Hello from IL

[Rob_X]

Hello everyone ...

My name is Robert and hope to learn about class B rvs. Seems as good place I came to. I travel long distance couple times a year (mostly fishing related) and getting tired of staying in cheap stinky hotels and paying $120/night. Furthermore, slowly getting up in years, with retirement sooner than later, I figure it would be good time to decide what we (+wife) really want and need.

Since it will be just 2 of us + dog or two, I figure I have lots of options to look at. I think mpg and comfort are most important features...I dont think having full kitchen + surround sound is as important.

I never owned rv before or even a camper. If someone knows a place close to Chicago to rent one reasonable for a long weekend, I would like to know.

THanks

[rockymtnb]

Renting before buying is an excellent way of checking out a Class B before purchasing. We've done it twice now, renting a van similar to what we were considering before making the final purchase. Highly recommend it!

However most commercial Class B rental companies are located near recreation destination areas such as Colorado, Montana, Seattle WA, Las Vegas, or California.

To find a rental near Chicago you may need to try Rent by Owner sites such as RVShare.com and Outdoorsy.com. Rates, fees, and minimum nights requirements vary but $200-400 total per day is common. You may find some off-season deals if you inquire.

Also be aware that most of the units listed under the Class B category on those sites are not true Class B (van campers) but often small to mid sized Class C RVs. So do your homework first and select a unit similar to what you might be interested in.

[rowiebowie]

Welcome to the forum Rob X!

[Dogman]

Originally Posted by Rob_X

Hello everyone ...

My name is Robert and hope to learn about class B rvs. Seems as good place I came to. I travel long distance couple times a year (mostly fishing related) and getting tired of staying in cheap stinky hotels and paying $120/night. Furthermore, slowly getting up in years, with retirement sooner than later, I figure it would be good time to decide what we (+wife) really want and need.

Since it will be just 2 of us + dog or two, I figure I have lots of options to look at. I think mpg and comfort are most important features...I dont think having full kitchen + surround sound is as important.

I never owned rv before or even a camper. If someone knows a place close to Chicago to rent one reasonable for a long weekend, I would like to know.

THanks

Robert,

Welcome, to our forum of Class B, owners and want to be owners. What the first guy suggested if very true as this is a big investment where a travel trailer may be more in-line with your true needs. A Class B, can be a big investment without all the true comforts you truly need.

I would say look at your size as to height more or less than 6'3" high" over that can get you a lot of head aches. How may times do you stop? why not air fare? rent a car, Bus, Train. Is this all over travels or the same place each-time? Your looking for a new vehicle 150.000 down to 90.000 for a new Class B. as you will want a new vehicle to make all them long trips in, right? also NO washer or dryer yet. Think about were you go to the bathroom in many Class Bs is the closet. (Remember that Impotent meeting with the new client(s)). Now once home you will need a vehicle to run to work in. So will the Class B do this for you?

Now if all the above works for you why not make the investment and get something you can stop along the road to relax and hopefully no one will bother you for a jump, GAS, use your bathroom or a number of other things like sugar. You may already know all this as some folks just want to learn what you have inside that 150.000 VAN.

I know you will by a used one? good luck with the long road trips and that 1-year warranty. Or less if its used. I dont think its a VAN you need Robert. A trailer I think would work a lot better and has a bigger bed.

[Rob_X]

thanks both of you for the input. Not sure why RVing is so much more popular on the west side of the country. Thanks for pointing it out. I looked at las vegas and I can get class C in Decemeber for about $700 for about a week. I also looked at class B on the rental website near me within month or so and it would cost me around 1700-1800 for a week. So this is really excessive...IMO...

I think next year we will take Las Vegas trip and see how we like this life style in general... for a week or so.

As the trailer goes ... I dont think this is what I want as I am not looking for a place to "live in". I think I want something I can drive from place to place, sleep in it , rest, quick cooking and wait off bad weather. I want to be more about "exploring outside" than "lets stay on sofa in the trailer and watch shows" . I have couple people at work which own 30 foot trailers which they pull camping and they live off them for weeks at the time. Basically, it is becoming their second home ... on wheels...

At that point, I would rather stay with what we are doing now i.e. airplanes and hotels.... on our vacations .. Since the airplane situation is a real mess, we decided to drive down to FL in SUV this December and rent a place. Maybe this is better option. At some point I need to add numbers to see economics of that. I would not need the latest and just by looking at websites, something in 70K range would suffice based with limited knowledge I have. At some point I need to do economics on this and see if the numbers are adding up.

thanks again.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by Rob_X

thanks both of you for the input. Not sure why RVing is so much more popular on the west side of the country. Thanks for pointing it out. I looked at las vegas and I can get class C in Decemeber for about $700 for about a week. I also looked at class B on the rental website near me within month or so and it would cost me around 1700-1800 for a week. So this is really excessive...IMO...

I think next year we will take Las Vegas trip and see how we like this life style in general... for a week or so.

As the trailer goes ... I dont think this is what I want as I am not looking for a place to "live in". I think I want something I can drive from place to place, sleep in it , rest, quick cooking and wait off bad weather. I want to be more about "exploring outside" than "lets stay on sofa in the trailer and watch shows" . I have couple people at work which own 30 foot trailers which they pull camping and they live off them for weeks at the time. Basically, it is becoming their second home ... on wheels...

At that point, I would rather stay with what we are doing now i.e. airplanes and hotels.... on our vacations .. Since the airplane situation is a real mess, we decided to drive down to FL in SUV this December and rent a place. Maybe this is better option. At some point I need to add numbers to see economics of that. I would not need the latest and just by looking at websites, something in 70K range would suffice based with limited knowledge I have. At some point I need to do economics on this and see if the numbers are adding up.

thanks again.

We bought our class b to do "driving" vacations as you mention above. We've only stayed overnight in the same place a handful of times. Nice to carry your "house" with you. Most of the time while driving, I tend to forget I'm in a motor home. Probably not something you could say about a boxy class "c".

A class b is small, but we're mainly in it while driving and sleeping. We spend the rest of the time outside, so the initial feeling of cramped space is mitigated. Of course, it's just my Wife, me, and our 70lb. standard poodle, no kids. If it weren't for the dog, we might try taking a grand-kid once in while and have them sleep across the front seats. But alas, they are quickly growing too big for that.

I spent $60k for a 5 yr. old Airstream Avenue (a rare, briefly made model on the Chevy Express 3500 chassis). I have spent over $5000 in the first two years on do-it-yourself repairs and upgrades. Just over half that was my recent lithium battery upgrade. So now, I have a fairly modern (at least more modern than most) motor home for under $70K. But be prepared for a lot of little things to need attention. After two years and thinking I've seen it all, I recently developed a low water pressure problem in my cold water bathroom faucet. Plus, the Onan generator has never worked dependably and the hot water heater has always been finicky starting on propane.

Maintenance and repairs will be your constant companions and cost savings on trips will not outweigh brief but higher expenditures for flights and hotels. Owning an RV is not a rational decision, but rather an emotional one that we do not regret. Ours allows us to vacation in a way we simply would not be able to without it.

Will we own it 5 years from now? I can't say. But two years in and we've not nearly seen everything we want (and we've seen a lot).

[Rob_X]

Seems like we are in the "same boat" in terms how we approach . I am certainly not looking at this as an investment. I have desire (plans?) to see Yellowstone and drive around Alaska on my own time without being rushed and up charged. I want to be able to pull over on Walmart parking lot or side of the road in Alaska and take a break if needed. At the same time, I want to be able to drive into a city/town, park convinently and have nice night out.

I have 1 fellow at work who pulls in his ~30 foot on long weekends to camp grounds, spend ~1 day on setting it all up and another day on getting ready to leave. So basically, he enjoys 1 or 2 days out of weekend vacation. This is not what I want to do and I do not want to stay in the same place for 3 weeks.

[chet]

Originally Posted by Rob_X

Seems like we are in the "same boat" in terms how we approach . I am certainly not looking at this as an investment. I have desire (plans?) to see Yellowstone and drive around Alaska on my own time without being rushed and up charged. I want to be able to pull over on Walmart parking lot or side of the road in Alaska and take a break if needed. At the same time, I want to be able to drive into a city/town, park convinently and have nice night out.

I have 1 fellow at work who pulls in his ~30 foot on long weekends to camp grounds, spend ~1 day on setting it all up and another day on getting ready to leave. So basically, he enjoys 1 or 2 days out of weekend vacation. This is not what I want to do and I do not want to stay in the same place for 3 weeks.

Welcome Rob
The wife and I are new RV owners also (Roadtrek 190 popular-200. Payed about 30K for it cause of high miles and some rust but only minor mechanical problems:ie
O2 sensor, ABS sensor new shocks/all self replaced to save on expenses. Purchased at Sonny Island RV in Rockford, Illinois. We’re from Crystal Lake, IL.
I don’t know if they rent. Good luck in your search.

[vwmaniaman]

My wife Robyn and I have owned a 93 Roadtrek Versatille for over 8 years. It has taken us on many trips to Yellowstone from Kentucky. We bought a newer Dodge LTV Freedom wide body and like it too, but the older Roadtrek just works better for us. We have had very few problems. We have only 108K miles on it now. We are taking it again this weekend to the Land Between the Lakes here in Kentucky. Lots of great camping there.

[Dogman]

Originally Posted by Gfichman

Just saw this forum. 2008 Roadtrek RS, bought it new and love it. None of the fancy electronics, but it has been a great rig.
Doing another cross country trip this winter from Las Cruces NM to VA & down to FL and along the gulf back to NM
I look forward to sharing info.

Welcome to the Class B Forum:

Lots of fun and helpful members here on the Class Bs in General.

If you do head down to Florida checkout http://CampFlorida.com As this may be helpful in finding that special RV Park somewhere in the state of Florida.

Also, if you do any Wal-Mart Boondocking Stops this may be a useful link. Enjoy and safe TRAVELS. You can also find RV PARKS above in CAMPGROUNDS. Wal-Mart Parking locator & Bed & Briefest
http://www.allstays.com/c/wal-mart-locations.htm

Now as for this Forum you may want to make note of the above two MENUs. The top Menu will open the forums for your reviews and feedbacks. The next MENU below is your MENU for inputting what you want fellow members to know about you. Please Click USER CP on the top left under the main menu and once open start at the top and slowly take them to step by step letting this forum know what you want about yourself, RV, Travels, History Thanks look forward to more POST.

Also, from time to time, you may get a note email from the administrators which you will find under your NAME on the top right.

Thanks for JOINING and Welcome to the Class B Forum. Safe Travels, Happy Trails and enjoy the adventures. Welcome.