New memeber - RV-Dreams Community Forum

jbarrett72 · RV-Dreams Family Member

New memeber

2riker2go · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome Jay and Jill :) We will be right behind you in early '14, and have also been doing the "fix up the house to sell" thing. biggrin

There are so many fiver options and floor plans out there - one great way to see what floor plan and model appeals to you is to go to RV shows and check them all out. We haven't bought our fiver yet, so we are still in "looking" mode.

I am sure that lots of other people will chime in with good advice for you!

Jim01 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome Jay and Jill,

Hope your plans work out and you can join us out here on the road in a couple years.

Take your time looking for a new RV and check out some of the posts on this forum to help you decide.

Good Luck,

Jim

DorisandDave · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome to the dream Jay and Jill! We start our adventure soon, so we hope to see you on the road in a couple of years.

We have a very good friend who lives in the U.P. We haven't been up there in a while, but it is on our list for this year!

Doris

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome, Jill and Jay.

You've now begun a process that will at times be frustrating. However, just hang in there and keep the dream. While Jo and I aren't there yet ourselves, we are also "in the process," although we have made and purchased our choice of fifth wheels. Our fifth wheel will be our home for many years to come. It is unlikely that we will ever buy another home.

I can just say to check out all the RV shows that you can as well as visiting as many dealerships as possible. Look at as many floorplans as possible, but be sure and look at the actual product itself. While a floorplan may look great, once you get into the unit, you may not like the layout of storage or other amenities.

When you see a brand/model that you like, check the internet for user's associations for that brand and check out any forums that are available. That way, you can see the comments of actual owners of those brands/models and see what they have to say.

Keep in mind that forums do attract some that are looking for a solution for a problem. Thus, you might get a negative idea of that brand/model that isn't really accurate. There are likely to be a lot more owners NOT having those problems.

By all means, keep asking questions, even about the most trivial of details. While not all forums are always friendly, try to not draw conclusions about the product just from how you were treated. Also, as you are learning things, share some of them with us. Who knows who is out there learning from your experiences?

But, by all means, have fun with the process. I used a camera to take a lot of pictures of different brands/models so that I could look back later to remind myself about some of the details within the RV.

Terry

jbarrett72 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thank you everyone for warm welcomes and great advice! Jessica & Harry....I checked out your blog and I'm just wondering, are you planning to take the cats with you? Doris....what part of the U.P. are your friends from? The U.P. is beautiful in the fall. Everyone should check it out. Terry....what great advice to take a camera! I'm definately going to do that!

2riker2go · RV-Dreams Family Member

Yes we will be bringing our cats with us. :) I have read lots of "pet" threads - so far the biggest question that we have is to figure out where we will put the litter box. I think they will adapt pretty well, and I am looking forward to not having to leave them behind like we currently do when we go on vacation.

Steve C · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome to RV-Dreams.

My wife and I started seriously looking in 2008. A year or so later after going to many dealerships,shows, visiting state park campgrounds and talking to owners, reading particular brand owner's forums; etc., we narrowed it down to six brands and different price points and travelled to Elkhart for factory tours. We insisted that the line be running and not visit after the workers had gone home. It, mildly put, was an eye-opening experience. Some places were frightening with the breakneck speed of production and at some plants you could literally eat off the rv floor as it was being built.We were especially concerned with frame/chassis, brakes, insulation and handling of problem issues with consumers that we had read about on the owners' forums. (No matter what you buy or what you pay, because it is made by humans, there will be problems.) The explanations of problem resolution made our decision. That and frame and brakes. We ended up doubling our original budget.

We picked up our 5th wheel and drove to last year's RV-Dreams Rally in South Carolina. On the way, we had several minor things happen to our rv and my wife totally lost it. We were "rescued" by the RV-Dreams family and soon righted our "ship" and set off on our full-timer adventure. The rally was money well spent in more ways than one. Soon after the rally, we were on our way to Utah and got a call from a dear couple we met at the rally and were invited to come to Michigan where by then Howard and Linda were work camping. We planned to stay in Michigan only four days and ended up staying there and in Wisconsin for three months. Almost bought a lot on Whitlefish Bay near Paradise, Michigan in the U P. The state park system was wonderful--all over the state. Many rest stops were places to see, often waterfalls. The wildflowers were beyond beautiful.

We ended up returning home because of some family health issues and when it appeared there was no solution in the near future, we sold the rv and truck we had spent years deciding to buy.

I have missed being on the "adventure road" every single day since. We went to an rv show last month and have been to dealers several times a week since. We plan to go tour 2 or 3 factories before we make our next decision. We also drove motor-homes but for now are leaning toward another "full-time" rated 5th wheel. As I see it, after all my research and contact with owners, I have decided to visit DRV and Carriage again. NuWa is a maybe because it is in Kansas. Previously, I owned a Mobile Suites 38RESB4 with the Canadian Insulation Package. I was pleased with the dealer where I bought it (Southern RV in Jonesboro, Georgia) and with the treatment I got when I went to the DRV factory for some minor repairs. I tried to buy from a dealer in my home state, North Carolina, but ended up going to Georgia and saved thousands. When the family emergency happened, the rv and truck were sold for us by the same dealer. We were treated fairly both times, buying and selling.

Because we were going full-time we bought a generator (6500 Onan) which we used often drycamping in state forest campgrounds and Walmarts. We bought a washer and dryer and used them often also. We will equip our new one the same way. We bought a Ford F-450 because our unit weight 18,000 pounds loaded. We will look atF-350 and Chevy/GMC 3500 this time before buying. (The 2011 models have a greater towing capacity than the previous year models. Recent independent test on engine braking and mountain hauling will have me looking strongly at GM, after 6 or 8 previous Ford truck purchases.) We also bought a Transfer-Flo 98 gallon auxiliary fuel tank which I would do again. Also a satellite tv antenna.

Please feel free to send me a personal email and if you give me your phone I will call you and try to answer any other questions you may have. That is what the RV-Dreams family is all about.

Again, welcome and hope to see you down the road.

I hope and pray that I will soon be singing, "On the road again!!!!!"

Steve C