When you are looking to get a new camper, the first question you need to answer is “What type of RV is the right choice?” Do you want a bumper pull, fifth wheel, Toy Hauler, or motorhome? Should you get a new one or a used one? How many beds do you need? What kind of amenities do you want? There are so many questions that you need to answer before you even start looking for the right floor plan.

DISCLAIMER: The below descriptions are based on what we have seen personally. There may be some floorplans or RVs that we have not seen and therefore we can not speak about it from personal experience. If you have other experiences or opinions, please leave a comment below and let us know.

What Style of RV

Motorhome

A motorhome is going to be the most expensive option because it is basically all-inclusive. With motorhomes, you drive it where you want to camp and everything is self-contained. The main drawback of a motorhome is that you will have to pull a car behind it to have transportation while you are camping. 

Out of all the different types of RVs, the motorhome is the most expensive. They also typically have the highest quality finishes and amenities. The price of a motorhome starts at about $75,000 and can go up over one million dollars or more!

You are limited on the floorplan options that you can have. You are always going to have the living area up front and the sleeping area in the back. The only exception to this is that some motorhomes will have a queen bed that can be lowered above the driver’s seat. There are also some models that have a couple of bunk beds. 

The next question for a motorhome is what class do you want? There are Class C, Class C+, Class B, Class A, and Diesel Pushers. Class C is your smallest option and only requires a class C license to drive it. The class A and Diesel Pushers require a class A license. The standard class A motorhome has gas engines and the Diesel pushers have diesel engines. So then the question becomes how much you want to spend on fuel when you fill it up. 

Class A Motorhomes have a large amount of storage in the form of outside storage bays. There are large bay doors that line both sides of the motorhome. Inside storage really depends on the floor plan.

Fifth Wheel RV

Fifth Wheel RVs are typically larger than bumper pull campers and therefore are heavier. With them being heavier they require a larger pull vehicle. Most can be pulled with a three-quarter-ton truck but are more stable with a one-ton dually truck. This is, of course, my opinion. There are a ton of people that pull fifth-wheel RVs with a single-tire rear end. However, there are a few fifth-wheel RVs that can be pulled with some half-ton trucks. 

For new fifth-wheel RVs, the prices range from about $40k up to several hundred thousand. When we are able to live in an RV full-time, we are leaning towards something like the Forest River Rv Sandpiper Luxury 388BHRD. This model runs about $85k from our local RV dealership and it fits all the needs that we want.

You also have more options with floorplan options with a fifth wheel versus other types of RVs. There are fifth wheels that have living rooms in the back, middle, or front. There are some that have two bedrooms and two full bathrooms. Some have bunk rooms; some have multiple bunk rooms.

Fifth wheels will typically have the most room out of all the choices from what we have seen. They have larger living areas and kitchens making them the best choice if you are planning on living in them full-time and having a bigger family. 

You also have to get a special fifth-wheel hitch installed in the bed of your truck. Because the fifth wheel attaches to the bed of your truck it allows for a heavier load because the tongue weight will be centered over the rear wheels. This makes towing a fifth wheel easier to maneuver in tight spaces. The main drawback to this is that you can’t store anything in the bed of your truck that is taller than the plate of the fifth-wheel hitch. 

The other thing that has to be considered when buying a fifth wheel is how big the bed of your truck is. If it is an eight-foot bed then you don’t have anything really to worry about. If it is a six-and-a-half-foot or less bed then you will have to buy a sliding fifth-wheel hitch, which costs more. This type of hitch allows the connection point to slide back and forth about a foot or so when you turn corners.

Bumper Pull

 A bumper pull trailer is probably the first one that people get a lot of the time, especially if it is just a couple or maybe one kid. They are smaller and lighter than fifth wheels and can normally be pulled easily with a half-ton pickup. 

They range from anywhere from a pop-up tent camper, to a larger bunkhouse camper like we ended up getting, from 2,000 pounds to 10,000 pounds. With heavier ones you may have to get airbags or bigger springs put on your truck but with the smaller ones you shouldn’t have to do anything. 

The price of a bumper pull RV is typically the cheapest option of any of the RV choices that you have. You can get a new bumper pull RV for as little as about $16k and they go up about $60k. The RV that we got was on the higher end of the bumper pull style because it is one of the bigger ones because we have five people in our family. We got the Dutchamn Kodiak Ultra-lite 332BHSL

A bumper pull will typically not have as much room as other types of RVs as they normally don’t have as many slides. If they do have a slide, it is normally in the living area, sometimes there will be a slide in a bedroom. 

Bumper pull trailers also don’t typically have as much storage as other RVs, especially outside storage. Our camper only has one outside storage area that stretches across the front of the camper. Inside there is a fairly decent amount of storage but nothing like a fifth wheel has. However, the point of living in an RV is to pair down on the things that you have to only what you need, right?

Toy Haulers

Toy haulers are a variation of a towable RV. They can be both fifth-wheel and bumper pull styles. A toy hauler is based around a rear garage with a lowerable ramp. The ones that we have seen have a modest living area and kitchen, a front master bedroom with a bathroom, and then a large garage area in the back. Some of them will have a single or double bed system in the garage area that has the ability to be raised and lowered. 

This allows for more sleeping areas when they are lowered and a place to store a four-wheeler, side-by-side, or golf cart when they are raised up. Some toy haulers will have a full-width bed on top and the lower one be a foldable bed that can be converted into a bench for a table. Some floor plans also have a full or half bathroom in the garage area as well.

The other really neat thing about toy haulers is often the back ramp can double as an outdoor patio area. Some of them have a foldable railing that can be folded up so no one falls off the side of it and gets hurt. We saw one toy hauler that had two porches, one off the back of the garage area and one that lowered off the front and could be accessed by a door in the living room.

New or Used?

Now that we have covered the many different types of RVs, let’s talk about whether it is better to go with a new RV or a used one. Obviously, this is a personal question that only you can answer for yourself. Let’s look at some of the reasoning for both sides. 

New RVs

Let’s look at some of the reasons to buy a new one first. When my wife and I were asking ourselves this question, one of the most important reasons is that a new one comes with a warranty. There are going to be enough expenses with buying an RV that we don’t have to worry about making any repairs or fixing any issues right off the bat and being out of that money. 

New RVs will also have the latest and greatest technology. If you are a technology-loving person then having neat “toys” with your new RV will be a big pull for you. On our new camper, we have a Bluetooth connection that will control a bunch of the features of our camper. We can lower the stabilizer jacks, put in or out the slides, control the inside and outside lights, control the water pump, and check the battery and tank levels all from your phone!

Of course, the technology, warranty, and all the newness of the RVs come at a price too. You will pay more for new RVs than you will for older ones. Much like vehicles, an RV starts to depreciate almost as soon as you drive off the lot with it. It doesn’t depreciate as much as a car or truck does but it will drop about 10-15% in the first year and then about 8% for the next four years. After that, it starts to slow down and will not lose as much value every year. How much an RV depreciates also depends on how well your RV is taken care of and any damage that may be done to it.

Used RVs

If you decide to go with a used RV there are some advantages though. Used RVs have been lived in already so any bugs that there might have been had been worked out already. Like if a plug doesn’t work, or the A/C doesn’t work, the person that bought it new, more than likely, has already taken it in and gotten it fixed. There is probably always going to be some kind of issue with any new RV that you buy

Used RVs are typically a lot cheaper than a new one because the first owner is the one that “ate” the depreciation and depending on how old the RV is will determine how much of a lower price you will get. My biggest fear with buying a used one is that there may be a water leak in the roof or something else that might be wrong with it. Of course, this is true with any used item you get, you have to do your own due diligence before you purchase it and accept the fact that there may be some things that you will have to fix once you buy it.

Which is the Best?

So which is the best option to buy? That depends on what you want and how big your family is. Each type of RV has its pros and cons. It also depends on what type of vehicle you have now. If you have a half-to-truck and you don’t want to trade it in also, a bumper pull is your best option. If you have a three-quarters-ton or a one-ton truck, then anything but the motorhome will work for you. If you have a small car then maybe a motorhome is what would work best for you.

If you have a big family, then a small bumper pull will probably be a little tight to live in even if it is nothing more than just sleeping in. If it is just for two people then a small bumper pull would work. They even have little teardrop campers that can be pulled with an SUV.

In the next post, we will be talking about floor plans and things to look for when trying to decide on what RV you will buy, so please follow our blog or follow us on our Facebook or Instagram accounts. On our social media pages, there will be some extra things that you might not see on our blog. 

Until next time,

Happy Camping

NOTE: This post is from our old blog when we started before. I will be posting all our old blog post to get caught up to now.