Finding an RV When They Are Expensive!

Our first dispersed camping place: Tonopah, Arizona!

Finding an RV can be a daunting task, one that requires much research and time. What kind of RV do you really want? Do you want to start small, with a van or a pop-up trailer? Or do you have toys and need something bigger, like a toy hauler or a motorhome that you can carry your toys with? How long do you want to RV? And especially, how much can you afford? Buying an RV can be expensive, however, I am starting to see prices and demand go down slightly as of this writing. Also, you may want to consider that an RV is a DEPRECIATION asset. You will not gain much value or even any at all when you someday sell it. Just keep that in the back of your mind when considering what type of RV you want.

If your budget is small or you just want to travel for a short time, you may consider a van (van life is very popular today), a class c motorhome or even a pop-up trailer. We had a pop-up trailer for years, paid it off and really enjoyed traveling with our kids when they were younger. We were not fulltime rving, but got out on the weekends or when my husband had a vacation.

If you are thinking about traveling for quite some time, or want to live in one, you might want to consider a travel trailer (or bumper pull as others say), 5th wheel or a motorhome. If you are particularly creative, why not try a skoolie? These are old school buses or even greyhound buses that people will remodel. But if you want to stay at campgrounds, you might want to think if you want a skoolie before purchasing an old but as some campgrounds do not let skoolies on their land. Lets look at some different types of an RV:

Moab, Utah!

• The most budget friendly is a van, class C motorhome or a pop-up trailer. They offer room for a single or a couple, but not real family friendly, unless you do not mind being cozy with your family! You can pull a car behind a class C to save money on fuel. You will need a truck to pull a pop-up trailer, something that will be strong enough to pull it up mountains. I always suggest a F350 or a 3500. It may seem too big, but you want something strong that will not put too much pressure on the engine. Trust me on this! Keep in mind that when you have a vehicle and a RV, you will pay more insurance, registration, gas, repairs. You can always upgrade to a larger trailer, budget pertaining, later down the road!

• If you want a little more room to live and sleep, how about a travel trailer or a 5th wheel? You can tow a travel trailer with a truck, like a 1 ton I mentioned above, but you CANNOT have the travel trailer tow a vehicle behind it. Travel trailers do not have the strength in the frame to do that! But a 5th wheel can. You may have more room in a 5th wheel vs a travel trailer, especially head room and living space. You can put something behind the 5th wheel, like a small boat (seen it) or a car on a dolly or no dolly. You will be long so keep that in mind when driving!

• Do you have toys, like a UTV, ATV, bicycles, motorcycle? A toy hauler might be the answer for you. You can put your toys in the back of the toy hauler so no worries being too long in towing! But you will lose living space if you do that. Depending on what type of toy hauler you want, they tend to be large and fun to see on the road with its many colors and names. Again you want at least a 1 ton truck to pull your toy hauler or even more.

• Lets talk about motorhomes. There are different classes: A, B, and C. Class A is the biggest, where class C is the smallest and class B is in the middle. These are like homes on wheels. If you want to live in something that resembles home, then this is it. You can pull your motorcycles in a cargo trailer behind these, or any other toys you may have.

Our first experience in Wyoming!

Now that I have explained some different types of an RV, how can you buy one when the prices are still high? How about used? Look at Facebook Marketplace, a consignment shop, maybe a magazine or a neighbor. Just make sure you inspect it well, especially for water leaks, or hire an inspector. If you sell your house to go fulltime rving, pay off the RV with the profit you made as it will help you when expenses unexpectantly happen, and they will! We bought new as I like owning something like a house or a trailer by being the first person in it. Yes, we lost money once we took it off the dealership lot, but we paid it off when we sold our house. So if you like new, take a look at dealerships. You can always talk down the salesman!

In our next blog, we are going to talk about different ways of camping, like dispersed (dry camping), partial or full hookups and how to save money!

Here is a link to the previous blog: So You Want To Learn The RV Lifestyle!