How weak RV sales could signal a 2023 recession....
 

..or it could signal that most Americans would rather develop a rash than to be cooped up in a glorified bus for weeks at a time...

RVs are so expensive to buy and operate and insure that it is cheaper to stay in a three star hotel.

You also have to store the thing.

If that's how you want to spend your money then fine. It's your money. But they are more of an ego thing. If you are trying to save money while traveling then there are far better ways to do so via the use of Air B & Bs.

The last trip I took that was just for fun involved staying in historic homes and having a staff to wait on me. I was also not beat up at the end of the day from driving a bus.

As one of the people who would like to get an RV, I can say it is little to nothing to do about saving money, at least not for us. Given the expense of purchasing and upkeep, anyone (aside from full timers) who plans on saving is detached from reality.

We want to do it at some point because we like to drive, we like to see the sights along the way and we would like to be able to take our animals with us. You can take your stuff with you. You can stay in out of the way places where there are no hotels. You can travel where and when you want.

One of my neighbors in VA was a retired NYC transit bus driver. When he retired, he bought a big motor home. I guess he like driving a bus, but he retired so he could decide where he went and with whom he went.

He could also drive past any bus stop he wanted without picking anyone up...

for a 38 foot motor home, operating cost, insurance, diesel fuel, etc is around $1400 per month. 90% of all RVs are sitting on driveways right now not being used.

David summed it up well. It is not cheaper than an inexpensive hotel but you do know who slept in the bed the night before and what they did.

Take the money you would spend on an RV and put it in savings.

Or live your life, enjoy your life and stop being afraid of monsters under your bed.

They have cams for that now. Check the PPV menu for your room number history :P

About twenty five years ago a friend of mine picked up an amazing deal. He bought a 1974 Chevy Suburban and a 34 foot travel trailer for $3500.

The Suburban was a massive gas hog with a 454. The trailer was super nice.

He used the entire rig three times over the course of two years. What finally made him ditch the set up was his dog attacked a skunk, got sprayed and then ran into the trailer and jumped on the bed, rolling over and over trying to get the skunk spray off.

Now he travels even more then he ever did. And he always stays at a Hilton of some level.

what about motor coaches?

some cities have passed ordinances prohibiting the parking of RVs on your driveway.

I sometimes use a storage facility for cars I drag home until I find a place to keep them. The place is massive and is filled with a lot of broken down RVs. There are also nuts like me that store their hobby cars until they can find a real place for them.

I asked the owner why someone would pay $35 a month to store a busted down RV for years and he said he didn't know. Apparently they think that someday they will get them running and hit the road.

Mark Twain said to never criticize another man's folly.

I'm a strong believer in using the product you purchase to its full extent. for instance, a music group/band or race car team will use a motor home A LOT. They live in it, they travel in it, they sleep in it and they cook food in it. Race car teams are known to have one motor home set up as a strategy vehicle. They use it to help map out their race strategy. Country music groups may write actual songs for their next hit record while on the road and on and on it goes.

Joe Six-pack, OTH, is known to purchase a motor home then let it sit on his driveway for years at a time completely unattended.

This is a very valid point. Willie Nelson loves his bus. I have seen this thing and it is a full sized bus converted over to a rolling home/ office/ meeting room combo. FUN FACT: Willie's bus is painted up with a lot of western scenes on the outside. There is nothing that indicates it belongs to him. But the cops in Texas all know it and never pull it over. Therefore his driver blasts up and down I-35 at, let us say, above the legal speed limit.

If you live in Texas you know I-35 connects Austin, where Nelson lives sometimes, and Fort Worth, were he performs at Billy Bobs.

Another film person with a big Airstream was Tom Hanks. He makes movies for a living so he bought a 34 ft. trailer and outfitted it the way he wanted. He recently sold it as he is getting older and is making fewer location films. Therefore he can just go home at the end of the day.

But buying one and just letting it sit? I guess so if that's how you want to spend your money.

RV's
 

But, but :

If Americans stop buying big RV's where will the bums live in twenty years ? .

/SARC/ .

I can't imagine owning one in spite of being able to maintain it my ownself, I just don't want the huge thing nor driving it .

My son is sharp so he bought one of those massive things for pennies on the dollar, maybe even scrap value, it's like new and he runs the crap out of it, it rarely sits for more than two weeks .

To each their own .

I used to love camping but can no longer sleep on the ground, I use air mattresses and so on and finally wound up sleeping in my 300CD's passenger seat, that was okay but I like to sleep in a bed, bathe daily and have a private place to crap .