Community Forums

BacktoRoots · 09-17-2010, 07:54 PM

Good Day All,

After lurking a bit I decided to jump in and meet the community. Hubby and I are in the looking stage concerning the whole RV scene. We have already changed some of our ideas about which type of unit we would like to own and how it will be used. (More on that at a later date.)

At any rate, I'm looking forward to learning from each of you and increasing my knowledge. So far my journal is filled with questions and ideas. Unlike some of you, neither of us has a heritage of camping or RVing from our families. Yet, we both love exploring new things. So here I am.

Thanks for allowing me to use each of use as mentors.

RickO · 09-17-2010, 08:04 PM

Welcome aboard Yvonne! Not quite 4 years ago I was in the same boat introducing myself on this forum while I was in the looking stage for our first RV. Now we're full timing and loving it!

Feel free to fire away with your questions. You'll find some very friendly and helpful folks here.

Best of Luck...

Rick

BacktoRoots · 09-17-2010, 08:09 PM

Thanks Rick!

It is good to know you are willing to join the list of educators and mentors.

TXiceman · 09-17-2010, 08:51 PM

Welcome aboard. One goo starting place is to visit an RV show so that yo can see lots of different types and models in one place. DO NOT fall in love with one and get sucked into buying at the show.

An excellent place to start is to rent a motorhome for a few days and try it out. Some people find out that they are not cut out for RVing or being that close.

Next thing. It is probably better to buy a clean used RV and not get hit with the big depreciation on a new one the minute you roll it off the lot.

What we found works great is to tell the salesman to take a hike and leave you alone in the RV. Just take your time and "play house" for an hour or so. See where you would put clothes, dishes, food, fishing gear, lawn chairs. Stand in the show to see if you fir, set on the toilet ...some have really small potty areas. See if there is a place for the linens in the bath. Pretend to fix a meal and see if you have room.

Basically try it on.

Once yo decide on a used unit that has real potential, hire an independent RV tech to check all of the systems out and report any problems to you. This will usually run you a $200.00 or so.

Also, do not believe anything the salesman tells you. Make sure any promises are written into the sales contract and signed by the dealership.

Have fun shopping.

Ken

Purplefans & Harvey · 09-17-2010, 09:03 PM

It's been a pleasure being part of this site. The information that is found is great. We purchased our first 5 years ago. We were the 3rd owner, and it was 5 years old. Class C. Our second one we just purchased this year, class A. This one is 6 years old. We really enjoy the camping, and meeting the many different, but friendly people RVing.

BacktoRoots · 09-18-2010, 06:56 AM

TXiceman and Purplefans & Harvey,

Thanks for stopping in!

Yes, used is our choice. We tend to purchase "once owned" for many items. There is a big RV show coming up soon in our neck of the woods and it is our plan to be there.

And TXiceman, your other information will, I'm sure, prove to be quite helpful.

BTW my Daddy was born in the great state of Texas. We found a great deal of pleasure in teasing him about his way of saying things. Perhaps he held on to that lovely accent all his life because he so enjoyed the attention.

Me thinks he is looking down from his heavenly home and saying, "Ah, See-us, ya'll ull jist hay-of ta chop yur wee-ush lee-ust dah-oun ah bee-ut." Translation to English - "Ah, Sis, you will just have to chop your wish list down a bit." It seems many Texans are good at making one syllable words into two. I, for one, love it.

Again, thanks for the helpful advice!

Kountry87Air · 09-18-2010, 07:18 AM

We also bought ours "well maintained and used". In our search, we looked at units from individuals and not dealers..mainly as there are so many in our area we had a plethora of choices anyway. We found that even individuals had a way of "forgetting" to let us know of system issues. I drove 2 hours to look at one..the owner and I had several phone conversations..I could see his pictures online...turned out he "forgot" to tell me the awning had no fabric..and I..seeing the pictures and clearly seeing the awning..never thought to ask.."hey, is there fabric on that awning?"..lesson I took there was to always ask the obvious before making the trip.
As we went along we made a checklist of questions...and a list of "gotta haves" "nice to have" and "don't wants". I am 6'2"..one of the "gotta haves" discovered was headroom in the shower..that kind of thing.
We enjoyed the process of looking a great deal..hope you can have fun with it as well.

tncruiser · 09-18-2010, 07:24 AM

welcome and good shopping.last year we went looking for our first thought was a small used tt after looking at several we decided a basic c would fit our needs ,had to fit in the drive, new,and no mortgage so we ended up with a 2009 29 ft holiday rambler. enjoyed it very much after 5 weeks out this past summer we decided maybe a little bigger with a couple slide and ducted air vs roof top would be nice .so we ended up with a new 2011 georgeton ve 280, the "a' drives easy and a lot more comfort with less road noise.we have had it 5 weeks and spent 3 in it cant wait to go again.we have a condo up north we have only used it 1 week in the past 16 months .we love the motor home and wish i had it before retirement as i was a road salesmen who spent up to 300 nights per year in motels.go for your dream and ENJOY
brianj

BacktoRoots · 09-18-2010, 04:00 PM

Thank you, Don and Danelle and tncruiser!

How true! Half the fun is looking and learning. You did both make me think about something which makes me say, "Well, of course. Why didn't I realize that sooner?"

One of the concepts I had was that we must choose Mr Perfect RV so we weren't stuck with Mr Misbehaving RV. We really need to think in terms of research and dive as opposed to research till we drop.

Thanks!

John H... · 09-18-2010, 04:05 PM

Yvonne, Welcome to the forum. You will get lots of assistance here. You have come to the right place. Good luck with your RV search. John H...

Purplefans & Harvey · 09-18-2010, 06:03 PM

Some of the things we found that our first RV had that were definites for our 2nd one were: Dual Day/Night Shades (AWESOME!!!), Living room slideout (1st RV didn't have it, realized that it was necessary for our family), Two AC units, proper sized bathroom and shower (at least we aren't super tall!), larger holding tanks, and for us the 30 amp v. 50 was the right choice for us. And making sure the RV fit into our driveway, so we could store it, and set it up, was very important. I got a chance to explore different sizes, and when visiting with another RVer (and spending about 1/2 hour in her RV), I realized what the right size was for us. Have fun looking!