Future RV'ers needs advices on RV purchase , first destination and towables vehicules

[laserman]

Well that's it..retirement decision taken last March 31st for next December 20th 2012 !And..we plan to adopt the RV life.
No experience whatsoever but my wife and I love travelling . We originally had our eyes on a brand new Winnebago Vista 26ft but some friends convinced us 26ft might not be big enough and a 2 or 3 years old RV was best .Any advices someone? We like Winnebago for it's quality . Any other brands to suggest? Price is no objetc but we want something of good quality.

We plan to tow a small car behind our RV and need to know what brand of cars are best towables because we heard not all cars are towables.

For our first destination, next Spring we plan to aim for the Canyons, the Canadian Rockies or Alaska. Any recommendations ?

Thanks,

Lucie et Bernie

[C Nash]

Well if price was no object I would go with a Prevost LOL. Lot of good rvs out there used. The new Winnabago 35 ft diesel front enging with 2 slides is a good looking unit. We have the 32 ft HR Vacationer that has served us well 2002 model. I personely don't like the larger units because of places where we camp. Check whatever you buy for carrying capacity or CCC. 2 people need about 2K IMO. We have 1200 but watch what we load. Never had a problem. We have the V10 Ford. We have a chev tracker and Saturn Vue for toads. Tracker is perfect but 04 was last year they were made. Jeep is also another great toad. Most GM cane be towed 4 down but have heard the cruise cannot even though the manual says ok. Talked with a owner of Ford Escape that the manual and ford says can be towed 4 down but he had to add a trans pump. Didnt ask him the year his was but looked new. Go for Alaska. You want regret. Welcome to the forum

[ejdixon]

For our first destination, next Spring we plan to aim for the Canyons, the Canadian Rockies or Alaska. Any recommendations ?

I'd personally suggest to choose a destination to an area that you're rather familiar with. It will make the transition to becoming a full-time RVer less overwhelming, especially since you mentioned that you and your wife don't really have much experience when it comes in RVing. I noticed that you're from Quebec, Canada from your profile so I'd suggest to head over to the Canadian Rockies for your first destination. We visited Lake Louise and stayed there for a week, and it was really beautiful. They got a campground there that's open all year round which offers full hookups in all their RV sites. Nice hiking trails also nearby.

[vanole]

laserman,

Welcome and Congrats on the upcoming retirement.

You got some good advice from the above two posters. Nash gave you a great tip concerning CCC "Cargo Carrying Capacity". There are a multitude of accronyms associated with weights of a motorhome etc. A good place to start is learn what they are all about.

Concerning length I think that will eventually determine whether you end up with a Class C, or Class A and then of course the CCC will rear itself again to make sure you you have the space/weight to carry your stuff.

Find the floorplan that you and more importantly your Mrs like and is functional for the both of you. If the unit has slides make sure you check the unit with slides in and out. You might be surprised to find out that you can't open the fridge door or access the bathroom with slides in. Talk about a bummer if you wanted to make a sandwich at a rest area or had to use the rest room.

Myself I'd buy used why take the deprication hit. More than likely you will find that you can get more M/H for the money than you would be able to get if you bought new. Check the maintenance records etc.

Concerning towing there are a bunch of cars towable all four down (A4D). I know FMCA prints a dinghy towing guide but you have to be a member to see it. If you google towable vehichles, dinghy towing guide, or all four down towing you might find a guide that someone has put together and posted on the web. See a bunch of Saturns, Hondas, HHR's etc in the campground I'm presently in. If you already have a car you are partial to you might want to look at the REMCO site and see if they have a work around for your present vehicle.

Jeff

[laserman]

Hey, thanks for your reply. Will take everything in consideration. You say you don't like larger units, I suppose the larger mean more than 32'Ft ? And I suppose it's for the difficulties of parking in camping sites? As far as Brand quality wise...Winnebago or Allegro Bay was told great..what do you think?

[laserman]

Thanks for your suggestions. We did , in fact had the Cnd Rockies in mind along with the Canyons, Alaska . We thought the US Adirondacks was also a good first Rv experience close to home. What do you think?

[laserman]

Thanks for your advices. Would I find the CCC listed on each motorhomes specs? I think our mind is pretty much set as a class A. Now , we had a 26' ft in mind (Winnebago Vista 26) but was told we would regret the small size. Then what is proper size? 30,32, 33,34 etc.. ???? I guess the bigger, the more difficult it is to park in camping sites?As far as the slides are concerned I would think if we limit our choices to a great quality company we wouldn't worry about the slides openings but we will check, thanks. Do you think Winnebago, Allegro bays good first choices? Any other suggestions? Surprised to hear that there are only a few towables vehicules out there.

[bonniec41]

Hi Folks, We are purchasing a 1988 Travelmaster Signature RV and it doesn't have a manual. We have manuals for all the appliances but not one for the rig. Any thoughts where I might be able to locate a manual? Thanks for your help!

[C Nash]

Only you and the wife can make the decision on size. Visit shows and spend a lot of time in rvs you like. Are they confortable? Can you get around inside with slides it if it has slides? Is the kitchen ok? Watch for cabinets that can be head bangers. Bathroom large enough for using ever night? Lay on the bed is it confortable? Where you plan on camping has a lot to do with size. Are you confortable with driving whatever size you decide on. There are a lot of 4 down towables out there and there are after market items that can be added to some to make them 4 down towable. Visit campgrounds and talk to rvers about their toads.

[Clay L]

We started out in a 30 footer with no slides and found that it was too small for us. We traded it in on a 35 footer with two slides and while I would like to have a 40 footer we make out okay with what we have.

It is much cheaper to stay in one place for a month or more and once you get out of the vacation mode you may find that is more fun than moving all the time. Because of that we don't stay in state or federal parks very often since they have limits on how long you can stay and they are more expensive than the monthly rate in private parks unless you are boondocking. If you use private RV parks length will not be a problem like it can be in many (some?) state and federal parks.

Regarding CCC or the newer OCCC, the sticker is usually in a closet or cabinet. Many (most?) manufacturers do not show CCC in their printed specs for some reason . Many full timers find that they need a CCC of at least 1500 pounds per person. We have 1400 pounds (2800 total) and would like to have 1800 (3600 total).

You can see the definition of CCC HERE, and OCCC HERE.
Scroll down to "2009 New weight label" and download the pdf file.

It is common to see CCC numbers as low as a few hundred pounds (even on diesel pushers) which means it would be overloaded for weekend trips and unusable for full timing.