Is It Worth It?

[Ricebug]

The wife and I are closer to buying a Class A, but with all that has happened in the past couple of years, is it still worth it? Folks have been buying hundreds of thousands of RVs, trying to escape the COVID nonsense. This has resulted in overcrowded or closed campgrounds. BLM land is being ruined by those who leave their trash behind, resulting in those areas being closed to the public.

So... what's an old geezer and his wife to do? I foresee many many folks becoming disillusioned with the RV lifestyle (see red sentence above), selling their rigs, and flooding the market with nice, used RVs. There may be light on the horizon as the country goes through its cycles.

I'd just like to hear what you full-timers have got to say on the subject.

 

[touchracing]

I started my full time adventure in 2020. So far I have no regrets. The reports of doom and gloom are overblown.

 

[strugglebus]

Can always wait till the housing crash comes and people default on loans

 

[JayArr]

Are you buying it as an investment?

 

[Lou Schneider]

What's a year or two of your remaining life worth to you? You may pay more now but time is priceless.

 

[donn]

Well, if it went for major health issues we would still be RVing. I would have gone full time but DW nixed the idea.

Personally if I were looking to jump in I would probably wait a year. I think when the economy tanks further RVs will become next to worthless.

 

[IBTripping]

Personally if I were looking to jump in I would probably wait a year. I think when the economy tanks further RVs will become next to worthless.

Nobody really knows the future unless you are falling off a tall building. But, I keep looking at the financial data and I just don't see the economy crashing in the near term (3 - 5 years). The stock market is likely to have a big correction, but the stock market is not the real economy. However, I agree that it's likely that a significant number of pandemic RV buyers will become disillusioned in a couple of years and start selling.

 

[Domo]

Yes, it's worth it. And yes, sometimes you find trash - when we're traveling and camping and I walk the dog I'll take a spare trash bag and pick up trash as I walk along. (My dog is old, we move slow and I can use the bending exercise.) At other times you find sunset or sunrise, or the neighbor that can use a hand or borrow a tool, or see the stars once you're away from the cities.

Regarding the influx of campers - make your reservations for your key points well in advance and find the software tools that can help you find a place to boondock/park/stay/enjoy.

Yup.

 

[jackiemac]

Having just spent several weeks in Arizona we had no problem getting an RV Park with a day or two's notice.

BLM land out there is plentiful and I saw hardly any sign if trash.

We saw lots of RV spaces at Terlingua TX near Big Bend and managed to get sites in New Mexico.

We will be going home in a few weeks and be back for 6 months in May. I expect the popular places to be busy as usual but a few days of planning ahead of your next destination can usually get you something. May not be what you want exactly. Size will obviously be a factor. The bigger you are the more difficult it may be.

Is it worth it? Only you know how much you want to see and experience your absolutely incredible country. We love it and are grateful to be allowed to spend so long seeing it.

 

[JudyJB]

I bought my rig and went full-time ten years ago, during a period when the housing market was down, and I lost money on my condo. Have I ever regretted it? Maybe for a few seconds, but if I had waited a year or two, I would have lost a year or two of full-timing. As Lou posted above, "What's a year or two of your remaining life worth to you?" At the time I made my decision to quit my full-time job and sell my condo, I had no idea what the future would bring--the market might turn around quickly or I might have to wait several years. I decided that year or two or even several years of my life was worth a lot to me, so I bought my motorhome and took off!

Yes, it is a little harder to get a campsite in some places and at some times, but most of the time, it just takes a bit of planning. I am one of the people who like to plan a trip long in advance, so I have reservations through next August, and in some places, through September. Yes, I might have to cancel a few places at the last minute, but I have a lot of reservations for sites in prime places and am looking forward to the future.

And frankly, I haven't seen a bunch of people with For Sale signs in their rigs. Plus, every campsite I have seen in the last few months has been open, not closed.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Are you buying it as an investment?

That's funny - an investment RV...

You make your own reality no matter what you decide to pursue in life. In my travels the past 2 years my observation was people were people despite covid and if someplace was closed or booked, there was something else down the road. A quarter century ago I remember the Harley craze, people were buying anything they could and bikes were selling for thousands over list. I got mine, rode it all over hell and creation and I don't regret it for a minute, despite that the demand for milwaukee iron became but a memory. If you want to jump into traveling in an RV cost is a consideration but if it's something you really want to do, you figure out a way to make it happen. Money can't buy you memories when you're too old to do anything about it later.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[DonTom]

That's funny - an investment RV...

Yep. There isn't much the depreciates faster than a new RV.

I wonder if my new RV is worth half of what I paid for it a few months ago. I now have more than 10,000 miles on it.

If it's worth half, then I lost around $83,000.00 since September on my "investment".

That means I just got back today from my $83,000.00 trip, not even counting gasoline, RV Parks, etc.

OTOH, if somebody needs an RV to work from or whatever, then it really could be an investment.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[Isaac-1]

Don, that is exactly why I hate the idea of buying a new RV, I much prefer continuing to dump money into my now 20 year old coach, maintaining it and updating systems. I can put $7,000+ per year into it and still be way ahead, for example in the last 12 months I spent about $2,000 on a new set of tires, $300 for a new starter, $2,000 on 430 AH of LiFePo4 batteries (including DC-DC charger, wiring, fuses, etc.), $500+ on new rear brake calipers, pads, hoses, and depending on how you count things another $3,000ish on a cheap light TOAD ($2,400 for a 2007 Toyota Yaris, plus another $400 or so freshening it, LED headlights, new tail lights as the old ones were cracked, Roadmaster to Blue Ox cross bar adapter, wiper blades,...

 

[touchracing]

I bought a travel trailer new in 2014. Just traded it in for $2000 less than I paid for it. That $2K bought a lot of priceless memories.

 

[crawford 111]

You can also look for a late model use one which took the hit and bugs been fixed. I did this never a regret on freedom her name that is a 34 foot Georgetown coach triple slide ford V 10

 

[thelazyl]

For my DW and myself it's worth it whether we spend 50k or 150k on our rig (we are considering upgrading). If I were wait for the MH market to soften I am wasting days and I don't have as many left as I'd like to. We use Trip Planning software and have identified ~12 favorite campgrounds in our state. Some require 3+ months of advanced notice while others we can get same day.

 

[DonTom]

Don, that is exactly why I hate the idea of buying a new RV, I much prefer continuing to dump money into my now 20 year old coach, maintaining it and updating systems.

Well, I get to do that also, with my Y2K RV. And I have and will continue to dump money into it.

But I cannot say I am sorry that I purchased a new RV. I do not care one iota if it is only worth 2 cents today. Why should I care about resale value when I never resell vehicles? I keep them all until they are totally worthless and then donate them as if junk nobody would want. My new RV should last longer than I do anyway. And so should my 1971 BMW motorcycle. I purchased it new in 1971. Runs a lot better today than when new, but I made some improvements, that will probably reduce it's value to collectors. But I couldn't care less about that.

While I cannot think of a worse money investment than buying a new RV, not everything in this world is about money.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Skookum]

We're not full-time but we do take, beg, borrow, steal time away to RV and travel as we can, and we do quite a bit of it even working full time. My folks have done it every year in retirement (winter in CA/AZ) and often take trips to the big parks as the season warms up or cools off, avoiding the summer crowds. Their one regret is they wish they would have started doing it sooner.

RV's, motorhomes are black holes when it comes to money, pretty much like a boat! You have to use it to enjoy it.

I love my sister but she got RV fever during the pandemic - I think our photos and travels reeled her in. She bought a brand new travel trailer, took it out 3 times, decided it was too small to be comfortable. Her kids are tween-age and that was also the year traveling with mom and dad wasn't cool anymore, and wanted to do softball (all-consuming, every weekend there's a practice, game, or tournament - no time for camping). So it sat...they kept making the payment to the bank, and paying to store it, and 18 months later they're pulling it out to sell it. So sad, but better they cut their losses now than later. Don't be them!!

 

[JudyJB]

I think there is a big difference in the "investment" depending on whether you are buying an RV as a home or something to use on weekends. And frankly, expecting teenagers or even pre-teenagers to want to go anywhere with you is a lost cause!!

I bought new because I was buying a home to live in for many years, not as a toy for vacations. I have had the travel bug since I was a kid, and there is a lot of value in an RV that is not always counted. For example, as a full-timer I never have to pack or unpack, I always have everything with me so no forgotten clothing or other items, I can switch plans without losing big hotel and airline deposits, and I don't have to worry about dirty hotel rooms and lousy food along the way.

Most importantly, by staying almost entirely in federal and state campgrounds, I get the experiences of waking up to wild horses in my campsite, getting nosed by an elk who wants a drink as I am filling my water tank, watching big horn sheep munch their way through a campground, having a gopher tortoise hiss at me when I took a photo, and a lot of other things like watching the ocean and gorgeous scenery. Priceless!!!

 

[Old_Crow]

You've got to watch those hissing tortoises.
My kids made me stop in the middle of the road for a big turtle one time. The teenager got out of the truck to move the turtle out of the road. He learned about snapping turtles that day. I already knew they snapped, but I had no idea they could jump at least 3' off the ground. Possibly the funniest thing I'd ever seen.