What was your biggest surprise after purchasing a motorhome?

[garyb1st]

How quickly our two cats adapted to RV Travel. When we had a trailer, they used to cry for an hour in the back seat of the Ford F250 every time we started out. Now when we get ready to travel they seem to sense we're about to leave and get into their carriers with no problem

 

[DonTom]

Buy a 37' coach and hitch a Jeep to the back bumper. You'll figure it out pretty quick.

OIC. Another reason for me not to tow and just keep my electric motorcycle on the hitch.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Ex-Calif]

The biggest surprise was the cost of maintenance items when scaled up to RV size.

I had not done a tune up on a V8 since college. I did everything - rotor, cap, wires, plugs filters etc. Over $200 just in parts.

When I looked for RV tires I seriously thought the number I was seeing had to be for 4 tires or at least a pair - LOL...

 

[Isaac-1]

What a pain in the butt it is to break camp everytime you need to go to the store unless you have a toad. But them you need to stop in the middle of the road to unhook it.
Todays 5ers have every feature a motorhome does and take the same amount of set up time and you driving the toad which makes it easier and cheaper

5'ers lack one BIG feature of motorhomes, they don't have access to the living area from the drivers seat and vice versa. This can be a big point when you pull into a a place to part for the night in the middle of a heavy rain, or pull into a roadside rest area wanting to use the rest room, or grab a snack.

In my motorhome stopping to grab a drink out of the refrigerator is a fairly trivial detail, I have been known to do it at the base of exit ramps before in remote areas.

Another details is that you then have to drive a 1 ton pickup around everywhere

 

[Ex-Calif]

5'ers lack one BIG feature of motorhomes, they don't have access to the living area from the drivers seat and vice versa. This can be a big point when you pull into a a place to part for the night in the middle of a heavy rain, or pull into a roadside rest area wanting to use the rest room, or grab a snack.

In my motorhome stopping to grab a drink out of the refrigerator is a fairly trivial detail, I have been known to do it at the base of exit ramps before in remote areas.

Another details is that you then have to drive a 1 ton pickup around everywhere

This is an important trade with a trailer. We recently did a 4,000 mile trip with 3 people. Two would be either at the dinette surfing the internet having lunch or whatever or sitting on the couch watching tv.

The big trade is that with a trailer, if the engine and transmission get old you just buy a new truck. If the trailer gets old or rot/water damage you buy a new(er) trailer. Obviously with a Class A it's all or nothing making the decision to re-engine or in case of rot rebuild a lot tougher.

 

[Kirk]

We do not plan to become full-timers. But what we don't want to do is buy one then find we should of bought the other one.

I like most of the suggestions above but am not sure that we have answered the questions that you have. We owned 2 class A motorhomes, both of the gasoline powered. The first we bought 3 years old and kept for 8 years, the second we bought new, lived in it fulltime for almost 12 years and owned it for a total of 14 years. I have driven more than one diesel pusher and I would say that the #1 advantage for gasoline models is the initial cost and the cost of maintenance. The #1 disadvantage to gas is that they don't have air ride unless you spend a lot of money on after-market equipment (at least 2 companies make air ride for gas chassis) because there is no better ride that an air ride for any RV. In addition, gas coaches are only available up to about 37/38' in length while diesels are available up to 45' in length, if that is important to you. In general, most (but not all) diesels will have more storage and a larger cargo weight capacity.

With any motorized RV it is best if you have some means of getting about when you do not wish to disconnect the RV, although many people do that for years, driving the RV.

But them you need to stop in the middle of the road to unhook it.

Ignore the detractions from those who don't have a motorhome. For some reason there those who feel that those doing anything differently than they are are wrong. The fact is that with a little bit of practice it is far less work to connect and disconnect a towed vehicle than it it to hookup and unhook a fifth wheel. And when you tow a small car it is far less expensive to drive than would the the big truck of the fiver folks and if it wears out is less expensive to replace as well and you don't put those miles on your motorhome so it will be years before the engine or transmission need major attention!

 

[Larry N.]

What a pain in the butt it is to break camp everytime you need to go to the store unless you have a toad. But them you need to stop in the middle of the road to unhook it.
Todays 5ers have every feature a motorhome does and take the same amount of set up time and you driving the toad which makes it easier and cheaper

Setup time isn't necessarily the same (I've seen 5th wheels take quite a while to get unhooked and, at departure time, re-hooked up), and you don't ALWAYS have to "stop in the middle of the road to unhook it" since sometimes you can/will unhook while parked for check-in (some parks require this), but often you can get a pull-thru site that allows you to wait until you're parked before unhooking (and hooking up before startup on departure).

Note, too, Steve that there's considerable difference between flat towing and towing on a dolly. And, it's rarely more than 5 minutes to unhook the toad on my system, and just a hair longer to hook it up.

And, for smaller RVs, ask JudyJB about breaking camp to "go to the store."

So "pain in the butt" depends on who's looking at the situation and what specific equipment they have, as well as what the specific individual's preferences are -- it's not a "one size fits all" affair. To me the 5th wheel with a large pickup is the "pain," and how would I get that large pickup through some of the narrow, winding, places that my Jeep goes with ease? And the Jeep (or any smaller toad) is easier to park at grocery stores and especially in tight spots.

'Taint all the same...

 

[steveblonde]

Ive had both motor homes and 5ers and with practice both can be parked with ease and my pickup is just as agile as most smaller cars. But some people think because a motor home costs more then it is more and thats not always the case. Most newer 5ers push 1 button to level same as a bus, we have slides that open with the push of a button, we all have to plug in to shore power or push a button to start the built in genny, we all have plug in a sewer hose and fresh water hose. I can unhook my 5er as fast as a toad. We all have preferences . I can hook up just as fast if not faster than any motorhome out there. An $800,000 bus or a $300,000 truck and 5er leaves me $500,000 for my Lamborghini
Thank you very much

 

[Isaac-1]

I have (an admittedly older) Crewcab Superduty F250, as well as a small TOAD, Toyota Yaris hatchback, and I can tell you there is a world of difference in agility, the Yaris has a turning radius of 17.1 ft, which hs shorter than the length of the F250 at a bit over 20 ft long. Google puts the turning radius of my F250 at about 30.5 ft, and the turning radius of a 2020 crew cab F250 at 26.5-29 ft depending on trim (I am guessing 4x4 vs 4x2). With the Yaris I could drive in circles on a standard width road so making U turns is trivial, in fact I find myself not reversing in my driveway at home when I have the Yaris here, I just pull forward and make a U turn in the width of the driveway.

Full size pickup trucks are also often not parking garage friendly, once a number of years ago I had to find parking for my F250 at the Texas Medical center in Houston, not only was it hard to get into the parking garage (6'7" clearance with a truck over 6 ft tall), hard to make the turns on ramps, but it ws also hard to find a long enough parking space with only a few in the corners on each level being long enough for it to half way fit.

 

[Kirk]

Thinking about purchasing our first (used) motorhome and spending about 80-100K. Like the idea of a Class A diesel or a Class C diesel or gas.

I think that some of the replies have nothing to do with the question?

 

[DonTom]

In addition, gas coaches are only available up to about 37/38' in length while diesels are available up to 45' in length, if that is important to you.

I discovered diesel RVs are either way too small (Class B Diesels) or are way too large (40'+ class A's).

Why are there none in the midrange lengths? I could not find any. I probably would have bought one if they made them in any reasonable lengths other than way too short or way too long.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Isaac-1]

Don there are a few, I think Tiffin makes / made a 28 ft diesel model in the last few years, and is currently offered in a 31 and 32 ft model.

 

[DonTom]

I suppose my biggest surprise on my new RV is the half-ass job they did in checking it out at the dealer.

And that even a new RV will have many small issues.

I bought three RVs in my life. All three (100%) had tire issues of some type. Always check all the tire PSIs before leaving in a new or used RV. Bring your own tire gauge.

And then just start checking everything you can think off. Including under and the roof.

And fluids. I needed to use my window washer to discover the washer bottle was bone dry, never used, never had anything in it ever. Lots of air in the lines to pump out before it would work.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[DonTom]

Don there are a few, I think Tiffin makes / made a 28 ft diesel model in the last few years, and is currently offered in a 31 and 32 ft model.

When I was RV shopping, there wasn't any in all those RVs. Not used or new.

A 28' foot diesel sounds interesting. But I would have to see more, but at least the size is about right.

But so far, I am happy with what I did buy, despite a few minor issues.

It's in their shop right now. I wonder how much of it they can fix. I still don't have the harness for the levelling jacks. I think they are having issues getting parts, perhaps because so many places were shut down because of the COVID thing.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Mark2068]

Thanks for all the responses so far. We have thought about a 5er and ruled it out because we know we would like the convenience of not have to walk outside to get from the driver seat to kitchen. we are leaning more toward something around 35’ and diesel pusher. Keep the responses coming. Thanks

 

[Ray-IN]

My biggest surprise after purchase was realizing how complicated this machine is and I knew nothing about it or fixing anything. I've spent the pat 8 years learning as I go, with help from RV forums and Utube. For what I can't fix, to always carry good plastic.

 

[steveblonde]

Thanks for all the responses so far. We have thought about a 5er and ruled it out because we know we would like the convenience of not have to walk outside to get from the driver seat to kitchen. we are leaning more toward something around 35’ and diesel pusher. Keep the responses coming. Thanks

There is nothing wrong with that. To each their own. That also helps you narrow down your choices. Keep asking keep looking and im sure you find what YOU want and then you will change your parameters lol

 

[Isaac-1]

Mark, my advice is to define how you plan to use it, what sort of places you plan to go, and how you plan to live in it to determine what size and type of coach fits your needs / wants. For us a 28 ft coach works great, as you can see in my avatar photo when traveling without a TOAD we can fit into a standard full size parking space, if we can back in and overhang the curb. We like to go to all sorts of out of the way places, smaller campgrounds, public campgrounds, etc. many of which we could not easily fit into if we had a larger diesel pusher.

 

[steveblonde]

5'ers lack one BIG feature of motorhomes, they don't have access to the living area from the drivers seat and vice versa. This can be a big point when you pull into a a place to part for the night in the middle of a heavy rain, or pull into a roadside rest area wanting to use the rest room, or grab a snack.

In my motorhome stopping to grab a drink out of the refrigerator is a fairly trivial detail, I have been known to do it at the base of exit ramps before in remote areas.

Another details is that you then have to drive a 1 ton pickup around everywhere

I give you the staying inside part and yes running from the truck to the trailer all 45 seconds can suck agreed . When we travel we have a cooler in the truck with lunch drinks snacks etc. But the 1 ton truck comment i disagree with, im much more comfortable driving my dually than i am driving my wifes 2020 Ford Edge but thats me

 

[Larry N.]

Ive had both motor homes and 5ers and with practice both can be parked with ease and my pickup is just as agile as most smaller cars. But some people think because a motor home costs more then it is more and thats not always the case.

For some types of driving a pickup is, indeed, just fine. But I have an F-150, in addition to my Jeep, and there are many places to park where the F-150 (due to length and to turning radius) takes a back and forth a time or two to complete the turn into the parking space when the adjacent spots are occupied, but the Jeep will go in just fine with no fiddling around. In addition, many of the off-road segments I've done are mostly fine with a pickup, but often there is a segment where it is too tight to fit anything longer than the 4-door Wrangler -- it's both narrower and shorter than a pickup -- so there IS a difference in "agility."

And I can't understand your reference to an $800,000 motorhome (I've never come close to that -- my brand new DP was less than your $300,000 truck and 5er), or why a perception of more expensive being better came into it at all.

Perhaps your 5er does, in fact, set up as quickly as my DP, but I've seen quite a few that don't so it's not automatic that a 5th wheel (all of them anyhow) is that quick.

One other factor (for me, maybe not for everyone) is that I can park the Jeep in my garage. My F-150 just barely fits, but a truck that could pull a 5er would have to be parked outside.

Many factors...