Sold Boat, Bought RV?

IN the US we simply use the coach to go sight seeing, at 35 ft it goes where the UPS truck will fit , and that's about everywhere.

For visiting a large city like Montreal , we do tow a CRV. as downtown parking costs more .

"To just sit there looking at four cheap walls "


Maybe in the typical "Sticks and Staples the walls were done by some "decorator' ,

but in a bus conversion its more "form follows function" and big windows for loads of light.

A really great winter snow storm on a boat ,,40-50K and horizontal snow / sleet IS an adventure.

The same conditions in an RV is time for a book or a movie.

Tho my bride works away on the spinning wheel and listens to book.

I took my wife to look at her first RV yesterday. She, the wise woman, said that smaller was better. In her opinion the 24' Class C Coachman Prisim with a Mercedes diesel was "cute". It also gets 15 mpg and she, the wise woman, said diesel was going to go up to $5.00.

My wife & I don't RV (used to) or cruise. We decide where we want to go, head out and towards dark start looking for a motel. (No reservations.) We have stayed in some real dumps along with some of the nicest places in the US. The "adventure" component of not having reservations has resulted in some great laughs, comfort, discomfort, concern, amazement and fun! :coffeecup:

"NO RESEVERVATIONS"

I do'nt understand people that need reservations.

How insecure!

I'm going to be watching Anthony Bordain's new show but like the "No Reservations" name of the old show better. Perhaps when I understand the title of the new one *....

I enjoy knowing that the drool on my pillow is mine each night. And if I've got bedbugs or other creepy crawlys around, they're MY creepy crawlys, not something left from the derelict that rented the room and slept it off there last night. I've been in too many hotel/motel rooms when the guests were "sick" with whatever and called 911, to ever want to actually try to sleep in one. This is both high rent and low rent places. You'd be amazed what victims of tragedy bring into the Sheraton and Hilton rooms. And if you ever get to watch a live CSI type investigation in a motel room with the different light waves to check for blood spatter or other uhm, fluids, you won't want to ever sit on the furniture. But hey, some people like sharing.

A quick one day tour thru each tourist*town just doesn't give me the whole feeling of having seen it. Wandering around the town for a few days gives you a much better feeling of how life really is in different parts of the country. We're in Ottine/Luling part of Texas right now. Driving thru Luling one smells crude oil wafting thru on the wind. Looking around you see that there are dozens of working oil wells in town. Most have been decorated so the working arm isn't just an iron beam but instead it looks like Jiminy Cricket, or two kids on a teeter totter. The elementary school has a couple working wells in their front yard. Driving from one tourist spot to another would not include a stop in Luling, but the more relaxed motorhome style allows us to see these things.

Anyone who believes driving a motorhome isn't a challenge worthy of their skills hasn't taken a big rig through any sizable towns. We occasionally stay at an Elks Club or an RV park downtown for the convenience of walking to points of interest, theaters etc. We are 63' tip to tail, roughly the same as an OTR semi, but we have a long wheelbase up front instead of the relatively short wheelbase like a semi. Unfamiliar streets, gps directions that don't always show the current road configuration and dozens of other vehicles all vying to not get caught behind the RV. Remember with the tow car, you can't back up under any circumstances without unhitching the tow and driving it seperately. Imagine a half dozen boats trying to moor in adjacent spots with a 40 mph crosswind. That's about the pucker factor. Fire trucks and city busses navigate the same streets everyday so it can be done, but familiarity of streets and courtesy from other drivers is a little better for those rigs. (plus force of law, Yielding to busses is mandatory in many places)

Finally I've posted some pictures from out my front window yesterday. The roadway is Park Road 11, the deer are 75 feet directly in front of where we're parked. They browsed for 45 minutes until a car came by on the road out front. It's not all freeway.

Old Stone just asked about how crowded the RV parks were and about reservations. We made reservations last year for Disneyland over Christmas and New Year. Other than that we never reserve in advance because then we're on a time schedule. We will occasionally call the morning of our arrival,*just to make sure there is a spot available and decide if we need to make other plans before we get there. The caveat is that we are traveling in the off season, winter. We're on the boat during the summer so that would be a totally different can of worms. The State Parks right now are packed for the thanksgiving weekend so we're in a private Elks Club park with plenty of room. Last week we were in a State Park for 7 days and there were probably 8 other campsites in use of the 50 something that were available.

Ken

*

Ditto what Ken said. I literally can't sleep if its not my own bed. And its not entirely the thought of the unknown grunge that I'm sharing the room with but I suppose that does enter into it.

If you're going to RV then in my opinion you need to get off the superslabs. My current client has sent me on some real wild goose chases across North America and along the way we've seen some neat places that we would never have found otherwise. We've also spent a lot of time off the main roads in Canada. I referred earlier to Sandon & Kaslo. Sandon is a ghost town in the BC interior - there's a road through the "Valley of the Ghosts" that connects Kaslo to New Denver and Sandon is about midpoint on that road. Anybody who thinks driving a motorhome is child's play or boring needs to travel that road after dark some time. I chased a bear for about half a mile down that road one time, he kept looking back over his should as if to say "you still there????" The switchbacks on that road are so tight that I was looking out the ticket window to see the road ahead. I also referred to Missinnipi - according to the map Missinnipi, Saskatchewan is on #2 highway but its a highway unlike most others you have ever seen. And like Ken we've been in some tricky urban situations like the time the sign on the interstate said "Charleston visitor information centre, next exit" so we turned off expecting some 3 acre parking lot along the freeway. Instead we would our way deep into the heart of Charleston with no easy escape until we finally found the information kiosk in downtown Charleston. We blocked about 10 parking spots at the information booth and walked down to the waterfront for crab cakes.

charles wrote:

We tell freinds who come up with some of the same criticisms as Marin, that we can be as solitary as we wish and sleep in our own bed.

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Given my job that has been taking me all around the world for the last 21 years, not sleeping in my own bed is something that doesn't bother me at all.* So that aspect of RVing is irrelevant to me.

I intellectually understand the attractions you guys have been listing, but I'm sorry but it just sounds staggeringly boring.* As to the challenge of driving a "big rig" through a town, been there, done that, got the T-shirt although not with an RV.* The town streets don't move, their surfaces don't hump up into all sorts of waves, there is no current and the wind is not a factor unless it's a hurricane you're driving through.* So in my book, and my wife's, we see no interesting challenges whatsoever in the actual operation of an RV.* What's the GEICO phrase--- "It's so simple even a cave man can do it."

I could certainly see taking up RVing if all other options were closed.* Couldn't boat, couldn't fly, couldn't travel internationally, couldn't hike, couldn't ride horses, etc. due due to physical restrictions.* RVing would* be world's better than sitting in the front room watching the grass grow, no question.

So as a last resort sort of activity, we'd probably be inclined to take it up, too, in some form or other.* The former boaters we know who now RV have all done so for this basic reason.* It's the only form of "cruising" they're able of doing anymore.* Fortunately we're not in that position yet, and we hope we never are although never say never.

No activity other than breathing is right for everyone.* We know plenty of people who RV and love it for the same reasons you all have been listing.* Their experiences are no less enjoyable and valid to them as ours with the plane and the boats.* But the original question was has anyone switched from boating to RVing and then come back to boating.* My response is that we would never leave boating in the first place, not unless we had no choice for fianancial or physical reasons.* From where we sit, RVing is a very poor substitute for boating.*

At least boating in this region, where there is a lifetime of exploring and experiences up the coast.* If we boated in a place like southern California where the cruising destinations are far fewer, as Walt has stated, or the Gulf or the ICW where the landscape has no appeal to us at all, I suppose switching over to RVing could have more appeal at some point as it would allow us to travel to places that are geographically more interesting.*

But fortunately we don't live in a place like that.* While we love taking vacations in Europe and whatnot, in all my travels so far I have not found anywhere I'd rather be than the west coast from Washington up through SE Alaska.* The runners up I have seen (so far) are Maine, the Canadian maritimes, northern Scotland, and Norway.* And in all these places, I think the best way to experience them is by boat.


-- Edited by Marin on Thursday 24th of November 2011 12:54:54 PM

nomadwilly wrote:
I do'nt understand people that need reservations.

How insecure!

*

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If you were heading off to China, as we are about to do for several weeks of filming all over that country, you would probably change your mind

"From where we sit, RVing is a very poor substitute for boating. "

It is an adjunct to boating,

Just like a boat , we see an RV as a utility too.

Useful for a purpose.

In our case it is far easier to RV our snowbird lifestyle , with a 35ft bus pulling a small trailer.

The RV visit to Nat. parks , caves or small out of the way places is a bonus .

After decades flying a bus , I LOVE MY OWN BED!! and no junk food!.


-- Edited by FF on Friday 25th of November 2011 05:35:36 AM

Back in the days before telephones and at the dawn of electricity. An Indian reservation purchased a large carved figure of an Indian head to stand at the front entrance to the reservation when they ran the lighting to the sculpture I guess he (The Electrician) was the first person to wire a head for a reservation.

Now we use the cell.

Times have changed.

SD

My wife and I are starting to feel like cell mates since we don't have a boat or an RV. I can only to to Wal Mart and Home Depot some many times a day. I am beginning to miss West Marine.

Further comparing boats to RV's I am curious about another issue. High engine hour boats can have high or low hours on the other critical systems such as the A/C, gen set, plumbing, transmission, etc. Depending upon the boat's history one sort of knows what to look for in terms of what might be getting worn out and what may have several years of good service left in it.

In a high milage diesel coach (say 80,000+ miles over 10 years) we would assume that the engine still has a lot of life left in it. But, what about the other things that are also getting heavy use ...wheel bearings, axels, steering components, gears?

Does one hire an RV surveyor?

skipperdude wrote:
*I guess he (The Electrician) was the first person to wire a head for a reservation.

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I've waited quite awhile for a reaction or two about SD's post.

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I think it's pretty damn funny!

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*

SeaHorse II wrote:skipperdude wrote:
*I guess he (The Electrician) was the first person to wire a head for a reservation.

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I've waited quite awhile for a reaction or two about SD's post.

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I think it's pretty damn funny!

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*

*Walt, you're just encouraging him!

DOC Wrote:

My wife and I are starting to feel like cell mates since we don't have a boat or an RV. I can only to to Wal Mart and Home Depot some many times a day. I am beginning to miss West Marine.

Further comparing boats to RV's I am curious about another issue. High engine hour boats can have high or low hours on the other critical systems such as the A/C, gen set, plumbing, transmission, etc. Depending upon the boat's history one sort of knows what to look for in terms of what might be getting worn out and what may have several years of good service left in it.

In a high milage diesel coach (say 80,000+ miles over 10 years) we would assume that the engine still has a lot of life left in it. But, what about the other things that are also getting heavy use ...wheel bearings, axels, steering components, gears?

Does one hire an RV surveyor?

______________________________________________________

Doc,

I would recommend that you start visiting the RV.Net forum for all you ever wanted to know about RV's.* This forum has many catagories for the different kinds of RV's and each of those with many sub-catogories.* If you can't find an answer here, there isn't an answer.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/listings/forum/22

The link above is for Class A's.

Hope this doesn't violate any rules for not having ANY boat content in it.

Ron

Doc

Just like buying a used car, If you need to, you can take it to a mechainic to get properly checked out.
Diesel engines are good to about 10k hours before a major on a boat. That translates to 450,000 miles in an RV. Oil analysis can be done, just as for a boat. Other systems show their wear more obviously. You just need to take the time to look.
So I wouldn't call 89k miles "high". Wheel bearings, axles, steering components, gears, all will go just as far.

But, what about the other things that are also getting heavy use ...wheel bearings, axels, steering components, gears?

The service life will depend mostly on the foundation, the basic frame the RV was built on.

A modified RV chassis (usually stretched) will have the shortest life , BUT parts are cheap , and founf easily.

The other end of the spectrum is a bus conversion , 3million + miles is not uncommon , but the maint will be more costly aND NOT DONE IN MOST CORNER GAS STATIONS.

Doc wrote:
Does one hire an RV surveyor?

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Its no different than a boat.* If you're not competent to do most or all of the assessment of the mechanical condition then you are doomed to disappointment.* The big difference with an RV is that you can (usually) roll to the side of the road and wait for help to arrive*in the event of a failure.* Similar to the boat situation, there are some phenomenal deals on RVs right now if you know what you are looking at.* I'm fond of and partial to bus conversions - lately I've seen some of them trade for nominal amounts.* I consider our bus to be in exceptional condition - it passes an annual DOT inspection with flying colours - but its also virtually worthless if we chose to sell it.* I could also show you some units that, if someone were to pay you to take them, they still would be too expensive to own.

We have had motor homes, 23 to 28 ft, since 1973 while our children grew up.* However we sold the motor home when we bought the Eagle because our children had their own lives, and we where spending so much time living and working on the Eagle.* The motor homes were small enough that they can be driven in most cities/towns and parked in most areas/spots, but they still had basic creature comforts. Since we live on a boat it would not be very hard to live in a motor home.
*
For Thanksgiving my wife and I flew to LA to visit children and grandchildren. Which got us thinking about buying a motor home for when we retire within two years.* Live on the boat in the summer and take the motor home south for the winter.* While in LA we did look at used 26 to 31 ft motor homes for around $20 grand.* *One of the main reasons we live on a boat is if we do not like the area/location, we can easily move to another area/location.* If/when we have to move to a fix dirt place we will rent rather than own, so*we can move around.***

Some great ideas here. Phil's summer boating and winter RVing is what we've been waiting to do and are now doing. It's the best of both worlds. Boat during the best weather and RV during the best weather. Of course I consider 78 degress in the winter to be great weather and 110, summertime in AZ and TX to be bad weather.

My thoughts on whether an RV is worn or going to need excessive maintenance is not mainly the miles. Fulltime RV's get much more wear on the couchs, recliners, stove, and slides outs than part timers that drive like hell for 4 weeks every year to see it all. We'll spend 7 months going from PNW to Texas and back this year, the mileage that someone else might do in a 4 week vacation. We'll put more wear on the furniture than a couple that takes a 4 week trip to TX and back, but less wear than a family of 5 doing the 4 week trip.

I'll spend time tinkering, lubing, aligning, cleaning, and checking my rig. Someone else may take it to the dealer once a year to "fix it". Longevity for an RV is just like your boat, it includes fixing small problems before they create more wear on everything around it. Even a higher end MH was built to a price point so there will be things that need a tweak.

Keith mentioned a 10,000 hour diesel boat engine and the equivalent RV mileage. Who ever heard of a 10,000 hour gasoline boat engine? It doesn't happen, because the gas engine simply isn't designed to run that many uphill service hours. So when you're looking at motorhomes look at what the base components were built for. Is it an F450 with a stretched frame and loaded with body and amenities to it's max Gross Vehicle Weight Rating as it rolls out the door? Or is it custom designed as a motorhome chassis using heavy duty truck axles and suspension designed for motorhome use? Are the frame rails designed to hold the MH body or have they been altered to fit? How about the engine/transmission is it the combo they put in pickup trucks or the one they put in over the road trucks? One will be easier to get parts for, one will not need parts as often.

Especially when you get to that magical 40' motorhome mark you can go either way. Many 40' MH's roll out of the factory so close to the max weight that a full tank of fuel, water and the weekend necessities make them overweight. When you read about tire problems on RV's pay attention to which vehicles are having problems, you'll often find rigs close to their max weight. Or have tires not rated for the use they are getting, maybe from the factory.

For any RV look at the components that it's built from. Look at the quality of the pieces used, just like your boat. If you're buying used, which for me is where the best bargains are, look at Who used the rig, and How they used it.

And, for the record I selected a single engine, 15/40 oil, 30 and then 2 micron fuel filters, I do not polish my fuel, ............. [edit] Almost forgot 9 GPH.

Ken


-- Edited by 2bucks on Tuesday 29th of November 2011 07:06:54 PM

Sounds like great advice, Ken. I've often wondered about many of these issues.* Thanks for posting.

BTW, is it true that Ken Buck hates sex?

2000 hours on a basic gas truck engine in a larger boat is not uncommon.

The Rulle of thumb/guesstimate is one boat hour is 50 highway miles.

Coaches are surveyed by taking it first to a local charter bus shop, for a look at everything under the bus.

A DOT style check.

Then to the engine Mfg local dealer who will put it on a dynomometer ($150 for an hour including dyno time) and the mechanics can asses the engine and tranny if its an automatic.

Easier than on a boat , but the RV portion , is a bit harder to judge .

FlyWright wrote:
Sounds like great advice, Ken. I've often wondered about many of these issues.* Thanks for posting.

BTW, is it true that Ken Buck hates sex?

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*Sssshhhhhhh!!!! Don't tell everybody.

I don't mean to sound morbid but there is a saying that goes.....

Sailboat....to trawler....to RV....to Casket...

DON'T DO IT!!!

Baker wrote:
I don't mean to sound morbid but there is a saying that goes.....

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*The version I heard was:

Sailboat - Motorboat - Motorhome - Rest home

*

Sailboat - Motorboat - Motorhome - Rest home



It takes far more skill to operate any motor vehicle at speed than wander down a dock to a floating house , or even move the house at 6K for a hundred hours a year , in a really good year.

Doc wrote:

Does one hire an RV surveyor?

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That's an interesting concept.* I have no idea if there are people who fill this role in the RV world, but it's not a bad idea.* We know a couple of couples who sold their boats and bought RVs and had TERRIBLE experiences with them because of serious design flaws or problems that cropped up with things like brakes, leaks, system failures, etc.

In one case the couple is suing the dealer who sold them the rig, outcome still to be determined.* The other couple wrote very harsh letters to the headquarters of the national franchise dealership network and the company exchanged their one-year old trailer for a brand new one of considerably better quality (the couple had to agree to have their payments adjusted somewhat to compensate for the higher value of the new trailer).* It turned out their original trailer had some problems that could easily have resulted in a major accident on the road, in additon to developing annoyances like leaks, poorly functioning heating, etc.

But in both cases all the problems encountered were things that someone very familiar with RVs and their construction and systems could have uncovered before the sale.

So if there is no such thing as an actual RV "surveyor" it sounds like it would be very worthwhile for someone not familiar with RVs to take someone who is along with them when shopping for one.

There are problems with all the toys - boats, & rvs, cars, etc.. I seen and heard of some terrible stories with boats too. I had some problems with a new boat that the dealer didn't/couldn't /wouldn't take care of so I did, had to. It was a long,long way back to the dealer and it was clear they weren't interested.

I've actually had better success with my trailer. The wty. complaints were indeed dealt with. There are still some stupid things that I'm dealing with but the rig is now 4+ years old so there is no question about who deals with it unless it was a major engineering safety screwup.

Unfortunately too much depends on dealers of all stripes. Some are good and some should be horsewhipped.

There are some sites and sources of rating for rv but they are few and far between. There are some surveyors but how good or bad they are I don't know. Some good rv repair shops will do an inspection much like the auto repair shops used to do as long as you new and trusted the mechanics, at least for used rigs. If a new rig is in stock you may be able to get a good rv repair person to go with you. They may also know of inherent problems with some models and makes.

If someone is interested in a particular brand, boats and rv's, I'd suggest take a look on the internet for a website concerning that brand. Not the mfgr forums but the owners forums which is usually a different setup. I was amazed at what was available for a few nights reading about my rig, of course after the fact in my case. A lot of what was dealt with was minor but annoying stuff, some of it was more serious. In our case we were basically lucky although we had picked one of the better trailers, partly from looking and partly luck.

C lectic has it right. Due diligence. If you're thinking about buying an RV/car/boat/house do your research. Join the forums two years before you're ready to buy. Read what the common problems are. Read the stories of the breakdowns, the dealers with poor service, the obsolete models. Have the mechanicals checked out by a mechanic or person familiar with that brand. Look at many different brands on the lots. Look at floorplans. Walk, sit, talk. Find one that fits your needs and your pocketbook. Then go looking to buy.

I can't believe the number of sheeple that go to a dealership to be sold an RV. When we bought ours we knew the make model and years that fit what we wanted, we were simply looking for the right deal. When we found that deal, we were ready to buy and have been happy ever since.

What did you end up buying, 2bucks? What sold you on the choice you made?