Everyday Driver

[Jake62]

Interested if anyone here uses their AI as an "everyday driver", besides traveling across the country in one.

Especially given it's 24' length vs. smaller class B's at 20' or under, which fit into a normal parking space.

[Boxster1971]

I use my Interstate as a second vehicle. It is my primary ride whenever my wife is using our Prius. The extra four feet of length is not really a problem if you plan your parking. I always park on the back side of parking lots where there are few cars and look for double pull-thru spots. On the street I look for end spots which are normally long enough to accommodate my 24 foot van.

[wachuko]

I have been using it a few times to go to the office... but the newer diesels with the DEF really need long drives to run through the regen cycles. Short city drives is not that great for them... imho of course... I have a BMW X5 diesel and sometimes I just take it on the highway until I see a regen take place... keeps everything with the emissions system in check...

[Protagonist]

It's not just a motorhome, it's a van. Since I can store mine at home, I don't see any reason why I can't drive it somewhere every couple of weeks even if I don't have any camping trips planned.

But check your insurance. If it's insured for recreational use only, then using it as a daily driver could void your insurance.

[Titus]

It would be interesting to tabulate a statistically-meaningful sample size of emissions control system problems versus type of vehicle usage. The DPF needs relatively-frequent particulate-burning regenerations (long period of relatively high speeds and loads) and the SCR catalyst needs less-frequent de-sulfation regenerations. I wonder if those who use it as an around-town secondary vehicle experience more problems with the emissions control system. 90% our driving time, and 95% of our driving miles, are highway driving, where regenerations are probably less necessary and easier to accomplish when they are necessary. This might result in fewer emissions control system issues. Though I did have a sluggish EGR valve replaced at 35,000 miles, so maybe that is not the case.

Regardless of how durable the Sprinter chassis and Airstream conversion is or isn't, we have enough vehicles so that we can save our Interstate mileage (ie maintenance expense and depreciation) for those times that we are using it as a camping vehicle. Plus, up north where I live I really wouldn't want to be driving it in the snow, slush, and ice anyway.

[Jake62]

I've not had a diesel daily driver, but how do all those other diesel passenger vehicles deal with the regen cycles? Maybe one reason to wait for the new MB '19 Gas version.

[xrvr]

I drove our early interstate every day to work for as long as i owned it. Great lunchtime getaway place..

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

...
But check your insurance. If it's insured for recreational use only, then using it as a daily driver could void your insurance.

My agent told me that use of a rig for anything other than pure recreation / vacation triggers the need for a full-timer policy, which is what we have. In our great state of Texas, it's not that much more $ than a "regular" policy and it effectively covers a greater number of loss scenarios.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Jake62

Interested if anyone here uses their AI as an "everyday driver", besides traveling across the country in one.

Especially given it's 24' length vs. smaller class B's at 20' or under, which fit into a normal parking space.

It depends on where you are planning to park it. If I cannot find a pull-through parking spot (two spots end to end), I park our 23.5' rig (22' plus hitch carrier) diagonally if that's what it takes to pull my tail out of the lane of travel.

This is easy for me to do in most of the areas where I travel, because there is ample parking. Nobody will become irate about me taking up two spots if there are plenty of other spots.

Study in contrasts, our rig and a shorty-based Class B, both of us having Crackerdocked the night before. We didn't originally park on top of each other like this. We were both well-separated at the very back of the lot, then each moved our rig up closer to the front door to get pancakes at dawn.

[FlyFishinRVr]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

My agent told me that use of a rig for anything other than pure recreation / vacation triggers the need for a full-timer policy, which is what we have. In our great state of Texas, it's not that much more $ than a "regular" policy and it effectively covers a greater number of loss scenarios.

This is a good topic and I'm going to have to revisit my policy. I intend to start using my van more for work (basically a mobile office) and should make sure this doesn't require a change in coverage (and rates). Thanks for bringing it up.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by FlyFishinRVr

This is a good topic and I'm going to have to revisit my policy. I intend to start using my van more for work (basically a mobile office) and should make sure this doesn't require a change in coverage (and rates). Thanks for bringing it up.

It's a functional area that demands great care and a lot of research. Very often, my "for work" usage means driving it to a client site but then not entering their property - I street park, or pay-lot park. That way, I'm using it "for transportation in a non-vacation context" (much like any full-timer would), but then I'm getting to work by hoofing it that last hundred yards. So I'm not using it "for work" in any direct or applied respect or interpretation.

And of course it goes without saying that no work-related person may enter our rig at any time for any reason. That would require a different insurance policy entirely.