Although I am not a "talker" on this forum, I often read and gain wisdom, so thank you for that! Now, I have a question for you all and we are hoping you can help us: We are fairly new RVers (about 3 years and LOVE IT!), and my husband just received orders for his 4th deployment to Iraq. This will be a 15 month rotation, so we are starting to make plans. One concern we have is the RV. I am not comfortable enough to do this on my own, so we are debating what to do with the RV. We only have maybe 8000 miles on our Class C. When my husband leaves, we will move to Kansas (BRRRRR!) and when he gets back we plan on trading the Class C in for a Class A. We have discussed several options: Sell it? Store it and hope it makes it though a cold winter? We even offered to let our friends take over payments on it for the time my husband is gone and let them use it (kind of as a rental...). However, the gas prices have them scared. What would you all recommend? I am not sure if gas prices would affect selling it and we wouldn't want to make any money--just sell what we owe for it. Or is it better to store it, make payments on it, and then trade it in with less owed on it and low miles? We would rather NOT have the payment, but we might be trapped. Any advice or wisdom would be greatly appreciated!!!! Thank you very much in advance! Kathy
First: THANK YOU for support of our country!!! God bless you both. B) I would attempt to sell your Class C now. Probably still smells new! True winter storage (Kansas) adds an element of stress, in addition to monthly payments. Depending upon where you store it, you'll have a storage payment, or potential of varmits moving in...all which add age... and that 'old' smell. Much easier to purchase a new RV when you are ready...without the trade-in factor. Good news! Gas prices are dropping. Market that fact to potential buyers! Also market the fact that you two have fixed all those little-niggling-things-that-always-need-fixing in a new RV. YOUR rig is ready to roll! Cheers!
QUOTE(duchessofall @ Oct 26 2008, 09:25 PM) [snapback]13687[/snapback] Although I am not a "talker" on this forum, I often read and gain wisdom, so thank you for that! Now, I have a question for you all and we are hoping you can help us: We are fairly new RVers (about 3 years and LOVE IT!), and my husband just received orders for his 4th deployment to Iraq. This will be a 15 month rotation, so we are starting to make plans. One concern we have is the RV. I am not comfortable enough to do this on my own, so we are debating what to do with the RV. We only have maybe 8000 miles on our Class C. When my husband leaves, we will move to Kansas (BRRRRR!) and when he gets back we plan on trading the Class C in for a Class A. We have discussed several options: Sell it? Store it and hope it makes it though a cold winter? We even offered to let our friends take over payments on it for the time my husband is gone and let them use it (kind of as a rental...). However, the gas prices have them scared. What would you all recommend? I am not sure if gas prices would affect selling it and we wouldn't want to make any money--just sell what we owe for it. Or is it better to store it, make payments on it, and then trade it in with less owed on it and low miles? We would rather NOT have the payment, but we might be trapped. Any advice or wisdom would be greatly appreciated!!!! Thank you very much in advance! Kathy I can't add anything else to Foster's response except to add my own "Thank You".
Selling now sounds better to me. Advantages: No payments on RV. No storage payments. Don't have to winterize. (Save on cost and time and effort) Won't have 15 more months of depreciation. And everything FosterImposters said. Take your RV payment (and maybe even what you would pay for storage) and save it to use as down payment on the class A. All our best wishes to you and especially your husband. No one should have to serve in Iraq that many times. May he come home safe and sound to enjoy that new class A.
I also vote on the sell it route. All RV equipment drops in price each day if you drive or it sets. May your husband be safe in Iraq. It is good that we have people like him and all the others to keep the peace. What would the earth be like with out them?
The downside of KS is indeed BRRRRR in the winter. But the upside is that you're in the middle of the US. Lotsa great adjouning states to go visit in the RV. Suggest you visit this website and post your question in the forum section. http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/ It's mostly military related membership, so I suspect that you'll find some good advise to help you make the decision.
Hi Kathy. As others have said, thanks to you and your husband for all your sacrifices and may God watch over him and your family. As for the RV situation, we had a similar dilemna last year. We had purchased a Class A motorhome 3 years prior, and as much as we enjoyed it, we just no longer had the time to use it as we would like to. We had paid cash when we purchased it, so we did not have payments on the vehicle itself, but were paying storage fees, insurance, upkeep, etc. Last August, we made the decision to sell it as it had not been used in 14 months. We liked the RV but there were things we learned we wanted in a motorhome that it did not have. To be honest, when we purchased it, we had no idea what we wanted as neither of us had ever traveled in one, we just went to the dealer and picked one out. It wasn't long before we discovered that we really wanted a diesel pusher instead of the gas model we had purchased, needed 2 slideouts in the bedroom, a king sized bed instead of a queen and a few other things. Luckily, we sold it very quickly and when we have the freedom to take to the road as much as we would like, we will purchase a new one with all the things we want in it.
Would it be possible to find somebody to go with you? Possibably another wife in a similar situation. This might be a great diversion for you both or even more. We appreciate the service of you both.
Cheryl> Nice to see your 'face' again. Just because you don't have a rig, doesn't mean you can't share your expertise. With respect to your comment on buying the first rig: I'm a young retiree and if I had any desire to do the least bit of work, I'd hire myself out - at a very expensive rate - to help advise first time RV owners on how to pick out the one that would be best suited for their need. Considering that it is rare that an RV owner picks out the exact rig on the first try, I'd probably make a fortune. And I'm not the exception to making the first choice the right one.
Thanks RLM - not sure about the "expertise" part but it is nice to be back with you guys. I could have used your expertise when we bought that RV!!! We were in Texas back in August - we went to South Padre for our anniversary (the week after Dolly hit). Do you live anywhere near there?
Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it! Now, where do you recommend selling it? Is there an online place? In the paper? eBay? What seems to be successful? Again, THANK YOU! Kathy
Cheryl> I've heard a cliche that the defination of Expert is "a former drip under pressure." But I'd prefer to think that an expert is one who has had enough bad experiences to be able to help someone else not make those same mistakes. I'm located in the central part of the state which is a good 8 hour drive to Padre. But then so is any other place that's along the borders of Texas. I have some relatives who go there several times a year and rent a condo. They love it. Next time you venture down this way, take some time to spend a couple days in San Antonio. You won't be disappointed.
I love San Antonio. We stayed there a couple of years ago in the RV - at the Blaizng Star. Did all the touristy things, the boat ride at the Riverwalk, the Alamo, the El Mercado - and one of my favs - Bill Miller's BBQ!!!
Kathy-- I had a son who served in Iraq and I want to add my thanks to you and your husband for his service and your service.. Your service is as tough as his! If you can sell and get what you need that is the way to go. You can bank what you would pay on payments, insurance and storage and have a nice down payment when your husband returns and get the unit that fits your needs. I would try Craigs list, Ebay, etc. It is possible that you might find a dealer who would take in on consignment and give you a good deal under these special circumstances, but it would take a special dealer. You might also list it on some military sites or papers, since some coming home might want to get into RVing. Best of luck and don't be a stranger here. Same to you Cheryl-- I was wondering what had happened to you.
