A Question of Value

[Deane]

First a little background. We are in our 70s but are pretty mobile and get around pretty well. We do have our limitations and a lot of heavy lifting or extreme physical effort might be a challenge. Our plan is to be on the road 2 or 3 weeks at a time with no intent to go full time. I would expect we would be out of the RV world in 5 years or so due to aging. So, resale value is important.

My wife and I have looked at 5th Wheels, Class C, and Class A units. Our first hesitation was buying a truck if we bought a 5th wheel so we looked at Class C and Class A units. Then the issue came up of to tow or not to tow a car with the Class C or Class A unit. We actually liked the floor plans and spaciousness of the 5th wheels so here is the question:

If we buy a truck and a 5th wheel we could have less money tied up than if we buy a Class C or a Class A unit. The worst case scenario would be we hate the RV world and end up with a truck. So, all things considered, why would we buy one class of RV over the other? Also, Do you buy new, one year old, older??

Thanks for any advice,
Deane

[CA_Traveler]

2gypsies wrote:

Deane wrote:
We were told the gear needed to tow a car behind a Class A was very heavy and could be hard for us to move around.

They may have been referring to a trailer to carry a car or a tow dolly.

You don't lift the gear for towing the car. It stays on the rear of the motorhome. You just lower the arms and attach them to your car. You don't need muscles. 🙂
X2

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Texas does have a non-commercial Class B license available.

Just be aware if you get a coach with airbrakes you will have to take that part of the exam.

The road test will be the most interesting part. I've had friends who took their exams at the Garland station - and all had to parallel park their motorhome and one had to parallel park his Volvo tractor/ DRV Suites 5er combination.

Not really that hard if the driver has backed the rig into a few campsites. Just sounds very intimidating.

[Deane]

Thanks again to all who provided input. Had a serious talk with a guy at a dealership today and the topic of Class B driver licenses came up. He told US some states require a Class B drivers license for rigs weighing over 26000 pounds.
He gave us this web WWW.TRUCKERCOUNTRY.COM where you can do practice tests for the Class B license if needed. This is an upscale place that sells and stores RVs. We saw several Prevost units -not that we could buy them - wow! Also looked at a Nemar Bay Star which could work for us.

Deane

[2gypsies1]

Tire blowouts have a lot to do with overloading the trailer/motorhome along with fast driving and not inflating to the correct pressure.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Blowouts or tread separations can do a lot of damage to an RV. Any type. They are not built to have a tire tread flapping against the underside of the rig.

But, the percentage of RVers who have a tire problem is extremely low. Trailer tires should not be towed above about 60-65 mph. Technically they are only rated for 55 mph. Higher speeds build cumulative damage which can eventually cause a failure.

The solution is to replace the trailer tires with higher speed rated light truck tires. Some 5ersbcome with LT tires standard.

Tires have to be the right weight rating for the loaded rig. They also need to be checked regularly, both for pressure and a surface check for bulges or bad wear patterns.

Nothing is going to save s tire from any manufacturer if it runs over bad debris. Any manufactures is subject to having a bad tire which bulges and leads to a tread separation. Those usually cause the most damage to the rig. Since the tire doesn't lose pressure, TPMS systems won't alert.

[Grit_dog]

No, don't let tires sway your decision. A lot of flat tires can be avoided by proper care and replacement intervals.
5vers, or any trailer with light duty tires (anything of lesser capacity and construction than med duty tires like 19.5s) are ALL harder on tires than most vehicles. Doesn't mean they're time bombs, but they won't take as much neglect, in general.

[Deane]

Well,
Haven't decided yet between Class A or Class C but have found some good prices on new 2015 year units at dealers. I was shocked at how much less they are now - nearly 50%! Went to San Antonio and Ancira had some of these. They were Class A's one Fleetwood looked pretty good.

I had another question. Is trouble with tires more frequent with any certain type of RV? I noticed a lot of 5th wheel folks complaining about flats or blowouts at an event we attended.

Still trying to decide.
Deane

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Since the OP is in north Texas near Dallas - we don't see many fall deals until late October or November after the Dallas RV Show - several people will be buying new as the camping season is starting in Texas.

So the dealers will have several used Class A, Class C and 5th wheel units available. There is also a newish location for PPL in Cleburne which has several consignment units from individuals on sale/ display. Definitely worth a stop for anyone looking for a quality used rig.

Yes, we camp year round in Texas. The family crowd hits the lakes and hill country trying to escape some of the 100 degree plus heat in the summer, but October, November, December, January, Febuary, March and April are our big camping months for full-timers and older Texans. The Dallas area can be a bit cooler than we wish, but the Texas Hill Country is excellent camping during the winter, along with the piney woods of East Texas (fewer bugs in the winter than the summer).

All the COE lakes have open campgrounds all winter in Texas. Personally, I prefer to spend most of my winter south of I-10 - with great locations across 800 miles of Texas. Folks in those regions never winterize their rigs.

We see some parks more crowded on Thanksgiving and the week after Christmas than Memorial Day or 4th of July. Labor Day is almost always too hot for good camping in Texas.

If possible, we head out of state to the mountains starting in May through September.

Edit - the Dallas RV Show was last weekend

some links for the OP - Austin RV Show - Oct 14-16 PPL Consignment Sales - has a Cleburne location I-35 RV Super Center - Denton - consignment sales

[Grit_dog]

Well, have ya decided yet? Haha lots to choose from
Another thing on value, new or used, but particularly for used.
Fall in most of the country is typically when the best deals are, because it's end of the season and those on the fence or planning to upgrade or just getting out of it will typically sell a bit cheaper than store it all winter.
Conversely, in the snowbird areas, early to mid spring is the same, as the snowbirds are packing up and heading home, but there's always that percentage of them that's made their last trip and the market in Arizona was flooded with used RVs in the spring when we lived there.

[Deane]

Thanks again for the input and information. Gail, I got the message and replied. Sorry for the delay.

Deane

[2gypsies1]

JWRoberts wrote:
The best views from inside an RV are almost always to the rear. I would eliminate a motor home as an option.

There have been many awesome sites we've used where we've pulled in forward with our motorhome facing a lake, river, mountain range or expansive scenery. The big picture window gave us glorious views.

[JWRoberts]

The best views from inside an RV are almost always to the rear. For that reason, my last three TT's have been 'rear living' ones. You can't get a rear living motor home of any sort so IMHO, I would eliminate a motor home as an option.

[GailS]

I have sent you 2 Private Messages. Read Value Topic first.

[Deane]

Thanks again to everyone - many things I would not have thought of.
Deane