Dont want to share the rv with relatives!!

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lydia_maria

Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2014
Posts
9
Hello..so here's my problem..my husband and I are planning a cross country rv trip. The rv we plan to use belonged to my husband's grandpa Bob. It's a very nice rv that has been sitting unused in his shop for several years. Unfortunately, it has been defiled by mice and neglected. We plan on having it detailed and serviced prior to our trip so we can do a couple test runs. My brother in law and his family suddenly just can't wait till we get it ready so they can use it too! This is a family that has a track record of being destructive and unclean. My stomach turns just thinking about them taking it out on an excursion. I don't know how to navigate around this issue delicately. Technically the rv "belongs to everyone", but if we invest our time and money into it then I would like to enjoy the cleanliness of the rv before they "get ahold of it". I know this sounds horrible and unkind of me, but the extent of their disrespect for property is shocking. Any suggestions? Has anyone ever had a similar problem??
 
This sounds like it isnt going to go well at all....Like you said, it belongs to everyone.....My suggestion would be to sell the RV, split the money and go buy your own RV.....
 
poncho62 said:
This sounds like it isnt going to go well at all....Like you said, it belongs to everyone.....My suggestion would be to sell the RV, split the money and go buy your own RV.....

+1 Sell and go solo.
 
IF it belongs to everyone then why isn't everyone paying for it to be cleaned and serviced? I agree this is a bad situation overall but if you must go forward at least have someone in charge of the rv for the safety of the group. Then the group has to pay for all services if they choose to use it. No contribution towards cost then no keys. Keep good records.
 
There are so many "shareholders"..3 other siblings and my in laws..none of which have ever used it or expressed any interest in it. Selling it is not an option and buying our own will probably be the only way to keep the peace..but our planned trip is in October and we won't be able to buy one before then..I wanted to wait to get it detailed in September and then just start packing it so I could say..."sorry but I'm packing it for our trip"...but we really need to service and detail it now so we can work out any kinks and that's where the problem rears its ugly head..as soon as its road ready they'll want to use it and we can't dodge that bullet for two months. We don't have the money to detail it twice..it's horrible to worry about this but I'm taking my young family and physical limitations from a bad c section will make it hard for me to clean it or else I'd just swallow my fears and put in the elbow grease after they've had it. I wanted to suggest a deposit down before use to cover any repair costs but....ughhh...family issues can be so complex...I almost feel as if it would be better to have the rv stored off site after its serviced...out of sight out of mind??
 
It is sad when families disagree over things. But, very common. If you want to stay close to your family,  go rent an RV. It will save a lot of hard feelings.
 
Any chance you could tell the other "owners" that you'd like to buy all their shares so that it's yours and yours alone ? Is Grandpa Bob still around so you could ask him if you guys could have it free and clear? Sharing an RV is an invitation to disaster.
 
If the transmission tanks during a trip up the Rockies and the bill is many KKKK of dollars and it is the second user who didn't contribute because of limited resources,  who is going to bail them out.

This scenario happened to my wife's relatives and they were thinking they were getting a almost free vacation.  The MH ended up being junked.  The members on that side of the family had to pay to get them home.  5 of them.

Run do not walk away from this train wreck.
 
I agree with what all others have said. I know several people that have had multiple owners on things like jet skis, boats, campers. They all ended up mad at each other, didn't take too long either. Take the money you was going to do the service and detailing and put towards a rental for your trip. You'll be much happier and less stressed out.
 
We had the same problem on a shared vacation home. Theirs all way a section of the family that put in little to no sweet equitey  pitch in on the bills.  But also seam to use it the most.    I would convintly weight to the last moment to service it. So no one can use it before you do.  A convinent flat tire works.  Chances are if they haft to lay out any money on repairs.  They won't use it.    Also. Never park it with a full tank of gas.  It will mysteriously dissipear
 
Before this goes too much further you might check things like tires on the RV. You mentioned that it hadn't been used for a long while so if the tires are greater than 7 years old they really should be replaced before you take off across the country.


Someone is going to have to help front the cost for things like this before you really are ready to start using it and if everyone else isn't willing to do this you would be better off driving a car to the wedding and deciding what you want to do about an RV when you get back.
 
Go get and estimate on the tires, detailing, repairing, engine & transmission service, etc. Then set down with everyone and let them know the cost involved in prepping the unit. Explain to them all that you're willing to let everyone use the unit, BUT that everyone using it MUST contribute their share UP FRONT to the maintenance and upkeep of the unit, and that if there is a breakdown the person using it is responsible for the repair. I'm willing to bet that the ones you're worried about miss using the unit will very quickly back out when they see the $ amount that they MUST put in UP FRONT in order to be part of the Time Share of the unit.
 
Cant Wait said:
Go get and estimate on the tires, detailing, repairing, engine & transmission service, etc. Then set down with everyone and let them know the cost involved in prepping the unit. Explain to them all that you're willing to let everyone use the unit, BUT that everyone using it MUST contribute their share UP FRONT to the maintenance and upkeep of the unit, and that if there is a breakdown the person using it is responsible for the repair. I'm willing to bet that the ones you're worried about miss using the unit will very quickly back out when they see the $ amount that they MUST put in UP FRONT in order to be part of the Time Share of the unit.

Best suggestion so far.

Bill
 
Very interesting situation...............
Please let us know what you do (what happens).
In other words:
Report back, I'm subscribing to this post. I love the complexities we humans can get our selves into, and how we escape.
Good Luck!
 
I'm also in the camp to walk away from Grandpa Bobs RV and rent a clean dependable late model unit. In the end it will cost you less money and aggregation. I also would be uncomfortable putting my family in a unit was was mice infested to do the diseases left behind plus possible mold.

Good luck,
 
Run, Forrest Run!!! I also believe that it may be harder to get rid of the mice than you think and they may have chewed through wires and hoses and certainly have destroyed the insulation. Pretty hard to clean inside the walls. I would not overlook how much may have to go into it before it is usable for small children, and the rest of the family will never be happy no matter what you do.
 
Yep, it's a mess and there is no good solution. The bright side of this problem is that it isn't as bad as it'll get when Grandpa Bob dies. When the estate gets divided up, unless he has a very good, very detailed will the bickering will only get worse. Depending on the dynamics of your particular situation now might be a time to encourage Grandpa to divide some of his goods and make arrangements for some people to get a portion of their inheritance now. For example if he saw that you had a specific interest in the RV he would give that to you now and make arrangements for the others to get specific things they want. Then again it may not, but it's something to think about.

Or you may even ask him to sell it to you, with payments you can afford. He might already know about the way some of the relatives treat things and find that it would be advantageous to stop some future family fights that way.

Ken
 
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