Thinking about buying an RV is fun, but buying an RV is difficult.
It's not hard to walk through a house or an RV and ohh and ahh over what you see, but when it comes down to price and features... well that's what brings on a dose of reality. Once it is bought and maintenance and gas prices are calculated another dose of reality hits. There are reasons to buy an RV. My reasons are to bring my experiences to my family. Too many Americans stay where they are and don't see the country, much less the world. Also, with a family of five, flying is expensive and a painful hassle. I don't want to deal with the TSA, airports, or hotels and I believe that the trip itself, not just the destination, should be part of the experience. The cost of an RV is cheaper spread across many years, so this is my way of being able to do something every year without going into debt. In the process we will see the country.
We had a strict budget of $19k for a used Class-C RV. That's cheap, believe me. New Class-Cs are priced as cheap as a low-end starter house and it goes way up from there. We looked at a few as much as 17 years old. That's old. In the late 90's they started putting slide-outs onto Class-Cs. The motorhomes were usually built on some bigger Chevy or Ford chassis. I mostly found the Ford E350 and E450 models. E450 started around 2000 and before that was just the E350 "super-duty." The super-duty chassis simply adds more GVWR so that we can carry more people and tow more stuff with the vehicle. Some internet research seemed to indicate that the E450 with the Ford Triton V10 was a reliable and strong powertrain, which is one of the main items to tip the scales in favor of the 2000 Winnebago Minnie 31C that we ended up purchasing used. The last alternative was a 1997 Ford E350 chassis. It was arranged in a much less open way, probably because there was no slide-out. Everything was more dated. Even the one we bought is dated, but the truth is the new RVs will always look like the Taj Mahal on wheels compared to anything a few years old.
Maintenance:
We're the 3rd owner and its 14 years old, so there are items to fix as with any vehicle that old. I'll probably get into details about some of the things I fixed later on, but if you read this and have questions, please feel free to ask.
I learned out to dewinterize without knowing anything about how it was done. It's not difficult, but knowing where things are and how to access them takes some time to figure out if you're a first time RV owner and have had no instruction.
I learned something about the generator after it quit working in the hot weather.
I learned how the hot-water heater works.
I learned what I would need to buy to have the basic hookups covered.
I learned that RVs are full of ingenious ways to give us all of the comforts of home, but that means there are a lot of moving parts and can break.
Things I fixed:
A broken aftermarket rear-view camera that was hooked into the stereo.
Non-working water pump.
Basic sealing of cracks and gaps in the sides/roof.
Various little broken things like the clips that hold the bay doors up.
The Maiden Voyage:
The first overnight outing in an RV is a test. It's a way to find out if all your worst nightmares will come true. This is no matter of if things will be difficult, but just how difficult.
For instance, the boy just turned two and like most kids has a very strict bed-time habit. In the RV he'll be sleeping on the table. Of course a bed time of 8pm means that the rest of the RV needs to be quiet. It went OK, but I will say that having a good signal from a PBS station was nice because the TV was a good way to take his mind off of the different sleeping arrangements. While kids are sleeping and there is no other space, adults have to have something to do that is quiet or outside. That usually involves books, wine, computers, or something along those lines.
Forgetting stuff the first few times is just the way it is. Even with an RV that has its own stock of goods, there will be something missing. I'm not a list person, but it helps to have a list.
Quirks:
My RV has a Norcold refrigerator that runs on propane and AC power. It needs 12DCV as well and it takes forever to cool down. Ideally 12 hours is a minimum length of time it should be plugged in before taking a trip. Once AC is plugged in, the batteries automatically charge, so the DC power can be turned on so that the fridge has what it needs. Forgetting any piece or not leaving enough time makes you think the fridge is broken and maybe call for service when it's not necessary. When that happens, I put a cooler in the shower.
The generator is important. Sure, without it you have lights, stove, fridge, and hot water... but get stuck without AC in very hot weather and you're toast. I never looked at the generator the same way after mine stopped working. Maintenance is important.
The fiberglass shell of an RV is constantly flexing in the wind, sun, and rain. If you have a crack that isn't properly repaired, it WILL leak. If you don't care about your resell value, a minor leak isn't a big deal. RVs need constant maintenance to prevent leaking. Fortunately, it's not expensive to seal and maintain an RV, but it takes someone willing to be slightly handy.
