Community Forums

iwant2rv · 01-16-2016, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HHIDan

Why tow on a trailer? Everytime you move you have to take the car down, disconnect trailer and store the trailer (probably using the car). You probably have to pay extra for storing the trailer in some places or leave it on your site to take up a bunch of your space. Tow 4 down, it is so much easier. Less weight to pull also.

You say you plan to buy the RV in a year or two, trade the car in the meantime for a car that will tow 4 down. Jeeps are a very popular toad but a bunch of other cars can be towed too, it's just some need more modifications...

Unfortunately both our cars are new so trading is like giving the money away and cannot be dinghy/dolly towed.

iwant2rv · 01-16-2016, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetbriar

Getting a test drive at a show can be difficult. Sometimes best to establish a dealership point of contact and work out details later. May times they will extend a show price out for a time as long as you don't wait too long and maybe make an appointment with the sales rep.

Concerning renting there are potentially two ways of working this. If you intend to rent several times before buying renting a drivable can be a bit costly but well worth it to find out if owning an RV is will work. Considering maybe 2/3's of the time spent in an RV is parked first rent a trailer that can be preplaced at a camp site by the renter. You can save a bit of money and get an idea if the family can make it happen. For the second rental go with a drivable and find out if going down the road works also.

I suspect you will be overweight with the car/trailer combination. The hitch capacity is just one part of the formula the other is if the coach has the reserve between what it weighs in at and how much reserve is available for towing.

Can't say much concerning prices of a new rig if that is the direction you wish to go but I do try and console a first time buyer to consider something maybe two years old to help save on the initial cost. Two years is a good time frame considering most if not all the first use problems have been found and corrected but it's still a relatively new coach. Most if not all warranties will have expired but with consideration of the age of the coach an aftermarket warranty can be affordable.

Interesting - after reading your post I did find out a local rv renting business that can pre place for us so we will start from there. Though they don't have Jayco models I think we will still learn something. We will start driving long distances once we have taken a few baby steps

iwant2rv · 01-16-2016, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HHIDan

Why tow on a trailer? Everytime you move you have to take the car down, disconnect trailer and store the trailer (probably using the car). You probably have to pay extra for storing the trailer in some places or leave it on your site to take up a bunch of your space. Tow 4 down, it is so much easier. Less weight to pull also.

You say you plan to buy the RV in a year or two, trade the car in the meantime for a car that will tow 4 down. Jeeps are a very popular toad but a bunch of other cars can be towed too, it's just some need more modifications...

fair point on the hassles of a trailer. I am just not ready to trade our new cars. when we usually buy something we keep it until the last drop of juice is available - thats just how we are wired.

I am just not able to sink in the thought of "giving away a car as our RV cant tow". we both love our cars pretty much to a point that it may just not happen.

on storage costs - in my area there is an indoor 45ft storage available for $250/month ( very steep I know) but a 35ft indoor storage is only $240.

buckeyemike · 01-20-2016, 02:27 AM

You might think about starting out with a used trailer or motor home a lot of them are hardly used and in excellent shape I have seen a lot of people buy expensive rigs and find out they do not have the time to use them and end up selling them a few years later at quite a loss.

nothermark · 01-20-2016, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iwant2rv

fair point on the hassles of a trailer. I am just not ready to trade our new cars. when we usually buy something we keep it until the last drop of juice is available - thats just how we are wired.

I am just not able to sink in the thought of "giving away a car as our RV cant tow". we both love our cars pretty much to a point that it may just not happen.

on storage costs - in my area there is an indoor 45ft storage available for $250/month ( very steep I know) but a 35ft indoor storage is only $240.

I would not worry about it. Some people just cannot stand the idea of not towing 4 down. That gets particularly questionable when advising folks who only expect to tow for a couple of weeks per year.

iwant2rv · 01-21-2016, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buckeyemike

You might think about starting out with a used trailer or motor home a lot of them are hardly used and in excellent shape I have seen a lot of people buy expensive rigs and find out they do not have the time to use them and end up selling them a few years later at quite a loss.

we are looking but finding used coaches as used prices is a tough thing.all the used greyhawks I see on rvtrader are so close to the new 2016 models!! May be I am just looking in wrong places.

Also - should we expect the same discount margin on used ones - say if a used one is listed for 70K should I then try to negotiate a 15 to 25% off that price?

buckeyemike · 01-23-2016, 09:01 AM

Yes absolutely the prices they put on RV trader is usually just the starting point. I bought an RV from a divorced couple who had to sell and got it for substantially less than what they were asking

buckeyemike · 01-23-2016, 09:03 AM

Some of the very new used RVs might be difficult to get good buys on because if they financed it through the dealer they might owe more than what they're worth because often times they don't have to put that much down

LSC9901 · 01-25-2016, 02:20 PM

In your rental adventure don't worry so much that you cannot get a GH. Basically they are all very much alike. Find out first if class "C" is the route you really want to go. If it is then start looking at the GH floor plans .... providing you still want to go new.

By all means search the internet for units. Decide first off how far you're willing to travel and search via eBay and Craigslist and see what is available. If you do go the used route try and find a mobile RV Service tech who can inspect it for you. You may find the unit you want that is a couple years old for $25K less. It's worth a couple hundred to have someone who knows what to look for, check it out for you. I'd rather spend $200 on an inspection versus $50K on a mistake.

Good luck with your search.

Beak12 · 01-25-2016, 05:56 PM

Try watching (Gone with the Winns) (spelling?) on Utube. When you find their Blog/post orher RV post should show up and you can ck them out also.

BTW welcome to Irv2.

cwk · 01-25-2016, 06:46 PM

"Gone with the Wynns"

https://www.youtube.com/user/gonewiththewynns

B Dubya · 01-29-2016, 09:02 AM

First I would ask, are you mechanically inclined with a fair assortment of tools. These things are actually fairly straightforward to work on. You can save a ton of money buying a used one that's had the bugs worked out. I'm shocked about the test drive. It seems I just walk on a lot and they're asking which one I'd like to take for a spin. But then, I'm old and they probably assume my pockets jingle all the way.