in the same price range with the same features. Bottom line feature for feature, item for item if you have equivalent features both platforms cost a similar amount. Now if a person already has a suitable truck then the equation changes quite a bit. Each person's situation is different. For us, we couldn't handle a towable due to our kids being born prematurely. In addition, I have some health issues that make handling the extra work of a towable harder to do. We have found that we make many more trips than we ever did with a towable because it is so much easier. Even with a toad I can be hooked up and ready to go in a few minutes where with a trailer this isn't even close, it takes a long time to get hooked up and ready to leave.

Never needed a Hensley. My hitch has been on 6 TT. your excuses for having a Class A are noted but not the rule. A Class A is not even close in cost. 250,000 compared to 48000 for a TT is not even close. As for my truck it has uses other than camping and is needed for my runs up the slab to our northern house. If you want to time a hook up with me you had better practice often, we put on 1000's of miles a year as I can normally be on the road is 20 minutes in an rain storm.
Tires are far better now and as for weather that is what GPS was invented for .... to miss the big issues on the road.

[msturtz]

tomman58 wrote:
Almost everything I read here I can do with my 40" TT. I have had to hook up in the rain (20 minutes tops)but most of the time if we are leaving in the morning I pull in the slides except the bedroom and unhook the sewer and water AND TV THE NIGHT BEFORE( ALL OF WHICH YOU HAVE TO DISCONNECT IN A MH.) Our water and toilet work of course when we are between sites.
Our trailer has auto level so I just push a button and when we reconnect it raises the gear and puts the tongue at the hook up level.
We have almost zero costs and the tires which we replace after 60,000 miles are about 500 bucks in a Class A they can run 2400 bucks and the other maintenance is also expense and not readily available in several areas and God help you if you need something major as it can be weeks for the repair.

The only other thing I can think of as a deterrent is the space my TT slides open further and I have more usable space.

Lastly is cost my TT costs 48000 how much is a MH? 180 to 500 thousand that is a large investment almost as bad as owing a sailboat!!.

Your TT seems very nice. To be safe I had a $3000 Hensley hitch which adds cost. Your point about tires being less expensive is correct however I went through about 6 tires in 10 years in my towable unit because the ST tires are not made to the same standards that Motorhome tires are. With my motorhome if the weather is going to be poor I routinely disconnect everything but power since it has 110 gallons of fresh water and a 50 gallons black and grey capacity. With automatic generator start I don't worry about requiring power. We spent over 3 days dry camping in 100F heat in a farmer's field with the ACs running. I could not have done that period with a TT. I would have had to refill both water and gasoline for the generator at least once. We had a situation with our motorhome when the power went out and the AGS system kicked the generator on automatically and the rig was nice and cool and the batteries were not dead. I know of very few towable units that have this technology. It isn't that it isn't possible. My point is that if the fewer features available in the towable market work for a person then great it can be much less expensive, however if you want or desire the more advanced features available in the motorized market then that can be a good value as well because by the time you add all the features you get with a motorized unit to a towable unit you are in the same price range with the same features. Bottom line feature for feature, item for item if you have equivalent features both platforms cost a similar amount. Now if a person already has a suitable truck then the equation changes quite a bit. Each person's situation is different. For us, we couldn't handle a towable due to our kids being born prematurely. In addition, I have some health issues that make handling the extra work of a towable harder to do. We have found that we make many more trips than we ever did with a towable because it is so much easier. Even with a toad I can be hooked up and ready to go in a few minutes where with a trailer this isn't even close, it takes a long time to get hooked up and ready to leave.

[tomman58]

Almost everything I read here I can do with my 40" TT. I have had to hook up in the rain (20 minutes tops)but most of the time if we are leaving in the morning I pull in the slides except the bedroom and unhook the sewer and water AND TV THE NIGHT BEFORE( ALL OF WHICH YOU HAVE TO DISCONNECT IN A MH.) Our water and toilet work of course when we are between sites.
Our trailer has auto level so I just push a button and when we reconnect it raises the gear and puts the tongue at the hook up level.
We have almost zero costs and the tires which we replace after 60,000 miles are about 500 bucks in a Class A they can run 2400 bucks and the other maintenance is also expense and not readily available in several areas and God help you if you need something major as it can be weeks for the repair.

The only other thing I can think of as a deterrent is the space my TT slides open further and I have more usable space.

Lastly is cost my TT costs 48000 how much is a MH? 180 to 500 thousand that is a large investment almost as bad as owing a sailboat!!.

[Lantley]

Big Katuna wrote:
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

Not really a red herring. Cost is a factor if it were not we would all be driving Class A's. I agree they are probably the ultimate in RV's in terms of convenience and luxury, but they are not the most bang for the buck.
Many more TT's are sold than fiver's or Class A's simply because they are cheaper.
Sure you can pick a price point for any RV. I can buy a new Airstream for 80K or I can buy a used model for 10K if that's my budget.
But that does not make it all equal.
A can buy a 40' diesel pusher or a 35 ft gasser. There is a price difference even within Class A's. Pretending everything is the same price is misleading.
There are many factors in deciding on what type of RV fits your style.
Our criteria for picking an RV type is as different as our budgets and the type of RV' available. There is no one size fits all answer.
But to pretend that the class A is not at the top of the RV food chain in terms of cost is silly.