Advice Small RV's

[Susan Maria]

Hello All,
I attempted to purchase a 19G Four Winds but someone beat me to it.  Small RVs seem to be rare here in the Northeast.  Do any of you know of good small RV's to look into (21 ft and under).  It will only be for myself and my dog.  I will not be living in it fulltime.

Thanks
Sue

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Does "RV" mean "motorhome" to you? Small trailers are common in the northeast, but small motorhomes not so much. Actually, they tend to get snapped up quickly wherever they are.

 

[Susan Maria]

Yes, I meant small motorhomes.  You are right, they don't last long so I might wait until I move to Phoenix to buy what I want.

 

[nvrver]

There are two Pleasure-Way class B motor home sites on Yahoo, one for owners only and one for prospective owners, etc.  You may want to give the open one a try.  When I had my PW for sale I listed it on both sites.  Another thing you will find is they usually sell for more than NADA book price. 

 

[firehose]

Yes, I meant small motorhomes.  You are right, they don't last long so I might wait until I move to Phoenix to buy what I want.

They don't last long on the West Coast either.  I looked at the Four Winds 19G, and really liked it, however it was out of my price range.  I particularly wanted a small 19 foot class C as the motor home would be my only vehicle, daily driver, and all.  I wanted, and need, the RV to be able to park in a single parking spot. 

I found there isn't many small 19 foot motor homes out there during my search.  Furthermore, they get grabbed up quickly, and most of the older ones in my price range were very heavily used and in bad shape. 

Another thing about the small RV's.  Most of them have small fridges, stoves, but no oven, and a bathroom/shower combo that is very small.  I ended up finding an older fleetwood 19 footer, with a separate shower and head, a full sized fridge, and a full stove/oven.  Also, she was in my price range and in excellent shape.

I could not be happier with this little RV.  I love the floor pan and she has all the amenities of a large RV, just in a small package.  With the big Ford 460 engine, she's got plenty of power too.  Being that it's only me in the RV, room is 'cozy', but comfortable. 

Susan, I would look at motor homes in the 21-23 foot range, just to compare.  If you are willing to go a little bit larger, you will find many more on the market and those extra couple of feet will greatly improve how much room you will have.  Also, driving and parking will probably not be much different than with a 19 footer. 

Regarding the Four Winds 19g.  I looked at some rental ones for sale through Cruise America.  Most were in decent shape, but you could tell they weren't cared for as well as one that was privately owned...being rental units and all.  They were however, reasonably priced.  I really like the 19g, if the 19g was in my price range I'm sure I'd be very happy and comfortable living in one.  I do like the full stove/oven, the larger fridge, and bigger bathroom of my fleetwood better though. 

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

A 19 footer is more likely to be a Class B or B+, but there aren't many of those on the market either.

 

[demoon]

http://www.flaggrv.com/rv/north+smithfield+ri/thorindustries+classc/4446/thor+industries+four+winds+19g

 

[DearMissMermaid]

If you are relocating from the northeast to Phoenix, then you have it made!  You can look at everything between the northeast and Phoenix en route and perhaps find what you are looking for.

The problem with RV's is that they turn up in the strangest places and not always the exact town you are in when you decide to go shopping.

I traveled nearly 8 hours round trip twice, to look at the RV I ultimately bought. The seller ended up delivering it over half way when we finally closed the deal so that saved me a 3rd tri.  I had also looked at tons of RV's within an hour of me, but just never found what I wanted and liked until I drove to the boonies. By the time I went to look, I had emailed and spoke with the owner several times and poured over all the pics he sent.

My experience was many sellers were downright lazy and refused to offer up info unless I showed  up in person.  Luckily this owner was very helpful and understood that I wanted more info before I traveled that far and he was willing to answer all my questions by email and phone.

He was pretty honest, so I was lucky that there were no major surprises when I did finally get to see it in person. ;D

Keep looking, buying a used RV is not near as easy as buying a used car or house. You really have to hunt them down unless you just strike gold right off the bat.

I noticed while shopping that the smaller the motorhome, the harder they are to find. Big rigs seem to be all over the place for sale. No idea why this is.

 

[Great Horned Owl]

I am getting ready to sell my 19' class B. DW and I traveled in it for years. It was great for weekend trips and quite adequate for two or three week vacations.

Now that I have retired, we have taken a few trips of 6+ weeks and started to feel really cramped. The minimal storage space also became a problem. Get a couple of days of rain and cabin fever sets in.

We just took our first trip in a new 27' 5er, and were much more comfortable. We even managed to take the two cats along which we could never do in the class B.

If you are still looking, and would consider the location (Chicago area) possible, PM me and I'll send particulars and pics.

Joel