RV - buying one for the MIL and need advice

Pribilof

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Mother in law has asked me to help her find a class C RV.

She has a sky high budget (LOL) of $35k. Fortunately the interior she can redo but it needs to be mechanically sound. Possible or unpossible?

best place to look? FB Marketplace? RV Trader? Fantasy land?

Any and all advice welcome!
 

SID297

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In those criteria, just find something that isn't a complete POS. Plan on it still needing work. Doesn't matter if it's a $1,500 pop-up or a $2.5 mil Newell, they are all broke in one way or another all the time. Being handy helps, otherwise be prepared to be paying someone to work on it all the time.
 

SweetSVT99

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I just searched marketplace in my area, and it looks like 35k will get her a Class C in the 2003-2006 range. There was even a Class A or two at that pricepoint in the same MY range.
 

13COBRA

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I would tell her NOT to.

Have her spend $35k over the next 5 years on vacations, it'll be more enjoyable. Hell, even use it to rent RVs.

RVs take everything that breaks on a car, and everything that breaks in a house, and combines them.

You couldn't give me an RV.
 

Pribilof

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I would tell her NOT to.

Have her spend $35k over the next 5 years on vacations, it'll be more enjoyable. Hell, even use it to rent RVs.

RVs take everything that breaks on a car, and everything that breaks in a house, and combines them.

You couldn't give me an RV.

Yeah my advice to her was "if it floats, flies, fornicates, (or is an RV)... rent it." Advice not taken.
 

AustinSN

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Older long bed with an in bed camper?

You could get a pretty solid mid 2000s truck and spend $10k on a camper that needs a little interior work.
 

Blown 89

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Yeah my advice to her was "if it floats, flies, fornicates, (or is an RV)... rent it." Advice not taken.
I wouldn't rent an RV in a million years. That's a shurefire way to have a catastrophic failure laving you stranded in the middle of nowhere. Every single person I know that did the rental route the past two year spent half of their vacation stranded on the side of the road.

This is a tough market to want to get into RV's. If I were her I'd wait and take advantage of the flood of used RV's about to hit the market. She's going to need to accept maintenance on them though, especially if she buys something manufactured in the Covid era. There's no getting around that RV's are rolling piles of shit.

What are her thoughts about a fifth wheel? I've always felt that's the better alternative for most folks.

I would tell her NOT to.

Have her spend $35k over the next 5 years on vacations, it'll be more enjoyable. Hell, even use it to rent RVs.

RVs take everything that breaks on a car, and everything that breaks in a house, and combines them.

You couldn't give me an RV.
If you have an RV you're more likely to take more vacations. I take my son out of town damn near weekly. Rather than one vacation every year we take dozens. That's worth the meager amount we paid for it.
 

13COBRA

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If you have an RV you're more likely to take more vacations. I take my son out of town damn near weekly. Rather than one vacation every year we take dozens. That's worth the meager amount we paid for it.

I guess. I take 6-8 vacations a year, and that's plenty for my family. Other weekends we're at the racetrack, watching soccer/baseball or at dance competitions.
 

lOOKnGO

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I found a Roadtrek class b on a dodge platform for my in laws. Below 30k miles for 15,000. The MIL was a full fledged hippie and toured in a VW bus for a year in 72. FIL on the other hand is a Harvard grad patient attorney and stuffy, They used it for 2 months touring high then low routes. They liked it especially because there were size restrictions in some National Parks that they otherwise couldn't have entered with a larger class. I'm happy they did it when they did, because it would be a PITA with the way things are today.

They sold it for 22k after they got back. Only issue they had was the gas stove or fridge I cant recall. Happy trails!
 

quad

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In those criteria, just find something that isn't a complete POS. Plan on it still needing work. Doesn't matter if it's a $1,500 pop-up or a $2.5 mil Newell, they are all broke in one way or another all the time. Being handy helps, otherwise be prepared to be paying someone to work on it all the time.
A neighbor and his wife recently wanted to take their RV on a trip. They were on the road for a hour or two when the windshield popped out. So they had to cancel their trip.

The windshield popping out is apparently a common issue with their model and the previous owner glued it in place so the fix was not easy. So now they'll have to wait till next year before they can go again with their RV.
 

98 svt

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They are all moneypits. I've seen it 4 or 5 times now.
It will leak and it will develop mold.
 

TK1299

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1Kona_Venom

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Never heard it put that way before. But makes complete sense.
I would tell her NOT to.

Have her spend $35k over the next 5 years on vacations, it'll be more enjoyable. Hell, even use it to rent RVs.

RVs take everything that breaks on a car, and everything that breaks in a house, and combines them.

You couldn't give me an RV.

Sent from my SM-G975U using the svtperformance.com mobile app
 

SID297

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I still love my RV, but I hate hotels and flying. Add to that, I have to haul a 70 pound dog around with me and I hate dog hotels more than a regular hotel. We typically travel for 2 weeks - a month at a time.

Also, the last trip (to Bowling Green) we burned $600 in fuel. That's something to keep in mind.
 

Pribilof

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So she bought one... I was not involved (hallelujah!).

I guess it's only a coupe of years old? Not sure how that worked out. Just happy I have no responsibility here.
 

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