Would've, Could've, Should've Comments

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solarrv

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I put a longer post out there, to give background on what we are thinking.  Long, but it gets the poitn across.  But this post will hopefully narrow it down.  As experienced owners now, what are your "would've, could've, should've" comments?  One of them I bet is "buy the trailer 1st and then the tow vehicle" and another is "1st decide what use the trailer will fit"  But, are there others? length? floor plans? hybrid's? $'s?  etc.

Thanks.
 
We bought a single living room slide.  I WISH we had bought one with a bedroom slide as well.  Other than that I don't regret any part of our purchase.

Marsha~
 
Probably mine would be to not buy new.  We love our coach but probably came into the lifestyle at a very bad time.  I'm quite tall and needed the 7' ceilings which weren't common on a lot of coaches older than 06/07.  Also 07 was kind of an in between year for technology and Winnie used up a lot of old inventory (or contract obligations) by installing (3) CRT televisions in our coach.  Finally, in early 2007 the economy was still humming along and it may have been the purchase of our new coach that somehow forced it into a downward spiral.  :eek:  Turned out to be a bad time to make such a major purchase.

But.... we're happy and now full timing.  Probably could have saved some money if we had waited longer and bought used but then we would have missed out on the fun we had those first two years.


 
 
I wish I had gone with the larger pickup.  We stayed with a 1/2 T pickup because we found a 5er that is classed as a Ultralight.  So it matches nicely, but I pay for it when towing.  Love the truck and the camper.  Good decision to go the way we did - financially; but when traveling, then I wonder "Should've/Could've/Might've"
 
Be patient while shopping for an RV, buy used, get slide-outs, you won't regret it, and never trust a salesman who says you can pull the trailer you're looking at with the current tow vehicle you own..... :)
 
my advice is this figure out what your plan is for say 10 to 15 years as it relates to rv needs then buy that trailer that you see at the end......so buy your last rv the first time i have bought and traded in 4 trailers in 6 years to finally get the rv i looked at in the beginning but thought to expencive and too big.... after 3 monthes 6000 miles of traveling we have made the right choise this time so happy and backs right in next to house on small street real easy. I am shocked how easy the 5th wheel pulls corners and backs up....and with three slides and king bed very comfortable...... for up th 7 people i dont thing i would buy another rv with out the two bathrooms...... just love this option. i will be buying a bigger truck going to 3500 the 2500 pulls it as the dealer said just not as safe as i wish so go bigger then you need on tv. I tow my 5th wheel with a gooseneck setup and love love love this setup...

I hope this helps



 
Great responses...maybe we can make this a sticky....
To summarize, things to consider when buying an RV
1)  Figure out what your plan is for say 10 to 15 years in the future as it relates to rv needs (look long-term: future kids, etc) then buy that trailer, or the trailer closest to fitting those future needs, now
2)  Consider 2 bathrooms for more than 7 people
3)  Buy biggest tow vehcile you can
4)  Be patient when shopping - keeps emotions out of the equation
5)  Do your own research on tow vehicle capability
6)  Borrow as little as possible
7)  Buy used
8)  Get slide-outs


What about floor plan layout..some units have bathrooms at one end and others are in the middle.  Some units have 2 doors and some have 1 door.  Any benefit or pros & cons to either?  Is construction material a consideration or are all mfr's using pretty much the same type materials and building methods?  Length of trailer:  example: "we knew 5 people would camp with us so we got a 24' but now wish we had a 30' "  .is it because of the floor plan / layout or is the 24' or 22' or whatever length you bought too short?  What about pros & cons of goosenecks vs. 5th wheels vs bumper pull?  Truck bed length?  Any would'ves, could'ves, should'ves in these areas?  Correct the summary if you see a need...and, add to it..
 
Your #1 could be a problem for some folks, since people's plans/circumstances/likes often change over that long a time. And it's quite possible that today's circumstances aren't compatible with those 10-15 years down the road.

Floor plans are a more personal choice,  though. And I, for one, cannot identify all the pertinent factors prior to using a rig for a while. So you do the best you can with what you know now, expecting that a season or six of use will change your mind on at least some things.

But you're doing something very important now -- research.
 
My wife insisted that we get a bunkhouse model because "the grandkids love to camp".  Five years later they are in there teens and have their on things going on.  And we are wishing we had got the TT with the two lazy boys chairs instead.  I am so glad we did get a TT with a slide.
 
There is no right or wrong answer to this post.  There is no specific order.  There cannot be problems for anyone.  The items are numbered because I happened to look at them in that order.  This is just to get a list going so people can think of things to consider, to get their minds working as to what other people have done and then later.  As an example, Lowell & his wife bought the bunkhouse model and maybe it was used for 5 years.  That is a good thng for us to consider as we had looked at bunks, but will our daughter like that in 5 years - 7 yrs, when she becomes a teenager?  Hmmm...We  had never considered that but our purchase is is going to be used for many years so this is something to think about.  Will our desire to not trade in or sell in 5 - 7 rs outweigh buying bunkbeds now?  I do not know but it needs to be considered and we had not thought that far ahead.  So, the thought about 10 - 15 yrs down the road is a great one.  Is the desire to buy now stronger than the need to look 10 - 15 yrs down the road? We are now considering that.  Keep the great thoughts coming...thanks!
 
solarrv,

Far as the bunk house unit goes ours has the bunks have 2 young ones 11 and 8 and a teen 17. so we will have kids for a while but we have already made plans for the bunk room after kids are done camping it will become a office/sewing room for us to fulltime in it after kids go to collage. like i said if your going to drop 40 thousand to 100's of thousands need to plan ahead think of multi. uses for stuff in RV you buy so you can convert for different life changes. I believe you said something about a quad or golf cart in one of your posts you plan on taking along at somepoint so toyhauler my be option too thay have some great floorplans with them too....
 
Wartamen, yep, that is exactly my point.  There is no right or wrong answer, other than to think ahead.  Great thought on turning the bunk area into a different use area.  Yes, I have thought of the toyhauler but most of the ones I have seen are just a plain old box, and the vehicles are in the living area.  And, the living area furniture is real plain & sparse and cheap looking, meaning, not very high quality.  They look like a utility trailer somebody "stuck" cabinets and a bed in.  Heck, I could build one of those myself and not spend the thousands a mfr wants.  Now, the Weekend Warrior brand seemed to be better so we will look at those but from what I have seen they are out of business and used ones are above my price range, even stretching the $'s a lot.  So, a person has to be realistic also when looking towards the future.  So, great idea on changing the use of an area, like the bunks!
 
Well, I'm a newbie so may just not be there yet, but honestly the one really good piece of advice I feel like we got from a dealer was to buy a used, not a new, TT (we had already decided on a TT over other alternatives).  His rational was whatever we get we're going to realize we don't like and trade in 2 years, and that way we avoid getting whacked by the depreciation.  We did buy used from a private party and honestly I like what we bought pretty well but we've only made 1 trip so far so who knows, maybe he's right.  Worst case (in terms of purchase price), we're out less than $10K ...

Personally I'd much rather stay low-end and replace our TT occasionally rather than get something that needs to last decades, cost-wise, but that's just me, I guess.

--bogart
 
I would like to, also, add my thanks for this thread.  I'm a newbie who will be getting her ducks in a row during the next ten months, and this thread has answered a LOT of questions I've had and haven't been able to find the answers to.  Please keep it going....
 
I bought a 5er with 4 bunks for the grandkids and this was a great idea....except we gave up a lot of "living" space for the bunk room.  After a few trips to the boonies, we have decided that our next 5er will not have bunks but two big recliners for us old folks and the times we do have the grandkids with us, we will just convert the dinettes and sofa-sleeper, and throw out a sleeping bag on the floor if needed....not as easy or maybe comfortable for the kids as just climbing in the bunks, but we feel the "living" space overrides the "sleeping" room convenience.
 
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