Annual Maintenance & Repair Budget

[Abbadox]

What is a realistic budget to set aside each year for maintenance and repairs for a travel trailer. I plan to buy a new Della Terra 25KRB.

[dodge_guy]

BarabooBob wrote:
Owning an RV is the same as owning a boat. People say that the 2 happiest days of boat ownership are the day you bought it and the day you sell it. Boats and RV's are both for people that can either do their own maintenance or can afford to pay others to do the work. If you are on a tight budget, learn to do the work yourself.
I have had popups, MH, and TT's. they all require constant maintenance. Unless I could do the maintenance myself, I could not afford the hobby/way of life.

Very true for the boat portion of that statement. But I have yet to want to sell the RV!

[BarabooBob]

Owning an RV is the same as owning a boat. People say that the 2 happiest days of boat ownership are the day you bought it and the day you sell it. Boats and RV's are both for people that can either do their own maintenance or can afford to pay others to do the work. If you are on a tight budget, learn to do the work yourself.
I have had popups, MH, and TT's. they all require constant maintenance. Unless I could do the maintenance myself, I could not afford the hobby/way of life.

[GrandpaKip]

I would guess that in the 4 years with our present camper, we have spent less than $1000 in maintenance. That would include tires, caulk, grease, wax and cleaners, plumbing parts, electrical repairs, gas line repair, Eternabond, and miscellaneous small stuff. A lot of that I already had.
If nothing big (AC, reefer) breaks, really not a whole lot to spend money on. For me, it’s more time consuming than money. Plus, I enjoy most of the stuff to be done. Packing bearings, not so much.
Upgrades and modifications can be costly. We’ve probably spent $2-3000 on improving or adding stuff.

[dodge_guy]

Hate to say it, but if you need to budget then you should not own an RV! There really is no set amount. You just do what you can. If you can’t do it, it will cost you a lot!

[profdant139]

Also, if you are rough on your trailer, it'll cost more. I bounce my trailer (slowly) on rough forest roads and so I often have to fix minor damage. And I get the bearings repacked every year, along with brake maintenance.

[rbpru]

Yep, annual cost is difficult to say because you never know what is going to break next.

I do most of my own clean-up, fix-up but some jobs I leave to the pros. As mentioned $100.00 + an hour is not unusual.

A lot also depends on how fussy you are.

[Gulfcoast]

What a tough question... no one knows what will need to be repaired next.

It is not a cheap hobby...

[BarabooBob]

I do all of my own maintenance and keep some basic supplies available at all times, in the trailer. I carry a multimeter and some long jumper wires to troubleshoot electrical problems. Taking care of the problems right away keeps things from getting worse. It is all about learning about your TT.

[pianotuna]

I can't answer for a trailer, but for my Class C I budgeted $0.15 cents per mile.

[Gdetrailer]

Abbadox wrote:

MFL wrote:
Depends, do you plan to do any maintenance, such as washing/waxing, caulking, greasing bearings, or just fixing the little things. Detailing, and simple service can add up fast, most do this themselves. It could cost 3 to 4 hundred for a mid sized trailer wash/wax.

Jerry

hmm, honestly washing/waxing not something I had considered at all. The caulking, greasing, etc I expected and planned to do myself. I was more or less asking about the reapairs and mainteance that would require someone highly experienced with the work, I am fairly handy but I do not want nor plan to do anything that involves allot of time so I would just pay to have those sorts of things done for me.

Because you would rather pay someone to do a lot of the work you will need to figure twice as much money more than you think then double that and you might still need to add some on top.

Paying folks to fix or maintain RVs does not come cheap, I suspect the going rate per hr at a dealer will be running $100-$150 PER HR on average.

Then there is the risk of the below average "RV mechanic" taking shortcuts or not caring about getting it fixed the first time causing multiple repeat trips to the dealer :S

Not to mention losing the use of said RV for MONTHS at time due to dealer repair backlogs.

Your choice, my choice is to do what I can do first, my labor "cost" is far lower than paying someone else..

[wildtoad]

The cost is better calculated in terms of time. Time to clean the water heater controls ( mainly blow air at them) , drain and flush any junk. Same for most appliances such as gas furnace, gas refrigerator, check all water connections. They will come loose. Just a bunch of simple stuff but needs doing annually, semiannual even better. You should have a manual for each appliance which will have the list of the things to do. Get on roof and check caulking for cracks and deterioration. If it needs redoing it can take a lot of time and effort.

[Abbadox]

MFL wrote:
Depends, do you plan to do any maintenance, such as washing/waxing, caulking, greasing bearings, or just fixing the little things. Detailing, and simple service can add up fast, most do this themselves. It could cost 3 to 4 hundred for a mid sized trailer wash/wax.

Jerry

hmm, honestly washing/waxing not something I had considered at all. The caulking, greasing, etc I expected and planned to do myself. I was more or less asking about the reapairs and mainteance that would require someone highly experienced with the work, I am fairly handy but I do not want nor plan to do anything that involves allot of time so I would just pay to have those sorts of things done for me.

[MFL]

Depends, do you plan to do any maintenance, such as washing/waxing, caulking, greasing bearings, or just fixing the little things. Detailing, and simple service can add up fast, most do this themselves. It could cost 3 to 4 hundred for a mid sized trailer wash/wax.

Jerry