Was looking at RV's on craigslist. Lots of good deals, but I'm wondering about the overall cost of ownership considering maintenance.

I would think a trailer, or 5th wheel would be less expensive to maintain than a motor home. I was blown away by one guys listing of a nice motor home that listed all of the things both he and the previous owner had replaced, or repaired in it.

Your thoughts please.

heres my story. i grew up with a cabin in nortern mn. got remarried started to do tent camping. was ok. good friend owns campground, bought a $2500 older camper to try out on a permenent site. loved it. 3 years ago sold it bought a 3 year old 5th wheel. love it even more. did a lot of repairs on old camper but it WAS OLDER. have done a few small repairs on new one,standard maintence stuff mianly. guess my point is if you put a camper on a seasonal lot you shouldnt have as many repairs as one that gets moved every weekend because its not bouncing down the road and eveything is jigglin and vibrating. personally i wouldnt own motorhome but to each his own, and i think there are good deals from private owners. this is my opinion and hope it helped. by the way we still have cabin will give up camper if it gets to that point.

I had a motorhome and sold it for a 5th wheel and truck. Way harder to work on a motorhome if you have problems compared to truck, and it is easier to find someone experienced on working on trucks than motorhomes. Biggest issue is wiring, they are kinda merged together and very hard to troubleshoot issues.

I agree with what glen said about maintaining an RV, if you are moving it around especially on bouncy dirt roads expect more maintenance no matter what you buy.

I bought an 01 travel trailer 5 years ago. have not spent more than $100 on maintainance. I wash it in the spring, wax it, treat the rubber roof once a year and wash it in the fall and put it away. And we use the heck out of it!! After this weekend, we'll have spend probably a total more than 30 nights a summer in it. it's not on a seasonal, we take it wherever we go. insurance is cheap as well.

what do you do to treat your rubber roof? i just recently caulked the seams but never treated other parts of the roof.

you can get a bottle of rubber roof cleaner/treatment at wal-mart. just mix with water, scrub it on and rinse it off. it will keep the rubber from drying and cracking. i do it once a year

thanks i will need to do that. i already pressure washed it off. i assume i could get that other places other than wal-mart. i have issues buying at wal-mart.

yes, you can also get it at any camping store, like camping world, or you should also be able to get it at gander...etc

Tell me the difference in the wiring. The only difference is that all the wiring on a truck is packed into the pickup. The wiring in a motorhome has more space and easier to run.



This may be true for little things, but to keep things working and lubricated, I have always had better luck using things rather than leaving them sit.



Anything is a money pit if you don't spend good money in the first place. You have to think of it as a toy. It is going to cost you, one way or another.

As far as trailer vs. motorhome, that is personal preference in what you plan on doing. Most buy a trailer because they are less expensive and then they have a reason to make the wife let them get a decent truck.

I have a motorhome, on our second one now. Had very little problems with them. We go camping with 5th wheels and trailers. I have seen some of them really falling apart. It could be lack of maintenance or just because they are cheaper models. Either way, I don't see much difference in quality comparing apples to apples on motorhomes vs. 5th wheels. When you go out and actually start looking at them, you will see the difference in quality and if it is used, the difference in how it was taken care of.

What about wall construction?

I know some trailers use aluminum skinned wall panels with studs and others use a foam core. Which is better?

Also, what brands are good in a trailer, motor home, and 5th wheel?

C'mon fellas. K.I.S.S. Answer his original question.

"Is a RV a money pit"
Yes. The Point cannot be argued. You'd better love RVing, and do it often enough to justify the expense.

RVing is a money pit. Fun, but a money pit.

The entire charging systems for both cab and the coach mix together on the same blocks, all the leads come in to the cab/coach in the same bundle, and until you have to troubleshoot an electrical problem, you won't see what I mean. I had a problem that I worked on for a while and wound having a mechanic work on it and even he said that was one of the more miserable things he ever had to work on.

We were camping last spring and a guy from out of state was having engine electrical issues and he had a hard time getting anyone to even work on it. The RV dealers don't work on the engine wiring and the dealers don't like to work with the coach and engine wiring mix. He spend a whole morning trying to find someone North of Duluth to work on his rig.



I know people that have motorhomes that are in pretty poor shape too. Some are poor quality and some are just cuz people don't fix things as things break. Fact is trailer or motorhome have things that move or get bounced around and things that get moved around or bounced around break. And no matter what you buy, if you buy the real bottom of the line you can't expect it to last as long as a quality rig.

yes, the wiring can be a real pain! when they wire the coach
part, they don always use the same color wire as the wiring
diagram says. seems they use whatever color is within reach.
class c motorhomes arent to much different than a standard
van, but when you get into a class a motorhome anything goes!
most of the time, we find bad grounds or bad connections.

randy
rv tech

with wood studs you will have aluminum siding,but aluminum
damages easily. the aluminum studs and foam will be pylon [sp]
or gel coat. a lot tougher but has had delamination problems.
more so if you have a small water leak. pylon also is easier
to keep clean, also its a lot heavier.
as far as brands, thats a ford/chevy polaris/honda debate :]
structurally the major brands are built pretty much the same
way.most of the warranty we did was paneling coming loose or
trim not cut right and plumbing leaks.

randy rv tech

OK, so what ARE the major brands then?