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Old 03-31-2016, 08:09 PM   #41
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1979 31' Sovereign
Spring , Texas
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 364
By now linko, you're probably noticing there is a very diverse group of people on this forum, but they have one thing in common - a love of silver Twinkies with wheels. Beyond that there isn't a one size fits all.

Some times you have to think outside the box and be willing to make a leap of faith to do the things you really want. Though we all like to think otherwise, none of us have any guarantees. And time just keeps going faster. (Please don't take this as encouragement to rush, though.)

When it comes to tow vehicles, there are more options coming on the market. Some of them are not necessarily a "traditional" choice. My husband and I have been towing our '79 Sovereign with a 1999 Ford Expedition. We made a point of paying close attention to loaded weight limits with everything we looked at. Imagine our surprise when we found a 31' trailer whose loaded weight was still more than 1,000 lbs. under our capacity. Still, the Expedition didn't completely suit our needs. That was due to the vehicle's interior room. We have children in their 20s, so they won't be traveling with us that much any more. But we do have several pets; nine to be exact. Five dogs and 4 rabbits. It's because we didn't want to leave someone at home with the animals that we bought our trailer in the first place. For the first time in our lives ever, we bit the bullet today and bought a new vehicle. We're in our late 40s.

We bought a Nissan NV 3500. Technically it's van. But it's a very unique van. Nissan has been producing it for 3 years. This behemoth sits on a Titan chassis and has the pickup nose. The engine is in front of the vehicle, like a pickup. We bought the passenger model which can seat up to 12 people. The true beauty of this vehicle is it's flexibility. All the seats from the second row back can be removed. Or you can leave in just what you need. There is also a cargo version, which someone else on the forum owns. This vehicle does have the tow package option. Granted, it still costs plenty of money, but while doing your research add it to you list for comparison. After kicking and screaming about taking on a car payment when our other vehicle was paid for, we took the leap of faith because the NV is very much a long term investment for us. My husband is a disabled veteran who also has a degenerative neurological condition. The day may come when we have to put in a lift to accommodate a wheel chair.

When you do go shopping for your trailer, be very vigilant in looking for water damage, especially if you buy used. We live just north of Houston, and we're very much part of the hot, humid south. Keeping water out of an RV is a big deal here, because things just don't dry out. A small leak can become major mold damage if not caught soon enough. The sun is also so strong down here that it bakes seals of all kinds to a crisp and causes shrinkage. Water damage can be very sneaky, and it's a major budget buster. We shopped for RVs for 2 years, and looked at all kinds. Far too many of them had some water damage, including some Class A motor homes which retail from 200k-300K. Age is not always an indicator of water damage. We saw plenty who were less than 10 years old. Sadly, there have been some people on this forum who thought they were buying a gently used, reasonably priced trailer, only to find there was rot in the subfloor once it was in their possession. One of them was in our area. Instead of planning their first family outing, they were trying to figure out how they were going to get their trailer fixed.

The reason any RV stays on the road for a long time is because someone loves and is taking care of it. Or they did like we did, and put a significant amount of time and/or money into it so it could travel for another 35 years. And truthfully, our trailer was usable when we bought it, because the PO was obsessed with keeping water out of it. However, removing the old interior (which was showing its age) gave us the opportunity to clean out 35 year of dirt we wouldn't have been able to reach otherwise.
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Old 04-01-2016, 06:10 AM   #42
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2014 20' Flying Cloud
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Starstream, curious whether you considered the new full-sized Ford Transit Wagon with seating for 8 to 15 depending on model? Our new one tows the FC20 great. I drove the NV but did not like the pickup front end, having had vans most of my life.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Peter
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Old 04-01-2016, 12:18 PM   #43
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1979 31' Sovereign
Spring , Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OTRA15 View Post
Starstream, curious whether you considered the new full-sized Ford Transit Wagon with seating for 8 to 15 depending on model? Our new one tows the FC20 great. I drove the NV but did not like the pickup front end, having had vans most of my life.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Peter
My husband is an obsessive researcher, so we've looked at a lot of options, both used and new. We were kind of leaning toward a recent model Expedition EL, but were less than pleased with the still high price for recent models with more than 50K miles. We've mostly tended to be Ford owners, so we did check out the various vans because their prices tend to be better than pickups and SUVs. Being mostly pickup and/or SUV owners the NV nose didn't bother us. But what really sealed the deal was the goodies Nissan is heaping on to make the NV desirable to businesses. At the dealership where we purchased our van, both passenger and cargo are in the fleet category. Nissan already has an unusually generous warranty on this product, but they're also providing some pretty nifty extended warranty stuff. We usually don't purchase those. However, the platinum plan includes gap coverage, all the annual maintenance like oil changes & other fluids, filters etc., new tires, a loaner while ours is in service, and the ability to use any dealership in the US for all of the above. The dealership option is available because this plan is thru the manufacturer. It was especially because of this last option that we bit. It means we can be away from home as long as we want and take care of the vehicle when needed. This plan is good for 7-8 years, so it actually extends beyond the life of the loan. When we put this on our insurance yesterday, we did add the replacement of one year newer in case the NV is totaled, since the gap will pay off the financing. We'll probably only keep that option on insurance for a couple of years. After that, the replacement is going to be another used vehicle anyway.
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Old 04-01-2016, 12:21 PM   #44
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1979 31' Sovereign
Spring , Texas
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Oh, I forgot. They also gave my husband a $1000 veteran discount on the extended warranty.
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Old 04-07-2016, 09:46 AM   #45
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1962 24' Tradewind
Independence , Missouri
Join Date: May 2014
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What I did was bought trailer first then bought the truck to pull it with. And yes I bought vintage trailer. Yes redoing it but cheaper for me and I like the look of it. I know of a friend in my club that's selling one now that doesn't have a lot to do. It's a 31' and it's under $15000. It's a 84 model. You will need a 1/2 to a 3/4 ton to pull it with but it's ready to camp in.


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