I was watching Sunday Morning with Willie Geist on NBC earlier and they had a "blurb" on the increase in RV sales recently and claim most of it is due to COVID19. It was quoted that sales of RVs are up a whopping 30 some odd percent and that many folks are taking to road with their kids and animals on board and to just get away from all that's going on in the cities and towns across the country. I would imagine that many others watched this program also. With that said me thinks this is probably the main reason behind the huge growth in membership at CGR. I've watched the numbers climb dramatically since spring of this year and just thought I'd bring this up and give a warm welcome to all the RV newcomers that are with us.................. Travel Safe Always, BankShot..............(aka Terry)
Just a little off topic, we our going to try to hold onto our truck & TT 1 more year, after that we plan to go in deep with a new or used setup. Still like the Newmar Baystar's. Maybe some better deals at the end of next year with some of the 30% going back to the hotels, airlines and cruises. Think we have already seen a few posts from some of those members, hope they stick around, lots of good insight to be shared. Mike
On a related note, it is why I have been reserving more campgrounds for planned trips next year than I ever had in the past. With so many hitting the road in an RV I can no longer trust that I will find a site when I want to, where I want to, on the day of. To Mike's point, don't plan to be looking, but I think there are going to be some deals to be had come this time next year after all these people that got an RV on a whim decide it isn't for them.
It was much more difficult to reserve sites last season without reserving much earlier than we used to. Even parks that would normally have plenty of openings a month out were booked. And weekdays, which usually cleared out when the weekend warriors went home, were kept mostly full. I, too, think there'll be a glut of used RV's on the market once the vaccines are out/proven &, for the most part, this gets behind us. Many may stay with the hobby, but mostly, families that thought RV-ing would be a cheap vacation will discover the maintenance required for this lifestyle & will bail.
I'm thinking the same thing, that some of these rookie owners will realize the the RV life is not for them, and hopefully sell cheap in the coming months. We are still looking to upgrade our motorhome to something newer around February, but I know this might be too soon.
Along with the huge increase in membership I've also noted the "somewhat large" increase in spam activities going on here on the forum. Just this morning I see some poster selling his wares with one not even remotely related to a current topic being discussed. Thankfully we have a great team of Admins who are on top of this crap and no doubt by later today this numbnut will be outta here... Kudos to the Admins, BankiShot...........(aka Terry)
OUTSTANDING QUICK RESPONSE BY OUR EFFICIENT ADMIN TEAM. We need a GOLD STAR emoji that can be used at times like this. The numbnut has been taken out and sent packing... BankShot................(aka Terry)
Rolling sort of back into the topic, I came across this article a little while ago that I found very interesting: https://rvlifestyle.com/2021-camping-season-predictions/ I think many of us have probably seen it already, between more new members here, empty RV dealerships, full RV campgrounds, also full RV repair shops, and unbelievable prices for new or used RVs (I think I could almost get more than I paid for for mine right now). The sales boom isn't going to last forever, but are those buying now going to stick around? Will the appeal wear off or will they find they actually enjoy the lifestyle? 2021 should prove to be a pretty interesting camping season.
We too, welcome all new comers. This site is a good place to learn about your rig, camping etiquette and a host of other information that will help you enjoy your camping experience. I can attest to the fact that COVID has increased the number of new RVers out there. We have been Campers/RVers for almost fifty years now. We have hosted the same Campground for the last three years. We know that every season brings newbies but we have noticed this past season that there was a massive increase of folks that hadn’t the slightest idea how to properly use their equipment. From those that had never set up a tent before and didn’t know that you must bring something to cook your food on to others who could not back their, never been used before, trailers into a site. Fridays became a day of huge frustration for us. The novelty wore off very quickly for some folks and their site became empty before their reservation expired. I think some folks expected camping to be just like home except one is out in the country. They were unaware some new knowledge was required and it takes a bit of work to get set up. I think that come spring time there will be a lot of equipment for sale. Some of it hardly used but not that well cared for. If you are planning of buying, depending on your local climate, watch for plumbing damage caused by those that weren’t aware that winterizing is required. We are hoping that all will be back to (or close to) normal next season. Stay warm, Stay safe. Darrell and Jerry
One thing not touched was the ability to get parts. I tried to get a TPMS system and it is out of stock and won't be available for months. Others in our Keystone forum have complained that parts are really hard to get. One guy mentioned he was putting an addition AC unit in his rig and some of the parts were back ordered a couple of months. If you plan on any RV fixing, best to get parts orders in asap I guess. BTW: I ended up having Santa get me an off brand TPMS available on Amazon rather than a better known system just because I didn't want to wait till next summer. The system I had Santa buy had great reviews but I don't really trust Amazon reviews because a lot of them review Amazon's shipping or a DOA unit or one that didn't fit and not actually a worthwhile length of time to assess the item being reviewed.
In early Oct I ordered a new Adco Rv cover from Amazon, just checked on the order this morning, still hasn't been shipped, supposed to arrive tomorrow... hmmm.. Mike
------------------------------------------------------------- Hey there Mike - - - Strange indeed what you say. If your Amazon order hasn't shipped yet and they are telling you it will arrive tomorrow then it sounds to me that you are living within walking distance of a main Amazon shipping facility. I am envious............ Sorry, just had to yank your chain a tad so don't come back at me too hard........... Enjoy your new RV cover, Terry............(aka BankShot)
Finally got my Adco cover this past Wednesday, put it on yesterday. Hope to get more than 2 years from my previous Camping World cover that shredded to pieces from the wind. My very first cover was a Adco, I got about 11 years out of it. when I went to replace it 2 yrs ago the pricing was better for the CW covers, so I went with them... guess it turned out to be a mistake. This time around the pricing was much better through Amazon on the Adco covers vs the CW covers. Mike
------------------------------------------------------------ Glad to hear you did get that new Adco cover and will have it for the winter months ahead. Having to park a RV or vehicle outdoors can really be hard on it so being able to have a good cover for it helps a lot in keeping it it decent shape. Hopefully we will all face a better summer camping season in 2021 than we did in 2020. Guess we'll have to just stay tuned for that............. All the best Mike, Terry...............(aka BankShot)
