Is Buying An RV Worth It?

You may have dreams of traveling across the country on a recreational vehicle (RV) or simply find the idea of living a camper life fascinating enough to want your own RV – but is your motivation enough reason to actually buy one?

There are many things you need to consider when it comes to owning an RV before heading over to a dealership. This includes your purpose for buying and how often you will use the RV, costs associated with RV ownership, your commitment to the camper lifestyle, where to park your RV, and other practical aspects that may make or break your resolve to own one.

Of course, the most important thing to think about before making a big spend for a motorhome is why you want to buy one.

What’s your purpose for buying an RV?

A 2024 Consumer Affairs statistical study reveals that a whopping 11.2 million U.S. households own an RV. Their purpose for owning a motorhome vary, but for many of these people, their usual initial purpose is travel in the comfort of their own space no matter where they stay.

If you truly want to buy your own RV, dig deep to understand your desire for RV ownership so you don’t regret it later.

List down your reasons for wanting to buy an RV, no matter how seemingly trivial. Perhaps it’s part of your travel plans for family vacations or the camping convenience ang utility a motorhome provides. You may even prefer the convenience it affords for your full-time travel goals or simply like the idea of impromptu camping road trips, seasonal travel, and residing in National Park campgrounds for 2–3 months at a time. Whatever your reasons are, it’s best to clarify and assess your intent.

Once you’ve done this step, the next thing you should do is to list down all other travel options you’re left with and their potential costs. For example, if you don’t drive your own RV to Florida, you’d have to book a flight or go by train, pay for hotel accommodations, and rent a car or take public transport. Do the same thing for all your travel plans for the entire year or even the next 5 years and do the math. A quick search should give you approximate prices to help with your calculations and make a fair comparison between your approximate travel expenses and the cost of buying an RV.

What to consider when buying an RV

Still keen on owning and driving an RV? Then consider some of the often overlooked but equally important factors below.

RV Type

There are several types of RVs available in the market and, while some are huge and require skills and expertise in handling, others are quite easy to handle. What type of RV are you looking to buy, exactly? Your purpose for buying should determine the camper size you choose.

Consider which among the RV categories below will work best for you.

• Class A: Largest drivable RVs that focuses on luxury and comfort and have bigger black, gray and water tanks among all RV types. Think of it as the RV equivalent of 5-star hotels.
• Class B: The smallest and most popular among the drivable types. Large enough to house its own kitchen, toilet, and bath, but small enough to still fit in standard-sized parking spaces.
• Class C: Sized in between Classes A and C and is the most popular among drivable RV rentals. Does not fit in standard parking spaces.
• Travel trailers: Most popular and versatile type of towable trailer. It comes with a living, sleeping, cooking and dining space.
• Fifth wheels: Towable RV. Basically the equivalent of Class A among the towable trailer types.
• Campers: Smallest among the towable trailer types and can be hitched on a pick-up truck with a high payload and gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). These light travel trailers are small enough to park in your garage or driveway and best for camping with its smaller living space.

Except for the more compact campers and travel trailers, the other types of RV require a separate storage or parking space and for you to have sufficient driving skills to maneuver large vehicles.

Usage duration

Being able to maximize the use of your RV to get your money’s worth is an important factor to consider because RVs cost a lot of money regardless of whether you buy a new or used unit.

Think about your travel plans and figure out how often you will use the RV. If it’s only for a few weeks or a couple of months each year, but you’ll still be staying in your principal place of residence, you may not be able to maximize the use of your camper. 

Then again, you may also be planning to travel in your RV for half or most of the year, or you want to join the tiny house revolution by living in your camper. If this is the case, you will be able to utilize your RV well.

Lifestyle changes

Whether you reside in your RV for a few weeks, months, or even permanently, you’ll need to embrace the lifestyle changes living in a compact setting brings.

Smaller space

Recreational vehicles can only provide limited space, even in a huge Class A RV. This means you’ll need to embrace a minimalist lifestyle and find creative ways to increase RV storage capacity if you require more space.

Regular cleaning

With limited space, regular cleaning will be necessary to keep the smaller interior clutter-free – but it doesn’t end there.

Life on-the-go also means that you’ll cook and answer calls of nature on the road most of the time since it doesn’t make sense to always search for a rest stop when a motorhome is typically equipped with a kitchen, toilet, and bath. This means that regardless of the size of your tanks, you’ll have to empty and clean them yourself – and you have to do so by finding proper RV dump sites.

Regular maintenance

An RV is both a miniature home and a large vehicle, so you need to do twice the maintenance for its components to ensure that it is in top shape.

What if you have a major life-changing event?

No matter how determined you are to start and maintain a nomadic or active camper lifestyle, you may some changes may occur in your life that would greatly influence it. For instance, if you’re single, you may find a partner or decide to get married to someone who prefers a stationary home.

If you’re married, kids may come in the future, and you’ll have to think of how to approach their education when they reach the proper age. Keeping your family together while on the go would require effort on your part to homeschool them, and deciding to send them to school may force you to only indulge in a camper lifestyle to school vacations and holidays. Likewise, even if the kids enjoy long road trips and camping while young, they may shy away from it in their teenage years.

Costs

Buying an RV is a huge investment which also comes with a huge price tag – but that’s not the only expense to worry about.

Upfront costs

RVs are expensive. Both brand new and used units would set you back tens of thousands of dollars – a huge expense whether you pay upfront or take out a mortgage for it. What’s more, dealerships usually bump up prices a few thousand dollars more than the market price so you’ll have to do a lot of research and maybe even cross to another state to get a better deal.

You also need to deal with insurance which may cost anywhere between $500 to $1,500, depending on the type of RV you purchased. Of course, there’s always taxes to pay.

A little tip: You may be able to claim a tax deduction on the interest when you purchase and RV that is considered a “Qualified Home” (i.e., contains a sleeping, kitchen, and bath areas) through a secured loan.

Of course, there’s also regular fuel expenses which does not come cheap since RVs are known to be gas guzzlers.

Maintenance costs

RVs require regular maintenance on both the home and vehicle components so you don’t face unexpected repairs while on the road. Common maintenance and repairs would usually cost about $1,000 annually, which is a good investment to catch any damage or issues before it becomes a real headache.

Storage and parking costs

Unless you purchase a unit that would fit in standard parking spaces, your driveway, or garage, you may need to shell out a few hundred dollars monthly to rent a parking space that could fit an RV. However, this is only for regular days – your RV also needs to be maintained and stored properly in winter to prevent damage due to the freezing temperatures.

RV Clubs and Memberships

Joining RV Clubs and Organizations can make things more convenient for you, but you also need to pay a membership fee to receive the full benefits. Membership fees typically range from as low as $30 to $50 annually, but brand-specific clubs and campsites can charge up to $600.

Depreciation

RVs depreciate faster than other vehicles, and it’s estimated that it has already lost a little over 20% of its value within the first year of purchase. Then it devalues at a rate of 4-5% each year onwards, and it would have already lost approximately 50% of its original value by the 10th year.

This means the resale value of a brand-new unit will usually be lower than what you may expect even if you sell your RV within the first year of purchase.

Should you buy an RV?

Ultimately, determining whether buying an RV is worth it is still a matter of personal preference.

As long as you’re financially prepared for all the upfront and hidden costs, as well as how your lifestyle may change, buying an RV may be worth it. However, if you need advice if it’s better to buy a new or used unit as a first-time RV buyer, you may want to consider searching for a well-maintained pre-owned unit for your first purchase.

If you’re sure about buying an RV, we suggest renting the same type of RV as the unit you want to buy so you can test first if you’re comfortable handling and living in it.