O1dSoldier
Well-known member
I like the All Star, particularly the model with the two-side loading slideouts.
In hindsight, what would you have done differently with that first RV
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
NY_Dutch
Well-known member
Every RV we've owned over the years was bought with a specific need in mind, and sold when that need changed. Our current fulltiming motorhome was bought in 2013 and we have no plans to to make a change at this point until we have to hang up the keys. Other than the minor changes and additions we've made to personalize each RV, I can't think anything we would have preferred was different than what we bought.
Moho81
Well-known member
Your needs and our needs are completely different but I'll take you down the path of what we did to give you an idea.
We started out as tent campers just the wife and I only a couple of times a year and kept it pretty simple with the stuff that we brought with us. Then we had kids and also tent camped with them but just once a year as it was a lot for us to try and tent camp with 2 very young kids and all the things needed for them when they are that young.
Just about the time we where seriously considering a travel trailer and going camping more we where "gifted" a 23 foot sixteen year old hybrid trailer all we had to do is get it out of storage, fix up the soft floor around the bathroom area and a couple of other minor things. In all we probably spent $1,500 fixing it up and making it ready to camp in. We used that trailer for 4 years and it helped us figure out what we really wanted in a trailer. No fold out canvas, larger more comfortable beds and more area to walk around inside where the primary issues we wanted to solve.
We landed with our current travel trailer that we just picked up that has double bunk beds one for each child a large slide for extra interior room and a short queen for the master bedroom. After one trip with it I honestly don't know how we could have gotten a better trailer for our needs.
Now keep in mind we will slowly add things/upgrade it but that will purely be out of comfort and laziness of wanting to make set up and take down even easier.
We started out as tent campers just the wife and I only a couple of times a year and kept it pretty simple with the stuff that we brought with us. Then we had kids and also tent camped with them but just once a year as it was a lot for us to try and tent camp with 2 very young kids and all the things needed for them when they are that young.
Just about the time we where seriously considering a travel trailer and going camping more we where "gifted" a 23 foot sixteen year old hybrid trailer all we had to do is get it out of storage, fix up the soft floor around the bathroom area and a couple of other minor things. In all we probably spent $1,500 fixing it up and making it ready to camp in. We used that trailer for 4 years and it helped us figure out what we really wanted in a trailer. No fold out canvas, larger more comfortable beds and more area to walk around inside where the primary issues we wanted to solve.
We landed with our current travel trailer that we just picked up that has double bunk beds one for each child a large slide for extra interior room and a short queen for the master bedroom. After one trip with it I honestly don't know how we could have gotten a better trailer for our needs.
Now keep in mind we will slowly add things/upgrade it but that will purely be out of comfort and laziness of wanting to make set up and take down even easier.
O1dSoldier
Well-known member
Hi Everyone,
Again, thanks for all the feedback. I do realize that all of our needs are different and that over time needs may change as well there may be needs I have not considered that you all might have. There may be things that if I'm a weekender I wouldn't care about but if I am to live it full-time for a year or more it might make life a bit easier. @Isaac-1 suggested Toy Haulers, I had thought of them early on but finding a diesel one seems near impossible preferring to shy away from gassers for the engine noise, lesser towing capacity, etc. but after taking another look there are a few models that have been added to the "possible" list.
Anyway, thanks again. The search continues.
Again, thanks for all the feedback. I do realize that all of our needs are different and that over time needs may change as well there may be needs I have not considered that you all might have. There may be things that if I'm a weekender I wouldn't care about but if I am to live it full-time for a year or more it might make life a bit easier. @Isaac-1 suggested Toy Haulers, I had thought of them early on but finding a diesel one seems near impossible preferring to shy away from gassers for the engine noise, lesser towing capacity, etc. but after taking another look there are a few models that have been added to the "possible" list.
Anyway, thanks again. The search continues.
Isaac-1
Well-known member
Keep in mind with time to shop, and expanding your shopping radius you can eventually find a reasonable deal on even rare coaches, of course the downside of rare coaches is often a limited resource pool to draw on for knowledge about their quirks. Something active model owners groups are great for. I went through this searching for my current coach, in my case I started searching online and found out about the Safari Trek which was a high end gas coach with a unique layout, there is no dedicated bedroom, instead there is a mechanized queen bed that lowers from ceiling in the living room area, which allows for a kitchen and bathroom size that is seen in few 40 ft coaches in a sub 30 ft length. A few days after learning of the Trek online one showed up for sale in a local classified ad only 3 miles from my house, unfortunately it turned out to be a total money pit (body damage, paint peeling, roof leaking, the only appliance that worked was the roof air conditioner, tires were over 10 years old, etc.). I then spent the next 5 months shopping online within a couple of thousand miles for a similar model Trek, narrowing it down to my preferred model years, before eventually buying one that is in Florida 1,100 miles away. Over that 5 months I ran across perhaps 4-5 serious candidates, some were further away than I really wanted to travel, some were more than I wanted to pay, one had not moved in 3 years and its brakes were locked up (knowing what I know now about working on the brakes, I might have bought it, but did not want to deal with an RV that could not be driven a thousand miles from home), a couple had even sold before I could inquire about them even though I contacted the seller the day they were listed.
In my case I narrowed my candidate list down to either a Safari Trek or possible a Holiday Rambler Traveler (clone of the Trek as they both had the same parent company at the time, though built with somewhat cheaper cabinet work, etc.) in one of 2 possible floor plans, built after 2001 when the 8.1L vortec engine was introduced. I then proceeded to do daily or nearly daily internet searches for this model in various for sale listing, RVT, RV trader, Trek Tracks (the Trek owners forum), Craigslist, etc. eventually finding mine listed on Craigslist in Florida, which was just luck. Today i would add Facebook market to the list of places to search, being aware both Craigslist and Facebook marketplace tend to have a lot of scammers.
In my case I narrowed my candidate list down to either a Safari Trek or possible a Holiday Rambler Traveler (clone of the Trek as they both had the same parent company at the time, though built with somewhat cheaper cabinet work, etc.) in one of 2 possible floor plans, built after 2001 when the 8.1L vortec engine was introduced. I then proceeded to do daily or nearly daily internet searches for this model in various for sale listing, RVT, RV trader, Trek Tracks (the Trek owners forum), Craigslist, etc. eventually finding mine listed on Craigslist in Florida, which was just luck. Today i would add Facebook market to the list of places to search, being aware both Craigslist and Facebook marketplace tend to have a lot of scammers.
Ray-IN
Well-known member
NO. finding the last RV first is, IMO. Your and my needs/desires have changed since we were 20-30 yrs old, how would anyone anticipate what will suit them and their physical limitations 40-60 yrs. later?
JudyJB
Well-known member
Your situation makes a BIG difference. I bought new and knew long ago that I would be full-timing, so I bought bigger than if I had been a weekender. I am mostly happy with my choice other than I wish I had more CCC. I also would have added MCD shades the day after I took delivery as I love mine, in spite of the extra costs. Might also have replaced the mattress sooner with something more comfortable.
Also, when I was shopping, the one thing I thought would be a complete waste of money was full body paint. It cost about $10,000 extra and I could not believe anyone would spend that amount of money for just paint. However, I ended up getting a very good deal on a new Class C that had been ordered for RV shows and had the paint and a lot of extras I thought I did not want. Price was very good, however, so I ended up with a lot of expensive paint.
However, even though my motorhome is now almost 11 years old, the full body paint makes it look almost new. I have had a lot of people argue that I could not have possibly full-timed in my RV for over ten years because it was clearly only 2-4 years old!! The paint does not fade as even coated fiberglass does. If you look closely, you can see a lot of scrapes and little bits of damage, but overall, it still looks great, and I think I will get my money back for the paint when I sell it someday.
Also, when I was shopping, the one thing I thought would be a complete waste of money was full body paint. It cost about $10,000 extra and I could not believe anyone would spend that amount of money for just paint. However, I ended up getting a very good deal on a new Class C that had been ordered for RV shows and had the paint and a lot of extras I thought I did not want. Price was very good, however, so I ended up with a lot of expensive paint.
However, even though my motorhome is now almost 11 years old, the full body paint makes it look almost new. I have had a lot of people argue that I could not have possibly full-timed in my RV for over ten years because it was clearly only 2-4 years old!! The paint does not fade as even coated fiberglass does. If you look closely, you can see a lot of scrapes and little bits of damage, but overall, it still looks great, and I think I will get my money back for the paint when I sell it someday.
Isaac-1
Well-known member
I agree full body paint holds up way better than vinyl graphics on gelcoat fiberglass, my coach is nearly 21 years old and still looks good as long as you stand back 20 feet or so as to not notice the scratches, stone chips, etc.
garyb1st
Well-known member
Aside from finding the perfect RV, there are other things that are equally important. A few examples.
What if you don't like RVing. It's not for everyone. If you don't like living in an RV will your finances allow you to get back into a traditional home?
After you find that perfect area (if one exists) will RVing continue to be something you want to do? It's a great lifestyle. But again, it's not for everyone. Since you've never had an RV you really won't know that for a while.
Are you and your wife in good health? After you retire, will you and your wife be eligible for Medicare. Health insurance for seniors is quite expensive.
Are your finances up to the test? You've mentioned an older diesel pusher with 400 hp. I've thought of that myself but when I consider the possibility of a $50,000 engine replacement it gives me pause.
Will your travel budget allow for crazy high fuel and RV park/campground prices. I watch the buck pretty closely but our fuel bill on our last trip was about $3,500. That's about 7 mpg on a gasser. RV parks and campground weren't bad but we boon docked a fair amount and parked on my daughters driveway for a month. Still we were likely over $2,000 for the 45+/- days we were at campgrounds. But based on how campground fees have increased this past year, that's pretty reasonable. Fuel prices have come down a bit but I don't think we're going to see much more reduction.
We've been RVing for 14 years and are on our 3rd RV. The last two were gas motorhomes. The first was a travel trailer. I've learned a great deal since we bought our first RV. But honestly I doubt we'd be where we're at today if all we did was read RVing forums.
My free advice, buy a medium sized used gas motorhome. Don't worry about whether or not it has a washing machines or if it can carry your motorcycle. Get one in reasonable condition, drive it for a year and then think about the next steps. Relative to RVing, it will be the least expensive learning experience you will ever have.
What if you don't like RVing. It's not for everyone. If you don't like living in an RV will your finances allow you to get back into a traditional home?
After you find that perfect area (if one exists) will RVing continue to be something you want to do? It's a great lifestyle. But again, it's not for everyone. Since you've never had an RV you really won't know that for a while.
Are you and your wife in good health? After you retire, will you and your wife be eligible for Medicare. Health insurance for seniors is quite expensive.
Are your finances up to the test? You've mentioned an older diesel pusher with 400 hp. I've thought of that myself but when I consider the possibility of a $50,000 engine replacement it gives me pause.
Will your travel budget allow for crazy high fuel and RV park/campground prices. I watch the buck pretty closely but our fuel bill on our last trip was about $3,500. That's about 7 mpg on a gasser. RV parks and campground weren't bad but we boon docked a fair amount and parked on my daughters driveway for a month. Still we were likely over $2,000 for the 45+/- days we were at campgrounds. But based on how campground fees have increased this past year, that's pretty reasonable. Fuel prices have come down a bit but I don't think we're going to see much more reduction.
We've been RVing for 14 years and are on our 3rd RV. The last two were gas motorhomes. The first was a travel trailer. I've learned a great deal since we bought our first RV. But honestly I doubt we'd be where we're at today if all we did was read RVing forums.
My free advice, buy a medium sized used gas motorhome. Don't worry about whether or not it has a washing machines or if it can carry your motorcycle. Get one in reasonable condition, drive it for a year and then think about the next steps. Relative to RVing, it will be the least expensive learning experience you will ever have.
SRGuy
Well-known member
I may be the odd man out, here. I actually wish I had one of my first TT's, again. It was a '99 Trail-Lite. It had a manual crank slide-out, front and back doors, a true walk-around queen bed, great windows, all around, for a very bright, cheerful interior, lots more. It had lots of room, was 24' long, and weighed only 3,600 lbs., I think.
While I can't be sure that I remember the specs perfectly, I do know that I really loved that unit. We inherited a 24' Class C, and sold that TT. I regretted that sale, especially as I watched the fiberglass peel off the driver's side of that Class C, as I drove down the road.
Adding more features, to me, is adding more junk, more things that can go wrong, more clutter, more expense. I'm on my fifth, new TT, now, and I still find myself thinking of getting the "next big thing." After I slap myself around a bit, I'm cool, and know that what I'm in, now, a 2018 TT, is all I need. Ah, but if I only had that fireplace, and island kitchen, and.......
While I can't be sure that I remember the specs perfectly, I do know that I really loved that unit. We inherited a 24' Class C, and sold that TT. I regretted that sale, especially as I watched the fiberglass peel off the driver's side of that Class C, as I drove down the road.
Adding more features, to me, is adding more junk, more things that can go wrong, more clutter, more expense. I'm on my fifth, new TT, now, and I still find myself thinking of getting the "next big thing." After I slap myself around a bit, I'm cool, and know that what I'm in, now, a 2018 TT, is all I need. Ah, but if I only had that fireplace, and island kitchen, and.......
First thing to consider is do you want to emphasize the "Mobile" part? or the "Home" part? If you want to move sites often, I might want to avoid the crank-outs. If your TOAD is a small pick-up, you could possibly put the bike in the bed. You could also haul both the 4 wheel thing and the bike on/in 1 trailer, and the OAL weight wouldn't have to be very much. You could easily do all that with a gasser, especially if you don't want to deal with diesel stink. If you are going to sit in one place all summer, then a gasser would be far preferable to a diesel. Any fuel savings fall to maintenance.
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Dan_Frisbie
Well-known member
I would have kept it.
O1dSoldier
Well-known member
Hi everyone,
Again I appreciate everybody taking the time to provide their thoughts and insight but some of you guys are killing me. Lol. Telling me that my needs are different than your needs and that needs change over time is only stating the obvious and are really not very helpful. The same could be said about telling me that there is no perfect RV.
I started this journey by thinking about what I believe I will need in an RV based off of our plans. Then I started researching about different RVs and reading the forums such as this one, etc. etc. And through the information that I’ve gleaned from these forums I’ve modified the list of things that I would look for in an RV. One of those been the ability to tow a vehicle and carry a motorcycle. The obvious choices of course are a diesel pusher or a toy hauler. Put in a $50,000 motorcycle in the back of a pick up truck and towing that as one of you suggested is really a nonstarter. Just as buying some midsize RV and forgetting about towing motorcycles and vehicles as I believe the same person suggested really isn’t good advice either considering one of my needs is to be able to carry a motorcycle and tow a car so it just simply doesn’t make sense that I would buy some thing that I know doesn’t meet my needs.
My hope here when I started this conversation was to try and get the benefit of hindsight. What I mean by that is Wayback when you guys were figuring out what you needed for your first RV just like I do you probably had a list of what you believed to be the needs and capabilities you were looking for in an RV And you went and bought an RV based on that. I do understand it overtime your needs changed but at the same time I’m certain that some of you are able to look back and say how do I know this or that when I bought that first RV I would’ve gotten this widget or that widget or not have gotten this widget or that widget and bought a different RV. That’s what I’m looking for, what would you have done differently back then based on what you know now.
Anyway, thanks again and the search continues and Toy haulers are back on the list of possibilities.
Again I appreciate everybody taking the time to provide their thoughts and insight but some of you guys are killing me. Lol. Telling me that my needs are different than your needs and that needs change over time is only stating the obvious and are really not very helpful. The same could be said about telling me that there is no perfect RV.
I started this journey by thinking about what I believe I will need in an RV based off of our plans. Then I started researching about different RVs and reading the forums such as this one, etc. etc. And through the information that I’ve gleaned from these forums I’ve modified the list of things that I would look for in an RV. One of those been the ability to tow a vehicle and carry a motorcycle. The obvious choices of course are a diesel pusher or a toy hauler. Put in a $50,000 motorcycle in the back of a pick up truck and towing that as one of you suggested is really a nonstarter. Just as buying some midsize RV and forgetting about towing motorcycles and vehicles as I believe the same person suggested really isn’t good advice either considering one of my needs is to be able to carry a motorcycle and tow a car so it just simply doesn’t make sense that I would buy some thing that I know doesn’t meet my needs.
My hope here when I started this conversation was to try and get the benefit of hindsight. What I mean by that is Wayback when you guys were figuring out what you needed for your first RV just like I do you probably had a list of what you believed to be the needs and capabilities you were looking for in an RV And you went and bought an RV based on that. I do understand it overtime your needs changed but at the same time I’m certain that some of you are able to look back and say how do I know this or that when I bought that first RV I would’ve gotten this widget or that widget or not have gotten this widget or that widget and bought a different RV. That’s what I’m looking for, what would you have done differently back then based on what you know now.
Anyway, thanks again and the search continues and Toy haulers are back on the list of possibilities.
Jayflight
Well-known member
- Joined
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What would we do different, or what would I do different? It all still goes back to what each one of us need at the time we decided to purchase an rv. Most of the time few people buy what they think they may need 30 years down the road, or even 10 years down the road. And folks in their senior years and retired rarely looks further than two to three years when talking about buying rvs. Some folks gets by with a sprinter van and are perfectly happy after retirement, which would not have worked for us 30 years ago.
At least thats been my observation. Of course most of us are all in different physical conditions and this may change the way we are thinking when talking about rving too. We surely could not travel the distances and do the same stuff we did 30 years ago and surely do not need what we needed when we had kids, dogs and cats in tow.
What is wrong with folks telling you that, with little to go on, beginning with not really know about your "bank account".
As you have probably read, one of the first things to consider if you are considering towing instead of motorhoming is your tow vehicle.Figure out your house of wheels first and then buy the tow vehicle to match.Talk about not buying numerous rvs, way too many people do this completely opposite, trying to tow with something thats not matched to your rv. So after reading your last, start at your local truck dealership , even looking at a F 450 and get that while you continue to look at toy haulers that hauls your entire package without being strained.
By the way the entire premise of the thread is about buying what you consider the perfect rv, the first time around, and people actually confirmed this with their replies that there is no really perfect rv the first time around..
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O1dSoldier
Well-known member
I was gonna leave this alone but I can’t help myself. There is nothing wrong with people telling me that my needs are different than theirs and the people‘s needs change over time as long as that insight is pertinent or relevant to the question that was asked. It’s not. For example if I asked “which should I buy, gas or diesel?“ Then it would be perfectly relevant for somebody to say “I bought a gas motorhome because that meet my needs, depending on what your needs are you might need a diesel motorhome.“ Another example might be my asking quote why do you guys change RVs so frequently?“ And a relevant answer would be “because needs change over time and we upgrade or downgrade to an RV that meets the current needs.“What would we do different, or what would I do different? It all still goes back to what each one of us need at the time we decided to purchase an rv. Most of the time few people buy what they think they may need 30 years down the road, or even 10 years down the road. And folks in their senior years and retired rarely looks further than two to three years when talking about buying rvs. Some folks gets by with a sprinter van and are perfectly happy after retirement, which would not have worked for us 30 years ago.
At least thats been my observation. Of course most of us are all in different physical conditions and this may change the way we are thinking when talking about rving too. We surely could not travel the distances and do the same stuff we did 30 years ago and surely do not need what we needed when we had kids, dogs and cats in tow.
What is wrong with folks telling you that, with little to go on, beginning with not really know about your "bank account".
Talk about not buying numerous rvs, way too many people do this completely opposite, trying to tow with something thats not matched to your rv. So after reading your last, start at your local truck dealership , even looking at a F 450 and get that while you continue to look at toy haulers that hauls your entire package without being strained.
By the way the entire premise of the thread is about buying what you consider the perfect rv, the first time around, and people actually confirmed this with their replies.
My question was very simple And has nothing to do with current or future meeds, my needs, your needs, the size of my bank account or whether or not I have medical insurance if I’m not in the window for Medicare. My question is what would you do differently knowing what you know now versus what you knew when you bought that first RV. For example, your first RV was a clase and then after you used it for a few years you realize that you only needed a class C. Or perhaps you thought it would be really cool to have a dishwasher in your RV only to realize that it was a waste of money because you only ever used paper plates.
As I read some of the initial responses it started to make me think that my question was too broad but then as I got more and more responses back I started to realize that the question isn’t too broad it’s the most of the answers aren’t relevant to the question.
Jayflight
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2021
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- 1,374
So folks are suppose to type replies in accordance to how you wanted them to reply? Maybe chop up your requests in multiple posts then and target the subject in a more narrow way.
Short answer here, iwe bought rvs that met our needs at the time and as situations changed, we sold and bought another one, pretty much in a similar manner as just about everyone that lasted for more than a hand full of years in rving did. Would I do anything different? It would be illogical for anyone of us to have bought a toy hauler that we may have needed now for full timing in retirement back 30 years ago . I think a consensus of the group would be similar. Good luck with your search.
Short answer here, iwe bought rvs that met our needs at the time and as situations changed, we sold and bought another one, pretty much in a similar manner as just about everyone that lasted for more than a hand full of years in rving did. Would I do anything different? It would be illogical for anyone of us to have bought a toy hauler that we may have needed now for full timing in retirement back 30 years ago . I think a consensus of the group would be similar. Good luck with your search.
Isaac-1
Well-known member
My problem answering this is I think I choose fairly well for our needs, Having said that with your list growing to pulling a fairly large TOAD plus carrying a full size motorcycle, this is putting you squarely into the diesel pusher with motorcycle lift, diesel pusher toyhauler, or possibly Super C toy hauler category. An important question you need to ask yourself will these sorts of RV fit into the places where you wish to camp and go? Most diesel pushers don't have much ground clearance an important feature is you plan to boondock camp, then there is the question fitting into smaller campground with a length that may be pushing over 60 feet combined.
Willowflowage
Well-known member
Contributor
Well-known member
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I learned I never wanted another Porta Potty, too short a wall to wall bed, climb over bed, pop up trailer in bear country or next to busy roads and in windy areas.
O1dSoldier
Well-known member
It was a single question. Nothing to chop up.
That said, What you are essentially saying is not one single person here bought an rv and then after using it a few times, learned a few things and then thought to themselves “man, if I’d known that when I bought this I’d have bought something different”? You have no idea how humbling it is to be among so many people who got it right the first time. Apparently there is such a thing as the perfect rv.
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