Single Female New to RVs, Need Purchase Advice--Please Help!

[House Husband]

Lexir,

I see you mentioned an older Bounder.
I have a Bounder buddy in Orange, CA that has a 1996 30E Bounder that has always sat in the shade when stored. Eric is one of those paranoid guys about his stuff. I have even added to his paranoia by helping him keep things like new. Outside shines and the inside has always been kept clean by the lady in his life. All necessary maintenance has been done and then some.
If interested contact me and I'll get you hooked up with Eric.

Richard
RLS7201@gmail.com

[dirt40]

I didn't see where anyone asked if you had experience towing a trailer. Towing a fifth wheel isn't for a newbie, and not easy if you're by yourself. I would say that a class A or class C would be better. I've had all of those and we have a class A diesel pusher now for our sons racing lifestyle.

[coachmanjay]

A couple of comments based on previous posts/answers. You said you liked the apt feel. A fifth wheel toy hauler could give you that. The bedroom/ bath is at the towing end and elevated. The cargo area would make a good office and some even have the drop down door that becomes a patio. (Outdoor feel). No matter what type you decide on, you are going to insure two vehicles. The insurance for FW is probably less than a motorized vehicle. The caveat here, is you might need full timers insurance, unless you keep a permanent residence, another insurance. Towing is a lot easier these days with all the tech advances, radar, wireless cameras etc, but it is still a learning experience. RV driving school is a good option.

Have nearly 50 years of experience of “camping” experience with the same group of friends, first with a boat and now RVs. The group has all types of rigs, trailer, 5th wheel, Class A & C. (No B’s) and we all seem to manage doing the same thing with different procedures. Money, family size, mechanical ability etc all effect the purchase decision. Those that use a waste wagon and water bladder seem to do As well as those that unhook and drive to the dump. Every one has different talents/fears. One friend flew jets off an aircraft carrier and was terrified backing up his boat to launch.

Good luck with your search this weekend

[GypsyR]

Different strokes for different folks but maybe I can input a little.
My wife was at first a bit iffy on what I was buying. It wasn't until much later I found what really sold her was that it has an actual bathtub. Small, but a tub she can soak in. I had NO idea it was important at the time.

Ours has an actual door to the bedroom area. Funny how that seemed pointless at first and now we value it very highly. Much better than a fairly lame shade thing. Mainly for dressing really. You can have all your forward windows open and not worry with the curtains and such you may have open up front.

If you want an apartment feel, the slides are very important. I bought mine with the single slide shut and broken and so could only guess at how much more room there would be. We were quite impressed with how much it added to the living space after I repaired it. When we hang out inside that's where we are and it makes a huge difference. When you are shopping you can't judge the slides unless they are out.
Some have bedroom slides. Having one would make it easier to dress back there but that's it for us and we can live without one. If that is your preferred hangout then you'd probably want a slide there.
Some have kitchen slides. We pretty much cook outside, our kitchen is pretty awful. It looks OK you actually start cooking a dinner. If you've ever tried to cook in a small kitchen with two people in it, it's like that except you don't need the extra person to be all cramped up and have every thing in the way. If you plan to do any actual cooking, the kitchen arrangement will be VERY important to you. I know little of fifth wheels but I saw one that had an actual kitchen in it. With an island at the center that you could walk all the way around (with slides out). I was very impressed and have yet to see coach quite as well equipped.

I never even heard of Newmar before I bought mine but I have been VERY pleased with the quality of it so far, even though it's 27 years old. One reason I decided to take a chance on it was the numerous posts here in the Newmar section. Most owners seem to really like them and consider them pretty high quality in general. It's worked out nicely for me. So far.

[rarebear.nm]

There is lots of good advice here. Plenty of people have done what you are talking about and yes it is all very doable and fun. While we are not full timers we do travel in most years several multi-months trips. We have both a 32ft 5th wheeler and a small Class C MH. We use them for different kinds of trips.

No question the 5th provides plenty of space and is very comfortable on extended trips with good seating, etc.

Another solo female has made a real name doing major modifications to Montana 5th wheelers. You might want to look at her web site, https://theflippingnomad.com/

You might get some useful ideas from her.

You are being very smart getting help on this forum and wish you many great experiences. Keep in mind everything RV is a set of tradeoffs.


Have fun and be safe....

[triplewide]

Lots of good free advice in the previous posts. Here is some more, well, free anyway.



As you can see there are as many opinions as there are types of RV's. No one unit will be perfect for all camping/lifestyles.


For me, floorplan, storage, and condition would be top three (in order) considerations. Secondary would be gas/diesel and brand.


What ever you decide it will most likely be your last purchase only if you find the lifestyle is not for you. If you like the lifestyle and it works financially, you will likely want to buy a newer/larger/different unit within a short period of time.



I would approach your situation with the expectation that you will not be in your first rig much more than one year. Your cash on hand sounds reasonable for what you are considering. My concern would be ongoing income to sustain the lifestyle. Worst case I guess you could abandon a broke down paid for RV and live with Mom and Dad while you regroup. Best case, you love the lifestyle and your first purchase and I'm an old blathering idiot. Hope for the latter, you'll be happy, and I have come to accept it. As long as you are prepared for the worst then every other out come is gravy. I like gravy.


From your posts, my guess is you will do fine and like the life style. It will be an adventure.

[Roy-c]

You have gotten some great advice. I would only say to buy the unit that is in the best condition, with the best maintenance records that you can. find the floorpan that works for you and have a professional check it out before you buy. Keep $10,000 in reserve for the unexpected. This will be your home and in the event of an unexpected castastrophe you could find yourself with nowhere to live and thousands in repairs.
We have an older diesel class A, no slides and that suits us but I am sure your preferences will vary. It took us 2 years to find our Wanderlodge and we knew exactly what we wanted. Don't be in a hurry and choose wisely. Do not buy one that needs a total rehab. While it sounds like an adventure it is a lot of hard work and can be very discouraging. Buy one you can enjoy while learning about RV'ing rather than about fixing an RV.

[Mile Marker 42]

Please include a picture of yourself as there are many who are single on this site ❤️. Lol. Just kidding. Surprised no one mentioned going out and renting a class a or class c first, and taking a few trips. Personally, IMHO, and with your situation, I think a class c may be a better choice for you. Just much more manageable all the way around. Also, finding someone to work on it will be easier too. Keep us posted on what you end up doing?

[Lexir]

Originally Posted by ericisrael42

Please include a picture of yourself as there are many who are single on this site ❤️. Lol. Just kidding. Surprised no one mentioned going out and renting a class a or class c first, and taking a few trips. Personally, IMHO, and with your situation, I think a class c may be a better choice for you. Just much more manageable all the way around. Also, finding someone to work on it will be easier too. Keep us posted on what you end up doing?

I am quite happily single at this point, but thank you! Definitely not looking for a relationship right now lol.

I am planning to rent a rig in June for a week and do a dry run. Good suggestion!

[Urban Hermit]

On either option, expect to spend a minimum of several thousand dollars repairing things and making it yours. Pots, pans, non-skid liners, trash cans, comforters, pillows, flashlights, sewer hose supports, wheel covers, on and on and on mount up. So do some heavy repairs that will come up. Example: Two-and-a-half years ago we bought an Itasca Sunflyer 34Y in excellent cosmetic condition inside, no rust in the bays, new tires, smooth Ford V10, all systems working, for $16,000. We now have over $33,000 in it not counting consumables and routine maintenance. We had to replace jacks, refrigerator, have extensive work done on the dashboard air, and buy all those dozens and dozens of household items.


Almost a month ago we bought a 2006 Monaco Cayman 36 for a severely marked-down $46,100 and now have $48,000 invested with only one $500 repair. All the rest is "nesting." We're about to pay something close to $1,000 for a major service and some middling repairs.


A good Ford F53 chassis and a V10 engine (there's a reason there are a lot more Ford RVs on the road than Chevrolets) is a whole lot less expensive to maintain than a diesel -- $75 oil and filter changes vs $hundreds (I understand and about to learn), but going down the road in a diesel pusher is in a whole different world of satisfaction than driving any front-engine gasoline powered coach.

[Biljol]

But the v10 requires more frequent oil changes. IMHO the cost come out about the same. Also at least in AZ in have found it hard to get a place to change the rv v10 for 75.00.

As others have said floor plan is and should be the number one factor in making any decisions in would also recomend as said before rent and try.

When we purchased our 2000 exe we thought it was perfection but since living in it for 5 months we have found several thing that drive us nuts and and can not fix because they are floor plan related. Would have perfferd an larger water closet and more room around the bed for example. We brought a DP and even with the floor plan issues we would opt for it over a gasser.

Don’t get me wrong it works great for our vacation trips but not to live in so keep that in mind.

I personally believe any the diesel in an rv will our live any gasser with equivalent maintenance.

But this has been debated to death and I don’t want to start it again.

[Lexir]

So going and looking at a bunch of models in person was SO HELPFUL yesterday. I think a 40-footer is more RV than I need for just myself and after hanging out in them for a bit I think I'll wind up in a 32-36' model, probably gas, for this first motorhome. I didn't like the feel of the 5th wheel as much as the motorhomes, especially when I saw that it's pretty inaccessible with slides in, so that's the direction I'm leaning.

What do you all think about Fleetwoods or Tiffins from '02-'08? I really liked the layout and bathroom size in an '06 Southwind I looked at, and the Allegro lines would be fine for me too.

Here's the model I saw yesterday, although the price is higher than I'll wind up paying for this one: https://www.byoungrv.com/Pre-owned-I...23963?ref=list

[Lexir]

Also, I asked about local class A driving courses that aren't 160 hour commercial courses and the dealer told me my best bet was a private person to spend a few afternoons showing me the ropes.

Does anyone happen to know of someone in the Portland area who I could pay for a few afternoons to give me a rundown on driving, maintaining, and operating a 32-36' class A gas vehicle?

[slowmachine]

I don’t know anybody near Portland, but there are thousands of school bus drivers with not much to do right now. My neighbor is one of them.