Description

In this Baby-Boomer traveling video by Seasoned Traveler, find out how to choose the best RV for your driving vacation.

Transcript

George: Season traveler. Hi there, I’m George Bauer, near Atlanta. We normally help you with travel information and travel destinations and this week, we’re going to explore the wide wide world of recreation vehicles. More than seven million use families own RVs, that’s one in every 12 vehicle owning households and ownership is highest among baby boomers like us. Recreation vehicle sales have been soaring in recent years even as gasoline prices have escalated. One reason, after the terror attacks in 2001, Americans seemed to prefer driving vacations for their own safety and security and for many, it’s also the freedom of the road. Male: I just kind of like rolling a little bit, we enjoy it. I’d just soon be here as be home. That’s how I explain it. Just, we like being out. George: Couple that with competitive interest rates and a possible tax break on your mortgage payments and whamo, a sales bonanza. Many folks use the RV as a second home but for Dianne and Charlie Wathkey of Wisconsin, their 40 foot class A is their only home. Dianne: We sold our house, sold all our belongings because it’s just stuff. Our memories are right here. You take them with you wherever you go. George: Any regrets? Dianne: No. I sometimes look at him and say, I’ve got to put up with him everyday the rest of of my life in this but-- George: It’s people like the Wathkeys who excite the industry. In fact, the RVIA, Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, projects more good times ahead with sales rising steady through the year 2010. So just what is an RV, there are actually two types, motorized and towable. There are three types of motorized RVs, the type A, type B and a type C. We’re going to look at those first with Rob Smith who is the rental manager of the super one RV center here in Conyers, Georgia. Let’s go and look at the first ride. Rob: This is a class A motor home by Damon. Pretty much all the luxuries you are going to have at home and then some. Leather couch, this thing right here folds out into a sofa sleeper. Full sized refrigerator and then something more motor homes do not have, this one actually has a dishwasher. This is a 40 foot diesel pusher, it’s what they call it, it runs on a diesel chassis by freightliner. George: This is the top of the line right? Rob: Actually this is what they call an entry level diesel or something close. This is where you’re kind of moving up from a gas coach to a diesel, this is what you want to have. You can pull a car behind, full sized truck if you’d like, pretty much take everything you have at home with you. There’s a lot of storage underneath. George: How much is this going to cost me? Rob: Right about $200,000. George: So this is a B Rob and the A’s the biggest and the B’s the smallest, how did they come to that? Rob: This is the closest thing you’re going to have to a conversion van. It’s mainly designed for two people and maybe two kids to travel around in. It’s easy to drive, maneuverable, put it in parking garages if you have to. Downside is, they’re a little bit more expensive, they build them higher quality. You usually get to pick your wood, different appliances, things like that but there’s not a lot of space. George: So this looks like a van but it’s got more on it. That’s the difference. Rob: It’s a glorified van basically, the only thing that’s different from a van is that it’s a van front end but they put a fiber glass body on it from their own back, from the cab back. George: And you said this is was about? Rob: They start about $60,000 and then just kind of go up from there. George: Two people only really. Rob: Really yes because the bed is the couch. George: And this is a C, class C, what’s the difference? Rob: The main difference in this, in the Class C is the cost. They’re actually fairly reasonable to buy. They also sleep a lot of people. You get a full queen bed in the rear bedroom. You’ve got a queen bed up here above the driver’s seat and in the couch, and the dinning both fold into a bed so this one sleeps eight people. George: And you say they’re reasonable, what does that mean? Rob: This one starts at about $53,000. Of course you can add options slide rooms, things like that more goodies. You can get them up well into the $80,000 range if you’d like or even higher. George: When it comes to towables, there are plenty of choices. Travel trailers, popups, fifthwheel vehicles, sport utility RVs and truck campers. So now you’ve seen the three motorized RVs. The other major component is the towabls and Rob Smith is going to talk about this one. This is a popup? Rob: Yes, sir, this is actually a hardside popup. It’s a new thing they came out with, it’s an A frame so you don’t have any of the canvas tents, they still make those of course but this one right here, the best thing about it is ease of set up and light weight. George: Let’s see it. Rob: About 30 seconds to set one of these up. That’s what I’m learning how to do it. Just patch the two halves of the door. George: 30 seconds, it would take me about an hour, that was easy. And what is the cost of these? Rob: These things start about $8000 or $9000. Not that bad, you get a bathroom in it, this one does not have a bathroom in it, if you get a bathroom or something like that, they run about $12000 or $13000. George: I’m going to try it but you’re going to have to walk me through it. Rob: First thing we do is unlock that. Open the door, stand inside of it. George: Lift this side up? Rob: There’s two handles. George: It’s easy. And? It’s ready to go. Now, Rob just to prove that they’ve thought of everything here, this one is called a toyhaul why is that? Rob: You put your toys in it, simple as that. If anyone wants to bring their Harleys to the race or something like that or bike week in Daytona, this is the way to go. George: Let’s see how it works. So you could drive right up into this. Rob: And they come with tie down straps, you could even put little boots there on the base to drive your nose motorcycle up there too. Strap it down, bring your golf cart. George: And when you don’t have your Harley in here, you could have your picnic on it. Rob: This folds down, screens off like a porch. George: That’s amazing, let’s go inside. Tell me a little bit about this. This is more than I could ever imagine in a trailer. Rob: This is the kind of thing to bring kids along with. We’ve got a bedroom up top, queen bed for the family, mom and dad. Up here, you’ve got bunks for the kids, you still got a full restroom, got a refrigerator. Restroom also doubles as a shower, you’ve got that there too. George: So everything you could need. Rob: You lose a little bit of space with the rear end of this thing when you put the toys and everything like that but of course you can bring them with you.] George: And you may have heard of a fifthwheel trailer and that’s what we’re going to look at now and Rob, they’re fifthwheels because, they’re pulled right here. Let’s go have a look. So this is the fifthwheel, tell me about this one. Rob: This is the T ton, pretty much you don’t anything nicer than a T ton. This is about as high as you can go. Everything you have at home, pick your wood, any kind of wood you like, leather furniture, power force, countertops and a fireplace. My favorite feature, it actually works. And of course you’ve got satellite TV on it, slide out TV so you turn to watch it. George: And how big is this unit? Rob: This one is 36 feet long. George: They go longer. Rob: They can make it as long as 42. George: Before you buy, keep these ideas in mind, this is a huge commitment of money, time and energy so make sure it’s what you really want. It is best to take a practice run and I don’t mean just down the street. Rent one of these for a week or more to get the feel of the RV. That should help you decide whether an RV is right for you.