New to Buying/RV - RV Comparison & Correlation

[rvnm505]

Hey everyone,

So my wife and I just put our house up for sale today. We have decided to go RV full time with our kids for several reasons. I am prior Military, Navy and so is my wife. We have 3 kids together. With our equity, we have decided on a Class A. I am a car enthusiast and have built/fixed many cars in my life as cars are my passion.

With all this being said, I have no idea where to start or anything about Class A's lol. I keep hearing not to buy used, only buy new. I don't know anything about brands and such.

Where do I start? Maybe there are links I can read you all know of please, or advice on what to do from this point as starting out as a FT RV Class A.


Thank you all for your time and reading this thread!

 

[Jireh Financial]

AS for new or used, we bought a new Holliday Rambler 35K Vacationer in may of 2019. It took us the first year to get all the bugs worked out. Everything was warranty and the dealer was great so that matters. Model, age and mileage matter when looking at used. Our next one will be used. Hopefully the bugs are worked out.
Let me know how we can help.
We do loans and service contracts.
Thank you,
Ken

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

Here’s what we did, it worked well, so this is what I advise all potential owners to consider.
Nearly everyone on this and every other RV forum has meltdown-worthy issues with new RVs. It seems that the original owner spends his or her RV time fixing factory problems and not RVing. IMO, these new owners are tired of this crap after about a year or two and they get rid of the money pit RV before it sucks the rest of them dry.
Okay, so let’s buy one anyway.
Look at RVs online and locally and get an idea how big you want, how big you need, and how big you can afford. Then find specific models that seem to fit.
Take a weekend and visit every RV dealer within a few hour radius and walk in dozens of motorhomes, even the ones that may be outside of your parameters, but may be a good deal.
Now find a local dealership that is not a chain (Camping World seems to be a definite ”no-no”).
Get friendly with your salesman, tell him or her what you are looking for and let him do his work. It took about a month for our salesman at Carpenter’s Campers in Pensacola to find almost exactly what I wanted, exactly what my fiancé wanted, and at a great price.
We’ve owned it for a year with no problems and normal expenses.
It was 5 years old when we bought it.
I’m an old retired Sailor, too.

 

[Scooterfan]

There are some very nice lightly used Class A's on the market following the COVID debacle...I would suggest determining what you want FIRST (Many choices and options), then start looking...don't overlook used. JMHO
Blessings

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Another view!

What is necessary to understand is how you choose to RV many parks have an age limit for RVs, could be 10years, but 15years is what most people believe is the age(some think parks don't care, do your research).

There are those like myself that this means nothing to. RV parks are convenient but have many downsides. Noise, much control(rules), with children, well!


Boondocking or dry camping is an alternative to parks, and over time have proven to those like me is a much better way to live full time.

Why do I bring up this very important issue?

Because the RV industry, while trying to keep there gravy train going, has shot a large hole in their foot! Used RVs 15years and older are hard to sell to people aware of the 15years rule. If you are thinking RV park life, is what you will do, you must consider this rule. If you think forest camping, or Boondocking, will be your ticket! You can likely save big on an RV reaching the 15years limit. It is not hard finding many low hour RVs that are reaching 15years old.

It depends on your plans, but if you are planning to finance a coach know the price will plummet as your coach nears the age limit. If you plan to Boondock looking at Riggs 15 and older will save you cash, and reduce depreciation.

Guess you can figure what camp I dwell.

 

[rvnm505]

Thank you all for your time and responses. I think I may go 2 years used. I am trying to wrap my head around how the RV world works for Class A. It seems it's not like the auto industry at all as it seems there are more to choose from than regular vehicles? Maybe someone can help me digest this info in a auto way, like a correlation so I can understand more:

Brand Correlation:

Ford =
Honda =
Toyota =
BMW =
VW =
MB =
GMC =
Dodge =

This is what I am trying to figure out, and here is what I think I found:

American Coach
Coachmen RV
Entegra Coach
Fleetwood RV
Forest River RV
Holiday Rambler
Jayco
Monaco Coach
Newmar
Nexus RV
Thor Motor Coach
Tiffin
Winnebago

 

[ARD]

I did a lot of researching online and basically knew what coach I was going to get before I stepped in it. After all my research I went to the Tampa RV Show.

Factors that I took into account were quality, warranty, customer service, the ability to make any custom changes and floor plan. I did take into account how I READ how the coaches performed when driving (like comfort drive) but never actually drove one first. Further I wanted a new coach knowing that the first year would be spent working the kinks out and learning … lotsa learning.

I had narrowed it down to Newmar first then Entegra and Tiffin as the 3 with best quality and then “the extras,” and the floor plan further narrowed down my choice due to the fact that I did not want carpet in my coach; I liked the emergency door and I could customize the interior.

FYI, I’m not saying my choice is the one for you, merely sharing my experience as an example on how I, as a complete newbie in 2017 entered the Class A arena. I hope it helps.

Good luck on your search.

 

[B & J T]

Hey everyone,

So my wife and I just put our house up for sale today. We have decided to go RV full time with our kids for several reasons. I am prior Military, Navy and so is my wife. We have 3 kids together. With our equity, we have decided on a Class A. I am a car enthusiast and have built/fixed many cars in my life as cars are my passion.

With all this being said, I have no idea where to start or anything about Class A's lol. I keep hearing not to buy used, only buy new. I don't know anything about brands and such.

Where do I start? Maybe there are links I can read you all know of please, or advice on what to do from this point as starting out as a FT RV Class A.


Thank you all for your time and reading this thread!

Curious if you’ve found anything. My wife and I have decided to sell our 2020 Newmar New Aire 3545. Onwards to new adventures! DM if you’d like to learn more.
We have her all shined up and will be listing soon.

Cheers!