We Bought A 20 year Old RV. Here's Why...

So we get so many comments from people  thinking that we own a very new very   expensive RV and that couldn't be further  from the truth this RV is nearly 20 years   old and we have had a ton of surprises  finding out some things about owning an   older RV we're going to share it in this video  you're going to want to stay tuned [Music] first RV and we set off to live a life of travel  and really prioritize experiences over things   we've learned a ton along the way we've had some  fails as well so we share all about that on this   channel so we can help you in the RV Community or  the aspiring rver to kind of know what to do what   not to do great places to visit great food you  want to hit the Subscribe button if that sounds   like something that you're interested in one  of the reasons that we chose to buy used and   actually here's a little interesting story our  very first RV that we bought it was 20 years old   when we purchased it it wasn't this one it was a  different one really the reason that we did that   is because we wanted to jump into this lifestyle  sooner versus later we were not in a situation   where we could just sell it all and go full time  and so we needed something that was going to be   affordable and that we could start small but start  immediately and so by purchasing used in something   that was a little bit older basically RV life came  into reach where it would have been Way Out Of   Reach for years and years because we started small  we started with something older that we could pay   cash for to get started and jump in right away so  we did that for about a year and then we realized   that that RV for our family and for our family  size just wasn't working and we needed something   different we took another year to save some money  to be able to purchase the RV see behind me here   and this is the RV that we have had ever since so  we've had this thing for close to five years now   one of the biggest kind of I guess objections  that people always ask about or tell us about   when we talk about purchasing an older used RV  is something that is known as the 10-year rule   I think that sometimes I see a 15-year rule  or whatever but really what that is is that   there are some RV parks that will state in their  rules that if you have an RV that is older than   10 years or older than 15 years that they don't  allow that RV in to their Campground now we have   never ever been turned away because of the age  of our RV campground owners want to keep older   RVs out just because sometimes they can be in  poor repair they can be in poor shape the way   we've always been able to get around this rule  whenever we have encountered it which is fairly   seldom is to basically just be able to take a  current photo of our RV and also explain that   it is impeccably maintained at has no leaks  no problems of any kind at all send that to   the campground owner and we've been able to stay  in any park that we've ever really wanted to we   also did encounter one particular Park where they  had kind of this age limitation it wasn't really   clearly delineated as far as the year but what  they asked is that you would stop and check in   just so that the campground manager had a chance  to see that yes your RV was in good shape it   wasn't falling apart or anything like that that  could potentially cause damage to the campground   one thing that we have noticed being out traveling  is the fact it is getting harder to book a spot   and some of the most popular campgrounds in the  U.S including state parks national parks and other   RV campgrounds in popular areas so a hack we've  been using and loving for RV life is using RV   that books campgrounds for us we've been able to  score some near impossible campsite reservations   because RV's actually booking them for us and  with the annual plan RV scans for cancellations   every two minutes finds those cancellations and  then makes the reservation for for us we've been   seeing more and more alert Services pop up that  are charging more than RV but only monitor sold   out campgrounds and I can't tell you how many  times the I've used these services in the past   only to get the alert when we're out and about  exploring by the time I get back to my computer   well somebody already snagged that reservation  that's why we switched to using RV instead and   we get more bang for our buck and it includes RV's  full travel agency booking Services where they'll   actually make the cancellation for me if for some  reason I need to cancel a reservation that I made   through the RV service we have partnered with RV  for a 10 discount for our viewers now this is an   exclusive discount for grateful glamper viewers  so you can head to Grateful glamper.com forward   slash RV to get your discount and a huge thanks to  RV for sponsoring this video and their support of   our channel one of the things is that has been  a pleasant surprise is actually from a cost of   ownership perspective so one of the things that  has happened for us with owning a nearly 20 year   old RV is that our cost of ownership is actually  lower than if we had purchased something that was   new and part of that is in part to the fact that  the emission system on our RV being a little bit   older is pre-death so basically what that means  is the system's just not as complicated and it   doesn't require as much as far as we don't have  to add DEF fluid so that's less of a cost for us   it's also less of a headache from a maintenance  perspective too where we don't have those extra   systems on the RV so there's really just less to  go wrong something else about having a 20 year   old motor home that has been somewhat surprising  but it's also a pros and cons type of situation   in our storage compartments we are unable to have  the path through storage type of compartments now   why that is not exactly ideal from a storage  perspective and from a space perspective the   one thing that that actually does provide because  of how things are set up is it actually gives us   a little bit more of a weight capacity so we  literally have never ever had to worry about   weight we could travel with full water tanks full  waste tanks we can load this thing to the gills   we've stopped by several cat scales when we have  been completely fully loaded and we still have   room to spare from a weight perspective as far as  weight goes one of the advantages of having this   nearly 20 year old motorhome is we literally  never have to worry about are we overweight   so something else that we found that's happened  is that when we do need to work on things and we   have chosen to educate ourselves and learn  how to work on things ourselves on our RV   actually not that bad because with having a nearly  20 year old motorhome the systems are much simpler   than on some of the newer RVs but that doesn't  mean we're sacrificing anything when it comes   to smart technology or having a smart RV and  I'm going to take you inside and show you why no we're coming in you need to move so we have  made a ton of upgrades and Renovations inside   of this RV and since it's nearly 20 years old I  don't have any qualms in doing so because it's not   hurting anything as far as values or anything like  that is concerned so you'll have to let me know so   far what do you think new or used I'd love to hear  in the comments below what you think is the best   way to buy an RV one of the smart upgrades that  we have made to our RV is our micro air thermostat   which is right up here basically this is great  because we can see what the temperature is in the   RV from other places I can change it right here on  my phone I will get alert from the thermostat to   my phone if the temperature goes beyond a certain  threshold which is great for the pets that are in   here that's one of the smart things that we  added in to the RV to make our RV very very   smart another thing is this particular internet  setup which really is kind of like the ultimate   RV internet setup I'll put a link right up here  for a video we did on the setup if you want more   information on that itself also have the link  in the description for that another surprising   thing is when it comes to making these types of  mods and upgrades with an older motorhome one   of the things that we found out is it's pretty  simple but the construction of an older RV like   this is just really amazing when you start to see  how well it's constructed the materials that it's   constructed with a lot of newer RVs have been so  problematic because RV manufacturers have kind of   had to cheap out on a lot of the materials that  they're using and some of that is just because   of availability of sudden materials one of the  things that you do find with an older motorhome   and one of the reasons we chose an older motor  home in addition to the affordability is just   for the better build quality where everything is  just that much more solid in how it's put together   so another thing we've done to make the RV super  smart now these are features that you would find   in a brand new RV but hey ours is 20 years old  but we can add those things too so things like   USB outlet converting the fridge over to run off  of 12 volt electricity even solar we have it all   in a 20 year old RV a question that we always get  or when we talk to people that are considering   jumping into this lifestyle purchasing news versus  used the big things always about the warranty well   I want a warranty with my RV I don't want to have  to worry about making repairs if something goes   wrong now let me just tell you a little side note  about that we've got a lot of friends that we are   connected with in the RV Community great friends  that have recently even purchased new RVs and   within weeks they're I think some major problems  even my parents who are full-time bought a brand   new RV and I cannot even begin to tell you  the nightmares and the laundry list of things   things that happened within those first few  weeks and months so warranty work right it's   under warranty we're just gonna have a fix under  warranty that is also another huge headache in   and of itself because RV dealerships are backed  up so many people actually end up driving their   rig back to the manufacturer mostly in Elkhart  or in Alabama even to get the warranty work done   in a timely manner so now you've incurred the  cost for fuel and time and all of those other   things to get your free warranty work done with a  nearly 20 year old RV if something goes wrong when   something goes wrong it's really more a question  of when versus if we're able to either a fix it   ourselves we're not worried about voiding any  warranty with anything that we do but also if for   some reason it is something where we've realized  we are beyond our capabilities we're in over our   heads well we can call in our V-Tech and they  can come usually next day or the day after so   we are not at the mercy of the warranty and  waiting for warranty work to be done something   to consider if you're thinking about jumping  into this lifestyle pros and cons new versus   used I'm going to put a video right up here with  kind of our full renovation you can take a look   at everything that we have done where this 20 year  old motorhome certainly does not feel 20 years old   if we don't see you out on the road or around  the campground we'll see you in the next video

Channel: Grateful Glamper

Views: 301,966

Keywords: rvlife, rvliving, gratefulglamper, rv life, rv living, grateful glamper, rv newbie, rv, rv tour, full time rv living, full time rv, rv renovation, tiny house, rv buying advice, used rv, rv lifestyle, how to buy an rv, motorhome renovation, rv tours 2023, rv buying tips, full time rving, buying an rv

Id: RimM-DI6h1A

Length: 11min 39sec (699 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 30 2023