Thinking of buying a TT

[rubsal70]

Hello
I was wondering how expensive it is to own a TT. I'm wondering how much is spent on gas and is it worth it? Do y'all use the TT because yall dont want to use a hotel. Is it more expensive than just getting a hotel. Obviously everyone is different but I'm looking for ballpark number
Thanks

[rfryer]

All the numbers being thrown around aroused my curiosity and I looked back at some of my camping trip costs. Costs are close but not precise. My costs per day averaged $53.00 unless we took the two granddaughters, then they were just shy of double that. Mostly attributable to gifts, souvenirs and such we bought them in the parks and traveling.

I didn’t include costs I’d have had anyway, i.e., if I spent $100.00 for groceries and I would have spent that at home it wasn’t charged to the trip. Add to that about $6000.00 in depreciation and $2900.00 in TT tires and repairs spread out over 25 years and you have a pretty good idea of total costs. It doesn’t include countless weekend camp trips I took when I was working. I was gone at least two weekends and sometimes three every month, at least until the boys got into school sports and that dented my camping trips some.

I also looked at two long destination drives to FL I made, one with my F150 and one with my car. The former ran $204.00/day and the latter $153.00/day including motels and restaurants. Take it FWIT worth, but no way could motels and restaurants compete with my camping costs.

[usmc616]

rubsal70 wrote:
Hello
I was wondering how expensive it is to own a TT. I'm wondering how much is spent on gas and is it worth it? Do y'all use the TT because yall dont want to use a hotel. Is it more expensive than just getting a hotel. Obviously everyone is different but I'm looking for ballpark number
Thanks

I have never added up the cost of having a TT. While my mpg's decrease when towing I still feel the added fuel cost is well worth the memories of camping as a family. It is more convient than booking a hotel room, having a kitchen to use, sleeping in your own beds and bringing the dogs along.

[Bumpyroad]

reminds me of a tv spot years back by the RVIA? or somebody, the punch line was "how many life long friends have you made in a hotel"
bumpy

[beemerphile1]

Reminds me of the bumper sticker;
"If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand!"

Seriously, RVing will cost you money, lots of money. I wouldn't live any other way and we are supporting two rigs.

I am basically a very frugal person. If I calculated the cost of RVing, it would kill me, so I don't count the cost.

[DavidP]

For my family there is no better way to travel. If we are going on vacation the trailer is too. We own our trailer and truck so for the time being it is definitely cheaper. We camp just over 40 nights a year with 2 weeks of that split between the beach and for the last 5 years Disney Fort Wilderness. Both of these places would be thousands and cost prohibitive for the amount of time we spend there. Any condo or rental right on the beach for a family of 4 would be a couple thousand at a min. We do it for 500 and IMO way more comfortable. We can walk out of our tt and be on the beach in a minute. Staying at one of the Disney resorts other than the Fort would make a 7 night trip prohibitive. We would not have gone back each year and certainly not for 7 nights. Trips to the mountains we take are less then renting a cabin but a hotel would be less on these trips. Who would want to stay in a hotel in the mountains? Like others have posted we can do all this in the comfort of our trailer with all the comforts of home. For the places we travel in this part of our lives it is certainly much cheaper. The best part for us is the family time we have and the memories this lifestyle affords us. We did not get into the lifestyle to save money and would do it even it was much much more. This is how my wife and I always traveled from tents to pop ups to a hybrid and now a tt. I’m fortunate my wife has loved it as much as I do and our kids love it too

[2012Coleman]

article from link wrote:
RV vacation costs vary from person to person but according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association of America one thing is clear; even when fuel prices go up, RVing vacations are still more affordable than any other type of getaway.

LOL! I wonder what the American Hotel & Lodging Association's position would be on this...

[wincrasher65]

If you want a good laugh, read this:

RIVA Study

[Bumpyroad]

for those with limited vacation time wanting to go to some destination, you should also figure that you can take one night or more less if you rely on motels vs. getting to a campground by 3:00 pm giving you time to set up, etc. whereas if crashing at a motel 5-6 or later is doable.

[Jayco254]

Since we got the Rain Maker we have never been back to a motel. Oh yeah my daughter says don't forget the bed bugs.

[bid_time]

Hey Go ducks. You forgot to calculate what it cost to own and operate that 2500 diesel instead of a minivan, which makes your calculations pretty skewed.

[Heavy_Metal_Doc]

rubsal70 wrote:
I guess I want to know how much more Expensive it is

I'm not sure how well that can be compared. Cheaper or more expensive is relative to what / how you do it.
Do you want to just tour and see sights? 'Casue you could use a 30MPG car and stay in hotels and do that a lot cheaper than camping.
Most RV'ers put (IMO) a big value on sleeping in you own bed each night and feeling "at home" no matter where you go. Now that we have a TT, I'll admit I like the option of quick-brewed cup of coffee and watching the local news on tv in my "living room" for few minutes before we go outside the TT in the mornings.

We had always camped for our family vacations for about 18 years. Even going cheap in a tent turned into a fair bit of a production to haul a utility trailer full of our gear for a week / family of 4 to 8 (depending on friends / extended family going along). So, it was still a good chunk of gas money to haul the whole gang out to go camping.
The site fees where less for tenting, and little more when we occasionally used a pop-up, but there was less comfort and convenience than we have with a TT / with all the amenities.

In round numbers - we could still spend 800-1000 for everything for a good week some distance out (500 miles away). Similar trips with the TT are really only costing us 30% more gas and assorted fees, but we are now bring better stuff / gear to make cooking at the site and the overall experience even better / more fun. I can now bring a good canoe along (room on the rack on the TV) so we don't spend as much on renting when we go to a lake / river.

The insurance is minimal, a little over $20 / month for a plan that includes road service.
The maintenance is not that much either - but I can do everything myself. This may be an expense to consider if you are not the handy type.
Cost of wear items like tires is also a consideration, but that depend on how much you use it.

As others said - it's a hobby of it's own. Like all hobbies, you put in as much or as little as you want. You also get out of it whatever you want --- what's it worth to you? You decide.

[GilliedogKiwi]

Speedogomer wrote:
If you're getting an RV to save money, you'll be disappointed.

No matter how you do the math, it usually does not add up.

Sure you may save some $ over a hotel compared to a campground. But that $15k you spent on the RV would sure buy a whole bunch of hotel rooms. There's the extra gas to get there, maintinence, and extra wear on the vehicle. Add in at least a few hundred $ for a hitch. Add in the cost of everything you need to stock the camper, I have thousands in just stuff for camping not including the camper.

You won't save money. Ever.

RVing however, at least for me, is more satisfying and rewarding than any hotel room. It's an experience that, while not for everybody, is absolutely fantastic.

I agree completely, camping is SO much nicer than hotels or motels. The people you meet camping are so nice and friendly and helpful and you go places where there are no hotels or motels.

Angela

[goducks10]

rubsal70 wrote:
I guess I want to know how much more Expensive it is

For us a typical weekend trip is as follows.
230 miles total.
Diesel @3.79 gal 11.3mpg $78.00
2 nights at CG $16.00x2=$32.00
5'er payment for 2 nights $278.00 divide by 30=$9.26x2=$18.53
Food is a wash.
Total $128.00

We normally go out 50+/- nights a year. On average we pay around $20.0 per night. That's $1,000.00.
We usually travel 4-5000 miles year so 4500 divide by 11.3=398x3.79=$1509.
Total $2509. And that's not including the monthly payment for the 5'er.
To do 50 nights in the average hotel would be $5000.00+/-
Fuel for 4500 miles to hotels would be $525.00
Food for 50 nights and days would hard to figure as we don't eat out everyday at home but would while hotel traveling. I figure $80 for hotel and $25.00 for home. So $55.00x50=$2750.
Total for 50 nights hotel instead of camping is $8275.00.

Hotel $8275
Camp $2509
Diff $5766

It would cost us $5766 more to hotel for 50 nights. Our 5'er payment is $278 month. $278x12=$3336.00

$5766-3336=$2430
We save $2430 a year by RV'ing compared to hotel camping on paper.

I could or someone else could spin the numbers to do whatever they want with it. For us it's cheaper to RV since we go out 50+ nights a year.
To break it down for us it's $50.00 a night for camping and $165.00 for a hotel.

There are other factors involved like replacing tires on the trailer, buying new kitchen gear for the TT, yearly maintenance, etc.
I definitely don't save $5766.00 a year buy owning an 5'er.
But for us it's seems cheaper. Plus staying in hotels is really boring. We did that for 12 years while when we rode motorcycles and traveled.

If I were just going out a few times a year then no way would I buy a trailer. I'd rent a Yurt or cabin.

[wincrasher65]

Any accountant will tell you it's an easy answer - staying in hotels is cheaper.

However, there are variables you would have a hard time putting a value on:

Flexibility in your plans - Many times I can't get a hotel reservation, so I either have to cancel or stay in some dump I didn't plan on. I've rarely been turned away from an RV or state park. Some places need reservations, many hold spaces open for drive-ins.

Knowing your bed and bathroom are clean.

Preparing you own food. Controlling what you eat, what is in it, and when you want to eat.

Carrying more than you probably would - having clothes for variations in weather. Bringing a bicyle or fishing gear to use if the opportunity presents itself.

Making unscheduled changes in your itenerary. Deciding to make an extra stop along the way, or staying a few days longer.

It can be less work! Keep your RV stocked, you can go at a moment's notice without all that packing, unpacking and luggging suitcases up 3 flights of stairs.

All these options are hard to put a price on. I have a high value of my time, so being in control of it is very important to me. I rarely fly these days because of that.

Now there are plenty of ways to save money though. Smaller is definitely better - don't buy more RV than you need. Most of the monster RV's sit in storage because of the cost to operate and the hassle/work of traveling with them. You can save money slowing down - the faster you drive, the more you spend. If you are out west, boondocking on federal land is nearly free.

I'd suggest that if you are just getting your feet wet RV'ing, to buy a very small RV - like a Casita, or a T@B, or a teardrop of some sort. You can minimize your costs, most likely keep it at home, and see if you will use it frequently. If it works out, you can always upgrade accordingly. If it doesn't, you can get out and cut your losses.