More Disturbing News

[motojavaphil]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25886538/

Supposedly this downtrend will last until 2010.  Rentals are up so the interest is still there.

Phil

 

[Dave Stringham]

I am not seeing as many rv's running up and down the highways, whether that is a gas cost issue or a decline in family spending money issue, I dont know, but local campgrounds seem to be jammed, which to me says, I am using the rv, but staying around the house.

 

[scottydl]

Sounds like the only downturn is the purchase of new RV's, and not a reduction in camping.  If anything, that tells me the American consumer is getting SMARTER. 

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

Since we have never been able to deduct interest from our taxes, that may well explain why RV sales in Canada are holding steady.  I really never thought about it, but having just retired from a Canadian Bank, i do understand the credit and housing crunch, and the effect it has had on availability of financing at any price.  One more thing to add to the list of what those greedy Wall Street Bankers did to the American and world economies.

 

[Mike Goad]

When we "bought" our newest camper last month, we had to do something we haven't had to do in a very long time.

Even though we have a very excellent credit score, we had to show proof of income..., even though the company we were financing through had 2 of the 3 loans that we had at the time -- Karen's car and the trailer we were trading in -- and we had never been behind or missed a payment.  The car has since been paid off.

We had Karen's car set up for towing at the largest local RV dealer rather than driving 125 miles to where we bought our motorhome and, both times we were in for it, we asked different people how business was.  Their sales are down, but only slightly.  They are seeing more people buying trailers than motorhomes.  They also have more popups than they used to and they have them at the front of the lot.  Also, most of their customers are still camping, but are doing it less or not going as far.

We were told that they had seen a flurry of people wanting to get rid of their campers.  They had taken several over the summer to sell by consignment.  One of Karen's brothers went through one of those two months ago and made an offer that he thought could never be accepted.  He now has a "new" fifth wheel.

 

[edjunior]

I am not seeing as many rv's running up and down the highways, whether that is a gas cost issue or a decline in family spending money issue, I dont know, but local campgrounds seem to be jammed, which to me says, I am using the rv, but staying around the house.

I just recently got back from a trip from Houston to Omaha, and I didn't notice any fewer RV's on the road.  Heck, I think I may have seen more than I've seen in quite some time in fact.  I have to say though that the majority of what I saw was travel trailers and 5th wheels though.  There did not seem to be near as many motorhome.  I know there is probably a higher proportion of trailers as opposed to motorhomes, but this seemed even more so.  Another interesting "observation", I saw many more motorhome RV's on our little jog from Houston to San Antonio (I-10) than on our leg north (I-35 through Salina, KS).  Do motorhome owners prefer I-10 over I-35??  Hmmmm, just something to ponder!  All unofficial and just "my" observations.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

We have just crossed Massachusetts, NY and a corner of PA on into northeastern Ohio. It was quite obvious in this area that there were few RVs on the interstates. We only stayed in two public campgrounds in 9 days (the rest were friends & family sites) and they were both 70-80% full in mid-week, which is probably near normal but a bit on the low side.  On the other hand, I am seeing big rigs from Florida  and Texas, so clearly some folks are traveling (as we are, just not quite as much).

 

[BernieD]

We have been finding the same thing. Except for the attendance at EAA AirVenture Fly-in, which exceeded EAA's expectations, we've hardly seen any RVs on the highways in WI, the tourist areas have had very low attendance (choices of seats, parking, activities, etc. do not have sellout issues), and it wasn't until we got to La Crosse that we had full campground issues. The park we are in is right on the river, just outside of downtown La Crosse, wooded but with windows in the trees for satellite, a few beaches and a boat launch. During the week, it is almost empty, but fills up with mostly locals on weekends. There is a county park downriver about 3 miles with 400 sites and it is sold out for this weekend, lots of space yesterday tho.

 

[harley man]

Our park in Taos is a ghost park during the week , talked to several rig owners that are doing the same as I , less speed and more hours on the road using less park dollars to help with fuel cost's.