Purchase early or wait?

[markyodo]

Hello all I am new here and my introduction is here LINK. We used to own a pop-up and a Class A, we did some seasonal park hosting for a few years, and sold it about 5 years ago when the travels slowed due to scheduling.

We were reviewing our travel budget for July 2016 and found that we had spent $1080 on cabins, yurt, hotel stays during our vacations last month.

My wife would like to purchase a used RV now with the intention of upgrading when we go full time in 6 years. I would like to wait and purchase an RV with better options and more money when we are closer to our decision date but then she made a good point.

We had calculated approx fuel costs, insurance, some meals, and camp site rentals and figured we could have saved $400-$500 in July if we had an RV.

So my dilemma is should we make an investment now for 5-10 year old Class A knowing it would probably have to be gas, or continue saving and wait for the right time to get the Class A Diesel? She made a good point and we are traveling more often I just don't know if we have weighed all the pros and cons, and we have limited funds so I don't want to be stuck with lengthy payments.

Thanks in advance for your advice and opinions.

[Tinman6]

Life is short and there are no guarantees for 6 years out. Get a reasonable one now and travel. Put the monthly savings back towards your "dream" coach. Which is likely to change by the time the day comes.

Play Hard!

[emuller1]

Originally Posted by Tinman6

Life is short and there are no guarantees for 6 years out. Get a reasonable one now and travel. Put the monthly savings back towards your "dream" coach. Which is likely to change by the time the day comes.

Play Hard!

In total agreement with the above statement. In addition you might find that you do not like RVing and then what. Better to find out soon than later.
I found that the first year and second we spent a lot of time and money fixing our unit the way we wanted it. Just a note the spending never stops there is always something you will want.

[jacwjames]

From a pure financial perspective it is a loosing proposition to think you'll save money buying an RV.

Once you factor in the original purchase price, maintenance, fuel, and camping fees the cost per day day of travel will be much higher then staying at a nice hotel. The cost will actually be higher if you only can occasionally used it while you are working full time.

That being said, owning and using an RV is a lifestyle choice. If you enjoy it and can afford it buy one and use it. That's what we did/do. We like RVing, it suits our needs and we upgraded to a nice Class A DP about 8 years ago.

[MSHappyCampers]

I would find a good used diesel pusher, NOT a gasser, that is within your budget and get it now. Why throw away money on motels?

[TMan59]

I am with MS 's advice.

Some thoughts here:
Getting a class A now and using it for a few years will give you a MUCH better idea of exactly the coach you will want later.
Floorplan wise, feature wise ect.
And YES I would get a older DP.

As it MAY be true that an RV is more expensive than staying in a hotel, (that would vary from coach to coach and location to location), When we return to our coach at night we are coming home.
Our bed, our closet, our fridge.
We turn on our tv and watch the channels we want.

And if they did somehow get a hotel at the bottom of the Superstition Mountains where Lost Dutchman is, or where Watchman is in Zion, I doubt it would be any cheaper.