Quandry?? Going across country ..rig vs. car

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

How many of you have been thinking .... mostly driving across the USA .. is it less or more expensive to drive the Class B??

The car is faster... and gets way better fuel economy, but, you have to stay in hotels... even cheap ones.

But, the car is way more agile in very tight circumstances.

Mostly a straight shot across and back... what do you think?
I'd almost save the miles on the rig for more adventure cruise??

[Willie_B]

If your hotel standards are not real high then rooms can be had cheaply. My last cross country was summer 2015. Average hotel room was $45-50. Had none that were bad. Also the purpose of the trip factors in. I was taking my classic mini to a mini meet so drove it all the way. If the weather is good for boondocking then I would drive the B. Makes food and bathroom stops easy.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Willie_B

If your hotel standards are not real high then rooms can be had cheaply. My last cross country was summer 2015. Average hotel room was $45-50. Had none that were bad. Also the purpose of the trip factors in. I was taking my classic mini to a mini meet so drove it all the way. If the weather is good for boondocking then I would drive the B. Makes food and bathroom stops easy.

Here's the thing..if we take the rig.. I pretty much do all the driving... last fall, I did an 11,000 miles round-trip across the USA... I need to get my wife to get more comfortable with driving...

This trip would be shorter, but, still 6,000 miles round-trip is not insignificant... much easier driving in the car....

The other thing is 12 days on the road could be easily be $1200....

Decisions.....

[Rockwood27]

Do you make your own meals in the RV or do you eat out? This also factors into the overall costs.

[ManWonder]

one big factor for me when traveling is sleeping - i almost always sleep better in my RV than in a hotel - partly due to knowing i am sleeping on my very own bed

[Davydd]

There is no quandary for me. We bought our Class Bs to see the country on our terms in comfort at all times and not depend on reservations and hotels. Had we not bought our Bs, no curiosity in our country, and had to go long distances, we would fly.

[Leland]

no bed bugs in your RV

[Gail Staton]

No brainer for us, our Travato. We are driving from Vero Beach to San Diego to visit family in August and of course driving back. It is so easy to drive and averages 21 mpg. We drive the speed limit same as when driving our cars. We don't like motels and haven't stayed in one since 2005. Love having our kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom with us all the time. We always have breakfast in the T and can choose to eat lunch and/or dinner in the T or stop at a restaurant.

[mumkin]

No brainer for me too. Definitely the B... it is why I own one.

Of course, I don't have a car anymore at all, so I have no actual option... But even if I did, it would be the B.

[Phoebe3]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

Here's the thing..if we take the rig.. I pretty much do all the driving... last fall, I did an 11,000 miles round-trip across the USA... I need to get my wife to get more comfortable with driving...

This trip would be shorter, but, still 6,000 miles round-trip is not insignificant... much easier driving in the car....

The other thing is 12 days on the road could be easily be $1200....

Decisions.....

Yes, she needs to get more comfortable driving the rig. You could get sick or have some other problem on the road and she needs to be able to take care of herself.

Problem is, sometimes husbands aren't the best teachers (or passengers) so you may need a friend or a paid driving instructor for a couple of hours.

As far as deciding what to drive across the country, a spreadsheet could be developed for the costs, but there are other factors, as well: finding a hotel when you are ready to stop for the night, finding restaurants on the road, having to drive until you get to said hotels and restaurants and the issues that come with using them such as bedbugs and food poisoning. Not saying either would happen, but when I'm doing the cooking and I'm sleeping in my own bed, those aren't issues.

On the other hand, it's really nice to be able to take a lengthy shower so you may have to go to full service campgrounds every other day or at least a couple of times on the trip so you can use the facilities and dump, etc. And that may actually be more difficult in the summer than finding a hotel...

[SteveJ]

I like the flexibility of the Roadtrek and also prefer sleeping in my own dirt.

On TDY at Douglas City CA.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Phoebe3

Yes, she needs to get more comfortable driving the rig. You could get sick or have some other problem on the road and she needs to be able to take care of herself.

Problem is, sometimes husbands aren't the best teachers (or passengers) so you may need a friend or a paid driving instructor for a couple of hours.

As far as deciding what to drive across the country, a spreadsheet could be developed for the costs, but there are other factors, as well: finding a hotel when you are ready to stop for the night, finding restaurants on the road, having to drive until you get to said hotels and restaurants and the issues that come with using them such as bedbugs and food poisoning. Not saying either would happen, but when I'm doing the cooking and I'm sleeping in my own bed, those aren't issues.

On the other hand, it's really nice to be able to take a lengthy shower so you may have to go to full service campgrounds every other day or at least a couple of times on the trip so you can use the facilities and dump, etc. And that may actually be more difficult in the summer than finding a hotel...

Good argument.. we're going in late fall...end of September..... back in mid November....
Finding an RV park is really not a problem.....

We were thinking of having more mobility once we get to our destination....we have a vacation home and using the car there is certainly easier than the van.

I love driving the Mercedes but the car is so much more agile and faster.... also less stressful....

I don't know.... started thinking that the cost per mile has to be more expensive in the van than the car when you factor in maintenance.....

I'm going to take a hard look at the price of diesel fuel .... right now it's $4 per gallon here...
Last year it was $2.65...that is pretty significant....

The people who own gas guzzling Class C's and Class A's must be besides themselves..

And, my car can get almost 29 MPG on the road..over a long distance this really adds up...

[BBQ]

.

There is nothing like making your own coffee...

on the side of the road
at a rest stop
in the middle of nowhere
by the lake


Those are the priceless moments

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by BBQ

.

There is nothing like making your own coffee...

on the side of the road
at a rest stop
in the middle of nowhere
by the lake


Those are the priceless moments

Since we own our own RV... costs would be less than doing hotels...


RVs Versus Hotels: Which Is the Cheapest Way to Road Trip? | Money

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

The people who own gas guzzling Class C's and Class A's must be besides themselves..

People in Class C's and Class A's had made a life style choice. The are not besides themselves for the most part. They are committed to RVing. You are sounding more like having misgivings about buying your Class B or your wife is not fully on board with the idea of traveling that way.

Who cares about the cost of gas when someone shells out more for an RV than any potential car they buy?

[Phoebe3]

If you are driving 6,000 miles...
And you get 21 MPG in the Sprinter and 29 MPG in the car...
And gas and diesel are both $3.75...

You will save about $300 in fuel by driving the car.

If both the Sprinter and the car would require service (i.e., oil change, etc.) at the end of the trip, what would you save by driving the car? Guessing...

$200 savings if using car.

If you drive the car, you will need probably 12 nights of hotel at, say $75/night and if you drive the Sprinter, you may need 6 nights at a full-service campground at, say $35 per night.

Cost for driving car = $700.

If you drive the car, you will need to eat out for all your meals, but might get a continental breakfast at the hotels so let's say $35/day for restaurants. If you take the Sprinter, you may want to eat out once very other day so ...

Cost for driving car = $300.

So the cost for driving the car is: hotel + food - fuel - service = $500 more than if you take the Sprinter, but if you think there will be significant wear and tear on it or if something bad happens with your emissions, then that number could easily go in the other direction.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Davydd

People in Class C's and Class A's had made a life style choice. The are not besides themselves for the most part. They are committed to RVing. You are sounding more like having misgivings about buying your Class B or your wife is not fully on board with the idea of traveling that way.

Who cares about the cost of gas when someone shells out more for an RV than any potential car they buy?

NO ...I love the RV.. very glad I purchased it, . but, I also want to travel smart for the dollar value.... My wife loves the rig.... I'll get her behind the wheel and more comfortable soon.

I don't know why people jump to conclusions when I say that I'm concerned about fuel economy.....

You better believe that I chose the Class B diesel over the gasoline engines for this reason...

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Phoebe3

If you are driving 6,000 miles...
And you get 21 MPG in the Sprinter and 29 MPG in the car...
And gas and diesel are both $3.75...

You will save about $300 in fuel by driving the car.

If both the Sprinter and the car would require service (i.e., oil change, etc.) at the end of the trip, what would you save by driving the car? Guessing...

$200 savings if using car.

If you drive the car, you will need probably 12 nights of hotel at, say $75/night and if you drive the Sprinter, you may need 6 nights at a full-service campground at, say $35 per night.

Cost for driving car = $700.

If you drive the car, you will need to eat out for all your meals, but might get a continental breakfast at the hotels so let's say $35/day for restaurants. If you take the Sprinter, you may want to eat out once very other day so ...

Cost for driving car = $300.

So the cost for driving the car is: hotel + food - fuel - service = $500 more than if you take the Sprinter, but if you think there will be significant wear and tear on it or if something bad happens with your emissions, then that number could easily go in the other direction.

Yeah...I understand about the emissions.. just had the entire emissions replaced courtesy of Mercedes Benz dealership under warranty... thank goodness...

The car is a 2010 Subaru Outback Limited... with 85,000 miles.. still low mileage for the car..

Car is more agile to drive.... I'll decide soon ... have some time on this..... thanks.

[jaak1993]

On a trip like the OP is considering, I ignore the relatively small cost difference and choose the vehicle that I believe will produce the happiest trip. I will pay big money not to be schlepping luggage, that's part of my trip happiness.

Regarding an emissions failure, I don't accrue them to the trip, but rather to the overall cost of ownership. If the failure was during a trip for groceries immediately after the long trip, I don't see the groceries as ridiculously expensive.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by jaak1993

On a trip like the OP is considering, I ignore the relatively small cost difference and choose the vehicle that I believe will produce the happiest trip. I will pay big money not to be schlepping luggage, that's part of my trip happiness.

Hear, hear.