Sub Sailor
Member
A check list is a great idea. I'm going to find and download one. Thanks for the heads up.
Looking to get back into camping
- Thread starter Sub Sailor
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
rvlifer
Well-known member
I posted screen shots of one here. Couldnt figure out how to attach the original file.
rvlifer
We have been fulltiming for a few years but medical problems and age caught up with us so we bought a house in Colorado and I am almost finished renovating it. We should be moving out of the RV and into the house before winter sets in. We currently own a Luxe 5th wheel. Not one of the best known...
www.rvforum.net
Larry N.
Well-known member
Click on the RESOURCES button near the page top and check out the checklists that are available here- they cover pre-purchase and inspection, etc.
Adventurous Traveler
Well-known member
Welcome. Be careful in your used shopping of models built during Covid, probably 2020-2022 at least. This forum, YouTube, and some other forums have some frightful (Halloween talk) stories on some of the junk pushed out in record numbers by the RV industry during that time.
One thing nice about buying a used unit private is you can judge the surroundings and the people you may buy from to form an opinion on how well cared for their rig for sale was taken care of.
One thing nice about buying a used unit private is you can judge the surroundings and the people you may buy from to form an opinion on how well cared for their rig for sale was taken care of.
Kirk
Well-known member
I see this comment on these forums frequently, but since I don't know anyone who owns an RV built in those years it does make me wonder a little bit. How do we know this, or is it just a suspicion?
Adventurous Traveler
Well-known member
You're right Kirk, I also don't know anyone with any type of RV from the Covid years. But, I do read the RV Travel Newsletter every weekend, I tune in to Liz Amazing on YouTube, also several other YouTube RV travel sites and commentary and check in on just about any RV news I may come across surfing newsfeeds, or RV Business. And, during our travels around the country, my wife and I have noticed quite a few RVs for Sale on front yards, driveways, parking lots, and more places from the 2020-22 model years.
So yeah, my advice to the OP is based on hearsay, but I would rather make him/her aware of some of the difficulties the industry faced trying to build products as fast as possible to keep up with the demand during those years than buy something that was an Mfg buyback, taped and screwed back together and then put out on a dealers lot with a sign "Like New, Hardly Used".
So yeah, my advice to the OP is based on hearsay, but I would rather make him/her aware of some of the difficulties the industry faced trying to build products as fast as possible to keep up with the demand during those years than buy something that was an Mfg buyback, taped and screwed back together and then put out on a dealers lot with a sign "Like New, Hardly Used".
Kirk
Well-known member
With anything that I'm considering buying I would question the reason it is for sale. I don't know that there are more of those now than in the past, and when driving by I don't think most of us can identify the year of manufacture just by looking. The very worst case of an RV being traded off because the buyer could not get it repaired took place back in 2007. In that case I was parked next to the original owner(an Alfa Class A) and observed their difficulties for about 4 months. They traded the RV (purchased in TX) when it was only 7 months old, to a dealer in FL. About a year later we met the couple who bought that "slightly used" motorhome from a dealer in Quartzsite in an RV park in CA. They we telling everyone about their experience with the selling dealer as they had just filed a lawsuit against them. Since it was traded in FL and then bought from a CA dealership while in Quartzsite, I suspect the FL dealer sent it to an auction where the CA dealer bought it.
My point is that one needs to be careful all of the time and most would benefit from the use of a certified pre-purchase inspector no matter when the prospective RV was manufactured.
Adventurous Traveler
Well-known member
It is an amazing coincidence that you would come across that same RV on the other side of the country. Wow!
Kirk
Well-known member
The new owners were pleased as I was able to tell them more about the history of the coach as well as the names of the original owners. I didn't remember exactly where they were from or what dealership they traded it at but the folks did pass what I knew to their attorney. It did surprise us as well. The original owner had added a decal across the top of the windshield that said "BLUEGRASS MUSIC" which made it very identifiable when I saw it as we arrived.
Adventurous Traveler
Well-known member
Sorta like when I traded in my 1973 Pontiac Grand Prix, came across what looked like my old car months later in a parking lot, looked in the window, and said "Yep, that's my old car, I could tell by the cigarette burn in the driver's seat"
1stimerver
Well-known member
We have had very good experience with our 2016 aspen trail 1900 RB. It has been reliable and comfortable for the last 8 years. We've made a few mods, like replacing the dinette with a drop leaf table and credenza, along with a pair of reclining office chairs.
It suits our needs and is very comfortable for trips up to 2 to 3 weeks.
Safe travels and all the best.
It suits our needs and is very comfortable for trips up to 2 to 3 weeks.
Safe travels and all the best.
Sub Sailor
Member
Lots of good advice from everyone. Really appreciate it. Still searching and am looking at a 2021 Venture Stratus 231vrb. Lots of extras/ upgrades like RV cover, wheel covers, solar panels, x chocks, weight distribution hitch, theater seating with heat and massage. He's asking 18.5k however wife tossed a wrench in the works by mentioning a boat. We live in Boothbay Harbor so reality is we would get more use out of a boat (20 footer or so) because if it's nice we'd be on the boat where as camper would be used once or twice a month from May to Oct. My concern is the added cost of a boat over a camper. Fortunately this is the time to buy to buy either one.
Adventurous Traveler
Well-known member
When my 3 kids were young we had a couple of boats, an 18 ft open bow, then a 23 ft cuddy cabin. We live in WNY on the shores of Lake Erie. Every weekend was planned to head down to Buffalo Small Boat Harbor (largest in NY outside of NY City/Long Island) and be out on the water by 12 noon, weather permitting. The area was a great boating area having Lake Erie to ski and tube in, or to travel across to several beach towns in Ontario, Canada. Crystal Beach was one destination that also had an amusement park for the kids. Or, on windy days you had the Niagara River where you could boat within a half mile of Niagara Falls if you wished. Finally, on weather suspect days you could motor up the Erie Canal and take in some of the bars and restaurants along the canal.
Then, one year a couple of days after the start of school my youngest son came home from middle school all grumpy. I asked him why the attitude. His answer was "All the kids in school are talking about the cool places they went on vacation during the Summer, why don't we go anywhere?" I answered him because we have the boat. I tried to explain the cost factor of owning the boat and expenses. As much fun as we enjoyed over the Summers on the water, my son's comment resonated with me.
Fast forward, we started RV'ing back in 2007 the family has grown and is on their own. Now, with 17 years of experience enjoying the lifestyle I still think back to my son's comment. In retrospect, I wish that I'd bought a TT back then and enjoyed family travel on the road with an unlimited choice of destinations waiting to be discovered, and satisfying my son's sense of adventure.
Sub Sailor
Member
I totally agree and good for him for venting. In my case it's just the wife and I. My boys have active lives of their own so consequently I see very little of them. Current wife is #3 and neither kid is hers so she's ambivalent of it. We camped for 15 years plus both hauling and seasonal. We're finally in our retirement home (which I was the GC and a full time member of the build team) and we automatically assumed we'd camp again. Then a friend commented "why would you leave this place". We live in Boothbay Harbor Maine (look it up). House in in the woods but walking distance to town. Deer in the back yard with a view of the harbor through the trees from the deck. That's what brought up us flipping and considering a boat. Dozens of bars and restaurants with dock access up and down the coast. The thought of a day bar hopping really has it's appeal. I'm a very light drinker but many friends are not and I wouldn't mind being the DD. I can think of a lot worse waysto spend a sunny day. However there is a significant cost difference owning a boat. Include the salt water factor and the cost goes up even more. Then add slip or mooring fees and now you see my dilemma. Doing homework on what the cost difference is. That may be the deciding factor.
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Kirk
Well-known member
I guess the answer to that question is something that is very individual. For that reason, I will only answer for myself. I grew up in Kansas, living in the same house that both my father and I were born in. When I graduated HS at 17 1/2 I had seen less than half of Kansas, a little of MO, and a tiny part of NE. I was an avid reader of National Geographic magazine, so I was well aware of just how big the world is, and how small mine was. I signed up to join the Navy delayed entry program before I graduated, because I wanted to see more of what I had been reading about. While in the Navy, I met and eventually married a CA native who had traveled very little and shared my wanderlust. We raised 3 boys, mostly in WY and we bought our first RV (a popup) when the youngest son was 4. For most of the years our boys were at home we traveled as much as possible with our popup and 1 or 2 canoes on the rack on its top. After more than 60 years with my first wife and living in 9 states, we seem to think pretty much alike, and we agree that there are still parts of the world that we want to see. I took an early retirement at 57, we sold our house and lived in a motorhome for the next 12 years, traveling through 48 states and spending a month or longer in 39 of them. With age and health issues gaining ground on us, we sold our last RV about 18 months ago now, but we are still traveling part time and planning our next trip. I have always had a strong desire to see what is over the next hill, and there are still a lot of hills that I have not looked over!
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Adventurous Traveler
Well-known member
Hey Sub, are you a member of Boondockers Welcome? I'm in....lol.
Anyway, I see your point about spending the summers motoring up and down the coast from your beautiful home location. I have driven along U.S. 1 several times near Boothbay Harbor and have enjoyed Portland, Freeport, Kennebunkport a few times, and Bar Harbor. There is no doubt of the absolute beauty of the area.
Relating my prior post to yours, summer after summer you are visiting, experiencing, and enjoying the same places, maybe people, and activities which is not bad. But, looking at Kirk's post as a further example, there is a heckuva lot to see in this beautiful country and I'm thrilled that I finally realized how RVs facilitate that.
Similar to you, boat vs RV, our decision was moving into a much more expensive house (and NYS taxes) or staying put in the paid-off maintenance free we are in and have the money to enjoy ourselves from our 50s into our now retirement years. Our house never looked so good to us.
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