Has anyone noticed

[D_E_Bishop]

My wife and I have been on the road for a few weeks, we went up I-5 from Los Angeles and over to the central Oregon coast and now down into California on 101. We think that we have seen a larger number of high end class A's that appear brand new than ever before. I'm talking clean, dirt free wheel wells and running gear new.

I'm thinking that the owners are new to the life style and bought way over their heads, that, or the average RVer just can't afford to travel right now. We're in an ocean/bay front park right now, nothing special, no trees or hedges dividing the spaces, no paved roads, only about a 8'X8' pad next to the parking spot, no gravel or paving to park on in the sites just dirt, no fire rings, just dead grass but it is an ocean/bay front park with great views. Normally we are among rigs similar to ours, a few years old gassers with a little wear and tear, not this trip, DP's all over very clean and stately, in what if it were not for the views is a low end park with no facilities to speak of, not what we are accustomed to seeing. The number of really big trailers is also greater than normal.

It just seems that it has been this way since we left home.

[2012Coleman]

There is a great article in The Atlantic this morning concerning working remotely/from home:

The Atlantic wrote:
Last fall, 94 percent of employees surveyed in a Mercer study reported that remote work was either business as usual or better than working in the office, likely because it lacks the distractions, annoyances, and soft abuses that come with co-workers and middle managers. Workers are happier because they don’t have to commute and can be evaluated mostly on their actual work rather than on the optics-driven albatross of “office culture,” which is largely based on either the HR handbook or the pieces of the HR handbook your boss chooses to ignore.

The reason working from home is so nightmarish for many managers and executives is that a great deal of modern business has been built on the substrate of in-person work. As a society, we tend to consider management a title rather than a skill, something to promote people to, as well as a way in which you can abstract yourself from the work product. When you remove the physical office space—the place where people are yelled at in private offices or singled out in meetings—it becomes a lot harder to spook people as a type of management. In fact, your position at a company becomes more difficult to justify if all you do is delegate and nag people.

Sure hits the nail on the head for me...

[gtnsmlr]

D.E.Bishop wrote:
My wife and I have been on the road for a few weeks, we went up I-5 from Los Angeles and over to the central Oregon coast and now down into California on 101. We think that we have seen a larger number of high end class A's that appear brand new than ever before. I'm talking clean, dirt free wheel wells and running gear new.

I'm thinking that the owners are new to the life style and bought way over their heads, that, or the average RVer just can't afford to travel right now. We're in an ocean/bay front park right now, nothing special, no trees or hedges dividing the spaces, no paved roads, only about a 8'X8' pad next to the parking spot, no gravel or paving to park on in the sites just dirt, no fire rings, just dead grass but it is an ocean/bay front park with great views. Normally we are among rigs similar to ours, a few years old gassers with a little wear and tear, not this trip, DP's all over very clean and stately, in what if it were not for the views is a low end park with no facilities to speak of, not what we are accustomed to seeing. The number of really big trailers is also greater than normal.

It just seems that it has been this way since we left home.

Ya ever wonder what they all think of you when you pull in???

[Super_Dave]

A year of Covid shutdown saw our savings account grow like no other year. Money to spend.

[way2roll]

Sounds like a lot of justification to judge what other people do with their money without knowing them or the facts.

[valhalla360]

The point is...your comment implied it was inappropriate for us to care about what others were doing because it's none of our business.

Well the "liar loans" were an example of how that can play out. On an individual level, it's not my problem if the neighbors are in over their heads but on the larger scale it can still impact me, so it is my business.

No, I don't expect the RV loan industry to blow up the economy all by itself but same thing is happening with boats and houses (again) where things are going into a bubble...so it's very legitimate to look for the canary in the coal mine.

PS: While the banks certainly played along, a large number of borrowers were plenty guilty of taking out loans they had no reasonable expectation of paying off.

[way2roll]

valhalla360 wrote:

way2roll wrote:
Why is everyone so concerned about everyone else's finances and judging people they don't even know?

If we are talking about a stray individual, you are probably correct.

If we are talking about repeating it on large scale...it impacts can have unexpected consequences that do impact others.

Example: We didn't take out one of the "liar loans" on a house we couldn't afford back in the early 2000's...our 401k still took a big hit for a few years when the market blew up.

The market blew up because Lenders were pushing no doc and sub prime loans in an effort to create defaults they insured against. It was a set up. Regulation and oversight were cut which allowed lenders to give too much money to people who didn't really qualify at all. They shopped/bought sub prime customers with a propensity to fail because they made more and faster cash by collecting the insurance when they did. it was a win win, and taxpayers picked up the check. Nothing to do with people finding themselves in a position to work remote, switch modes of travel due to Covid, free up cash by moving to cheaper areas or a dozen other reasons to buy an RV. And the RV market is such a small share of the US market share when compared to other comparable purchases, and the defaults a small share of that percentage, will have no noticeable impact on your 401. Actually they probably have a positive impact by spurring the economy with the high demand.

[dedmiston]

It feels like this convo about RV Lifestyle belongs in...wait for it... Yes, RV Lifestyle.

Moved from General RVing to RV Lifestyle.

[time2roll]

wapiticountry wrote:
Why is it assumed that everyone in a big rig is living above their means? In my personal experiences, both owning big rigs and owning an RV park I have found the opposite to be the case. Not everyone is teetering on bankruptcy.

+1 Never underestimate a person's resources at the high end.

[valhalla360]

way2roll wrote:
Why is everyone so concerned about everyone else's finances and judging people they don't even know?

If we are talking about a stray individual, you are probably correct.

If we are talking about repeating it on large scale...it impacts can have unexpected consequences that do impact others.

Example: We didn't take out one of the "liar loans" on a house we couldn't afford back in the early 2000's...our 401k still took a big hit for a few years when the market blew up.

[thomasmnile]

obiwancanoli wrote:
I wonder... if they defaulted on the RV loan, is it considered a foreclosure?

No. It's a default on a vehicle loan, secured by the RV which is not real estate. Full time residency or not is immaterial. Stop making payments, it's subject to repossession.

[way2roll]

Why is everyone so concerned about everyone else's finances and judging people they don't even know?

[obiwancanoli]

I wonder... if they defaulted on the RV loan, is it considered a foreclosure?

[ferndaleflyer]

Or like me we paid cash when we were younger with a ton of extra cash and not worried about life down the road. I am down the road now and although I am far from broke it takes a lot of my income just to pay taxes, insurance, and upkeep on things I paid cash for long ago. Sure could not afford to buy the same level of things like a home, RV, etc, on my income today. Sorry you have to park by my old DP but its mine

[winnietrey]

I wonder if they are making them to easy to finance, I know of one case where a party bought a 250K MH. I am aware of their financial situation, and it just seems crazy to me they could get a loan to buy that rig.

But what do I know?