The RVIA recently reported on a study conducted by GoRVing, the RVIA, and CBRE Hotels Advisory Group, which found considerable savings for those traveling by RV compared to other types of travel. The article is on the RVIA website. As a researcher, I would like to read the study, but it is only available to RVIA members. Nonetheless, there were interesting findings reported in the article.

It compared vacations for two groups. One was a group of 4 people, and the other was a group of 2. I think this is great because I typically see a family on an RV vacation or couples. Having these predominant groups in the study helps them compare an RV vacation with a flying or car road trip vacation. 

The study used nine vacation destinations over various lengths of vacation. Using popular vacation destinations makes the study results more practical for those using the study to make decisions. If the study used destinations that were not vacation destinations, the study would be useless because prices are typically more expensive in popular vacation destinations. 

Another thing I liked was that they factored in first-class airline tickets when comparing airline travel to travel in a luxury class A. Although not all luxury class A owners travel first class, the point of doing this was that those traveling in a luxury motorhome probably do not buy basic economy airline tickets when they travel. They are also probably staying in higher-end hotels and renting nicer cars than those of us traveling in an inexpensive travel trailer. Not necessarily a rule, but it’s perhaps more common than not.

The data showed savings of an average of 60% for a family of four and 46% for two people. On the surface, this looks like a decent savings. The other thing the article mentions is flexibility. When traveling by RV, it is possible to change routes and your time for travel more so than if you were flying. 

For instance, the article mentions that the study analyzes the major costs associated with travel but does not indicate it factored in the cost of the RV, ownership maintenance costs, and insurance. With a foldable travel trailer, these costs may be negligible in the overall cost, but with a Super C or Diesel Class A, the costs will definitely affect the overall cost of a vacation. The question becomes how to factor those costs into individual vacations. It would depend on how frequently owners used the RV.

If the study does factor in the cost of the RV, the second concern I have is that a class A is not a class A is not a class A. What do I mean by that? You can get a class A motorhome for 100,000, 500,000, or 1 million dollars. There are wide variations in prices within each class of RV. Again, that would affect the cost of an RV vacation.

Even factoring in these costs, I will assume an RV vacation can be less expensive than flying, renting a car, and staying in hotels. You can usually cook at your RV and bring food and supplies purchased elsewhere that are cheaper than you would find in a vacation destination, likely lowering your overall costs. It is hard to believe it would be a 40-60 percent savings. I did not get into RVing for the savings. It was the lifestyle that appealed to me, which I believe is true for many RV owners. 

I want to read the complete study to get all the details. If anyone has a copy, please send it.

What do you think? Do you save that much when you vacation by RV over flying or staying in hotels? Don’t forget to factor in the cost of that RV. Let us know.

Safe travels everyone.

The post RV Travel: A Cheap Way to Go? appeared first on Beyond The Wheel.

Today, we are doing something a little different and chatting about our experience at the Hershey PA RV Show. The Hershey RV Show is a five-day event where RV dealers, manufacturers, and aftermarket suppliers meet up to sell you an RV, a service for RVing, or an aftermarket part for RVing. There are also seminars to help you learn about RVing, such as plumbing systems, electrical systems, solar, and more. You can also attend classes on how to purchase an RV.

Kenny & Sean attended this year’s show, unfortunately on different days, but both walked away feeling the same way about what they saw. Listen to find out what they liked and didn’t like and some of the standout products of this year’s Hershey RV Show.

We would also love to hear from you. Did you attend the show? What did you think of it, and would you attend again?

Looking to get out there and stay out there? Battle Born’s lithium-ion batteries are here to power your RV, marine, and off-grid adventures. Designed as easy drop-in replacements for traditional lead acid, these reliable solutions have 2-3x the power, charge 5x faster, are 1/5th the weight, and last 10x longer. Offered in various models in unique sizes and shapes, ranging from 50Ah to a robust 270Ah, and backed by a 10-year warranty, Battle Born Batteries are built to fit your needs and power your experiences.  

On the road, on the water, and off the grid … Reliable power is here! Shop now!

Buying an RV is a huge investment, and you want it fully protected. But what if your RV breaks down? The cost of repairs can be incredibly high, and you may not have the money to cover it. Wholesale Warranties offers affordable policies for RVs up to 20 years old. This is a more age-lenient policy than most RV parks we have stayed in. They have a wide selection of plans and policies so that you can find the perfect fit for your needs. Their policies are backed by a team of experienced professionals dedicated to helping you maximize your investment. Get a free quote today!

Have comments? Reach out to us through our Contact Us page.

Take care and safe travels!

The post The Ups and Downs of the 2023 Hershey RV Show appeared first on Beyond The Wheel.

I just returned from the Overland Expo MTN West. Belle and I dry camped for five days and thought now would be the perfect time for an update on our RV power system expansion that we did six months ago. I just used these batteries exactly how I envisioned over this long weekend, and that is to protect Belle from the heat when I am away from the RV.

I worked the Winnebago booth at the expo on Friday & Saturday. The show hours are a bit long, from 8 am to 5 pm, so that is a long time for Belle to be alone in the RV while not being plugged in. Of course, I did stop in and check on her throughout the day. The Battle Born batteries did precisely what we needed them to do. They ran the AC the whole day while I was gone.

It was warm at this show but not excessively hot. I think the hottest day was 85 degrees, which is plenty hot for an RV. In fact, without the A/C on our RV, it would quickly get over 100 degrees inside.

A quick reminder on what our power system consists of. We have over 1010 amp hours of battery power, a 3,000-watt inverter, and 1300 watts of solar. During the five days, I ran our generator for 2 hours to help top off the batteries. We were not getting much sun on Friday & Saturday, and I wanted to play it safe and ensure the batteries had enough juice for Belle. I was being cautious, as I turned on the generator when the batteries reached 50% charge. When I left on Monday morning, we had 75% left from the sun being out on Sunday. If I had not had Belle with me on this trip, I would have easily gone the five days without using the generator. Again, I think I was overly cautious about her being in the RV alone.
I was also able to monitor the temperatures in the RV using our Waggle Pet Monitor, so even though she was alone in the RV, the temps were still being watched by the Waggle Monitor.

Besides boondocking and dry camping, we have also found that we like using the battery system and AC while traveling. I will often use our rooftop AC rather than using our dash AC. This gives our engine a bit more power while driving while at the same time saving some miles per gallon. It’s not enough to shout about, but I have noticed a slight increase in our range per tank fill-up. Also, it is nice to have the entire RV cool when we arrive at a campsite instead of waiting for the RV to cool down after we park and plug in.

Having Arizona as our home base, we noticed cooling issues with our inverter. We called Jordan from Echo One Adventures and let him know that our inverter was getting hot. Being the upstanding guy and company he is, he asked us to return to Albuquerque. He installed extra fans under our bed and vented them into our cargo bays. He did this at no additional cost and felt it was his responsibility to make us as happy as possible. Since the addition of the vent fans, everything has been perfect. If you are looking into building a system as we did in a motorhome, remember that motorized RVs become much warmer than towables because of all the drive equipment. We have a temp sensor under our stairwell, and when we are driving, it is not uncommon for those temperatures to reach 130 degrees in the summer. I am reasonably confident that our temperature issue would not have been an issue if we were in a towable RV.

I wish you all safe travels, and if you are going to be at the Overland Expo East, stop by the Winnebago booth and say hi to me!

Have comments? Reach out to us through our Contact Us page.

The post RV Power System Upgrade appeared first on Beyond The Wheel.

Are you looking to get more power back into your house batteries fast? Are you wondering if there is a way to harness your engine’s power to do so? Well, good news. There is! The Wakespeed Advanced Alternator Regulator is a device that regulates the power that comes out of an alternator and delivers it safely to your house batteries.

Dragonfly Energy recently acquired Wakespeed, and today, we are joined by Wade Seaburg, the Chief Revenue Officer for Dragonfly Energy, to talk about Wakepeed. Wade talks about the advantages of using a Wakspeed regulator and how it can control the power from two different alternators at the same time. We chat about what types of alternators the Wakespeed regulators can work with and if combining a system like this with solar is an application for your off-grid needs.

Wakespeed’s alternator regulator is the only one that utilizes current, voltage, and temperature to deliver the most precise and effective charging possible for a 12V, 24V, and 48V systems.

“We find Wakespeed is more needed and required from a safety perspective on your high power systems. The Wakespeed can handle 12, 24, and 48-volt power systems. It can even handle voltages in between, like in marine applications using 32-volt systems. The Wakespeed performs very well under these conditions as well.” Wade Seaburg, Chief Revenue Officer Dragonfly Energy.

It was also interesting to hear how their target audience is changing and expanding into the RV and trucking market and off-grid living.

If you are looking for a new way to add power back to your battery system, take a look at the Wakespeed Advanced Alternator Regulator or contact Dragonfly Energy.

Looking to get out there and stay out there? Battle Born’s lithium-ion batteries are here to power your RV, marine, and off-grid adventures. Designed as easy drop-in replacements for traditional lead acid, these reliable solutions have 2-3x the power, charge 5x faster, are 1/5th the weight, and last 10x longer. Offered in various models in unique sizes and shapes, ranging from 50Ah to a robust 270Ah, and backed by a 10-year warranty, Battle Born Batteries are built to fit your needs and power your experiences.  

On the road, on the water, and off the grid … Reliable power is here! Shop now!

Buying an RV is a huge investment, and you want it fully protected. But what if your RV breaks down? The cost of repairs can be incredibly high, and you may not have the money to cover it. Wholesale Warranties offers affordable policies for RVs up to 20 years old. This is a more age-lenient policy than most RV parks we have stayed in. They have a wide selection of plans and policies so that you can find the perfect fit for your needs. Their policies are backed by a team of experienced professionals dedicated to helping you maximize your investment. Get a free quote today!

Have comments? Reach out to us through our Contact Us page.

Take care and safe travels!

The post Wakespeed Advanced Alternator Regulator appeared first on Beyond The Wheel.

In this minipod, Sean reviews the Cape Charles/Chesapeake Bay KOA Resort located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. This is one of 16 KOA resorts in the U.S. and one of 17 in North America. KOA resorts are the creme de la creme of KOAs and offer a lot of amenities to their guests.

The resort is located on the southern end of Virginia’s Eastern Short just a couple of miles north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. There is easy access from the north and south on highway 13 that runs along the Eastern Shore through Maryland and Virginia.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel has a max clearance of 13’6″ so if you are a tall RV, you have to go over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Annapolis, MD. Both of these routes require tolls. If you want to avoid tolls, you have to venture further north in Maryland to essentially go around the Chesapeake Bay.

There are more than 175 sites at the resort. Most are RV sites of various sizes, but there are also cabins, glamping tents, and tent sites available. Most of the RV sites are on grass with the exception of the deluxe pull through sites which are on gravel.

We stayed on a grass pull through site and did not mind it at all. We were able to put out our patio mat and it was not noticeable that we were on grass. The deluxe pull through sites were gravel and were long. I believe they were ~75 feet long.

If you are going with family and they do not want to stay in an RV, tent, or cabin, there is also a hotel on site.

There were also bathhouses and laundry facilities in the campground area.

The most amazing part about the resort is the amenities. The resort has a private beach on the bay. The beach is pet friendly and both the dogs we had really enjoyed the beach. The beach also has a bar that serves drinks and pub food. They have music playing while they are open as well. Also at the beach, people are able to rent kayaks and paddleboards. We saw a lot of paddleboards in the water when we were there.

Above the beach is a large saltwater pool. One side has a walk in entrance, which is great for kids. The water temperature was perfect. There are plenty of lounge chairs and tables around the pool and even cabanas for rent. The pool also has music playing during the operating hours.

Other amenities include playgrounds for the kiddos, a large Camp K-9, a large camp store, and an ice cream shop that also serves coffee and breakfast sandwiches in the mornings.

We really enjoyed this resort and plan on making it a yearly excursion as long as we live in this area of the country. On this trip we did not venture outside of the resort, but there seems to be a lot to see including state parks, museums, restaurants, and many other recreational opportunities.

The post Cape Charles/Chesapeake Bay KOA Resort Review appeared first on Beyond The Wheel.

We hear the word AI used often. Some of us understand it, some don’t, and some fear it. On today’s show, we talk to the founder of AdventureGenie, Scott Lengel. AdventureGenie is the first RV trip planner powered by AI, and Scott shares how it all works. Scott also talks about the fear of AI and how people can be put at ease by using it, as well as how AI can make life easier when planning an RV trip. There is a lot of wrong information out on the web, and when it comes time for us to plan a trip, we typically need to look through all this information not only to determine which of it is worth checking out but also to see what is relevant for an RV trip. AdventureGenie does this for you and brings you reliable ratings with their Genie Summaries on campgrounds and activities.

AdventureGenie will customize an RV trip designed just for you and how you like to travel, including campground amenities. It will plan this trip around what you want to do and your driving style, such as how long you typically drive in a day and what you like to see and do once you arrive.

“What we are doing with AI is we know about the context. The context is an RV trip. We then take the massive amount of info about an RV trip and boil it down to the user’s intent and what they are trying to get out of this trip. We have to get inside your mind and say, what are you really trying to do here? The second part of this is, what do we know about you? We don’t want to guess too much, so we allow you to tell us about yourself, which is the scary part of AI. People think it’s like Big Brother, and we know everything and will start sharing it all over the place. We commit not to do that, and you can check our terms & conditions on what we do and do not do with your data. We do not share it outside of the Adventure Genie, but the more we know about you, the user, the better the results will be.” Scott Lengel, Founder of AdventureGenie.

Do you want to give AdventureGenie a try? They offer a 7-day free trial period, and if you like it, you can sign up for just $40 for the year by using our discount code Beyond40 at checkout. I know we are excited to try AdventureGenie and spend less time planning and more time enjoying the trip.

Looking to get out there and stay out there? Battle Born’s lithium-ion batteries are here to power your RV, marine, and off-grid adventures. Designed as easy drop-in replacements for traditional lead acid, these reliable solutions have 2-3x the power, charge 5x faster, are 1/5th the weight, and last 10x longer. Offered in various models in unique sizes and shapes, ranging from 50Ah to a robust 270Ah, and backed by a 10-year warranty, Battle Born Batteries are built to fit your needs and power your experiences.  

On the road, on the water, and off the grid … Reliable power is here! Shop now!

Buying an RV is a huge investment, and you want it fully protected. But what if your RV breaks down? The cost of repairs can be incredibly high, and you may not have the money to cover it. Wholesale Warranties offers affordable policies for RVs up to 20 years old. This is a more age-lenient policy than most RV parks we have stayed in. They have a wide selection of plans and policies so that you can find the perfect fit for your needs. Their policies are backed by a team of experienced professionals dedicated to helping you maximize your investment. Get a free quote today!

Have comments? Reach out to us through our Contact Us page.

Take care and safe travels!

The post AdventureGenie appeared first on Beyond The Wheel.

I was recently invited to Winnebago to test their new Driver Confidence Package. This collection of features will soon be available on all Class A gas motorhomes from Winnebago. This package includes intelligent adaptive cruise, pre-collision with active braking support, lane-keeping assist, electronic stability control, traction control, hill start assist, auto high beams, and manual shift with range indication. All these systems combined make up the new Driver Confidence Package and are intended to make you feel more comfortable driving a large RV.

The day began with me heading to the Winnebago facility and meeting John Millis, the Product Manager for all the Winnebago Class A gas motorhomes and diesel pushers. John went over the menus of the new package, which are all controlled by the keypad on the steering wheel. I was pleased to see that you could turn some systems on and off and adjust the sensitivity for some of them as well. I liked the amount of control over features to make them more or less sensitive. After all, not everyone likes new tech, and this confidence package will now be standard in all of Winnebago’s Class A gas RV’s.

Our test vehicle was a 2023 Winnebago Adventurer 36Z, so it has the new Ford F53 Chassis with a 7.3 Liter V8 Engine. This engine replaced the one I have in my Winnebago Vista, a 6.8 Liter V10. The advantage of the new engine is it can put out more torque at a low RPM. It also has more horsepower than the previous V10 engine. This was something that I could feel in the test drive right away during acceleration. It was quicker and quieter while getting up to speed. Our test vehicle also had Sumo Springs and a Safe T Plus bar, which can now all be added on from the Winnebago factory. We were in a 30th Anniversary Adventurer with the Safe T Plus bar and Sumo Springs standard.

Mark Lafferty joined us during the test drive and drove a Winnebago Solis, a Class B van. The purpose of this vehicle was that Mark would drive in front of us and use the Solis to trigger some of the systems in the Adventurer. So, with walkie-talkies in hand to communicate with Mark, we were off! We set the intelligent adaptive cruise. With Mark in front of us, he would slow down to see if the Adventurer would recognize the speed change and match the speed of the Solis. It did. Then Mark sped up. The Adventurer again matched his speed until we reached the set speed of 60 mph. The system worked very well. I felt just this one addition would make the overall driving experience more pleasant and relaxing as now all I was doing was steering.

We also wanted to test pre-collision with active braking support, so we had Mark slow down to 5 mph. The Adventurer quickly realized this, pre-charged the brakes, and started applying them, giving me plenty of time to step in and stop the RV before driving into the back of the Solis. Winnebago either had a lot of faith in me or the new system, maybe a little bit of both. One thing of note is that the Adventurer will not come to a complete stop on its own. You do need to step in and stop it. The system is designed to alert and start breaking, giving you time to react and stop the vehicle completely.

Another feature that I thought was nice was the hill start assist. Most of my RV driving is done while flat-towing a vehicle. I thought this feature would be nice when starting on a hill since rolling backward with a flat tow is bad. It can bind up a tow bar. I found the manual shifting to be a nice feature as well. With this, you could put the RV in a lower gear before hitting an incline instead of waiting for the automatic transmission to figure out that it needed to downshift after you were already into a climb. I think this will significantly improve uphill climbs. I tested this, but the test was performed in Iowa, where there are no significant grade changes to fully get a feel for how the manual shift would work on a hill climb, but it did work great on flat ground.

One of the systems that I would probably find myself turning off is the lane assist, but like I said earlier, that is the nice thing about this package, you can turn off what you don’t want to use. I adjusted the sensitivity of the lane assist to low. I still felt it alerted me of lane departures too early and often. Remember that the Class A RV is a large vehicle that takes up the entire lane. It doesn’t take much to drift a smidge outside your line, especially on a windy day. Maybe it’s something I would need more time using to see if I would like it. If it senses you often going out of the lane, it displays a coffee cup, suggesting it’s break time. This is a nice feature.

I could not test the auto high beams because the test was done during the day. My wife’s Ford has this feature in her car, and I like how it works. You can turn the high beams on, and when the car sees another set of lights, either headlights or taillights, it turns the high beams off until the vehicle passes. It is quick to react.

Overall, I enjoyed my test drive. I thought all these systems combined worked well and never felt intrusive. I think it made the overall driving experience very pleasant. As I drove, I felt very relaxed behind the wheel while conversing with John Millis. The best way to describe the system is that it is always paying attention and unable to be distracted.

I look forward to having these features in our next Winnebago. I’m not sure when that will be, but I just reached 120,000 miles on our Vista. It may be soon!

Take care all and safe travels!

The post Winnebago Driver Confidence Package Review appeared first on Beyond The Wheel.

You have probably heard people talk about RV & campground etiquette before. In today’s minipod, I would also like to add some tips for good behavior while on the road.

I begin the discussion with etiquette when at a gas station. When you finish fueling up, move into a parking space so the next RVer can pull into the fuel lane. This is not always possible at a local gas station. That is why Sabrina and I like fueling up at Flying J’s. They typically have parking spaces for RVs that are large enough to pull into even with our tow car.

There is also some commonsense courtesy on the road, like don’t tailgate, especially since most of our RV’s cannot stop quickly. In addition, don’t own the road and fight with people who want to merge into your lane. Lastly, always drive at a safe speed. I typically drive around 62 miles an hour on the highway, maybe 65 when not towing our car. We generally are not in that big of a rush and feel the RV handles and receives the best fuel mileage at these speeds.

Overtaking other vehicles is another area where etiquette is essential. You should only overtake another vehicle when you are confident that you can accomplish it without disrupting normal traffic flow. This is a tough one because sometimes we will go to pass someone, and they speed up just as we do. These are probably people with having an ego impediment to being passed. This comes back to the previous comment about letting people merge. If I notice someone trying to pass me on a one-lane highway, I will typically let off the gas to get them safely in front of me before the oncoming traffic starts to pop up again. One of my biggest pet peeves while driving is when one tractor-trailer tries to pass another and can’t, or the other truck won’t let them. This interrupts all of the traffic flow behind them for several miles.

I will start with what I believe is the most important rule in the campground. Do not distract your neighbor while they are breaking down their campsite. This is the most critical time for an RVer to be focused. You don’t want this person distracted by your conversation and forgetting something like connecting safety chains to their tow car, forgetting to put their tow vehicle in neutral, or even simple things like forgetting some campground gear. If you enjoyed their company while they were your neighbor, wait until they finish packing up before saying your goodbyes.

Keep your noise levels down, especially during quiet hours. I like my music, but I am sure not everyone enjoys 90s alternative music as much as I do. At my campsite, I keep my music to a level only I can hear. I always think of when I was a shop supervisor. When one worker would turn up his radio, another would turn up his, and so on. Before you knew it, we had radio wars, and no one could hear anything but noise.

Try to respect people’s space. Don’t walk through their site to get to the laundry or bathrooms. Walk around. The extra steps will do us all good. Even if they are not outside or at home, it is still good practice to go around. I know for us, Belle does not like when people get too close to our RV. She freaks out, and it takes her a while to settle back down again.

Keep an eye on your kids, and be sure you know they are not disturbing other campers by playing in their site or, worse yet, bouncing a tennis ball against their RV. This is not a random statement. It happened to us.

Keep an eye on your pet and keep them on a leash when on a walk. Not everyone likes dogs, and some people have a real fear of them. So do your best to keep yours under control and within six feet of you.

Be sure to extinguish your campsite fire fully. This can be tough and is one of the reasons why we switched to a propane fire pit. I felt we spent as much time putting some of these campfires out as it did to get them started, if not longer.

Try and leave your campsite as nice as you found it. Yes, the campground will come around to clean up after you, but it’s not hard for us to clean up after ourselves. Additionally, don’t throw trash into the campfire. I am surprised by how often I see this done.

Follow all the campground rules. This is a sure way to enjoy your stay and avoid trouble. Almost all campgrounds will hand you a list of their rules when checking in. Sometimes these rules will be printed on their map. If everyone in the family follows these rules, you should have a smooth camping trip.

Parking lots can be very convenient stays for RVers. We certainly do not want to see them taken away, which some already have been. When planning to stay overnight in one of these parking lots, it’s always a good idea to call ahead and make sure it is ok and ask them where they would like you to park.

Don’t make it look like you are camping. This is just an overnight parking space. This means no slides out, no awning out, and don’t bring out your chairs. When parking in one of these retail spots, we try to blend in as best we can, not make it look like we are tailgating at a Sunday game.

Thank them for your stay by purchasing something from their store or restaurant. This is an easy way to repay them for the safe overnight spot they provided you with. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. I usually buy RV supplies like tank cleaner or a water filter when I stay at a Walmart. These are things we always need anyway.

Well, that is all of my tips for this minipod, but please do not hesitate to add some of your own in the comment section of our website or let us know on our socials, Beyond the Wheel Podcast Instagram and Beyond The Wheel Podcast Facebook page. We would love to hear from you!

And be sure to leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform.
Take care and safe travels! We hope to see you practicing good RV etiquette when we meet on the road.

The post RV Etiquette On & Off the Road appeared first on Beyond The Wheel.

Today I am talking about the reasoning Sabrina and I used to purchase a used RV instead of a new one. When Sabrina and I first started shopping for our RV, we only looked at new ones. We said we would never buy used because, as part of our shopping experience, we rented a Class A motorhome to see if we liked it. We liked it, except it was pretty gross and had a handful of issues that made camping in it challenging. Overall we loved the experience of RVing, just not the RV itself.

While shopping for an RV, our friend had some excellent advice for us. He advised us not to be afraid to buy used because when you buy a used RV, the previous owner has already worked out all the bugs and has squashed them. When you buy a new RV, a lot of that first year is spent fixing issues and warranty work. He also said this would give us more time on the road and less time in the shop.

That really stuck with us, and it was like a light bulb went off because we were buying the RV for Sabrina’s work. We couldn’t sit in the shops waiting on repairs throughout the year, even if it is under warranty. We need to be able to get to our next destination. Also, we had a schedule that had to be kept. So, that really hit us. From then on, we completely changed our shopping and decided to buy a used RV, but it will need to be slightly used within a year or two. We started looking at RVs that were closer to only one year old, and to our surprise, the price difference between brand new and something six months old was drastically different; some of these RVs seemed like steals to us.

We found our RV in Ohio. It was only six months old and under $80,000. We felt it was too good to be true, so we hired an RV inspector to go out and look at it (which we highly recommend everyone to do, having an RV inspector was great). He found a few minor issues with the RV, and the dealer, Shafer’s Truck and RV Sales, agreed to fix those issues before we flew out to look at the RV. They did take care of the issues. Sabrina and I flew out to look the RV over ourselves. The RV was beautiful and in tip-top shape; the previous owners had bought it, taken it out on a few trips then decided to trade it in for a diesel pusher.

Their loss was our gain because an RV depreciates quickly when it leaves the lot. So for us to buy used, we did not take that initial depreciation loss.

Many people will tell you, though you don’t get the factory warranty by buying used, which is usually true. So, we purchased an extended warranty for up to five years. We knew it was only a matter of time before something would break on the RV. Our RV has held up well throughout the years, and we wound up breaking even on the warranty cost. We now have 120,000 miles on our Vista. All in all, it turned out to be a great deal.

This isn’t to say that buying new does not have its advantages. For example, when you buy new, you get exactly what you want. Often you can order through the dealer to ensure you don’t get anything you don’t want. In our case, our RV came with a drop-down bunk over the captain’s chairs, and at the time, we didn’t think we would need or want it, but we have used it a few times when family visits. If we were buying new, it would not have been an option we chose. I guess you can also say we did not have a choice in the colors of our RV. If we had bought new, we could have selected the outside and the inside color scheme.

Also, when you buy new, it is clean, like super clean, so if you have allergies to pets or smoke, you may want to look at new units as these RVs should come allergen-free.

Another plus when buying new, you get all of the latest and greatest tech. This is why we were also trying to stay only a year old. We didn’t want an outdated RV from day one. We still missed out on a few items, but nothing major.

And the last significant advantage of the new RV is that the warranty is included in the price of the RV. These are typically one to two years. If you want to extend them out longer, that will be an extra charge.

So that is why we bought a used RV, but I would love to hear from you about what you own. Did you go with new or used, and why?

The post RV Purchase: Why We Bought Used appeared first on Beyond The Wheel.

National Indoor RV Centers has six locations across the country, but this one-stop shop for RVers was not always this big. Today, Brett Davis, CEO & President of National Indoor RV Centers, tells us about the company’s history. You will enjoy how transparent Brett is when speaking about the business and financial side of the company and the RV industry.

Brett had this to say about expanding the company into new states across the country, “It took a while in the beginning. As I told our people, we need to nail it before we scale it. It’s not as easy as it sounds to combine all these different services under one roof and try to provide one unified service between sales, service, storage, wash & detail, paint, and body.”

We truly felt that Brett’s decisions for National Indoor RV Centers were in the customer’s best interest. You will hear how the customer receives what we would consider red-carpet service at all their facilities. You will also hear how Bret has a plan for making service appointments better than ever with 24/7 staff, helping you get back on the road faster.

We hope you enjoy this episode and ask if you could leave a rating on your favorite podcast platform. These ratings and reviews help the podcast grow and reach a larger audience.

To learn more about all the services National Indoor RV Centers provide and their locations, check them out here.

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