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by talltex
Thu Jul 28, 2016 12:28 pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: Motor homes
Replies: 196
Views: 38466

Re: Motor homes

The Annoyed Man wrote:My two experiences with RVs and TTs is this:

(1) I owned a pop up trailer back in the early 2000's which I sold on 2006. I paid $1300 for it, in used but sericeable condition, owned it for maybe 4 years, used it at least once a year for a church camp out and a couple of other times for fishing trips. I sold it to my best friend for $600.

(2) That same best friend and I once rented a Tioga 28' motor home and took his daughter, my wife, and my son on a 10 day trip to the area around Sabrina lake up in the high sierras. Had a wonderful trip, and the rental alone was $1,500, plus the gas.

OTH, my wife and I went to California in late May/early June. We drove (I won't fly unless completely unavoidable because I'm fed up with the processes involved), and were gone from 5/23 to 6/8. We stayed in hotels. We spent $602.00 on gas, and $2100 on lodging (included pet fees). So, not counting food, the trip cost us about $2,700 in round numbers.

I don't know what hookups cost per night in Amarillo, Albuqueque, Williams, and Flagstaff (the cities we spent the night in while on the road, but a 25' travel trailer would have cost us $720/week during that trip, and we were gone for 15 nights..... So roughly $1,440 plus hookup fees.......and more gas. The only RV park near Pasadena (that isn't up in the Angeles National Forest) is a KOA at the Pomona Country Fairgrounds, with rates between $56 & $76 per day for full hookups. So, for the 10 nights we were in Pasadena, add $560 to $760 in hookup fees for lodging, plus the extra fuel burned towing a trailer, and now we are already at or above what I spent during that trip, and I still haven't figured in trailer hookups in Amarillo, Albuquerque, Williams, and Flagstaff!

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TAM, you've left out the biggest expense involved in a TT or MH....depreciation...it's huge. If you buy a new rig, you can count on minimum 50% depreciation in the first 2 years you own it...and I've seen it higher. I was trading for a Class C last year with same set up you had looked at on the 2006, Ford f450 chassis, etc.. Longtime customer of mine had bought it new in 2013 and it had 11,000 miles on it in "as new" condition in and out. They had paid $91,000.00 for it. I shopped it with 6 major RV dealers in the southwest and the highest bid was from the dealer chain they had purchased it from ( they knew the vehicle and how it was cared for). Their bid...the highest...was $31,000.00 due to it being in the fall and they figured they would have to hold it until spring selling season and would then sell it in the $50k range retail. Add in 25-35% annual depreciation the first few years and the costs to own and operate an RV skyrocket. and that's assuming no major repair expenses because of being new...when they get 7-10 years on them they all have problems with water lines, holding tanks, water leaks, etc...

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