How did you decide?

[Rancher Will]

We have owned five RVs since 1960. Before 1960 my wife and I camped with a tent. While using the tent we observed many RVs as we traveled and decided that we would upgrade to an RV. The process of choosing an RV has been the same since that time.

First we discussed our experiences and decided what we wished to have available in our new RV based on what we had not had previously. We included how and where we intended to use the RV, and of course, the fact that we had very young children. Our finances were also in consideration. We then toured a few RV dealers, examining every RV that we could find that seemed to meet our needs. As we checked each RV we discussed how we would use it and how it would be used each day. We made our selection based upon our inspections and discussion.

Each time we purchased a new RV we traded (or sold) our previous RV for the reason that our lifestyle had changed so that we realized that a different RV would be more convenient for the way we were using the RV.

We have always examined the available RVs with the Floor Plan, size, accessories, convenience, type and quality of construction, accessibility, where and how we intended to use it, and relative price in mind before we started to select a new one.

Fortunately we have always been happy with the RV that we chose and we used each one for years before our lifestyle situation changed developing our need for a different one. We may use our current Monty the rest of our life or we may feel the need for a change in the future. Time will tell.

 

[decaturbob]

I wanted  a MH, Class C 29ft-32ft, used.  The size and storage were main concerns. Eventually we will have a tow vehicle.

 

[WildPlum]

We knew we wanted an RV to spend time camping, sometimes in state/county parks, sometimes in national parks. Things like KOAs and RV parks would be overnighters more than stays. We weren't really interested in living in it for longer than a couple weeks at a time. We knew we were unlikely to go back and forth between coasts, and that our average trips would probably be under a couple thousand miles round trip.

Probably a trailer rather than a motorhome as (to me) the layout options are better and the cost of newer used truck + new/newer trailer seem more reasonable than newer motorhome costs. I also don't like the idea of a motorhome sitting for months at a time then being asked to do all that hard work in a short time and then sitting again. Not a 5th wheel because I don't want the huge truck (the F150 we have now is as big as I'd ever want) and I don't want to be towing a huge trailer, either. That is all rather specific to ME, of course, for other people all of those issues are different.

A lot of the parks in our necks of the woods are older and don't have space for larger rigs, so we knew we wanted to stay under 30' total for the trailer. Once we upgraded our tow rig, we had our weight limits.

My list of "musts"
Fully loaded not more than 65% of our tow capacity
Dual axle
Permanently set queen bed with some (no matter how small) walk-around space
Not feel claustrophobic but prefer no slide
Prefer the single door not open right into the bed/dressing area
Reasonable quality AND within our budget (ie: not a new Airstream - although I don't like their small trailer layouts anyway)

We ended up with a 2017 Keystone Hideout 22FQ with a rear living layout. Keystone quality is mid-pack for the big RV makers - the Hideout is not their top of the line, but, again, this is for camping for us over the next 5-10 years, not passing on to the grandkids (the ones I don't have, lol) as an inheritance.