Purchasing an RV - Season 1

The Recreational Industry Vehicle Association or RVIA is the group that classifies RV's in their specific categories. Sometimes this gets a little overlapping and there's a lot of misinformation out in the market. In this session, we will go through those classifications which include pop-up trailers, truck campers, travel trailers, toy haulers, fifth wheels and finally Class A, Class C, and Class B motorized units. As we examine each classification, Dave will add in bits from his experiences to help you decide between the classes for your new purchase.

Dave has been conducting the buyers' seminar throughout the country for the last 15 years and it's very common to have a discussion with somebody who's torn between a fifth wheel and a motorized RV. They can't quite decide which way to go because you can get quite a bit of floor plan similarities in both of those. In this session, we will discuss those similarities and provide some key insight to help make the decision between the two.

When looking to purchase an RV, many RV owners want to stay with the Class C because it's a lot smaller - but they're torn a little bit on the size, so there is a comparison between a Class C motorhome or class A motorhome. In this session, we will dive deeper into the difference between the two and discuss the differences in size and some of the reasons you may be more comfortable in one or the other based on your need.

One of the hottest classifications of the RV industry today is the Class B or the B van. Some people call it a B+. There is a lot of discussion in seminars about this where somebody wanting a very small 24-foot unit that is still fully self-contained that they can zip in and out of congested areas rather than taking a big behemoth like a class A and trying to find a place to park. There is a little bit of confusion in it because there is no such thing as a B+ in the RV classification. In this session, we will discuss the proper classifications from the RVIA and what differentiates them.

Several years ago, if you were trying to decide between a class A gas or diesel and you wanted to have Corian and tile and pull 7,000 pounds behind, there was no decision - it had to be a diesel. Gas chassis back then did not have the horsepower, did not have the torque and did not have the transmission that would allow you to take too much with it. In the last 20 to 30 years the competition between Chevy/Workhorse and Ford brought about better chassis, engine and transmission combinations that made the gas units much better. There are still some differences in weight capacities, handling, and maintenance that we will discuss in this session to help you decide what is right for you.