I have seen, and copied, a list that Howard had posted somewhere on this site, but I'm not sure where it is.  It is a long list of all the "little" stuff that Howard has found useful/necessary/convenient to him over the years.  I have no doubt someone will chime in to help locate it.  You say you are buying soon, but do you plan to attend their rally in Tennessee in the Spring?  I could be wrong, but I'm thinking this could be one of the topics at their rallies.  We'll be there!

Come visit me at the Hershey Show!  Did you find the list yet?  

Most dealer RV purchases will throw in the basics.  

Your 5th wheel should come with the power cord -- don't buy one without it as it can be expensive!

They will generally give you an inexpensive sewer hose with connections.  It will probably only be 10' long and you will probably want more length options in the long run, but you really won't need the sewer hose night one unless you plan on taking multiple showers and washing lots of dishes.

They will also supply a fresh water hose.  Again, you will probably want more options for length.  Depending on the site you might need this the first night.

A pressure regulator or basic inline water filter would be good to have on night one.  You can pick up the blue water filter at most Walmarts that have a camping section.  I've found it generally reduces any water pressure to an acceptable level.

Tank treatment is good, but again, not critical on the first night and everyone has an opinion on the best one, best approach.

Here's my own personal suggestions:

If your 5th wheel has any sort of RV mattress -- even their premium one -- I would bring a good foam topper.  

A nice set of sheets.

Your favorite pillows, towels and blanket.

You'll be tired and enervated the first day, so I would make sure I had all the essentials for a good night's sleep!

Have fun and go with the flow -- especially the first few days.  Don't expect everything to be perfect and don't worry about getting it right the first time by... most of us have changed things as we go and find out what works for us.

Sam and Belinda,

I wouldn't worry too much about what it is that the dealer or manufacturer will provide.  At best, those items will not be the best of quality, especially with regards to hoses and such.  If you were to go to a dealership and ask to see the hoses that came with them, you would no doubt find a LOT better quality hoses in their parts department.  The dealership we worked with allowed us a discount on any accessories that we purchased when we picked up our fifth wheel.  That helped us get better quality right away.

I think you would be better served to really research the RV's and worry about accessories later, especially if you think you will be buying within the next two months.  We did research on our RV for two years, but we were also considering motorhomes at one time.

Read as many forums as you can, not only here at RV Dreams, but if you narrow things down to a particular brand/model, then check online for any owner's associations or forums that are specific to those brands/models.  You will find that some may report a number of issues that you may not have even considered.  With regards to owner's associations and forums, keep in mind that they do tend to "attract" those that are looking for a solution to a problem.  Just because you see a number of those, it doesn't necessarily mean they are bad brands/models.  If you can, register with those forums and ask your own questions.  One question to ask is this: "If you were to buy another RV, would you buy the same brand/model that you currently have, and if not, why not."

Above all else, don't be afraid to ask every question that comes to mind.  It's better to ask the questions prior to purchase than it is to have to ask questions later to fix the problems.

Terry

Terry & Jo, Linda, Lucky Mike, and everyone else... Belinda and I are so grateful to all of you who are so quick to lend advice and give input - especially to us soon-to-be-newbie-full-timers!

There isn't a day that goes by that we don't believe God's plan for us is exactly what we are going to be doing - hopefully sooner rather than later, but that's up to Him.

To know there is a place where questions can be posited and the answers will come, not in "1-2 business days," but almost immediately! We did a lot of research, had an idea of what we wanted in our RV, and then a few months ago we found the perfect (for us) 5er. So from that point on it's been about paring down our "worldly possessions," selling what we won't need or can't take, and putting the house on the market (June 15).

Then, last week while going up to look at the model we had settled on, we decided just to look at some of the '14 models and...UGH!!! We started vacillating on whether we should consider a couple of others before we sign on the dotted line (which is still up in the air 'cuz we still have to sell the house). Well, my new friends, we realized yesterday that the past week of waffling was our way of trying to control what He had already led us to, so we are going to stick with our dream 5er even though we might have saved $60-$70 a month going with something else. We realize since we are going to be full-time we need to stick with the one that meets both our desires.

We will probably have to do a custom order for only 2 reasons - all the models available have couches/chairs that are too dark and not the style we're looking for (we want theater seating), and we want an exterior paint theme (we know, that adds to the price, but we prefer less white).

In case some of you don't know we are planning on purchasing the Keystone Alpine 3720FB.

Thanks again everyone and I'm sure we'll be back on here or another thread every other day!

Now I have to post something to see if I am an official family member yet.

If not, Im gonna throw myself on the floor and cry.

Edited to add:  I am! Yay me!

jjsbergy wrote:

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Now, my next question...

Should we have the stackable w/d included in our order, or can we get a better deal elsewhere?

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This one is kind of up to you.  Check with the dealer and see what they can get them for, but do that after you've checked elsewhere, or at least check elsewhere before ordering.  When we ordered our coach, we decided that we could get the W/D cheaper through a local dealer and the dealership would install it for us.  (Check to see if your dealer would charge for that, and make sure they put in a good vent, not a cheap one.)  We also thought that since the coach would last a lot longer than the appliances, we would NOT finance them but buy them outright.

Many other things we had done during the manufacture that were options, like our pure sine wave inverter and two extra batteries.  We are really glad we did that because the factory built in an extra compartment for the batteries, with a door at the front of the coach, and the inverter was installed on top of the extra battery box.  Had we done that later, we wouldn't have gotten the extra compartment with a door.

Terry

Thanks Terry! From our research we don't see any real price difference between going through the dealer and buying after market, which begs the question...why are RV washer/dryers sooooo expensive?!?

And the same goes for refrigerators...I can understand they are designed as electric & propane compatible, but $3000 for a frig?!? Oy Vay!!!

Well, I can't really explain why those things are so expensive.  We had our Whirlpool washer go out a while back and they were going to be so expensive that the warranty company elected to replace it rather than try to repair it.  We tore the thing apart so we could dump it into a dumpster on the property in little installments.  You may be surprised to hear that they have two heavy weights around the drum housing to help prevent "wild rides" during a spin cycle.

As for the refrigerator, if one is going to be in a spot where there are no hookups and generators are frowned upon, the RV style fridge is the only way to go.  We had problems with ours after only 2 years of use.  Instead of going back to another RV fridge (which the warranty company would have covered), we elected to convert our RV to use a residential fridge.  For the most part, we will have hookups, and we have a generator as a backup.  We decided that a residential, even if we had to pay for it ourselves, would be better than trying to deal with a malfunctioning RV fridge every two years.

Not everyone appreciates the convenience of having one's washer and dryer right in the coach.  However, Jo is really happy to pay the price to not have to constantly be going to a laundromat to wash clothes.  The cost of driving to and from one, plus the expense of running the commercial machines would add up pretty fast.  Jo likes that she can put in a load a day and not have to spend all day Saturday working to wash everything.  And we all know the phrase, "a happy wife makes a happy life."

Terry