Advice choosing RV

[Chothulu]

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Hi there, I’m completely new to the rv forum world but a friend mentioned it would be the best place to get objective advice and ideas. I’ve lived with a friend in a camper van for the past 4 years and feel it’s time to go on my own with my cat. The problem being that I am still somewhat new to the whole rv world in general. I am completely stuck between 2 class B rvs. One being a 1996 dodge roadtrek versatile with 88,000 miles for $20k with only an outside generator and the other being a 2006 roadtrek popular with 156,000 miles for $28k with no refrigerator. My first instinct would be to go for the older, lower immediate cost as I’m 25 and currently only working minimum wage. However my apprehension comes to the cost of any breakdowns or issues I might face along the way with an older vehicle, in addition to having to purchase a generator or fridge. I know there tend to be minor fixes typically for any rv, but my concern is more on the bigger fixes I would have to go to a shop for and spends hundreds, possibly up to thousands to fix. Not to mention the current uptick in RV popularity makes it a bit hard to find a vehicle within a price range I can afford myself.  Any advice or insight would be appreciated! 

[rpsinc]

Clearly you have gleaned much information that appears to be of great benefit to your decision making process.  Cheap is not often the best approach.   I can only think of 1 situation where a cheaper rig might be a better choice, and that is if you are able to handle the repairs on your own.  Otherwise, having a nest egg account and doing the preventative items as they are, would make more sense and the nest egg account would be there for those unforeseen repairs.

As to the refer issue, consider solar panels and batteries with a small refer and inverter(120V apartment refers are pretty inexpensive and work pretty good with an inverter) as opposed to a gas generator.  

Working at minimum wage jobs might not get you very far if your plan is to stay in RV parks, esp considering the increase in those fees, esp the daily rates.  If you have the opportunity, you might consider Workkamping as a supplemental means of income or exchange for a site.  Some places offer free or reduced site costs for working at the park.

 

 

[Kirk W]

Are you planning to travel in the RV once you get one, or just live in it while continuing in your present job? If it will be sitting still then the chassis factors are less an issue. My first concern is that you could spend all of your money and still not have something that you can live and travel in. You need someone with a lot of RV knowledge to check whatever you buy before you spend the money to make sure that everything else is working as it should. You need to know how old the tires are as tires that are more than 10 years old are just blowouts waiting to happen and that can be dangerous and it can do major damage to the RV. Look at the date codes on each tire and plan to replace any that are more than 7 years old, no matter what they look like. Either choice seems to be a bit high priced but that could be partly the situation in today's market. I do believe that you need to get help from someone who can at least verify that all appliances in the RV are working properly and  someone to do mechanical checks. 

[sandsys]

I recommend you go to Cheap RV Living and see how other people are doing it. https://cheaprvliving.com There's a section called 5 things about older RVs you might find helpful.

Linda Sand