Summer Trip - Rent or Buy?
I am a planner and a saver. And I'm about to do neither of those by going on an RV trip in July with no destination chosen or RV yet. Some family circumstances have prompted me and my wife to do t...
Forum Discussion
We rented a variety of lengths of class C rvs, slide and no slide, over a period of 10 years. This included Forest River, Coachmen, Tioga, and Safari brands in lengths from 24 to 32 feet. During our rentals we found a 26 foot unit with a dinette slide to be the best compromise for us for length and maneuverability. When we went to buy though, we found this 28 foot unit with dual slides and full basement.
While we were renting that seemed like the best course as we were renting perhaps 1 10-day rental and a couple of long weekends per year. We also took other trips flying and also renting houses. At the time it didn't seem that we wanted the storage or maintenance requirements of a motorhome.
After some time we decided we would like to motorhome more and do other vacation activities less. As others have noted is takes some time to get the motorhome set up to suit yourself, everything from tires and suspension upgrades to AGM batteries, LED lighting and quick-disconnects on water connections and whole-motorhome surge protectors. Continuing maintenance requires a certain number of hours of maintenance for every day spent on the road. Say 1-2 hours.
We had thought we would be in a vacation home at some point but are glad we didn't. Being in a fixed location wouldn't suit us and an RV, once the purchase price is sunk and initial set-up is complete, is fairly inexpensive on a per-night basis compared to a vacation home or house rentals. We still do house vacation rentals, but very infrequently now, primarily for winter where winter activities preclude easy use of the RV.
Best of luck on your decision!
While we were renting that seemed like the best course as we were renting perhaps 1 10-day rental and a couple of long weekends per year. We also took other trips flying and also renting houses. At the time it didn't seem that we wanted the storage or maintenance requirements of a motorhome.
After some time we decided we would like to motorhome more and do other vacation activities less. As others have noted is takes some time to get the motorhome set up to suit yourself, everything from tires and suspension upgrades to AGM batteries, LED lighting and quick-disconnects on water connections and whole-motorhome surge protectors. Continuing maintenance requires a certain number of hours of maintenance for every day spent on the road. Say 1-2 hours.
We had thought we would be in a vacation home at some point but are glad we didn't. Being in a fixed location wouldn't suit us and an RV, once the purchase price is sunk and initial set-up is complete, is fairly inexpensive on a per-night basis compared to a vacation home or house rentals. We still do house vacation rentals, but very infrequently now, primarily for winter where winter activities preclude easy use of the RV.
Best of luck on your decision!
