thinking of buying a Motorhome....looking for tips/hints

[Campinfan]

I am looking for suggestions on buying a motorhome. Any hints on pricing, what to offer, etc. Or do any of you have a good resource that I can look into or buy so I can be well educated. I have bought many trailers in the past but this would be a new adventure for me.

[LouLawrence]

Great advice Doug. We did that before we bought. Rented class A and class C and then another class A as we knew pretty quickly that was right for us. It then took a couple of big RV shows for us to find the right floor plan. No buyers remorse. Kept it for about 5 years before moving up to a Prevost and fulltiming.

[dougrainer]

Factor in cost and depreciation. Once done, you will find it is BETTER to rent the type and floorplan you want for 1 or 2 weeks. KEEP renting different types and floorplans, until you find your fit. THAT will get you the knowledge of what you want and can afford. BUY without doing this will cost you tens of thousands of dollars if your RV does NOT meet your expectations. Doug
PS In the RV sales and service for almost 50 years. You would be amazed how many first timers take thousands of dollar hits when they buy and the Floorplan does NOT meet what they thought they wanted, and then they trade.

[03Ultra]

When we bought our first camper we looked at floor plans. We wanted a private bedroom and a private bathroom. We went to several dealers and to a couple of RV shows and walked through quite a few units. We finally found something and bought it. We kept a little pad in the kitchen drawer and when we found something that we wished we had, we wrote it down. 5 years later we took the list and the camper to a dealer and traded on something that, until now has been perfect for us. Good luck, we've made a lifetime and more of memories in our camper. Our vacation home is wherever we park it!

[Campinfan]

Thank you all for your tips and suggestions. I am glad I am not in a hurry.

[wa8yxm]

It is tempting to say "Seek professional help" (You should be thinking of something other than what I'm about to punch line down below.)

First: as you move about the water changes.. This can lead to what I call..er.. After Effects (Also known as frequent flyer miles on the porcelain airline) or frequent use of the toilet.
So the old joke of the length of "Just a Minute" (Depends on which side of the door you are on). Consider a bath and a half floor plan. or 2 holes. NO waiting.

Now the Professional help.. IF you are buying used make friends with a good RV technician who can do a pre-purchase inspection... They may find that the rig looks good but .. there's about 10,000 worth of repairs needed (or more) and the deal is not nearly as good as it looks.

(See the seek professional help was not a joke.. Just not THAT profession).

[willald]

Lantley wrote:
I will add to this post as one who owns a 5th wheel bunkhouse. Don't buy strictly for the kids. The kids will be gone one day and no longer camp with you.
Sure you could trade again once they are gone ,but that will put you back at the drawing board.
I'm not saying don't consider the kids needs but I am saying don't buy strictly for the kids without considering the time line of kids move on vs. how long you plan to keep your rig.
Bunkhouse owner with no kids....LOL

Lantley is 100% right, you need to think long term about what your needs are now, and what they will be in the future.

If you really, really want a model with bunks for the kids now, then get one. Just keep in mind that one day you may have to find a way to re-purpose the bunk portion of your RV. And, there are a number of ways to do that.

Our bunks turned into a good storage area once kids grew up and quit camping with us. That worked fine for a while, but due to other major life changes that took place as well, we ended up trading, anyway, to a smaller (but much better quality) unit without bunks that is more suited for a couple (see signature).

[Lantley]

I will add to this post as one who owns a 5th wheel bunkhouse. Don't buy strictly for the kids. The kids will be gone one day and no longer camp with you.
Sure you could trade again once they are gone ,but that will put you back at the drawing board.
I'm not saying don't consider the kids needs but I am saying don't buy strictly for the kids without considering the time line of kids move on vs. how long you plan to keep your rig.
Bunkhouse owner with no kids....LOL

[Campinfan]

I really appreciate the tips and suggestions. Please keep them coming. We have a floorplan we like. It is a bunkhouse which seems to be pretty normal but the difficulty is finding one that has clothes storage for the kids in the bunks. We really do not want them coming into our room all the time to get clothes. The one model we have seen that works is the Encore 357RB. It has a closet right across from the bunks that otherwise can be used for a washer and dryer...which we do not want at this time....maybe down the road.

Also any idea realistically, that I can get below the "sale" price. Many of these have an MSRP (Made up suggested retail price) of $237K but on sale for $150K. Is it too much to ask for 10-15K off that....Yeah, I know asking does not hurt but I want them to know I am serious not a tire kicker but I also do not want to leave too much money on the table.

[Sandia_Man]

After 3 decades of RVing in TTs, 5ers, and toyhaulers, primarily with our children, we went on a mission to get a class A motorhome best suited for couples and extended stays. Although we have learned so much about our favorite pastime over the many years, treading into class A waters there was still so much more to consider than just floorplan.

We found choosing the right chassis/powertrain that works specifically for our needs to be the most vexing of all. Floorplans are important, but floorplans in towable RVs playout differently in class A rigs. We ended up with a layout on our class A coach that we have never considered having on any of the towable RVs we have owned.

Being on RV related forums for the many years we have enjoyed this pastime I read aplenty, but never really queried the forums as most answers were biased to what the responders currently owned. As we still had an RV when we were searching for a class A motorcoach, we took our time and viewed and drove as many coaches as we could, even going to neighboring states for more availability.

Similar to towable RVs, there are pros and cons to every version of class A coach on the market. Talking to friends, family, neighbors, and longtime mechanics will yield less biased answers. We did not want to rush to judgement, making the wrong call for your intended usage, along with future upkeep, maintenance, and needed repairs can cost tens of thousands on these rigs.

We ended up going the private seller route as dealers tended to exaggerate the capabilities of the coaches we were interested in. Private sellers were able to give more rig specific info and pride of ownership undoubtedly showed on many of the coaches we viewed. We finally purchased a coach in Texas where owners where getting out of the game due to old age, he was 84, his wife was 79.

[ferndaleflyer]

As someone said above buy a high end unit. My 20 year old Monaco still has better construction and features than new entry level models. When I bought mine I could have gotten a DP for 1/2 what I paid for the Monaco and would have got what I paid for. It only costs a little more to go first class.

[StarkNaked]

If you're willing to spend the money, here is a book that covers a lot of your questions.

https://rvreviews.net/motorhome-reviews/

The book is not cheap but has lots of information.

Check your local library and see if they have it in stock. That's what I did when I was researching my purchase.

[Racklefratz]

Rick Jay wrote:
I guess the first questions would be along the lines of ....and yada, yada

Obviously so, yes.

Any useful information could only be offered if, at a minimum, answers to those questions were available.

[Tom_Barb]

buy quality, built cheap to sell cheap is why many buy, but then we get to pay and pay.. We over bought when we bought our Newmar, but after 22 years, we still love it.

[Rick_Jay]

Hi,

I guess the first questions would be along the lines of:

Approximately how much are you planning to spend on the motorhome?

New or Used?

How long of an RV do you think you need (compared with the trailers)?

Same number of people as in the past? Fewer? More?

Any preference for diesel or gas?

Are you planning on driving it a lot, or driving into an area and staying put for weeks, or longer, at a time?

Which floorplans worked best for you in the past?

That should get you started. 🙂

Good Luck on your search. Take your time and be patient. These forums have a WEALTH of information, especially about Class A motorhomes. If you can figure out the quirky search options, it helps. But don't hesistate to ask us any questions you might have directly.

~Rick