We’ve spent the past few months shopping for the right full-timing RV (haven’t bought anything yet - we’re still looking) and we’ve learned a few things along the way.
Go shopping for an RV on a hot day.
Why? If the inside of the rig has any kind of funky smell, it will really be noticeable. I discovered this a couple of weeks ago when Scott and I took a look at a number of used motorhomes. Scott can’t smell very well at all, so he didn’t notice, but my sniffer got a good whiff of some really bad smells in some of the rigs we looked at.
Even RV salesmen lie.
We walked into a motorhome the other day and immediately noticed that it had been smoked in - the ceiling was stained and there were nicotine drips on the walls. When I asked the salesman point blank “has this been smoked in?” he told me “no… the woman just cooked a lot.” Sure, buddy - how stupid do you think we are?
The layout can make a shorter RV feel big.
We got really hung up on length when we first started looking for a full-timing rig (nothing under 35 feet long, we thought). We were amazed when we walked into a 32-foot motorhome and saw a different layout that seemed as spacious as the bigger ones.
The lot to avoid.
Quality RV on Southeast 82nd Avenue. Everything I looked at had been well used - stained and ripped carpet, damaged walls, buckled floors, etc. A drawer handle even came off in my hand in one of them. Oh… and the sales guy was creepy (I went without Scott, so I was by myself with this guy). Couldn’t wait to get off the lot.
How to figure out your monthly payment on a motorhome.
The payment will be about 1 % of the sticker price. So a $75,000 motorhome will run you about $750 a month. Then you’ve got to add more if you don’t have a sizeable down payment and/or your credit score isn’t perfect.
It’s hard to tell by the photos.
You really have to look at the RV in person to figure out if it’s what you want. No matter how many pictures there are from every different angle, there’s no substitute for standing in the rig and getting the feel for the space. You also notice all the things that are wrong that you can’t see in the photos - worn wood, worn carpet, other problems.
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June 14th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
All of your points are on the money. You’ll do great when you finally find the perfect one.
We got our Arctic Fox at Apache Camping Center in Portland. They treated us really well, and our sales rep, Bill Hartman, was incredible. He was so helpful during the 7 months we hemmed and hawed, and when we finally wanted to commit, he didn’t schiester us around. Pay him a visit and tell him we sent you. Good luck.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:03 am
I’m so glad to hear we’re not the only ones who hem and haw over what to buy. Motorhome… trailer… fifth wheel… our heads are spinning! It’s been 4 months now with the shopping and we still can’t figure out what the heck to buy. Thanks for the tip about Apache Camping Center. We hadn’t heard about that place. I think we’ll head down there to take a look.