<p>I have been cogitating on the idea of a motorhome for trips and facilitating the two kids in the university process. In our kids’ university city motel rooms become scarce and nearly impossible to secure during football season. Plus, Mrs. P2N and I like to travel…</p>
<p>Any thoughts on the merit of this idea? Anyone with experience as to what to look for? Pitfalls, perhaps?</p>
<p>There are some new diesel versions that actually get reasonable mileage…17+ mpg advertised; apparently a Mercedes Benz engine using the new low-sulfur diesel fuel.</p>
<p>We have had an RV for almost 10 years. It has its pluses and minuses. Ours is 29’ and get about 10 MPG. It was great when the kids were small, but they lost interest once the parents becames less cool.</p>
<p>Think a small one on the VW engine would make some sense. A Winnebago Rialta would be worth looking at, or models from a company called Born Free.</p>
<p>Rent one a few times before your purchase. My last friend to buy one lost lost $40k in less than two years on a really nice one that they used two (2) times after he bought it. It had less than 3,000 miles. :eek: I don’t think gas mileage will be your issue.</p>
<p>I just saw a movie from 1941 (“Sullivan’s Travels”) in which the characters refer to a “land yacht.” Turned out to be a very snazzy RV with options that would seem amazing to me even today. </p>
<p>My kids used to love to go to RV shows at the local mall and climb into every model. Give me a hotel every time.</p>
<p>I think once you factor in all the costs, including docking (excuse me, “parking”) expenses, cost for filling and emptying the holding tanks (can’t just dump at the side of the road these days, although a VIP one did on a bridge in Chicago, just as a tour boat was passing underneath!), gas, insurance, depreciation, maintenance (most brands have horrible reputations for reliability, including the drive trains, unfortunately) and destination transportation, you’ll find the cost does not make sense.</p>
<p>My in-laws owned a motorhome and my family traveled with them on several vacations. To me, one of the main disadvantages is that you have to take the motorhome with you wherever you want to go. It can be inconvenient to park and everything must be secured. Would it be convenient to park the motorhome in your kids’ university cities? Also, the prices at the campgrounds with hookups are not that cheap - a very cheap hotel might be only a little more money.</p>
<p>We have a small travel trailer called a Casita. We can pull it with a regular SUV and it pulls easily. It is simple to hook up and attach to the water and power at the campgrounds. It detaches from our vehicle so we have the vehicle available to drive around at the destination. H and I have had a lot of fun with it. WildChild told us under no circumstances was it to come to his boarding school! My brother and law teased us about National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (here come the inlaws with their RV!)</p>
<p>Ours would be too small for sleeping 4. It sleeps two and the dog, but does have a stove, bathroom, microwave and refrig. It is only 17 feet long.
There are ones a little bigger that could still be pulled with a SUV and would sleep 4. They have pull-outs that extend the base unit out the sides. The investment is fairly low, and a good way to see if you like the RV life.</p>
<p>^My husband has this affliction, and unfortunately, we discovered as we pulled out to start the long drive from Houston through the Smokies to Chapel Hill pulling a U-Haul loaded with a Vespa. He was not a happy camper until we unloaded that thing permanently in CH. (I won’t tell you the ‘pet name’ he called the trailer either.)</p>
<p>The U of Michigan (among others??) has some parking arrangements specifically for motor homes. Details at their football website.</p>
<p>For what its worth, Warren Buffett bought a manufacturer of these last year (details in his Berkshire Hathaway annual report letter). Not a company that I’d ever heard of, but an interesting purchase. Of course, that only means that he thinks its a good thing to be selling them. Buying one might be somewhat different.</p>
<p>A tow car solves many of the problems you describe regarding set up and breakdown. Keep the RV outside the metro area and drive the car in. Comparable hotels to RV sites with hookups are not necessarily hotels I would be keen to stay in.</p>
<p>On the plus side, from Western PA we have trekked to Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Mount Ranier, Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rushmore and every state west of the Mississippi except Nort Dakota. All with little kids.</p>
<p>Another reason this appeals to us is that we are not sure where we want to live sans kids. While Florida is fine (excellent restaurants and culture in our area, warm climate, no state income taxes, etc) both of us were born and raised here and may want to go somewhat north. (normal trend - real FL natives go north when they retire :)) </p>
<p>Pulling the residential plug on a whim, however, for parts unknown is not our way of doing things…so the turtle approach may be something of a solution in our effort to decide.</p>
<p>Backing up CAN be hard (I managed to dent the bumper of my Murano pretty badly). My husband is really good at it, though. Many of the campgrounds have pull-through spaces so you don’t ever have to back up. Also, the lighter trailers can be “adjusted” by just pushing them around.</p>
<p>Re: motor home v. trailer. It just depends. The trailers aren’t as hard on your gas mileage and you don’t have the tow-car problem. Motorhomes don’t have to be hitched up and unhitched to a vehicle. Both come in all ranges of luxury levels and cost. There are HUGE trailers or fifth wheels that are like houses. H and I went to the RV show in Dallas (again, to the horror of our son) and really enjoyed seeing all of them.</p>
<p>Speaking of luxury…I want a Meet the Fockers ‘Daddy’ Jack Burns’ motorhome! Complete with supersecret hidey-hole under the bed…lol! Actually there have been a few Discovery Channel/Travel Channel shows on luxury motorhomes that will blow your mind. But I have to agree with MoWC. I’d rather master the backing up thing and have my car available. </p>
<p>Btw…My in-laws purchased a very nice motorhome and through a service, kept it rented out during the year. Not sure how this works, but the income does help offset costs and depreciation.</p>
<p>Renting first is a good idea. Our neighbors rented a big motorhome for their vacations a couple of times and really enjoyed it. Their motivation, if you can believe this, is they had a very large dog that they did not want to leave behind when they went on vacation. Renting a motorhome was the only solution.</p>
<p>m&sdad -
I agree that a tow car solves the problem I mentioned, but my in-laws did not want to tow an extra car. We have visited all of the parks you mentioned and many more, before kids and with kids, and they are beautiful places. Although I am going off the topic for this thread, our mode of summer vacation travel (when without my in-laws) was different, and may not be for everyone. We did not have the vacation time to drive across the country from eastern Pennsylvania, so we flew to a western city with our camping equipment and rented a mini-van. We have done this numerous times and found that it was very possible to bring everything we needed with the two pieces of luggage allotted per person (whether just me and my husband, or with the two kids). We had such great trips and saw and did so much - these trips are among the best experiences of my life.</p>