Stuck on the fence

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billweston

New member
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Posts
3
Have been looking at RV's for 3 years but just can not pull the trigger. I feel it would be used 8+ times a year and would make 3 day weekends more possible (2 kids now and 2 that we are finalizing adoption on). It just seems to be a hassle to pack everything up and get everything in the car and find a place and get settled into a motel and pack back up and --------. We also have one in soccer and it would be nice to have somewhere to hang out between games at the tournaments. We hunt and fish and could use it a few times a year for that. I shoot some skeet tournaments and would stay on site for a few of those each year. I a sure it would be used, but would the cost be about the same as some hotel rooms and a good vacation to the mountains in a cabin a few times a year??

I know that I want a class c in the 30 foot range. Got a good deal presented to me on a 06 Winnebago Outlook (31 foot), great finance rate (simple interest, fixed 20 years) and the payments are do-able. I guess the bottom line is the wife is the responsible one and is not keen on the debt. Her position is there is too much going on financially in our lives, but there always is (I own my own business) and I am afraid I will be looking at it in the drive and wishing I didn?t buy it. Financially, it will be a while before I could write a check for it and even if I could, I doubt I would. I am a builder and could use that money to buy lots, build houses and make more money, OPM (other people's money)

Any thoughts? Is this a common concern or did you all know it was the right thing to do when you purchased your first RV??


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Bill

 
Bill,

Unfortunately, you and your wife are the only ones who can make the decision. As for financing over 20 years, just remember it's a depreciating asset and at some point you'll likely be owing more than it's worth. But, given that you're likely to use it for various purposes, there's no doubt you'd get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Having lived out of a suitcase at hotels around the world on business for many years, I have no desire to stay at a hotel in connection with recreation.
 
Bill,

My wife and I plus most of my friends who buy their first MH soon find that there aremany other features they want in a MH.  What I am saying is, you probably will NOT keep the MH for 20 years.  You'll either choose to quit MHing or buy another MH that has all the features that you discovered and that will happen long before 20 years goes by.  Don't get yourself upside down on your first MH.  You're not even sure you'll like MHing.

I suggest that you buy a used MH that is MUCH less expensive.  In that way you can try out MHing and, while camping, if the "kidletts" partially trash the inside so be it.  You may have a few more repairs on a used MH but I'll guess they will be less costly than a new MH.

JerryF
 
My wife and I are working through the same questions right now, and hope to make some kind of decision after our trip this coming August (we've rented a 31' Class A rig for two weeks). I don't know what we'll eventually decide, but we did figure out one thing. If we're going to buy, we better do it soon. Our oldest is 12. In five years, he'll likely be moving out, and before that he's going to be progressively less interested in riding through the west in a motorhome. Our twins are nine, and by the time the oldest moves out, they're also going to be reaching that age where they're not too excited about hanging out with their parents. The youngest is just six - we have a little more time left with him.

The point of all this is that we know that if we wait until we can better afford it, we'll have missed out on years of great family vacations and weekend getaways.

IMO, it's only money. You can't take it with you, so you might as well spend it on something you'll remember forever. Personally, I'd rather die flat broke than die wishing I'd spent more time with my kids when they still wanted to spend time with me.
 
I know that I want a class c in the 30 foot range. Got a good deal presented to me on a 06 Winnebago Outlook (31 foot), great finance rate (simple interest, fixed 20 years) and the payments are do-able.

My first thought is how do you know if you want a C in the 30 foot range.  Rent and find out.  However, if you have your mind thoroughly made up, try for 10 year money.  As Tom said, you are buying a depreciating asset -- lose 20% just registering the thing.  Your interest on the rig should be tax deductable as vacation home interest.

Will the Winny pull the toad you will need to pull?  You do know that motorhomes need a passenger vehicle towed as a dingy for touring.  The motorhome should have a tow rating sufficient for the purpose. 
 
Bill,

If you're fairly set on a 30' Class C take a look at a Lazy Daze.  Go to http://www.lazydaze.com

JerryF
 
Thanks for the input. I do not plan on having a 20 year payment, I plan on paying it off in 6-8 years but the flexability is important as a business owner. If I am upside down when I trade or sell it, I can afford to pay the difference. We have borrowed and rented once. The c fits our needs a little better because of some smaller/hard to get into areas we hunt and fish. I used a 29 foot and used it as a get around vehicle also and was planning on doing the same with the 30.5 footer. I could not tow something the whole family could get into (6) comfortably, but I may need to re-consider that issue. As far as used. I would much rather do that and have been looking for over a year now but everything good is too close to the cost of new. 90% of what i have seen for sale used is junk (true quality construction, or lack of it, shows after a few years of use) or it is priced at a premium and they are not willing to negotiate. 

Bill
 
Carl Lundquist said:
You do know that motorhomes need a passenger vehicle towed as a dingy for touring.? ?

Not necessarily. Mike and I ran around in a Class C for 15 years with no toad other than the bicycles. Worked fine for the way we were traveling....moving from one place to another daily, parking in a national park or forest service campground for several days at a time. We still don't have a toad, didn't have one in Quartzsite and were fine. We are getting to the point that we want to have a toad with us but for a lot of years we were fine without one.
 
I think the toad question is immaterial.

Sure a toad is great.  But the lack of one should not be a barrier to enjoying RVing.  After you finally get a bigger motorhome and a toad, I can guarantee there will still be more things you will want.  It never stops, and the thing is if you want to RV, then RV with whatever you can.

The tougher question is the financial one.

We hate debt.  We accumulated a lot the first half of our life, and now have spent the second half getting it all paid down to zero.  That is a great place to be. 

So should someone deprive themselves many years of RVing in order to be debt free?  Dunno.  There is a lot of life quality to be obtained from RVing.  Priceless, as Mastercard would say, is being with your family at a campfire in a lovely spot, with a nice place to cook and sleep 10 feet away.

I do not know the ultimate answer to this tough question, and I am looking forward to see what viewpoints are expressed.

 
Hey Smoky,

Where ya bin?  Heard you were supposed to be in Borrego Springs, CA.  Looked all over for you.  No Smoky.  No Red Taurus toad.
 
Smoky said:
So should someone deprive themselves many years of RVing in order to be debt free?? Dunno.? There is a lot of life quality to be obtained from RVing.?

We have a mortgage on the motorhome. The only reason we're still working part-time is to make the MH payment. We could be unemployed, motorhome-less, debt-free, sitting on our butts in our house 24/7. But it wouldn't be nearly as much fun. Anyone who wants to RV should try to find an affordable way to do that. Some can afford 45-foot, quad slides. Some can only afford a tent. Find what you can afford and what works for you and just do it. Picture yourself at 75 years old, retired, sitting in your living room watching TV and decide if that's what you want. (Ladies, picture yourself at 75, vacuuming around that old fart's feet while he sits on the sofa watching Judge Judy.)
 
Carl:

We just got back from the dry camp spot off Route 8 at the Algodonez exit.  Tom saw our coach there when he was returning home from Yuma.  Before that we were at the Pomona rally.

I have no idea where Borrego Springs is.  Who said we were there?
 
You should try Borrego Springs (California desert) some time. Beautiful spot with awesome, awesome wildflowers most years,
 
Smoky said:
Ahh!? Thanks Wendy!? I see it is off route 22.? Wonder if that is the park Terry and Betty were telling me about at Pomona?

Yep,
That's the one.  When Carl mentioned he would be out there, I told him I had just  given you the directions for Anza Borrego and to look for your rig.  Then I found out you did not go there but I did not tell Carl as I thought he was out of communication.  Life is complicted and you can run but you can't hide!

Betty
 
LOL Betty!

We would have loved to stay there.  But when we saw how close we were already to Algodonez (sp?) we decided to keep on going.  That way we would have sunday to relax and meet the "interesting" inhabitants at the boondocker area.  Sky likely would have enjoyed either place, but he especially liked the Colorado River.  Lots of doggies to play with also.  I think we will be doing the Algodonez run at least twice a year now.

BTW are there any other border towns that offer glasses, medicines, dental work, hearing aids, etc like Algodonez?
 
Tom and Smokey....

I bet we passed right by you guys, or were at least in the vicinity: Tom on his way home from Yuma and Smokey in his boondocking location.  Tim and I left San Diego on Tuesday, March 21, and ended up at Picacho Peak RV Park off of the intersection of 8 and 10.  Drove right through Yuma.  Picacho Peak RV Resort is really really nice; great view and great pool/spa and good price @ $20.00 per night for full hook-ups.  Only drawback is the interstate is close as well as a train track.  We are now in SW Tucson at Western WAy RV Park.

Smokey, besides Borrego Springs for desert camping; there is a fabulous place right on the Mexican/US border called, Organ Pipe National Monument.  The campground is one of the most beautiful desert campground I've seen.  No hook ups, but they have a dump and water.  Right at the border is a little bunch of shops and a small cafe that sells wonderful fried chicken.  If you have a golden age pass, it's $6.00/night or somewhere around that price.

Marsha~

 
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