On Friday, I drove almost 500 miles to test drive an RV. On Saturday I drove 250 miles to the Gulf. On Sunday I drove 250 miles back. I need to remember that part of my RV fantasy is that I love driving. My conundrum has been this:
I might not be able afford the RV I want to drive. I might not want to drive the RV I can afford.I finally test drove the Winnebago View on Friday. It was amazing. I love that RV. It is so quiet and so responsive.
I saw whooping cranes at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge for my birthday!
Compared to a traditional class C, the driver seat seems to sit higher and give a better view of the road. (The window feels larger, higher, and/or less obstructed, as well.) It is so agile, you could forget that you are driving an RV.
But a 2006 Winnebago View (the first model year) is probably going to cost at least in the $45K range. If my house sells, that shouldn’t be a problem.
If my house doesn’t sell (and I have to rent it out), I need to find something in the low $20K range. That consideration is what had me looking at older class Cs. The problem is that I hate driving them. I am afraid I’ll be crying after three hours on the road.
So, I didn’t have a good back up plan. I told my husband, “I don’t care if I have to drive my car and pack a tent. I am taking this road trip!” (BTW, he is hugely supportive of the whole endeavor.)
So, starting from the, “I’ll sleep in a tent!” position, I was excited to test drive the Winnebago Rialta. There are some issues (as in difficulty getting them serviced), but it also drives amazingly well.
So, Rialta might not be the exact model I’d get, but if I have to scale back my spending, I think I am going to seriously consider a used class B.
Plan A is definitely the Winnebago View.
Two more people came to see my house!
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Countup: I get my two month sobriety chip today!
Countdown: 95 days until I move into my RV!
Auto Mechanics: I’m meeting with my instructor
this afternoon to see which tools I need to buy for class.
He suggested something like this plus this.
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13 Comments
***The links to the videos won’t work. It just gives an error message that reads: You are unable to view the play list because it is marked private.***
Good morning Jennifer!
I hope your birthday weekend was fun, enjoyable, and memorable! Seeing whooping cranes was a gift for sure! They are so beautiful.
I’m really glad that you got the chance to test drive the Winnebago View! It sounds wonderful. I really hope you are able to buy her!
I am excited to hear that there were more people through to view your house. When selling a house that’s usually half the battle is getting people to come and see it! Good for you! Stay positive -this house is gonna sell!
That’s so sweet that your husband is hugely supportive on your decision to travel! It had crossed my mind a few times as to what he thought about it.
I love your determination to get on the road!! Keep at it….you are so close!
Hang in there Jennifer – you are making some very positive steps….after that mechanics course, you will be more qualified to deal with minor maintenance and issues on your RV than most folks on the road.
As to the View, some friends of our rent one a couple of times a year every year and love it! They are actually considering buying one at some point as well, so there is some feedback from a View user.
You are so right with your comment “It is so agile, you could forget that you are driving an RV”. I had to paste a note on the visor of my View “You are not driving the Land Rover!” for I would tend to go places or do things that I really shouldn’t be doing in an RV forgetting that was what I was driving. I’ve done three point turnarounds on lonely desert roads or quick U-turns on city streets being ever-so-thankful of having the View and not some humongous motorhome. Hope the house sells soon and you can buy what you want.
I hate to always be the one who takes the negative. But the Rialta has been bad news for lots of folks. It’s the same problem with all these European inspired rigs – they are just not designed for American roads and driving habits. People fall in love understated cool, and fail to understand it’s just another sort of flash. And with things like gas mileage, which is the LAST thing you should be worrying about. Same story as the old Volkswagen Bus, which would burn up an engine driving from here to El Paso.
These foreign inspired rigs have cachet, but get ready to spend some bucks on repairs. Here’s one discussion. There are others:
http://www.rv-coach.com/Forum.4486/current_category.195/offset.630/forum_thread.html
In my travels I have personally met two couples who bought the Rialta. Both units were relatively new, and spent more time in the shop than on the road. In both cases the problem was the transmission. That and the pure hell of finding someone who would work on them.
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Here’s some free advice: quit driving so far to look at RVs. It’s a bad habit. It puts you in a disadvantage when bargaining. It’s a commitment of effort that makes you think you’ve got too much invested to just walk away. And it’s not necessary. Trade time for distance. Don’t be in a hurry. Something will turn up near home.
What you SHOULD be doing is going to every single dealer you can find locally, and drive everything that even looks like it might work. This will give you lots to think about without driving to Timbucktoo, TX, and getting bent out of shape by salesmen.
Anything you are REALLY interested in will require a dozen visits as you think of new aspects to weigh and worry about. You have to accustom yourself to it by degrees, and really get the feel of what it would be like for months at a time. That is your homework, and there’s no shortcut.
And you can’t get that done properly if the rig is 500 miles away.
Bob
“That consideration is what had me looking at older class Cs. The problem is that I hate driving them. I am afraid I’ll be crying after three hours on the road.”
I have a radical suggestion. If you can’t find a rig that is, for you, both dependable and fun to drive, think about buying a small trailer instead, and buy a used pickup or the like to haul it. There are lots of advantages, starting with the plethora of choices when it comes to size, price, and condition.
Driving a pickup can be a real pleasure. It’s just a car that puts you up high enough to see around you, and most of the time you won’t even know the trailer is back there. In truth, half the time it won’t be, as you will leave it in camp and explore an area you like once you get there. And on the off chance you do need repairs, your home won’t be hostage to mechanics.
Just a thought outside the box you’ve landed yourself in.
Bob
***The video links are now fixed. Thank you!***
Just my personal opinion about the Rialta & the Winnebago View:
Rialta – WAY too small and inconvenient (shower). It looks like a depressing and cramped living space. For the kind of money they are asking for that you can definitely find something more spacious, comfortable, and clean (ewww to the smells coming from it..that’s a huge red flag)! Not only that but from the reviews I have read online I wouldn’t choose this particular model.
Winnebago View – Personally I think they are way too expensive for what you get. But that’s how most Class C’s are priced. It certainly looks like it has much more of a “homey” feeling to it and it appears to be more user friendly (shower & bed). Maybe you don’t mind it, but I personally wouldn’t want to climb up to my bed every night. There are so many RV floor plans out there that have a nice little bedroom setup. Remember the two most important places in your RV are going to be your bedroom and your bathroom/shower. If those two places aren’t comfortable then you aren’t going to be happy.
I wish you all the best in purchasing the RV of your dreams. Just do yourself a favor (like Bob said) and take your time! The right one is out there for you. Even though you really like the “View” don’t get hung up on it. You have to allow yourself to explore other models and floor plans in order to really get the true feel for what you want. After all, this is going to be your HOME!
I bet you are getting so excited! Have fun!
I might as well throw my two cents worth in here I guess. I have to agree with Ol’ Rambling Bob concerning the truck and trailer idea.( Sorry Bob,the name is kinda catchy!)If your Class a or c brakes down, you loose your home while it is being repaired. I have 27ft trailer and have never been in a place so tight i couldn’t get out.They are not as scary to get used to as you might think, nor are they difficult to hook up and unhook.There are loads of models and floor plans to pick from. And don’t have nightmares about backing them up. If your blog has shown us anything, it has proven that when you want to, you will achieve what you set out to do. Might pay you to take a look at this idea.
You will love the VIEW! I hope it works out for you. Yes, perfect for one person or two. Even a cat. Easy to drive, super gas mileage. Good luck, and I love reading your blog.
Hi Jennifer – having lived in various vehicles for half of my life I heartily recommend hanging out for the one you really want. This will be your home not just for vacations so you have to love it!
Even though these days I do have a house, my current ‘RV’ (a converted 7.5 tonne truck) is as much my home.
Good luck,
Penfold.
PS – nice theme
I promised an intro…………we (Jim and I) are a retired couple in our seventies, living fulltime in our class A 31′ Fleetwood Storm, very comfortably, I might add. I think it’s a 2002….could be a 2004. Not important, since it looks fine and serves our needs. We bought it used and drove several times from Austin to Denton before we signed the papers. I discovered your blog while we were parked in an RV park on Barton Springs Road visiting with kids/grandkid while they were here were here from Australia. No, they weren’t staying with us. The title caught my eye and now I’m hooked. I admire your spunk and find your lifestyle quite interesting. I have so much to say, since we’ve sold a few houses and taken a few trips during our lifetime. Will do that in another comment. Belva
Jennifer, you mention that you’re considering a class B. We’ve taken two trips, seven months each, in a class B. Two different vehicles. The first one was really just a pretty van that we couldn’t standx up in. We made the couch into a bed, put a six inch piece of foam on it and had a permanent bed. No sink, no shower, very little storage. We added a micro, porta potti and a dorm frig and we were off to New England. We were in our early fifties then, last child just graduated from college, and Jim was recuperating from a serious surgery. We felt so very free. A wonderful trip with great memories. Oh, I need to say that we had just sold our home after having it on the market for a couple of weeks shy of a year. Belva
After our seven month trip to New England, we returned to the Austin area, bought another house and went back to work. After a few years, we started searching for the perfect vehicle for our planned trip to Alaska. We found a local couple with a Sportsmobile class B that they had customized for THEIR trip to Alaska. We looked at it, didn’t drive it and decided that it wasn’t the one. We drove by to see if it was still available off and on for about a year, then decided it WAS the one. It wasn’t pretty, but the price was right. Soon, we retired, locked the house and took off on our trip. It really was the trip of a lifetime for a couple that loves road trips. We talk about going back, however, we wouldn’t drive our class A towing a car. It’s really hard to imagine that trip until you drive it. Oh my, I could go on and on!!! Such memories and I look forward to reading your reports when you get on the road. Oh, by the way, when we returned, we put our house on the market and had a cash sale within 10 days. Only had two weeks after closing to be out of it. We started looking for our fulltiming vehicle. It took several months of looking until we found this one. We were comfortable enough in the Sportsmobile. Belva
Belva,
Thank you for saying hello again and for sharing your stories! I hope to hear more from you, as it sounds like you have a lot of adventures that I (and, I’m sure others) would like to hear more about. That Alaska adventure, especially!
Hope you are well and talk more soon,
Jennifer