In his book, How To Buy An RV Without Getting Ripped-Off, J. D. Gallant said that type, size, quality, floor plan, and price were the principle considerations in buying an RV. In my earlier articles, we have been examining J. D. Gallant's parameters. The only one we haven't talked about is price - UGH! Price may be an ugly subject, but let's take a look anyway. It might not be as bad as it seems.

I'm not going to too much time on the price issue since it is an extremely broad subject and quite personal in nature, i.e., what can I afford and for how long. The price of an RV depends on many factors. Some of them are new, used, type, size, quality of construction, amenities, type of drive train if motorized etc. You get my drift.

New RV prices range from about $2,500 for a smaller tent camper to as much as $500,000 for an ultra-luxurious motor coach. We have only heard about this behemoth. I have never been close to one and can only imagine that these RVs are the type that our more famous rock stars cruise around the country in as they go from gig to gig.

On a couple of trips to RV dealers, we looked at motorhomes and fifth wheels. New Class C motorhomes ranged in price between $43K and $55K. The Class A's were running between $53K and $85K with one at $185K. Believe me, we didn't look too hard at that one. The fifth wheels that we looked at ranged between $35K and $55K.

Everything we looked at was very nice indeed. The differences were in the slide-outs, construction and various amenities. The sizes within the classes we looked at didn't vary that much. I am not saying here that prices are limited to these ranges. These are only what we looked at during our visits and we concentrated on a size range that would be comfortable for us. A great reference is Trailer Life's "RV Buyers Guide." This publication gives all sorts of information on more than 400 RVs in all classes and many manufacturers. It is a great place to start looking for your dream RV.

A discussion of RV price wouldn't be complete without a mention of the used market. It is estimated by one expert that motorhomes lose about 40% of their new value in 2 years and that a fifth lose between 25% and 35% in the same period of time. It stands to reason that you may be able to get into what you want at significant savings just by buying used. Depending upon age, you may sacrifice some or all of the original manufacturer's warranty and may have to live with the original owner's idea of decoration and color scheme.

In the U.S., we found that a regional publication Cycle, Boat & RV Trader, was an excellent reference in the used RV market. Both private and commercial sources are represented. It is a weekly publication and can be found in most convenience stores. I won't try to put price ranges here since they vary so widely depending upon age, condition, mileage etc. I will say that we saw some great pricing on paper, however, you must see the vehicle in the flesh before deciding just how good the price is.

Insurance - my only caution here is if you intend to full-time. Do not assume that all your contents are automatically covered by your insurance policy. In fact, don't assume that all your options are even covered. Our policy at Gilbert RV Insurance only covered $5,000 in contents. We purchased an additional $30,000 worth of coverage.

Don't think you could have $35,000 worth of stuff? Don't kid yourself. Do what Donna did. She got a pad and headed each page with a room. She then started itemizing our contents being sure to include items normally stored outside or in the basement area. I swore we only had $10-$15,000 worth of stuff (hadn't we sold it all off when we started RVing?) Boy was I wrong - so spend the couple of hours it takes, it will be well worth the effort.

The other thing to ask your agent about is does your policy cover add-ons & options like awnings, engine coolers, A/C (if not standard), ice makers, gas grills - anything you or the dealer added to the base model. Our policy does cover it BUT but it must be documented with the agent. Time to dig out all the receipts you've carefully saved and make a copy to send to your insurance agent for their records. If, heaven forbid, your vehicle is stolen or totalled, this could mean thousands in or out of your pocket!

Now that we have examined all five of Mr. Gallant's parameters for choosing an RV in some depth over the past few weeks, some of those imbedded questions still exist. Where will we park it? How do we finance it? Where should we buy it? I can't answer all of these, but will tackle some of them.

Next time I will get into the financing aspect of RV ownership. If you are like me and don't have a bunch of spare cash laying around that you have no immediate plans for, financing becomes a necessary and possibly expensive evil. In the meantime, keep on rolling!

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