Since you are a newcomer, it is highly recommended you get assistance from an experienced RVer or a pro like an inspector.1. Would you recommend getting an inspection for a new camper van?
It's a huge plus if you can do a lot of maintenance & repairs yourself. Any RV is a complex piece of equipment, a truck, a furnished house and a water/electric/sewer utility rolled into one. There are a lot of things in an RV that can (and often will) go wrong or need routine care. Having an RV shop do those things for you is both extremely expensive and dreadfully time-consuming. It's not unusual to wait months for a service appointment and then weeks or months more for parts. Anything you can do to avoid or reduce that is worthwhile.Is being a Mr. Fix-it a prerequisite for owning a Class B?
Thank you. Very helpful.If you’re buying new, get it inspected.
So far we’ve found being handy and having experience with electrical systems, plumbing and mechanical things has been a huge plus.
We’ve had a lot of problems with a brand new rig and so far fixed everything ourselves. If we did not have the experience in these areas that we did, ours would have been in the repair shop more than on the road. Right now we’re back on the road again after fixing a catastrophe fail in our leveling system. Could have been an expensive fix and we would have lost out on the trip we planned.
Hope that helps.
Thank you, Matt.BT,
Unfortunately, I agree with Snow. Our situation may be profoundly different as our coach is way old. The best part of that is that it does not have anything I can't fix myself (within reason).
A B-van is good this way in that the vehicle is a standard van. But, there is still all the RV parts that you had better have the books and tools to deal with. Good mobile mechanics are both expensive and rare.
Matt_C
Thanks Dutch. Very helpful.1. Would you recommend getting an inspection for a new camper van?
This depends upon your own knowledge and experience with RV's. I do not put much value in "inspectors". Two different people will give you two different reports. You are best to do your own due diligence and follow your head .... NOT your heart, and be willing to walk away if the unit you find appealing has flaws that concern you. An inspector is not perfect, and he is not a fortune teller either. Any RV that looks sound at this moment, can have serious problems 10 miles down the road when things get shook up bouncing down the road.
2. Is being a Mr. Fix-it a prerequisite for owning a Class B?
It is not a "prerequisite". But it helps if you are not afraid to tackle a new unknown project with confidence that you can figure "it" out and if not, you have the funds to recruit an expert. Because, if you are an RV owner, you will learn to fix things yourself, or you will simply go broke hiring people all the time to fix stuff. Some projects are simply too big, requiring space and tools to do the job. One might be repacking bearing on the wheels. You need the tools to life the trailer and to pull the bearings. You need the space to do the job, and of course, the time to do it. If you don't have all of this, then you take it to a shop that can.
On the other hand, a missing screw on a cabinet door hinge IS something you can do yourself with a new screw and a simple screw driver.
In the end, it's all about how comfortable you are and how willing you are to "try" to do it yourself first.
That makes sense, Gary. Thanks.Since you are a newcomer, it is highly recommended you get assistance from an experienced RVer or a pro like an inspector.
It's a huge plus if you can do a lot of maintenance & repairs yourself. Any RV is a complex piece of equipment, a truck, a furnished house and a water/electric/sewer utility rolled into one. There are a lot of things in an RV that can (and often will) go wrong or need routine care. Having an RV shop do those things for you is both extremely expensive and dreadfully time-consuming. It's not unusual to wait months for a service appointment and then weeks or months more for parts. Anything you can do to avoid or reduce that is worthwhile.
Willing to explore and have some abilities, but I hope I don't have a story like yours to tell in the future! Thanks for the info. I appreciate your thoughts.Here's a true story. I have a Montana High Country Fifth Wheel. It's now 5 years old and I've done almost all the repairs on it myself. There are some things I cannot do myself because of limited space, the proper tools, and the time. I've had an awning replaced. That's a 2 man job, or 1 man and a bunch of boy scouts. But too much for 1 person alone.
About 2 years after we purchased the 5er, one of the front electric jacks failed. A gear broke. The other leg, although it struggled, it did lift the camper. It took some figuring and some searching, but narrowed the problem to a broken gear.
We were at a campground about 15 miles from where we purchased the camper when this happened. I was able to go to the parts department where we purchased the camper and after a couple trips back and forth, installed a new front leg myself (passenger side front) and everything was good. The total cost was just at $300. I did the work. All was well, and eventually I could hook up the camper to leave the state park.
Fast forward. We are currently in Louisiana, at a state historic site, 850 miles from our Indiana home. I finally realized I had another serious issue with my electric jacks (again), and the problem was just simply too much for me. I couldn't figure it out why my system was constantly erroring out, not working.
I was able to call an RV mobile tech. He did come out, he did get me working again. It was another broken gear in the other front leg, (drivers side). But, this time, the error codes were weird, the entire system was weird and I could NOT figure it out. That was the difference.... PLUS ... he came out twice. Once to diagnose the problem and figure it out, the second time, after ordering the new jack and waiting for it to come in. The difference, this was an issue I could not solve myself. However, IF I would have known my electrical error codes were being thrown because of another broken gear on the other leg, I could have ordered another leg myself, or found another RV dealership that had one in stock.
I turned out, by recruiting assistance for a problem I could solve myself, the total bill for both trips out and the parts was $1300. But, I was over the barrel .... stumped and had little choice.
So again, to answer your question about having knowledge about RV repair. No, you do not need to be a certified RV mechanic in order to own an RV. You do need to be willing to explore the problem yourself when it happens, and make an attempt to fix it yourself first. When all is impossible, then you recruit help and pay the price.
$300 when I fixed it myself vs $1300 for someone else and increased prices over 3 years for the same part ... yikes! That's awful when I really think about it!
And just for an FYI.... that final repair was just this morning!
Thank you!As with any hobby, the more familiar you are with the bits and pieces you are working with, the better off you are.
You surely do not have to be handy at all. There are many out there that will not do repairs themselves. Great for them but the downside to that is the briefcase of cash needed to get things fixed right and the inevitable months of not having the unit while it is getting worked on and waiting for parts.
Rv's are not rocket science and nothing is really very complicated. Forums like this one will give you a great resource for answers. Use it and learn.
HAPPY CAMPING!
Thank you, Mark. I've read those stories about rigs being kept way too long in the shop. I know a little and am willing to learn. And it's good to have YouTube available!I would add that the cost of outsourcing repairs is a big factor, but as Ohiosnowbird mentions there's a missed opportunity aspect as well. You might be OK with schlepping the thing to service provider A, B and C for various repairs and service but there's lost use and inconvenience associated with that. You will find stories on the RV forums of folks waiting weeks and sometimes months for simple jobs, and it should be mentioned, plenty of stories of botched work and added time and expense with that. The more you know about the equipment the better off you are both in terms of the RV being available to use, and just as importantly, knowing how to deal with an issue in the middle of a trip so you're not stuck somewhere or having to scramble to find a repair place. These things are basically a crappy house on a delivery truck but as such, most maintenance and repairs are first order - identify the offending problem, replace broken parts, done. Lather, rinse, repeat. Yeah, it can get tedious sometimes because the to-do list can be daunting but for the most part the thing will be mostly or completely functional and down the road you go.
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Admittedly my coach is older, even back when I bought it in 2016 it was already 14 years old. Having said that it really does help to be handy, in the roughly 27, 000 miles and probably 6-9 months of total time spent in it since then, it really does seem to be rare that some type of repair is not needed on a longer trip, though thankfully they are often minor things, though even minor things can ruin a trip if you can't fix them yourself, only one time did one of these issues make the coach undrivable, that was when the started went out a couple of years ago as we were leaving an RV park in Galveston, TX. The next day after fixing that one, while crossing on the ferry, someone walking by snagged the plastic door retaining post and broke it off.Thank you, Mark. I've read those stories about rigs being kept way too long in the shop. I know a little and am willing to learn. And it's good to have YouTube available!
For a new RV with a warranty, I would not recommend paying for a professional inspection, but it would be very helpful to you if you can find an experienced RV owner to help you. You would also be wise to video record the walk-through where they show you how to use it. And ask many questions when they do so.1. Would you recommend getting an inspection for a new camper van?
I would not consider it a prerequisite as many people own RVs that are not able to fix much themselves, but it does help a lot and becomes of more importance as the RV ages. RVs do have normal maintenance and care issues that many of us do ourselves.2. Is being a Mr. Fix-it a prerequisite for owning a Class B?