Person New to RVing Requests Your Insights

[GMandJM]

Hi, all-

This is a post that a new user "RicJoyner" made in a very long, older thread. I hope it's okay to re-post it as a new, stand-alone topic. Hopefully it will get more exposure this way and the OP will get best benefit of different opinions and insights.

The poster seems very sincere, so please be kind, polite and thoughtful in your replies. 🙂

---start of Ricjoyner's post---

Posted: 09/12/15 01:26am Link | Quote | Print | Notify Moderator
Gene and everyone i am very grateful for your posts. Several questions for you guys.
I am not handy and if something broke down i would not know how to fix it like you did, gene. I do not own an rv. Shopping. I did not have a good experience in years past with popup campers in campgrounds. Loud drunk people and noises i dont want to mention.

Gene we are in the same spot you are. Small or large? Newer or older? Do this or dont? Car toad or not? Diesel or not? Small class a or small b/c?

We plan to travel for the heat of florida for 3 months but worry about the cost of fuel, staying in tacky campgrounds, loud drunk people with unmentionable sounds, costs that eat into retirement, fixing stuff i am not sure how to fix or want to.

So we found a class a discovery 2005 38u we saw and loved. But i was queasy walking around it as it moved and it was enormous. Price was exceptionally good at 62k with everything i could see was perfect with the exception of being tough to cool in 92 degree heat and high humidity. I even drove this beast.

But i cant see where rving saves money over a car and hotel or with renting a cabin or house for a few weeks and moving on?
But as a former ceo this industry is intriguing to me because of the amount of cost there is in buying coaches and the cost people put into it (mods, expense of storage etc) and what i rarely see is people who decided to quit and it wasnt for them which makes me skeptical or should i not be? When i walked up to the rig today the owner was telling all the money he put into it! Great, i thought, a money pit on wheels? And your post confirmed it with what you found and all the little stuff you did on the maiden voyage. I dont even like changing lightbulbs. Nor do i want to take the time. The owner put in new batteries but i noticed the wires were already coroded at the terminal! You know the kind that needs baking soda and cleaned? And i saw blisters under the paint on some of the doors so can i assume rust?
This guy said you need to get to your camp site early or you may be sleeping on the road and that rest areas are sketchy and you need to be there early as well. He said it wasnt for him and his "15 year old meanager". He said he wasnt a sitter and had to be moving all the time thus going to a campground was boring for them. This would be the same for me. I dont drink but thinking about a project like yours may open a door to drinking or should i say a road i dont want to go down? In my case drinking does cause the road to rise to meet me! (Sorry for the rv motiff) So pulling into a place to stay is not for us to stay in one spot and thus towing a car is a must to explore. But how much work and added expense is there in towing? Is diesel better than gas and how much horsepower is there in each and what do you need for hp? What scares me is that people buy these class a and take off with no training? How is that legal?

Any thoughts? But pls avoid comments like this; "hey ric stick to a car and hotel, start drinking and leaves us rv geeks alone". But honestly if it didnt sound so complicated i may love it. All the systems on board scared the snot out of me and the generator kept cutting out even with over 25% fuel. Said he would have it fixed. Besides the bigger the better crowd makes sense to me since constantly filling water or tanks or dumping poop (pc rv word for blackwater) is a pain. This "ship" had more guages than my four screen computer. Pls help me make sense of this new "community" and experience. Blessings!

* This post was edited 09/12/15 01:35am by Ricjoyner *

---end of Ricjoyner's post---

Link to RicJoyner's originally-placed post and a few replies

[PastorCharlie]

I highly suspect the RV life is no in his future.

[cheteckie]

Our motorhome gives us the freedom to escape the brutal Wisconsin winters. It allows us to visit our adult children for extended periods of time without tying up the spare bedroom for a couple of weeks at a time. It allows us to leisurely explore our beautiful country. And we can do all of that at the same time.

Staying in hotels gets old. The layouts are always a little different, so finding the bathroom in the middle of the night becomes an adventure. Then there.s the bad morning coffee and sketchy complimentary breakfasts. We travel with our dogs, so dinner is usually carry out or delivery eaten in the hotel room.

We just got back from a 3-week trip, and enjoyed all the campgrounds we stayed at. Obnoxious drunks and noisy guests are just as likely to be in a hotel as a campground. We did not encounter any on our trip. We stayed at KOAs in West Glacier and West Yellowstone, Montana,. At both places, they had a small ice cream shop, so every evening after walking the dogs, we had to stop for huckleberry ice cream cones. There were lots of people enjoying the pool, hot tub, and other recreational activities they offered.

We parked overnight in parking lots,cand did not have any problems with noise or people bothering us. At rest stops, we parked in the truck section, and again we did not encounter any problems.

Yes, the rv will need repairs at some point, but things break in the house and car, too.

. The RV offers adventure with all the comforts of home!

[wildtoad]

I'm not sure what to say! Is he wanting someone to convince him he is wrong about the costs of owning operating an RV? Does not sound like he is handy with tools or has no interest in doing the routine maintenance himself? Doesn't even sound like he likes campgrounds with the noise and variety of people and sounds he may encounter.

Everyone one of the used MH's I've owned needed some fixing up, routine maintenance performed, and every month or so something needs adjusting, cleaning, replacIng, just as much as my house, yard, cars. I have long contended that travel by car and family motel is less expensive than the "all in" costs of RV'ing but the benefits outweigh the cost differential.