Does anyone have an RV?
 

We are looking to buy an RV, a fifth wheel. We have been looking around and we have found a good deal on a couple of them but they are salvage titles, no major damage, just minor damage that has been fixed. Does anyone here have one? What are the best brands? Any experience with salvage titles? Any advise or comments is greatly appreciated.

Anyone.....:confused:

I don't have an RV, but I saw a show on HGTV about them.
Here's the link:
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/ah_travel_l...438550,00.html
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/ah_travel_l...438626,00.html

Thanks a lot!

We have a 5th wheel for our guys at my work that travel. When they bring it back in town, next week. I will look to see who its made by. Its nice!

My parents have an older model for sale, but they live in Nebraska. They wouldn't be able to deliver as my father no longer drives at night.

That sounds like fun. We don't have a 5th wheel but we have a camper. My husband told me when we were looking that we were going to get a 5th wheel and I was so excited. Well, 3 years later and hundreds of miles driving around looking at campers and him researching everything he could...yes, he is anal....he bought a little 17 foot Casita....looks like a little egg!!! I was so upset but so tired of looking that I told him to get what he wanted just as long as I didn't have to look anymore and it had a bathroom and airconditioned. After 5 years of traveling over 40,000 miles, I wouldn't change a thing. It is small but has everything the big guys do and we can go places the big guys can't. Until my knees went out we were usually gone at least 2 weeks out of every month....Murfee has over 37,000 miles on him and he loves it too. Good luck, Patty

I would make sure I knew where this 5th wheel came from, the reason being after all the hurricanes down in this area, you might be buying one that was flooded or wind damange, slavage is where thats the price if they were to junk it. just be careful there are a lot of cars and stuff from mississippi, new orleans and alabama that are being sold else where, I think it's a law they have to tell you if it has been in a storm or flooded before, check the orginal title and tag reciepts see what state it came from, people down here were just giving there cars and trailors away to anyone that would haul them off. us included titles went with the vechile.

I also think I am not sure on this, a slavage title is where the insurance has paid off the orginial owners, you might need to call your court house title dept and ask them about this, also check with your insurance agent to see if they cover slavage titles, we have been through so much down here that I would be very careful if anything came from this area.

ok I check with my agent and a slavage title, is where the vechile has had a claim on it and insuarance decided it was not worth fixing so they wrote it off as slavage, now the insurance people have sold it to an auction for parts or whatever or it could be resold to someone who fixed it, but it still has the salvage title on it. the problem is how bad was it hurt, if it came from this area it would probaley look fine because it was pick up by the wave and carry 12 miles or more down the road, but all the wirirng as become wet. and they have time to dry it out. see where I am going with this. I know that our car and boat look great but they were 15 miles where they statred from.
just be careful and research where it came from.

Kentucky has been "flooded' with all these hurricane vehicles. People have set up little car lots in their front yardss all along our highways. I can't afford a new car or new camper right now but I would almost rather do without than buy a used one unless I know for sure and had no doubt where it came from. we are looking around for a small RV too since we are retired and i might be going to a lot of dog shows.

I would stay away from them if I were you, saltwater damages is horrible it eats everthing it touches, I would never sell a car or camper that I knew had come through a hurricane, you might want to try the rv's the goverment issues to everyone along the coast, I hear you can pick one of them up real reasonable now, I know theres a lot of people that are still living in some but some have been pick up, I think they auction them off too. there were some pretty nice ones out there some even had the extened room.

Thanks for all your help. One of the rv's that I am looking at that has the salvage title is that one of the front panels in the bedroom had a leak and it was fixed, their is no water damage under the rv in the floor, the other one had a panel on the out side that was hit and it was replaced, I will make sure that my husband looks at them very closely, he did get under the rv's and look in all the spaces that could have water damage. We will be very careful....thanks for the advise and warning...:)

I have a brother who restores airstreams on the side. They are supposed to be the best, but I don't think they come as a fifth wheel. He lives in Fort Pierce. Anyway if you live in cold winters then you should check into the Mallard. It's a great RV with much better insulation than most others and very well made. Our first one was a Mallard, but we lived in MN. then. :D

I wish you were closer to Georgia:p My parents have an RV for sale that is just gorgeous. It has no more than 70,000 original miles on it and the interior was decorated by my sister (who does custom draperies, etc)

My Dad is recovering from major surgery and just can't drive it any more. (He'll be 77 in November)

PM me for the price because it's RIGHT

We are on our 3rd motor home and I can tell you that we would never buy one that has had water damage. One of our motor homes had a slight leak and when we went to trade it in they deducted thousands from the value because it had previously leaked. (the leak was completeley repaired before we traded it in) Once we had the leak, I thought our motor home always smelt bad too.
Our friends have a Jayco that they love.
Best of luck with your new purchase!!!

We have had a fifth wheel for 10 years. They are great! I just love them.

The one thing you need to know though, is that there always seems to be some little thing that needs fixing or needs attention - even with the good ones. If your hubby is a handy guy, it will be fine, if he can't do the repairs, it can be very expensive.

My hubby used to be able to do everything, but a few years ago, he developed some very serious health problems and now doesn't feel much like doing anything. So, this summer, after our trip in the fifth wheel, we had to take it in to the shop because the slide out wouldn't go out - it wasn't broken, just out of alignment. We also needed to have the wheel bearings repacked and there was one other thing, I can't remember what - but it wasn't anything major, and the bill was $1200.00

Some of the best brands are Monaco and Holiday Rambler. I think also, Aljo (or something close to that) is a really good brand.

We are also getting ready to sell our fifth wheel because of my hubby's health - it is just too big for us to manage and he can no longer tolerate the altitude of the mountains where we spent most of our time in it. We may get a little travel lite trailer, maybe a Casita, like someone else mentioned.

Also, remember that you need to have a substantial pickup to pull the fifth wheel. I don't know how big the one you are looking at is, but ours is 30 feet and we have a one ton pickup - you could get by with a 3/4 ton, but not a 1/2 ton. Most pickups are 1/2 ton and that is just not big enough.

Also, the fifth wheel hitch costs about $500.

Good luck with everything - I hope you find a great one!

Thanks. I have looked at one that had water damage that has been repaired and it is 2003 30ft coachmen one slide for $10,500.00. I thought that it is a pretty good deal even though it had very slight water damage to one of the front upper corners and it is totally repaired now, but I am just starting to learn and research so I am not really sure.

We have a dodge 3500 dually. It already has a goose neck hitch in the bed and we were told that you can bolt on a goose neck thingy to the fifth wheel thingy on the RV and use it that way.....not real sure what I am talking about though....:confused:

I meant for the first part of the post above to be for you.

We have a fifth wheel and do enjoy it. I also would be really careful about a used one unless you get it from someone you know well or a dealer who can sell you an extended warranty. Good luck. I'm sure you will enjoy the traveling.:)

Thanks, I had never been camping until last year and we stayed in a tent in the front yard of our cabin and it was ok, BUT that was the forst and last time I have camped, but I think that I will like to have air cond, heat, and running water a lot better. I will like to travel, I have not been to very many states and I have never been out of the country. I have only been to Ohio, Florida, South Carolina, and TN and stayed there, of course I drove through the states that it took to get there from KY, but those are the only ones that I have spent any time in.

I'm with you ....I would hate tent camping. My idea of camping is air condition, hot water, hot shower, big comfy beds, refrig, satellite TV, inernet, etc.... our motorhome even a washer & dryer....so its not really camping. lol Todays camping is far from the way it was when I was a little girl. lol

We just bought a new fifth wheel last week. ( My fiance travels with his job and we are living out of this one for the next couple of months!) Its super nice and like a small apt. Its a 2008 Durango by KZ. I wouldn't recommend buying one with a water leak even if its been repaired. I have lots of reviews and seems like the Montana's have lots of problems. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.
Good Luck!

I think you guys will love the Casita..we do...My husband says he never knows it's behind him when we travel and they are so well made. That was the selling point for him. PM me if you want to know more particulars. We lived in it for 2 months while our house was being built:D

I was just wondering, what are the parking rules with RV's? Like when you're at home, where would you leave it? in the backyard? And when you travel, can you only leave it in certain places?

Not sure about all that since I am new at all this. I think that if you are not at camp sites that some truck stops let you stay there and some Wal-Marts let you stay there. Around here where I live most people park them in their driveways or in their back yards. We have a farm with lots of room to park ours on.

We keep ours in covered storage for RV's and boats. It's about 6 miles from where we live. Yes, we pay a monthly fee for this. Most urban housing additions don't let you keep it in your driveway, but some lucky folks live out of town or on acreages so they can keep it on their property.

In town, you can generally park for a bit anyplace you can fit it - we usually park on side streets or large parking lots.

For camping, generally you need to park in an RV park. You can usually park at a rest area (like the ones where you see 18-wheelers parked) or in a Walmart parking lot for overnight when traveling. When you do that though, you don't have any electricity. If it is hot, that means, no AC! :rolleyes:

Did you get the rv ratings cd? We are thinking about getting a larger one & I have wondered what the ratings said. We have looked at a Durango as well. Which model did you get?

I think I found the one I want to get. It is a 2002 Keystone Everest 36ft with 2 slides. It is $24,000 with a clean title and it has all the extras. Or should I get the 2000 Fleetwood Wilderness that is 34 ft 3 slides but has a salvage title (no water damage though) for $13,000 but is a little dated inside. Here are some pics of the Everest.