The Bright Side of High Fuel Costs or... Why Motorhomes Are Dumb
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@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4 I must be the only person that calculates insurance and fuel costs before buying a toy. Hell, I even did that when I went from my Mustang to the Tacoma even though they got roughly the same mileage. Did the same thing when I went from my Tacoma to the Ram.
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@CarsOfFortLangley even if you spend ~$150-250 more on gas, shouldn't the fact that you're bringing your own hotel outweigh that? seems silly to cancel a trip over a couple hundred in gas bills, just smacks of poor decision making in the first place. I say this as someone who drives a car that averages 17 mpg on premium and I am painfully aware of that, but I still need to drive to get around.
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@Future-Next-Gen-S2000-Owner I think most people do, but given the size of the population getting RVs and campers, especially during Covid, it makes sense that the number of idiots overstretching their means would go up too.
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@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4 This happened with boats as well. I'm eagerly awaiting the sell of in a few years to snag a late model boat with low hours from someone who bought for the summer of 2020.
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@Future-Next-Gen-S2000-Owner me too...I'm thinking lightly used boats and campers are going to be real cheap starting around 2025...5 years seems like the point where after the first couple of years of use it's been sitting for the last 3 and they start thinking about selling it.
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I've often wondered about this lifestyle, and if having a big garage with all the hookups (and a full bath) would be a workable living situation. Mobility on demand...
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@Future-Next-Gen-S2000-Owner It seems like boat values might already be heading back down to pre-pandemic levels, saw a 1980s Silverton aft cabin for sale at like 25-26k a few weeks ago, don't think that's far off from where they were in 2019/2020. Anecdotal, granted
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@ranwhenparked they are still high here. Sub 20' bowriders are all trading ten grand or above. Vintage 2000ish.
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@CarsOfFortLangley
Most of the motorhomes down here are based on Fiat or Iveco commercial vehicles...they are routinely capable of 19 mpg. Our Nissan Patrol does worse than that. -
@CarsOfFortLangley a lot won't care.
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Interestingly enough, RV sales hit all-time highs last year and they're staying that way for now. Everyone has a massive backlog from giants like Winnebago to startups like Taxa.
The Taxa Mantis that I got to test, for example, was already sold to a customer before it even left the factory.
The RVIA expects the year to close out with only 1.5% fewer RVs hitting the road than last year. That would suggest that new RV buyers aren't thinking about the gas pump when they go to a dealership.
It cost me $440 to fill up the 120-gal diesel tank of my RTS bus last year. Now it hits at over $620. And that's the cheap rural diesel. Apparently it would be more like $700 with the diesel prices I've seen on the highway. I can't imagine having to pay for diesel as part of your daily routine like retirees in RVs and truckers.
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@CarsOfFortLangley said in The Bright Side of High Fuel Costs or... Why Motorhomes Are Dumb:
For the record, it's 99 miles from his house to Whistler, which now costs $300 in gas in his RV... a new E350 based model.
I wonder if the chassis is a 2021 model which would have the new 7.3L V10 'Godzilla' engine or if it's the older model with the stupid crappy gas guzzling 6.8L V10.
I once rented a moving truck with that stupid V10... never again. It made other moving trucks with the GM 8.1L V8 look fuel efficient.
Years ago, I ran the numbers of owning an RV vs using a combo of big tent and hotels/motels.
It made far more sense even back then to go the Tent/hotels/motels route. The only time an RV might make sense is if you want to travel in some comfort to a rural place that has no formal campgrounds and no washroom facilities around. And it's not just the fuel, but also the maintenance, repairs (and RVs are mostly shitty quality compared to the typical car) and insurance.
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@Future-Next-Gen-S2000-Owner said in The Bright Side of High Fuel Costs or... Why Motorhomes Are Dumb:
I must be the only person that calculates insurance and fuel costs before buying a toy.
You and me both.... which is why I DON'T own an RV and instead, just bought a big tent for camping and just use hotels/motels/AirBNB for non-camping trips.