Some people should not RV

[huntnski]

Some people should not own an RV, hum, that's funny. All the Ads on TV show everyone having such a great time in a RV. Magazines are full of laughing and smiling faces in an RV.

I love RVing!

(Caution this poster has been known to be delusional. Take every comment he makes with a grain of salt)

Did I mention I love RVing!

[TeJay]

This has been an interesting read. The DW and i have already stated that while we like to RV we will never give up the S&B. That's just how it is.

I do have a good mechanical background and still can and do most all of my own work. Yes I realize that will change at some point but for now it's good.

Here's something that we did not know or just didn't realize before we bought our current RV. While at our dealer two years ago I ran into a retired Teacher. She was having her WBGO Vista 30-T serviced and while we were catching up on stuff she mentioned that the AR WBGO club was a neat group of folks and that we should consider joining.

I thought about it for a few days then mentioned it to the DW. My DW is not a joiner, very quiet, not really into the social thing and I thought maybe joining this group would help with that. One of the best decisions we made. They are a wonderful group of folks.

We schedule ten 5 day trips every year starting in March and running through December. Most trips are in AR and a few in the surrounding states: MO, OK, TX etc. We are not expected to attend all of the outings but we typically have from 10 to 20 units at each rally. We arrive Sunday evening and leave Friday morning. Those are the times when most CG's are at their lowest attendance so we can get better rates. We arrive Sunday when the weekenders are leaving and leave when the next weekenders are arriving.

One of the greatest aspects of this group that i did not realize is the collective knowledge of 10 to 20 folks with the same type of coaches. Many a trip we gather to help solve the latest issues with our RV''s.

All of us are over 60 and the collective experiences, mechanical background, knowledge, know how and problem solving abilities is truly amazing.

Some of our most recent discussions involved where to have your unit serviced when and if you do need it done. Another's experience (good & bad) is well worth the information.

Just last month I had heard of one of our members with a WBGO diesel and they had been without their RV for 8 months. In December of 2015 while leaving our last camp out for the year it quit running. He had it towed to his home and had it at two different shops over the next 8 months. Nobody had any idea what the next step would be. We live 3 hours away and don't usually communicate in the off season. However I did hear about his problem and decided that maybe I could help.

I called a student of mine (Tom graduated in 1985) who is a shop Foreman at the local Freightliner truck repair shop. I stopped in to see him and asked if he'd help. I relayed what was done to the coach and he called the lead tech in Mountain Home that was trying to fix it. Between the two of them they finally diagnosed the problem and fixed the coach.

That happened because of the close support within the group. We work at trying to keep all the RV's running.

[huntnski]

TeJay that's just how us Arkies are, always helpful.

[UFO Pilot]

Originally Posted by Pigman1

I'd give the new guy a break if he shows the slightest inclination to help himself. However, I've met too many who revel in their ignorance and stand there complaining and wringing their hands instead if taking it to a parking lot to practice, or asking someone to TEACH THEM, NOT DO IT FOR THEM. Some people should not own an RV.

Are you one of those who get to decide who does and who doesn't get to own an RV??

My son bought his first towable and I had to back it in the first 3 or 4 times he parked it at home. After a few attempts he got very good at doing it by himself. Most people need a little time to learn, give them a brake as long as they don't damage your property. Life is too short to be bothered by the little things. Just my opinion, feel free to disagree!

[dphaynes]

As a rider with 200,000+ miles on bikes and 13 years worth of racing experience, I can point and laugh at the people who buy HDs to become bikers.

Or I can constructively try to pass on my knowledge and experience so they don't splatter themselves pointlessly any more than is required by laws of biological evolution.

I can, as an observant and not-too-stupid human being, perceive that the US is in a bit of a political and financial death spiral and that my retirement savings and any potential value in any home I might buy are at high risk due to one wantonly destructive political party and one passively destructive political party. I can make my own determination about the relative safety of where my money is, and the relative value I get from putting it where I do.

So speaking as someone who sold their home, and, like I did with the three I've owned before that, turned a tidy profit, I don't view my decision to full-time it with no prior experience to be a particularly ignorant one.

I've traveled a bunch, been to all 50 states, all but one province, and two Mexican states. I've slept many nights on concrete rest area picnic tables in K-mart sleeping bags that were little more flannel sheets sewn into a big bag. I've stayed in five star hotels including the Waldorf Astoria. I've stayed in old Soviet area hotels in Siberia. I've owned 1,200 sq ft spec house ranch style home, and I owned a 4,300 sq ft virtual palace.

What I find odd is that those transitions generally don't draw the ire of the elitists, but my decision to transition to an RV in a day and age when much of what an RV does is now push button and computer controlled, causes such consternation that it warrants comment by multiple inhabitants of the upper echelons of RVdom.

I don't begrudge noobs today getting wave disc brakes strong enough to do a stoppie with one finger simply because they haven't passed through the hallowed gateways of the school of hard knocks and endured single leading shoe drum brakes, then double leading shoe, then gone from full width hubs to half width hubs to solid discs and on up to the fancy ABS controlled dual-four piston wave rotor monsters of today.

I bought an RV. It's an all electric model. I push a button and it dumps the air and levels itself. I push some other buttons and the slides go in or out. I push a button to turn on the water pump or water heater or whatever, and if I try to drive off with jacks down or low air, I get alarms warning me not to do stupid things. I've got a dishwasher and heated floors. It's just a house that happens to have wheels. I didn't automatically inherit an RV lifestyle any more than a noob who buys a Harley inherits a biker lifestyle. What someone owns does not define what they are. At most their purchases might say something about how they'd like things to be, though in most cases that's just a case of them falling for idiotic advertising.

I did my research, I weighed the pros and cons against my experiences. I decided that the actual value of the places and experiences outweigh the hypothetical/potential value of appreciation in home value.

I don't want to mow lawns or shovel walks or do the usual homeowner ****. I don't want to live in some little condo or townhouse with common walls or barking dogs next door with no course of action available to me to put a stop to the barking.

I traded the potential appreciation of a piece of real estate to the guaranteed depreciation of an RV because to me personally, the value is in the experiences, not in how much money I'll have in the bank for the government or insurance companies to split between them if/when I end up with a medical condition or in an assisted care facility or wherever I'm bound for in the future.

It was hardly a rash or ignorant decision, I spent months looking into the issues and I made a rational decision and drew up a rational budget and now I've just completed my first month on the road and although I'm not at all happy with the abysmal "support" from the manufacturer and dealers, everything else has gone pretty much according to plan. I'm learning to drive it competently, I've only made a few stupid noob mistakes, I haven't blown shitters on myself (yet) and I'm pretty comfortable with living and working from my house that happens to have wheels.

It's not for everybody, and not everyone goes into the process as methodically or logically as I have, but the point of irv2 and other online sites is to share the experiences, good or bad.

One of the most important things that's missing from society today is a feeling of responsibility. We've got an endless supply of people who will blather on for hours/months/days/years about their right to this and their right to that, but they never talk about their responsibilities. They talk about their right to say whatever they want, and a right to judge whatever behavior they want, but they don't talk about a responsibility to say something constructive or a responsibility to judge fairly based on evidence and reason.

If it's just financial harm you're concerned about it seems like there's far more collective financial harm from people here with credit card balances and buying from non-taxpaying corporations like Amazon than there are from a relative handful of people dumping their houses for RVs.

Folks from Michigan who lost their asses on their houses recently, and people from California who went completely upside-down on their mortgages back in the 90's, they wouldn't have been harmed if they had sold their homes and bought RVs. So the financial harm is a statistical/hypothetical thing, not an absolute/guaranteed thing.

We've got a political party that is openly stating that they're willing to crash our government and our economy by obstruction or by overt action simply because they can't get their way by any legal, ethical or democratic means. We've got another political party that persists as the only alternative simply because they aren't quite as stupid or insane as the other party. I'm betting that between those two forces, a lot of folks counting on their home appreciating in the future are going to be in for a disappointing decade or three.

Only time will tell which view is correct, but I think 2 or 3 housing price crashes over the last couple of decades are pretty strong evidence on my side. The fact that neither political party is even attempting to rein in the financial institutions responsible for those crashes, let alone prosecute the individuals responsible, makes me feel pretty confident my view is more likely to reflect reality.

I'm a noob. Never owned an RV in my life. Dumped everything I had and moved what was left into 40' of "Bubba Shops at Tiffany's" gaudiness and took my cat and all my **** on the road. I think it's a smart decision even with the guaranteed massive depreciation. My cat agrees. Either that or he ate a bug again, it's hard to read cat facial expressions.

[BRex45]

I'm a noob. Never owned an RV in my life

Should this be changed to "I just burned a doobie?"

[biker art]

Originally Posted by tcg

Were you born with that ability or did you practice or maybe someone taught you?

When I first got my boat on a tandem axle trailer I couldn't back it down the ramp(or anywhere else), it took lots of practice to get me where i am now, being able to backup anywhere.

Everyone starts somewhere, give the new guy a break.

It just come easy for me,An I'm not bragging here. One thing I learned a long tome ago before RVing was when backing up a trailer if having problems put your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and the trailer will go in the direction of your hand.I know its very simple but good to remember when it a trouble spot. I did give the guy a break,about an hour then had to do something.

[adamfolger]

dphaynes....I read the whole thing and I just want to give you props for the write, both what and how. I found it rather "wordy" but we Etymologists have that fault...Well said sir!

[Bucky1320]

I see some have implied that this thread is or should be political. It isn't. It could be...if you are someone who has allowed the government or your parents to take care of you all your life, RV'ing in retirement probably isn't going to go well.
I have seen some imply or outright state that the idea of the thread is elite'ist. It isn't.
Someone did mention personal responsibility.....Yes! I do think that is part of it. If you have gone through life and have made it to retirement age and have never developed even the lowest level of mechanical knowledge and have no real interest in it....well...
If you have made it through all of your working years, and have developed no amount of problem solving skills.....well.....
If you have made it to an age where you should have weathered some big problems and storms in your life and have had the intestinal fortitude to not fall apart when things don't go as planned or when outright disaster hits.....well that is a useful and sometimes needed skill in RV'ing. And I dare say that if you are a person who lacks these qualities after a lifetime of experience not rv'ing.....you probably aren't up for the challenges rv'ing is going to throw you. There are skills that rv'ing can teach you if you have the right attitude and the right approach to life. But if problems small and large consume you normally, then they are going to consume you when you introduce the potential problems of an rv as well.
I stated before that the thread isn't about excluding some. Don't read more into the title than it is. Some people shouldn't rv.

[Johnitis]

In other words, someone who fits your criteria. No, that's not elitist, at all.

Originally Posted by Bucky1320

I have seen some imply or outright state that the idea of the thread is elite'ist. It isn't.

[Superslif]

The last few years I have been following many Youtube families who had "O" knowledge of RVing. Some caught on, others it pains me to keep watching as to problems arise.

Many problems start from them buying a 5 or 10 year old class A's when they trust the dealer who says we fully inspected this unit and its road ready. 100 miles down the road "boom !!!!!" and once they drove it off the lot they own the problem.

Many new bee's think its just a home on wheels, turn the key and drive off into the sunset...Yes, it is, BUT, things go wrong especially just like owning any S & B structure.

[Bucky1320]

Originally Posted by Johnitis

In other words, someone who fits your criteria. No, that's not elitist, at all.

Look at it this way please: If a bird tells you that having no feathers and no skills with parachutes or cords, that you should not jump off a building.....what does it make him? Elite'ist? If I tell someone that it is unwise to jump into my dragster and attempt to race it with no prior experience or knowledge, does that make me Elite'ist? At some point it is realism and just plain good advice.

[KSagal]

Originally Posted by Bucky1320

Look at it this way please: If a bird tells you that having no feathers and no skills with parachutes or cords, that you should not jump off a building.....what does it make him? Elite'ist? If I tell someone that it is unwise to jump into my dragster and attempt to race it with no prior experience or knowledge, does that make me Elite'ist? At some point it is realism and just plain good advice.

Are you a bird? I taught skydiving for a dozen years. Every first time student I had clearly had never skydived before, and some were naturals at it, and some were terrible at it. Some of the naturals went on to be great skydivers, some did not get past the beginning stages. Some of the terrible skydivers went on to become great skydivers. Others did not. All of them were more ignorant of the sport than I when I was their instructor and they were the student.

A bird telling a human they cannot fly is not elitist. A human telling another human that I learned this skill, and you have not learned it to my standard, and therefore you should not own an RV is elitist.

You were not born with the skills needed to own an RV. Just because you feel you have learned the skill needed to satisfy your own standard, and another has not proven to you that they meet that standard is no reason to own or not own something. They do not owe you anything, including asking for your permission.

At the same time, you are welcome to voice your opinion. I have a high value I assign my opinion. You have a high value you assign your opinion. How I feel about your opinion, and how you feel about mine is not relevant, unless I want your approval.

I have a good friend and neighbor who is not handy around the house. I am. I have mostly rebuilt my entire house and grounds. He bought the next house, and does very little work to it.

His house looks much nicer than mine. He hires landscapers. He has many friends with skill superior to mine, in drywall, painting, carpentry, etc.

If I used your formula for home ownership, I am more suited to it than he. But he simply brings other skills to the table. In the end, we both have houses we like, and we both have no problems with the way the other guy handles their life.

By the way, if a tree falls in his yard, I am there in an instant. He knows and appreciates this. If I need to hire someone to do something for me, he has a name for me, and it will come with a skilled person, and a good price. Neither of us feel superior to the other. Neither of us has told the other they should not own a house.

[Bucky1320]

I have no formula, and never said or felt superior to anyone. As I said: That's making my statements something that they simply are not.