So in today's video, we are talking about everything you need to know before actually
buying an RV. How exciting, it's 2021 and you're ready to hit the road. Let us just say,
you're in the right spot. So if you're thinking of going to the dealership sometime soon, definitely watch
this whole video straight through because we are bringing some information that's going to help you,
before you make such a big purchase. -And if you've never been to this channel before my name is Kyle.
My name is Renee. And we're HappilyEverHanks. We are those weird people driving you guys to
get out your comfort zone, go experience life to the fullest, while living in an RV on the road.
So let's get right to it. What are you buying your RV for? Are you buying the RV because you
and your family want to go camping? Are you buying an RV because you want to travel for work and you
need something to live out of on your assignment. Or, are you selling your house and you and your
partner are hitting the road, retiring, and enjoying everything this country has to offer?
These are some really personal questions, lady. -Tell me. Tell me everything. -But in all seriousness when
you think of living in an RV, you can consider it like a little mini house on wheels, just to make it really simple.
Break it down. Each RV comes with its own design, what we call a floor plan.
You'll hear that many times when you go to the dealership they're like, 'what kind of floor plan are you looking for'?
That's exactly what they asked us. What kind of floor plan do you want? And i said, 'I want
like things in it to help me live'. So keep it just really simple, a floor plan
basically just means, what design or what layout are you looking for in your RV?
Are you looking to have a bunk house so you have a place for your whole family to sleep? Are you looking for
more space for the kitchen? So maybe the kitchen's in the back and it's bigger. Maybe, you really want
a big living room because you and your family love game nights and you love just sitting on the couch
watching TV, so sometimes a front living has a lot of space. It's just, what kind of layout do you want?
And if you're not sure of all the fancy terms, just tell the dealership what you want, and they'll be
able to help figure it out for you. -That's what's up. So let's just kick it off by saying, what types
of RVs are really out there? What's something you need to consider buying? Well, first question is,
do you have a truck? Do you have something to tow an RV with? Because if not, you have more options.
The great thing is, there are RVs out there that will drive themselves. Basically your class A, class B,
and class C's, are all self-drivable RVs where you just get in, you drive down the road, you pull over
and you hop in the back, and take a nap. And the other types of RVs we want to talk about,
are your tow-behinds, otherwise known as your travel trailer and your fifth wheel.
A travel trailer is basically a bumper pull, where it sits right directly on your hitch, on your bumper and you
just pull it around like a big wagon. And the fifth wheel is basically like a gooseneck trailer where
the hitch is actually in the bed of your truck. And that almost acts like the fifth wheel because
it's over the axle and that's where your turning point of the RV is. -I see what you did there.
You know travel trailers versus fifth wheels is a whole different topic we can go on a discussion about.
Totally, so if you guys want to hear a little bit more about that discussion, throw some comments
in and say, 'yo, tell me a little bit more about these travel trailers and fifth wheels'.
We'll talk about them because guess what, we've lived in both of them. Yes I am saying that correctly.
We have lived in both. And we have loved it so far. We have always lived in a Grand Design
and they have been incredible travel trailers and fifth wheels to us.
If you guys are looking for a little more of a detailed tour, check out this video, we'll link one up here.
And it's gonna show you our home on wheels and everything else that exists in here.
There are pros and cons to all of these different types of RVs we have mentioned.
So don't feel overwhelmed and be concerned that you picked the absolute worst RV because there
is no such thing as the worst RV. Every RV is perfect in its own way. -Totally.
They're perfect in their own way.
When you actually head to the dealer, you're going to be wanting to know if you
want to invest in a new RV or a used RV. Oh my goodness, here we go again down the rabbit hole.
There's so much to say about this.
When looking at a new versus used RV you want to take in a
couple things into consideration. First of all, if you buy new RV, yeah that's sweet.
You're going to be paying a pretty penny. You're going to be able to eat off the floors which is a plus cause not
many people have been living in there. But you're also going to be taking a hit and depreciation.
Which just sucks. -Way to say it. -I'm just laying it out like how it is. -But there's something
we have to talk about when it comes to every RV. I'm talking about brand new. -Yeah.
RVs are going to break right after you first buy them. It is a rolling earthquake on the road.
Okay, show me your facts here, sister. -Show me the RV facts. Show me the RV facts here.
But seriously if you guys ever consider what an RV is, it's like that home on wheels that you're driving 65 miles an hour.
Hitting I-80 on the bumpy roads going down like Indiana or something.
No hate on Indiana but holy mackerel. What's up with the roads out there guys, goodness gracious.
The RV's like hitting like woo. -Wow. -I'm catching some air. -We're like doing wheelies and woo.
So with hitting all those wear and tear points in those roads, your brand new RV is going to go through the process we call
The shakedown process. -Dun dun dun.
Which is kind of something you can always expect when buying brand new.
When you're brand new to the RV life, and then you also have your shakedown trip, you're not really
sure how things should work, normally, because you're brand new to RV life. And now you have
things that are breaking. But you're like, is this normal? So there's just so much that goes into it.
So what we're trying to say is consider buying used. -Totally. -Not because the used RV magically
doesn't have anything broken but most of the time, the previous owner has already addressed
everything from the shakedown trip. And all the things that are major repairs, they have taken care of.
Absolutely. And another great thing is most people that you're buying the used RV from
have already taken the hit and depreciation, so you're not losing out on all that money.
Just in case the RV life is not for you. You just never know.
Buying new does not mean things won't break. And buying used does not mean things won't break.
That's my only two options?
If you are one of those people out there, that had an RV and nothing has never broken on it.
Ever ever ever. Please put it in the comments and say, 'I have not had anything break on my RV, I'm an alien'.
So the next thing that the dealership's going to be asking you, when you buy an RV, is what is your tow capacity?
So going back to our initial point of if it's not the A, B, or C models that you're investing in but rather
a tow behind with like a travel trailer or fifth wheel. You need to know what your truck can handle.
Hopefully. Hopefully, here's an inside tip. If you don't have a truck, pick the rig you want first
and then find a truck according to that rig. Because if you go buy the truck first you may run
in the situation with Renee and I had that the RV dealership's like 'well your truck can only tow 6200 pounds'.
So we were left with like a little 26 foot travel trailer and
it's not exactly what we're looking for but we had to start somewhere.
So let's say you have a truck and you're looking to figure out exactly what your tow capacity is
or the payload or how much it can handle. Great place to start is the owner's manual.
Second place is a sticker on the inside door jam of the driver's side of your truck.
Third place I recommend if you really want some specific specifications.
Yes, that was a mouthful.
Give them a call. Call your dealership and provide them with your vin number because they'll tell you exactly what that truck's
tow capacity is. What it was built for, and how much it can handle.
Once you know all these numbers, make sure to give yourself a little wiggle room with the RV.
For example, your tow capacity on your truck is 6200 pounds and you're looking at an RV
that is 5200 pounds. That's just a thousand pounds left for cargo and also your pin weight.
Think about things like just the water. Eight pounds per gallon and you have 60 gallons in your tank that's
extra 480 pounds. Now you only have an extra 520 pounds to work with. So you can see how much it all adds up.
You're talking clothing, you're talking fuel, you're talking dishes, all your amenities,
all your appliances .That is all weight you need to take into consideration before actually buying.
Yes. Do your research before you go. Don't forget to give yourself some wiggle room when it comes
to all that weight. You'll see something that's considered a dry weight for an RV and that is
basically the weight of the RV, coming from the manufacturer. -Yeah. -With no fluid in the tanks,
nothing loaded inside. So just know that things get heavy. A little bonus tip information to provide you guys.
When you are at the dealership. -Yeah. -Yes I said it and I'm gonna say it. -Okay.
When you are at the point of talking prices and figuring out all those numbers, please don't forget about all
the extras at the end. -When you're actually getting ready to actually purchase and sign for the RV,
and you think you mingled the price down as far as you can, guess what guys, there is so
much more to these RVs than you could imagine. You need to consider the hitch installation.
You need to consider amenities that the RV comes with. Do you want a washer and dryer?
You do? Great. Be like 'hey I want that thrown in with the pricing of the RV'. Guess what, we got the hitch,
the puck system, and all that installation included with the pricing of our RV. It turned out to be over
$2000 dollars of manual labor. So there's always more wiggle room. There's always more
things you can actually throw into the deal before signing. We've only owned Grand Design ever since
we started and they make really solid rigs. And we've actually turned it into our full-time home
on wheels, which is amazing. -When you think you're done purchasing things because you bought the RV.
-Yeah. -You haven't finished. -Welcome to upgrade world, this is like the house with the never
ending upgrades. Once you get one you're gonna become addicted with like well I want this, I
want like slide covers over there. I want dual pane windows and I want..blah.
But in all seriousness, if any of this has been helpful thus far in the video, just let us know down in the comments.
Hit the like button for us so we know we're on the right track because we got a lot more coming to you.
And if you guys want to know some other things like some of the hardest obstacles that we had to overcome
when full-time RV living. We'll give you five reasons right now, right here. Check it out we'll see you guys next week.
And until then, HappilyEverHanks, love you guys. We'll see you then. -Bye.
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