Wrong Motorhome

rhagfo wrote:

When time came to see if we still would enjoy camping and a 5er we bought a "Disposable" 5th wheel! It was a 1986 King of the Road. Got it for $1,500 and put about $1,500 in to repairs and upgrades. We enjoyed that 5er for three years before we bought the current rig. We sold it for $3,000, about break even, if I could have only gotten $1,500 would not have mattered we got our money's worth and learned what we wanted/needed and are very happy with the new rig!

This is how I buy pretty much everything. Having a background in math, I think of it as 'shopping by successive approximation'. I get a super-cheap version of something, try it out, see if I like the idea enough to get a 'real' one, learn what features matter to me and which don't, etc.

spoon059 wrote:
The best solution is proper research ahead of time. It took me 2 years to figure out what truck I wanted... Then I spent another 18 months researching trailers before we narrowed it down to what brand and what floorplan. Spent a lot of time researching on the internet, went to about 6 RV shows and multiple trips to the dealer before we decided what camper we wanted.

Sure, it takes longer, but we got the camper we wanted the FIRST time and love it.

This is how my sister buys most things. I buy a few, select things via this method -- mostly tools, stuff I have used before and know what I will like, stuff that does not come in a cheap version.

On average, I think both methods cost about the same. The high-research person recycles less stuff, but when they do make a mistake it's expensive. The successive-approximations person has more frequent, small costs.

I have about $5500 into my van, minus the $2000 I sold my previous vehicle for. I think, all the time but idly so far, about getting a real B or a tiny C. We'll see. Meanwhile, I am learning what I like, what I need, what I don't care about, what issues folks have with their rigs that I never anticipated, and having fun!