First rv purchase, any advise?


My wife and I are looking for our first rv. We will be full timers, and traveling with three large dogs. Any advise as to buying a rv so that I do not get burned? Also any advise as to the type of rv to get?
 

Steve H

Senior Member
That's a pretty tall order so to speak! You are full-timing with no RV experience...you are either trolling us or really brave! I will get the conversation going...do you have a tow vehicle for a Tow Behind or are you considering a Motor Home?
 
We are just traveling the us. Arizona to start, Texas, and New Mexico. I have some work lined up in Arizona to get some cash flow. I am looking at motor homes with a car to tow behind. I have 15,000 for a rv. And three thousand to start the length of our trip. I have 15 cases of drinking water, and 30 bags of dog food.
 
And I have very little experience. I lived in a fifth wheel for three and a half months for a pumpkin patch and tree farm. So a crash course is all. Lol. I guess it is the fact we are young, and a bit brave as well.
 

C Nash

Senior Member
15K for a MH you will probably need a lot of repairs. Tires, batteries, belts and hoses before hitting the road. A good road service and repair insurance may help. use paperplates and plastic utinsels. As few clothes as possible. Weight will addup quick when fulltiming. Need to know the CCC of any rv you get. Overloading is a problem. Slides help when fulltiming and yes they can give trouble. Where do you plan on getting your mail? Look in to a mail forwarding service. Any medical problems? meds are no problem to get when traveling. How long do you plan on staying in one place? Goggle fulltiming and you will get plenty of hits. keep us posted. I like HR, Allegro and they can be found in your price range. If you are not mechanacally minde pay a mechanic to inspect one before buying. Good luck and it's a great life.
 

bradybunch84

New Member
We full time in a 5th wheel. We gave a lot of thought into our choice. We thought we had it all figured out just what we wanted then we hit the road. Guess what, we changed our minds what was important. The most important thing was the fact that we were doing it. No one really knows what they will need until they hit the road for themselves. Here is an example, we had to have a big kitchen. Turns out that we don't cook in the 5th wheel all that much so it really wasn't an important feature. I wish you the best of luck!
 

akjimny

Senior Member
Two people and three large dogs??? I'd be looking at a crew cab pickup and a 5th wheel trailer. Dogs in the back seat, people up front and use the pickup to go back and forth to work. $15k isn't much budget to work with so I hope you are handy at repairing things. Good luck and post back and tell us how you are doing.
 

RVmomma

Junior Member
We did not have much when we bought our RV as well. We went used and older. We spent $7500 on a 99 TT and yes it needed repairs! It had some water damage in 3 areas. So we had to pull out the bad and replace with good, as well as making sure the roof was nice and sealed! The fridge also was bad, which we found out about 2 months into our trip. So, a new one had to bought. We have been in ours for a couple of years now and since have had to also fix leak in the bathroom tub area and replace rotten bathroom floor from the leak. We have also replaced toilet too. Our a/c also went out last year and this year our heater is making a horrible noise when it turns on :/ So far, we have invested aprox $12000, but imo that isn't bad considering. My biggest advice is to be prepared to repair! However, that doesn't mean not to go over the RV with a fine tooth comb. Look for signs of leaks ( Go during raining season if at all possiable ).Make sure everything has been recently inspected and don't be afraid to climb underneath it and look too. Everything you find wrong will help you negotiate a better price. As long as the bones are good, you can always redo the cosmetic stuff later ;) As far as what to get, since you have 3 big dogs, have you considered a toy hauler? I am thinking that the back would be nice and open, easy to clean messes and when your home, you could open the back for your dogs to get fresh air/run in an out of ;) I hope this helps you. Good Luck!
 
My wife and I have been full time in a 31 ft. four winds class c with two dogs and have been comfortable. The layout is what did it for us on this one, and the bathroom is spacious. This one has a different layout than a lot of others I have seen. It is a matter of preference and how much space you need. It also depends on if you are traveling and want to tow a small car as opposed to towing a fifth wheel behind a truck. We do a walkthrough on ours at
http://pavlovamericanroadtrip.blogspot.com/p/our-rig.html

We are six months into full time living and traveling. Things are going to happen, but it's all part of the adventure. Tires are a big deal. You don't want to blow one of those. Don't get too stressed out. We knew we wanted a class c and felt several out before getting this one. Hope that helped.
 
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