Going to my first ever RV show -- what should I look for?

Go to several shows without your wallet, but with your S.O. Take note pads instead. Each if you take notes on must haves, nice to haves, don't needs and don't wants. Then discuss when the two of you get home. Better to buy what you both want the first time.

I've crawled under, opened utility access (a good place to see construction methods), used measuring tapes. I made notes of what I was finding.

It took us about eighteen months of looking, three major RV shows (starting with Florida Supershow) and at least a half dozen others, and four RV factory visits before we settled on the RV that met my wife's needs and satisfied me with its construction. That one worked for us for ten years, and it is only now that she is gone that I am thinking about what might better meet my needs, alone and doing something different with it.

RV shows are great for looking, tricky for shopping. It is too easy to find the "I gotta have this today" RV that turns out later not to work for you at all. Sales pressure is high with "show specials" that might actually be priced higher than what you might negotiate at another dealership, or even the same one.

At least two other couples in our RV club shopped more impulsively, each went through three RVs in that same ten years, trying to find the one that worked for them. Three more couples figured out within their first two RVs that this was something they didn't really want to do. Others, however, in the club are still using the RV they bought carefully 10, 15 or 20 years ago. One is just now selling the Class A she and her husband used for 25 years, he is gone and she can no longer drive.

i was surprised at the range of prices. One of the better layouts was also one of the least expensive. We did take flyer on our fav units, and 3 received a star or two on the paper.

We shot a ton of photos too. One trick to use is to shoot a photo of the plaque or sheet showing the model number and show price first (often by the front door or on the kitchen counter), then you know what the subsequent photos are, and you have the pricing for reference. Do that for each unit you are interested in.

RV shows are a great place to find new ideas. Bring a camera and notebook...there's just too much to see and remember later. When we went to the Hershey RV show this year I attached the Go Pro to my backpack strap and let it run the while time (filled up 2 32GB SD cards).

philh wrote:
My trip was a bit more successful. Learned what we don't like and also learned we're boderline 1/2 v 3/4 ton on almost every thing we liked.

Yep. I don't want a huge rig but want I want either leaves no margin on a 1/2 ton or is just over. Still loved going to a show last year. Wish I could have went to Hershey but bad weekend for work (and college football :B)

My trip was a bit more successful. Learned what we don't like and also learned we're boderline 1/2 v 3/4 ton on almost every thing we liked.

Welllllll.... I went, but the report is not very exciting.

It turned out to be a SMALL show. Like, maybe a hundred rigs. And I was having a tendonitis flareup and couldn't get around hardly at all. I stuck my head in about 10 of them, didn't climb the stairs on any.

There wasn't a single class B, nor any small toyhauler, the two things I'd be most interested in.

I did see a few layouts, and get a sense of how surprisingly wide the range is, of what different interiors FEEL like. Now I see why people here talk so much about floorplans :).

Perfect timing... our first show is coming up in a couple of weeks ;)

Not buying anything. At least one more year with what we have.

Quid pro quo: Gonna tell us all the cool stuff you saw after you've gone to your first show?