For those that have done it. Motorhome. 5th wheel. Car and motel. If you had done one what would you do different. Looking at the winter travel to the south western states. Need some hands on experience. Thanks Rick
Maybe buy a great mpg puddle jumper for 90% of your transportation needs and thenjust rent a RV or big ole SUV to destinations and sometimes air bnb's?
My retirement plan has nothing to do with spending money, at least at this point in the game. 12-14 more years and we'll see where were at
Growing up, we had a retired neighbor (from GM Doraville) who almost always (save for a mistake ‘80 Skycrap) drove a big Caddy-DeVille or Brougham-and would say ‘can y’all get our mail for three-four months? We’re going for a drive.’ He and his sweet wife covered most of America, six to eight hours a day, sometimes less, and were fabulously untethered. All they needed was gasoline, food and a hotel. No hassle parking, no need for hookups, just drive and stop whenever. The money you don’t spend on a motorhome will buy a lot of hotel rooms and a comfy car to drive, along with reduce the stress and planning that comes from driving a house. (Some are cool with it, but if you’re not one of those people it might suck). Patrick
We we’re originally going to buy a diesel pusher motorhome for touring the country when I retired. We found we enjoy car trips much more so instead we bought a gas class A motorhome for more local camping trips, like with the grandkids. For us this works out great. I still need to get an overdrive into one of the Gran Sports for long trips. Our plan is to use an updated 66 GS for the car trips.
The past year may be one of the only exceptions but in general you're absolutely correct and oftentimes even new ones are plagued w/issues. Wholesale prices have risen this past year. I drove by a dealer today that for it being the beginning of the season, had very little inventory. Conpact/subcompact Tractor dealers are in the same boat. I'm sure many other industries as well.
12 -14 years ? That is a long time. Had my retirement all planned out . Was disabled in a work injury so that went down the tubes. Got to enjoy life now . Never know what will happen brother.
No, I suggest a 2005ish dodge 3500 diesel and a $10,000 used trailer. No cheaper way to live anywhere you want to go.
Unfortunately I came to the realization that I would not be able to work forever way late in life. If Id started saving at 30 or even 20 id be done working by now. To have any hope of a comfortable standard of living and enough to last the rest of my days I need to go until 72. Been telling my kids (30/24) to start saving NOW. So far they have not listened.
My wife & I bought a used Class A gas motorhome back in 2006. It sold new for 130k and we got it for 78k. I was racing vintage dirt bikes at the time and we used it for pulling the motorcycle trailer to the races & camping at the tracks. We also went to the beach several times with it. Then the recession hit and I got laid off. We had to sell it and took a 30k hit. We had a lot of fun with it for two years but with the loss we took, those were some expensive vacations! If it hadn't been for the recession, we might still have it. If you get a motorhome, buy used! let someone else take the depreciation hit...
Agreed there I guess depending on what they are new. Some Class A pushers can go $500k-$1m - They probably lose even more. This is an unusual year in they just aren't losing as much. Personally, if I was going to retire w/an RV, I'd probably instead of a motorcoach get a pickup and both a 5th wheel & a slide-in truck camper. I've talked to many people w/both & they serve distinct purposes plus you still have the truck to use.
Depends if you want to Travel, or if you want to winter in the warm weather. They are two completely different things. No personal experience myself, but my grandparents on both sides did the snowbird thing. And I spent a fair amount of time traveling the country with my folks in a motorhome. I can understand the "freedom" of just a car to go wherever you want, but riding in a car all day every day is not for most of us. That is really where a motorhome comes in.. you leisurely travel from place to place, stopping wherever for a bit to eat, or to rest. Stay as long as you want in one place, and then easily move to the next.. Folks used it for family trips, and it is nice to get up an roam around, make yourself a sandwich, or watch TV while your traveling down the road. I just acquired one myself to use as a tow vehicle and home at the racetrack. As was stated a new motor home is about the worst investment there is. Depreciation in the first 5 or 6 years, depending on the price, can be up to 10 percent a year. if you want a motorhome, look at ones no newer than 8- 10 years old.. at that point, the price has stabilized somewhat, and the market is awash with those units with low miles that have been used very little. Look for something that was stored in a pole barn or covered, at it will appear just like new. And you can buy a much higher quality unit with a little age on it, for the same money as a new one of lesser quality. Some folks prefer a travel trailer.. My Grandparents did.. Usage is harder to pin down on a travel trailer, there is really no good way to know.. most have no odometers, and things like generator hours can be misleading. Most are sold and priced based simply on model year. The travel trailer is for the snowbird that wants to stay in one place all winter long, but still have the pickup to do errands and day trips in. My Grandparents on my Mom's side went to the same RV park every winter.. they had a standing reservation for the same spot from Nov-March. Many other folks did the same thing, and over time you develop a community of snowbirds that interact together. They enjoyed that, and had no interest in travel.. they had seen everything they wanted to see. They spent the first couple years of their retirement moving around to different southern states for part of the winter, until they settled in AZ.. Sun City? maybe.. something like that.. JW
...started in '70s by "converting" our Chevy window van. Built-ins bolted to seat mounts so van could be returned to original. Graduated to camper trailer. Both were fun, but each had its downsides. Trailer never paid for itself. My ultimate "dream" was to retire with a Class A pusher. In retirement, reality set in, most notably health issues (both of us now) and to some extent economics (at some point one or both may not be able to live independently). So to address OP's Q, in general I recommend fly/drive/stay or fly/drive/rent depending on destination and abilities. If you want to do these things, make time and do while able, don't make future retirement assumptions based on current conditions...