Young Newbie

Hello,

My name is Caleb and I'm 18 years old. I'm 100% new to the whole "living in an RV" thing and I have no clue where to start. After I graduate high school in June I plan on buying my first Class C RV so I can start my life out on the road. The problem is, I don't know what to look for and which Class C RVs are considered good. I currently live in Pennsylvania but once I get an RV I will hopefully travel down to Florida. So if anyone has some tips or tricks for buying a first RV let me know!

Thanks a whole lot and have a great day!

Number one on your list needs to be money.
Number two needs to be insurance.  Namely health insurance, but age is also going to be a hurdle for RV insurance.
Number three is going to be how are you going to get around when parked?
After you answer those things out, welcome to the forum.

Hi Caleb, and welcome to the RVForum. It sounds like you've got quite an adventure planned. I'll assume you're looking at used Class Cs vs. new ones. As to which ones are best, that really depends on how well they were maintained. An older RV that was used regularly and was well maintained (inside and out) could be a better buy than a newer one that was neglected. Leaks are a concern in any RV, but Class Cs seem to be especially prone to leaks in the forward bunk area. Keep in mind that once an RV is about 6 to 8 years old (no hard and fast number) the tires are going to have to be replaced - despite the fact that they may have low miles, and look like they're in good shape. That can easily run about $2K.

Full-time RV living isn't necessarily "cheap." Depending on where you are, it can actually get kind of pricey, and many local ordinances prohibit camping on streets. I don't know if that was in your plans, but if it was, you might want to look into that for wherever you plan to stay. Good luck with your plans. Let us know if you have any questions.

Kev

Thanks Dickie125 for sharing some tips. Numbers one and two are pretty much settled down. Number three is a good one to think about though.

Also, thanks Kevin for sharing some ideas as well. I am looking at used Class Cs instead of new. But I forgot to mention that I am not going full time right away. I will stay home in PA during the summer/spring and go down to FL during the fall/winter. Going 100% full time right away seems like a big risk to take. I want to sort of test the waters first. While in FL though, I will stay at RV campsites.

Just curious, how do you plan to earn a living, or are you independently wealthy?
For things to do, you might think about work camping or volunteer camp hosting.

I plan on working part or full time at a retail store, restaurant, or something like that. I know that working at a campsite can have some benefits like discounts, free parking spot, and what not. So I will also take that into consideration. 

Buying your first RV is the same as buying your first car. You need to get somebody to loan you the money.

So you have to decide how much money you think you will spend on an RV, then arrange financing for 10% over that amount.

RV parks in Florida during the winter book up very fast I found out the first time I went there without reservations. So you need to pick out an area where you think you may want to stay and check on RV parks in that area.

Go to Google maps, pick a city and do a search on "RV Park". It will show you all the parks in that area. Call the ones you like and discuss your plans with them. They may have work available for you.

Good luck in your adventure...I started out at 18 from Pennsylvania too.  Did it the easy way, I joined the Navy. 

Another good resource to find campgrounds is rvparkreviews.com

Same principle as Google maps - use the state map or city listings to zero in the area you want, then click on the points of interest to go to the review page.

From there you can read what other users think about the park, get an idea of their daily rates, visit the park's website and use Google maps satellite view to check out the park and the surrounding area.

Here are a few realities for you to consider, a roadworthy small class C motorhome is going to cost you $10-12,000 minimum and be 15-20 years old, chances are you will have to spend another $1,500 - $2,500 on it for maintenance per year, likely more in the first year as you find neglected items even in what otherwise appears to be a gem.  Typical short term stay RV parks with full hookups will cost you about $30-$60 per night in Fl, you can save about 20% at the weekly rate.  Monthly RV park rates typically bill out utilities separately, Insurance is going to run another $750 or so per year, perhaps more given your age.  This sort of motorhome will typically get about 10-12 mpg fuel economy so if you are planning to see America even at our currently low gasoline prices you can easily spend $150 or more per day on fuel.  There are ways to cut down on some of these expenses, boondocking overnight in Wal-Mart or Truck stop parking lots for free, or staying at State or county parks or national forest camp grounds that typically charge less than commercial camp grounds ($10-$20 per night), but often lack amenities like, some with just dry camping spaces or with only running water to the camp site.  Many of these public camp grounds also have restrictions on how long you can stay, typically 7-14 days, also I know some require you to be over 21.  One down side to such lower cost sites in a smaller class C is that class C motorhomes  typically have less cargo capacity which also means smaller fuel, water, propane and holding tanks.  All things considered though, expect a cost of living while traveling to be in the $100 per day ballpark even living frugally .

CalD said:

I plan on working part or full time at a retail store, restaurant, or something like that. I know that working at a campsite can have some benefits like discounts, free parking spot, and what not. So I will also take that into consideration. 

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If you look at camphosting for a site, that's not really your best deal. Unless the monthly rent on a site is something astronomical, you are better off working part time and renting a site. Camphost positions generally want at least 24 hours a week from you, and being you're single, a lot will require 32 hours. If you multiply the required hours by the minimum wage, and compare that to what a month's rent would be, you can see what I mean.

  First of all I thing brand and model issues are all a matter of preference as i havent seen or heard of any that are absolute POS units.
Keeping in mind anything you can pull down the road at 70 mph and it still be intact and fully functional upon arrival is well built ?.
However they are laid out and set up with wiring  lights etc different and vary by maker...
  My advise would be to buy used/inexpensive  live it awhile and discover your preferences and what you would like  different then look for an upgrade or something more permanent. You dont really know what you want until you live in one for awhile.

One other thing to consider, if you buy a Class C motor home, how will you get back and forth to work?  Breaking camp every day to drive to work will get old really fast.  Finding a decent job within walking distance of an RV park might be quite a challenge.  Perhaps a 1/2 ton pickup truck and a smaller trailer might be a better option.  You could also upgrade one or the other as your finances improve.