Information overload

[Wolfeman70]

Alright. I have information overload and I need help.

Background Information:
June of this year we (wife, daughter 11 years old and I) will be selling our house and traveling around the US for 1 or 2 years. We will then move to Europe. Most of the places we will be going to will be short stays, 1 to 7 days.

My desire:
I'd like to buy a smaller RV that would be easier to maneuver in parking lots residential neighborhoods (class B/C). We would be selling/giving away the RV at the end of the 1/2 year period so I'd like to buy used and keep my investment under $30k (proceeds from house sale).

So far:
Looking at buying a used rental from Cruise America or El Monte (probably El because of service records and a few bad CA posts here).

The problems:
1. I live near Memphis and the secondary RV market is very limited. Work and other requirements limit travel opportunities and time to go check out potentials. A trip to BUY would be possible but trips to just checking out RV's is going to be very difficult.
2. Storage space. We will be living out of the RV for 1 to 2 years. Obviously we won't have everything we own but how much space will we really have. Would a small trailer pulled behind be at all useful.
3. Trailering a car. I'm looking at a smaller RV so needing a car to get around won't be an issue and I might be able to expand my storage space with a small trailer but would trailering a car with us be at all advantageous?
4. I don't know what else.

This situation has come upons us rather quickly and living where we live makes things even more difficult. I know I should inspect the roof of any RV I'm going to buy but I've never even seen an RV roof much less inspected one. I'm sure there are a thousand other things i need to think about but I've spent 4 hours already looking thru these forums and I'm starting to get dizzy.

Any help or advice would greatly be appreciated. I'm sure everything I need to know is already covered somewhere in a faq or forum post but I'm overwhelmed right now.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I suggest you rent an RV for a week. Drive it to a local campground to keep the costs down.

Since you plan to go from Church to Church shore power should not be an issue, nor parking fees either. Dumping might be possible using a "sewer solution" system. I would add a largish inverter so that "double conversion" could be done to get around the 15 amp limitation you may find in Church parking lots.

Laundromats are....not always very nice.

[tonyandkaren]

While I agree with most of the other replies that it's going to be a little crowded in a class C it still looks like a good fit to me. As you noticed rental units have a good reputation. A small class will take you almost everywhere. It's better than a trailer for quick stops along the road and easy ins and outs at fuel stops. It will fit into the smallest campground and will be good for overnight stops at big box stores, truck stops and rest areas with sightseeing during the day. It's not a good idea to leave a unhooked trailer parked on one of these overnighting stops while you're sightseeing but dragging a trailer around all day will not be fun.

I'm looking at this from the view point of living full time in a small C but we've never had a trailer so my assumptions could be wrong. However we did fulltime for a year in a VW vanagon with a four year old. A four year old is a lot smaller than an eleven year old but a van is also a lot smaller than a motorhome!

Go to a dealer with your wife and daughter and pretend to live the different types of RVs. You'll get an idea of what will and will not work for you. Good luck with your choice!

[Wolfeman70]

See. More questions. Now I have to do some travel trailer research. Really tho, thank you for all the help.

I was really looking at the small rv because I thought it would allow school work and some other actions while on the road. Vibrations and noise seem to indicate that's not gonna happen. Anyone else have input on that?

The CA and El Monte used RV's all come with a 12 month warrenty and I could step up to an extended one as well so I wasn't to worried about reliabity issues especially for 1 or 2 years I would have it. However, I am fairly handy with home and other issues. A bit weak on vehicle issues but I'm a fast learner. I do know that it's going to be an issue tho. But again, the used rental units are pretty well gone over before resale and after a few issues (like 100k miles maintenance) they seem to hold up really well. Maybe I'm just being overly optimistic tho.

ddndoug wrote:
Based on you wanting to spend 1 to 2 years in this RV, you don't want to get on each others nerves the first month and have the rest of the time be miserable.

I think that's going to be an issue no matter what size vehicle we end up with. The bed over cab design on the CA and El Monte was part of what I was hoping would allow my daughter to "go to her room" when needed tho.

ddndoug wrote:
How far apart are your stops that you plan on making? If it's no more than 200 miles, that's only 4 hours in a vehicle. Can your daughter get away with not doing school work for those four hours? Even if you stay 5 days at a location and travel 200 miles to your next location, in one year you will have traveled over 14,500 miles. You can see a lot of our beautiful country in 14,000 miles a year.

westend wrote:
Since you're going to be interfacing with church folks, I'd assume that when you arrive there will be some of your needs met (food, socializing, etc) so the RV is mainly for sleeping, an occasional meal, and your daily constitution. If you plan to visit some attractions along the way, the truck can be used to easily access them.

These two things. Basically we will be driving between churches each week. Some weeks we may not be at a church at all. Maybe short distances maybe 2000 miles. It just depends on how I schedule the meetings. Obviously I"m going to try and schedule them close but there will be times we have to travel a distance. I really hoped to be able to get stuff done on the road. However, we don't want this to be all meetings and church time. If God is going to allow us to travel all around this great nation for a year or two we really want to take advantage of that and do some sight seeing. That's the other part of the maneuverability desire. The room of a class A would be great but it's just not practical where we would be most of the time.

ddndoug wrote:
What will you do in that year or two for income? What type of work do you do now?

Doug

For the past 11 years I've done industrial maintenance. I work on the machines that make our food in an industrial setting (WonderBread). I have a bit of money saved up but we will be depending on the generosity of the churches we visit for income. The end goal is to be Christian missionaries to the US Military in Germany (or Europe). That's why I won't need the RV after 1 or 2 years.

[westend]

OK, now I see the use more clearly defined (the church thing). I really think, like ddndoug, you're going to be better served and have a more efficient experience with a truck and separate trailer. The riders will work out their rest stops as needed.

The cost of running and maintaining a Class C or Class A, your other options, are going to be greater than a truck and trailer. The cost of a full tire replacement on a Class A could be your entry price for a whole travel trailer, for example.

Since you're going to be interfacing with church folks, I'd assume that when you arrive there will be some of your needs met (food, socializing, etc) so the RV is mainly for sleeping, an occasional meal, and your daily constitution. If you plan to visit some attractions along the way, the truck can be used to easily access them.

[ddndoug]

Some things to think about....

Based on you wanting to spend 1 to 2 years in this RV, you don't want to get on each others nerves the first month and have the rest of the time be miserable. I would really consider buying a truck (if you don't already have one) and a travel trailer. You'll certainly get more bang for your buck with a 25-35' towable, and when you get to your destination you will have the truck/SUV to use a grocery getter and sight seeing vehicle.

How far apart are your stops that you plan on making? If it's no more than 200 miles, that's only 4 hours in a vehicle. Can your daughter get away with not doing school work for those four hours? Even if you stay 5 days at a location and travel 200 miles to your next location, in one year you will have traveled over 14,500 miles. You can see a lot of our beautiful country in 14,000 miles a year.

How handy are you with minor/major vehicle and home repairs? If dependability is an issue for you, you will be able to buy a much newer unit if you go with a travel trailer than you will with either a Class A or C. Hopefully with newer units you will have less repairs.

What will you do in that year or two for income? What type of work do you do now?

Doug

[Wolfeman70]

pianotuna wrote:
It may be almost impossible to use a computer sitting at a dinette while a class C RV is trundling down the road. It can be done sitting in the passenger's seat, but a good lap desk is going to be needed.

Noise levels are not low, so folks need to take frequent breaks from driving. I added air tabs to the rv and that helped a great deal with noise.

Didn't know that. I was assuming my daughter could sit at the dinette and do school work while traveling. The bathroom on board was also a great benefit when traveling with two women that loses a lot if we have to keep stopping to take breaks because of the noise.

westend wrote:

I'd like to buy a smaller RV that would be easier to maneuver in parking lots residential neighborhoods (class B/C). We would be selling/giving away the RV at the end of the 1/2 year period so I'd like to buy used and keep my investment under $30k (proceeds from house sale).

Is this maneuverability thing to define your assumptions that a Class A is too big or does it have some other meaning?

If you plan to camp on residential streets and public parking lots, you're already at a disadvantage before the first tank of gas.

We will be traveling from church to church. Some are located in residential areas and we'd really like to keep our vehicle profile smaller to make it easier to maneuver in the parking lot as well as places like Burger King. The RV is to avoid motel bills.

westend wrote:
It depends on how one is willing to live and the sacrifices willing to be made to pull this off. If you're handy with tools and have some vehicle repair knowledge, it makes things a lot more affordable. If you're willing to repair minor breakdown events, you can buy a substantially used truck and trailer and hit the road. If you can't/don't know how to get up on an RV roof to inspect and maintain, your budget for 6 mos. is too low.

I haven't even touched on a budget yet. Cruise America sells used rental units for $17k to $24k and El Monte sells used rental units for $22k to $34k. I figure proceeds from selling my house will be around $30k so that's driving my price range for purchase.

I know living in a 23-25 foot RV is going to be a challenge but it's one we feel up to as a family. Especially since it will only be 1 or 2 years. The only other option at this point is a larger van and motels and I really thought the RV would be a more cost effective route.

[westend]

I'd like to buy a smaller RV that would be easier to maneuver in parking lots residential neighborhoods (class B/C). We would be selling/giving away the RV at the end of the 1/2 year period so I'd like to buy used and keep my investment under $30k (proceeds from house sale).

Is this maneuverability thing to define your assumptions that a Class A is too big or does it have some other meaning?

If you plan to camp on residential streets and public parking lots, you're already at a disadvantage before the first tank of gas.

It depends on how one is willing to live and the sacrifices willing to be made to pull this off. If you're handy with tools and have some vehicle repair knowledge, it makes things a lot more affordable. If you're willing to repair minor breakdown events, you can buy a substantially used truck and trailer and hit the road. If you can't/don't know how to get up on an RV roof to inspect and maintain, your budget for 6 mos. is too low.

Your learning curve for owning and maintaining an RV, how they're used, and the intricacies of full-time camping won't be done in an afternoon. More like 180 afternoons. If you can actually go camping with a friend and share the experience, it will be time well spent. A weekend camping will eliminate 60 of those afternoon education sessions.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

It may be almost impossible to use a computer sitting at a dinette while a class C RV is trundling down the road. It can be done sitting in the passenger's seat, but a good lap desk is going to be needed.

Noise levels are not low, so folks need to take frequent breaks from driving. I added air tabs to the rv and that helped a great deal with noise.

You may do better to consider a small class A. Ride will be improved.

[bukhrn]

Sorry, that I can't be of help to you, but I have to be honest and say that you haven't even scratched the surface yet, I sent 2 years looking at a variety of RV types and models before I settled on one, & it was more than twice the price your talking about.
I have to agree with some of the others & say that you need to give up on a class B or a small C right now, with 3 of you I wouldn't go with less than a 29-30 ft.
With a class c, you will need a toad, either on a dolly or flat towed, the higher the mpg the better, you can get a TT far cheaper, but then you need a pickup, with either a club cab or crew cab, and with a weight distributing hitch & all the other little goodies you will need, you be back to looking at some real money.
I'm not trying to discourage you, but you'll be ripping out a lot more of your hair. You sir are far more daring & courageous than I.
GOOD LUCK

[Francesca_Knowl]

Led 67 wrote:
Ok first stop, take a step back and take a deep breath.

Times 10!

The tone of your opening post is really desperate, O.P.- hope that's just excitement and not a fact of existence. If you're in the middle of a crisis, buying a used RV that's got to double as both home and urban transportation on a budget of $30,000.00 is probably only going to make things worse.

If you're thinking that y'all can live "cheaply" this way, think again. Especially with a school age child and in the kind of urban area you're talking about, living decently in an RV is NOT cheap.

[wa8yxm]

You can pull a trailer for added storage or a light weight van might work, you can use a van (I am thinking of the classic "Chevy Van" type van though it need not be a chevy) in teh 2500 pound range with many C's. (Make sure you can do it first) and you can outfit it with storage or even an extra bed if needed.

NOTE: some of these vans can get downright heavy when fully loaded.

A van with a MANUAL transmission (or a mod from Remco Towin) can be towed 4 down.

[Wolfeman70]

Thank you everyone for the replies so far. It seems every time I figure out something it leads to 3 or 30 more questions.

We are looking at an RV instead of a tow behind because it would allow my daughter to school while driving as well as allow other things to go on while we are traveling (TV watching, book reading, computer games, sleeping, and so on). It would also allow me to interact with them while we are driving. Schooling is probably one of the biggest drivers on this decision.

The length of the RV is to make it more maneuverable in tighter spaces. We understand we will be crowded but since it's only for 1 to 2 years we think it will be ok. (But I'm a guy so what do I really know about how much space a woman needs). However, I am leaning towards towing a car behind which give me more storage space but pretty much kills the easy of maneuvering plan.

We went to an RV dealership by the house and tried to look at what they had on the lot. However, when I explained that I wouldnt' be looking to buy until around June, the sales lady basically told me "That's nice" and then made it very clear (non verbally) that it was time for me to leave. Work and other requirements make it very difficult to get to other dealerships to look at vehicles.

Again, thanks for the advice, comments, ideas and help.

[bsinmich]

Four hours is not even a beginning to learn about RVs. You will be very crowded in a class B. There is not much storage space there. RVs in mist cases do not do good in cold weather so you would have to plan to be some place a little warmer in cold weather. Not all RVs are created equal. Some have insulated walls and some don't. The larger ones have more storage but I remember one review I read on a MH with great storage and low carrying capacity. The magazine said it would be great if you wanted to carry ping pong balls. I suggest you hit some dealers and look at various floor plans and other features to learn what you like and don't like. Is the bathroom usable for everyone? Is there adequate kitchen space to prepare food? Is there room to hang clothes for the 3 of you? If this is your home for 1-2 years it has to be livable for that long. I would suggest towing a car for the economy. You plan to spend a week in various locations. Driving a car around that gets 20 mpg is a lot better than driving a MH around getting 6-8 mpg in town. It also gets old to have to pack up everything to go someplace with the MH rather than hop in a car and leave the camper set up.

[wildtoad]

A small RV is just that, small so as Led67 suggested take stock in what you think you will need. A class C with a bed for you and bunk over cab layout should be fine as your daughter will want a bed of her own. If it were me, I'd get a pickup truck that can be towed 4 down, and use the bed (with a cap)of the truck for additional storage making sure not to overload it. Sounds like fun.

[donn0128]

Forget it. Start considering much larger. A family of three is going to require a lot of room especially a girl of 11. Have you considered how/where she will sleep? How about school work? Everybody needs a bit of privacy and a small MH is simply not going to allow that to happen. As a test, wall off everything in your home now except for 300 SQ FT and try living in it for a week or so. Consider either a large MH at least 30 feet or a TT or fifth wheel trailer.