New guy here

[Tom1949]

Hello from central Indiana. I have never been camping, rving or any such thing. My wife and I are retired and looking to buy a motorhome for the 2 us, a cat and a german shepherd to travel at least twice a year between 5 and 10 thousand miles in approximately 1 month each trip. Visiting our National Parks, state parks, points of interest etc... We're not sure exactly what we want/need for our adventures. One of our trips will include a month going to Alaska. I'm torn between gas/diesel. I am familiar with gas engines as I do my own vehicle maintenance at home. I am not familiar at all with diesel rigs other than driving them over the years. Having a large dog(75 lbs), I know she won't be welcome in some parks/trails/locations/museums etc. So we need a large enough vehicle so she won't go stir crazy while we explore. We plan to tow our Toyota Prius using a Tow Dolly or possible a full trailer for it. We're thinking of going to the Hershey, PA RV show this year so we can browse lots of floor plans in one place. I'm open to any and all suggestions/assistance.
Anyway, That's about it for now.
Tom1949

[lwmcguire]

I would rent first and make sure before buying

[SteveJ.]

Originally Posted by lwmcguire

I would rent first and make sure before buying

Having never owned before, excellent idea.

Also, doing a 10,000 mile trip in 5-6 weeks is a really aggressive schedule. For Alaska, figure on a minimum of two months. There are a lot of things to enjoy enroute and returning or going up the Cassiar Highway is worth the detour.

[jsmmonaco]

this is just our experience.........like you, we were camping/rv rookies (this would be 2015).........our first coach was a 40 ft diesel pusher (07 monaco knight).........while we got it for a decent price, we have spent quite a bit repairing things and making improvements...........we are also just the two of us and our mini aussie..................my thought was get something large enough where i wouldn't have to upgrade in a couple of years, for us, the 40 ft was the right size........we dolly tow a kia soul, and take a couple of trips a year.................we have racked up about 33,000 over that 4 year plus period..........we are satisfied with the size, and probably never replace.........we like the diesel, and we pay for all maintenance.......you do need to become familiar with things like winterizing (which isn't difficult).........as for your dog, as long as he is a friendly guy, you shouldn't have many problems............we leave our pup in the coach when we are sightseeing, and he seems fine with our 40 ft................just be prepared to spend some $$, sometimes thousands on a moments notice (rear main went out on a trip to canada a couple of years ago, about $5000 canadian).............otherwise, i find it a decent way to see this country without having to deal with airlines, rental cars, hotels, packing and unpacking, and we can take the pup with us...........best of luck to you..........ONE MORE THING, WHATEVER YOU BUY, HAVE IT PROFESSIONALLY INSPECTED BEFORE WRITING A CHECK.............safe travels

[inlineskater]

We started out used and just bought a new one last fall. We like the 34 to 36 ft size just for ease of parking and moving around the fuel stations. Good luck in your search.

[Persistent]

Originally Posted by lwmcguire

I would rent first and make sure before buying

I agree. I didn't. I learned the hard way.


Also, plan to camp and travel locally on short trips to get accustomed to how you personally camp. Start in your own driveway. It will make the long trip far more comfortable.

Renting also allows you to try different size RV's. Smaller RV's fit in older small site campgrounds and on narrow winding local mountain roads. Large RV's allow more comfortable living space.
I wish you good luck and happy trails ahead!

[momdoc]

Welcome to the forum.

You are joining a good group of folks here with good info to share. Read the various threads here and ask questions as they come up or add info if you can.

I have to agree with others in that 10,000 miles in a month is way too much. You will be driving all of the time and not enjoying the country. Also rent a couple of Class A rigs for a few short trips to see what fits for you.

Good luck and enjoy the adventure!

[mattyrj]

I say diesel all the way. But I am that guy. I worked at an RV dealership during highschool and college (won't say how long ago that was because I don't want to give away how young I am....) and I just bought a diesel pusher as my first. I have been camping a good portion of my life in TT, 5th Wheel, C, and A. From my experience at the dealership I never liked driving the big Class A gasser, mostly because of the handling. Just the short drives to an rv show (20 miles) and I hated it. (There are things you can do to make it handle better, and I have been told they have come along way in the recent years as well). I actually would have gotten a 5th wheel, but I don't want to have a truck just for that, and I prefer a sedan for my daily driver, so i went with a diesel, to me it is worth it, I will be doing closer trips, within about 80 miles, but will do about 3 trips per year that are about 2000 RT, and my sanity was definitely worth the price and age of unit, specially because I am pulling an approx 4K pound sedan and going through mountains on those longer trips. I went a couple years older than I would have liked, but it was well taken care of, and trust the others when they say have it inspected first. I did and was able to use that to negotiate the price. It has some flaws on the outside, but I am ok with that, it is only a matter of time before I clip something and put a ding on it myself, I won't hate myself as much when I do. I would say rent one first, rent a Class A about the size you are looking at, then a diesel pusher. Driving a Diesel pusher with airbrakes will get some getting used to, but the handling specially when windy or having 18wheelers pass you is definitely superb. It all comes down to you and your comfort level. Happy trails and I can't wait until you rent, then finally decide what you are getting and show it off to us!

[Tom1949]

Thanks for your input. A lot of ppl have said to rent first, that seems to be a common theme. I understand what you are saying about diesel. At one point a few years ago we thought about a big diesel rig and living in it and traveling full time. We decided to get a stick and brick instead for fear of losing too much money after maybe 5 years to be able to buy a house again. We love to travel and I love to drive. We want to stay in state and national parks, BLM's, rest stops etc. We want a motorhome instead of getting a motel room every night like we do now plus we want to take our dog and cat with us. I've always been handy with fixing things that break, I've worked as an auto mechanic way back in the late 60's and still do my own brakes, tune ups, etc. on my own cars today. I've watched Youtube videos about changing the oil, filters etc. on both gas and diesel motorhomes and feel confident I can do that stuff with no problems. I want something around 30 feet in length so we can get into more parks vs a 40 footer. I'm also considering up to a 35 footer and just staying outside of parks and using a toad to sight see inside parks. I have thought about the newer Mercedes C class motorhomes which are shorter, but then I would need to get a code scanner for it. I saw a video on Youtube from a guy that got some bad fuel and it cost a small fortune for the Mercedes shop to fix. I have no experience with diesel engines other that driving trucks equipped with them. I presume your normal rv inspector person doesn't know how to check the health and longevity of a diesel engine. Or can any diesel mechanic do any kind of testing on one to figure out if it will last another 100,000 miles? At 70 years old I want this to be a fun filled experience not a giant pain in the butt. I hear what you're saying about the diesel rigs vs gas. I just know I want something closer to 30 feet. Sorry to be so long winded but these are my thoughts as to what I think I want.
Tom1949

[Tom1949]

Originally Posted by mattyrj

I say diesel all the way. But I am that guy. I worked at an RV dealership during highschool and college (won't say how long ago that was because I don't want to give away how young I am....) and I just bought a diesel pusher as my first. I have been camping a good portion of my life in TT, 5th Wheel, C, and A. From my experience at the dealership I never liked driving the big Class A gasser, mostly because of the handling. Just the short drives to an rv show (20 miles) and I hated it. (There are things you can do to make it handle better, and I have been told they have come along way in the recent years as well). I actually would have gotten a 5th wheel, but I don't want to have a truck just for that, and I prefer a sedan for my daily driver, so i went with a diesel, to me it is worth it, I will be doing closer trips, within about 80 miles, but will do about 3 trips per year that are about 2000 RT, and my sanity was definitely worth the price and age of unit, specially because I am pulling an approx 4K pound sedan and going through mountains on those longer trips. I went a couple years older than I would have liked, but it was well taken care of, and trust the others when they say have it inspected first. I did and was able to use that to negotiate the price. It has some flaws on the outside, but I am ok with that, it is only a matter of time before I clip something and put a ding on it myself, I won't hate myself as much when I do. I would say rent one first, rent a Class A about the size you are looking at, then a diesel pusher. Driving a Diesel pusher with airbrakes will get some getting used to, but the handling specially when windy or having 18wheelers pass you is definitely superb. It all comes down to you and your comfort level. Happy trails and I can't wait until you rent, then finally decide what you are getting and show it off to us!

Thanks for your input. A lot of ppl have said to rent first, that seems to be a common theme. I understand what you are saying about diesel. At one point a few years ago we thought about a big diesel rig and living in it and traveling full time. We decided to get a stick and brick instead for fear of losing too much money after maybe 5 years to be able to buy a house again. We love to travel and I love to drive. We want to stay in state and national parks, BLM's, rest stops etc. We want a motorhome instead of getting a motel room every night like we do now plus we want to take our dog and cat with us. I've always been handy with fixing things that break, I've worked as an auto mechanic way back in the late 60's and still do my own brakes, tune ups, etc. on my own cars today. I've watched Youtube videos about changing the oil, filters etc. on both gas and diesel motorhomes and feel confident I can do that stuff with no problems. I want something around 30 feet in length so we can get into more parks vs a 40 footer. I'm also considering up to a 35 footer and just staying outside of parks and using a toad to sight see inside parks. I have thought about the newer Mercedes C class motorhomes which are shorter, but then I would need to get a code scanner for it. I saw a video on Youtube from a guy that got some bad fuel and it cost a small fortune for the Mercedes shop to fix. I have no experience with diesel engines other that driving trucks equipped with them. I presume your normal rv inspector person doesn't know how to check the health and longevity of a diesel engine. Or can any diesel mechanic do any kind of testing on one to figure out if it will last another 100,000 miles? At 70 years old I want this to be a fun filled experience not a giant pain in the butt. I hear what you're saying about the diesel rigs vs gas. I just know I want something closer to 30 feet. Sorry to be so long winded but these are my thoughts as to what I think I want.
Tom1949