Buying an RV for the First Time: 6 Important Things You Need to Consider

Buying an RV for the first time can be difficult, especially if you are new to the RV lifestyle. You may not know where to start or what questions to ask. You may experience a learning curve when buying an RV the first time, but there are many great resources to help you from making simple mistakes. Follow some of our tips and you’ll be better prepared when buying an RV for the first time.

We purchased our first RV, a 30ft travel trailer in the summer of 2020 and absolutely loved it. After going on a couple of trips, we could tell that we loved the RV lifestyle. However, we ended up selling it because we needed a floor plan that better suited our family. We recently did a lot of research on RV floor plans, quality, and towing. We ended up buying our first Fifth-Wheel Trailer, a Forest River Sabre 37FLL. It’s amazing and we really love how comfortable it is for our family.

Being a first-time RV buyer can be overwhelming. I was in that same spot not too long ago. I knew that we wanted to buy an RV, but didn’t know where to start. So, while that experience is fresh in my mind, here are all the things we learned along the way as a first-time RV buyer. If that’s you, and you don’t know where to start, read through the most important things to consider when buying an RV. We hope it will help think of all the important factors before you make the purchase.

What kind of RV are you wanting? 

There are so many different types of RVs. You just have to figure out what kind of space your family needs. If it’s just you and your partner, then you have a lot of flexibility with the space. If you have three kids, you may want to consider a bunkhouse travel trailer or even a fifth-wheel trailer. This was the #1 factor that we took into consideration when choosing our floor plan. We have a 2.5-year-old and a 7-month-old, so we needed space for them so my husband and I could have our own space and the kids could sleep uninterrupted.

Our favorite tools for even starting to figure out RV floor plans were RV websites like Camping World and RV Trader. They have so many great walk-throughs of thousands of RVs. We would check out RV Trader almost every day to see what RVs would pop up in our general area. Highly recommend starting there! Once we found a model or two that we liked, we headed down to a couple of local RV dealerships so we could step inside some of the ones we liked. It was great to get a realistic feel of the space that we would have.

Where do you spend the most time with your family? 

When choosing an RV floor plan, Ryan and I kept coming back to this question. Where do we spend the most time in our home? It’s not in the bedrooms or the bathroom but in our living room and kitchen. Remember, the larger the bedroom & bedroom, the less room in the living space. We chose a 5th wheel layout that had the most space in the living room and kitchen for that reason. If your kids are going to spend a lot of time in their separate spaces, then maybe a good bunk room is something you want to look at. If it’s just you and your spouse, maybe a larger bedroom and smaller living space are totally fine. Everyone uses space differently!

RV Kitchen Counter Space is Important! 

We do a lot of cooking in our RV, so we needed an RV with solid counter space. If you plan to do a lot of cooking outside, then maybe a nice outdoor kitchen is important to you. You likely will be cooking in your RV, so considering the space you have to do that it is important to think through.

{Related Post | 13 Must-Have Kitchen Essentials }

Buying Used? Have Your RV Professionally Inspected!

If you’re buying used, we highly recommend having a professional inspection done. This is especially important if you are a first-time RV buyer. The last thing you want to do is miss costly signs of damage! Many companies will send a professional RV inspector to you for an inspection of your rig. While I haven’t personally used Lemon Squad, I’ve seen their name come up many times in all my research. We are not professional RV mechanics, so we didn’t know exactly what to look for.

There are lots of great Youtube videos out there that can help with basic things to keep an eye out for. Less Junk More Journey, a full-time RV family has lots of great tips and tricks, like this video they posted last year. A couple of things to keep in mind, RVs are moisture pods and water damage can be very costly. Make sure that there are no visible cracks on the roof that could lead to further damage. On the inside wall, check to make sure there is no water damage. Check under cabinets, closets, behind and around the slides are all places where water might have pooled. Purchasing a warranty is also something to consider in protecting your investment.

Important For First-Time RVers!

Can your tow vehicle handle the weight of your RV? 

Another important thing to think about is if your towing vehicle will be able to handle the RV that you have chosen. That can be quite a bit to figure out, as you will want to ensure that your tow vehicle can not only handle the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR), but also consider that the payload isn’t too heavy.

Buying an RV for the first time? What you may not have included in your budget, but need to!

When we started this journey, we had a budget range that we were hoping to stay within. There were quite a few additional costs that ended up taking us over budget, but we ended up getting all of the things we needed to feel comfortable hitting the road. It’s important to also consider We were able to purchase our new 5th Wheel within that budget, however, we still had taxes and fees along with a couple of other purchases to add to the final cost.

On top of that, we ended up purchasing a warranty for our RV. This was something we weren’t planning on doing, but after quite a bit of talking and thinking about it, we ended up deciding that it was a good thing to add on. Along with that, we also had to purchase a hitch, a surge protector, freshwater hoses, a water pressure regulator, and quite a few other RV gadgets to be ready for upcoming camping trips. One perk of buying a used trailer is often the previous owner will include many of the camper accessories that they already had, meaning less money for you to fork out.

RV RV travel is a blast! But if you’re a first-time buyer, there are many things you may forget about. It wasn’t too long ago that we were right there, trying to figure out all of them to think through. I hope these tips help! Let us know in the comments below if there are other factors that we might have missed!

FAQ

I plan on camping in the winter. Is there something I need to look out for to make sure my RV will be warm enough? 

Many RVs come with a Polar Shield package, which is extra insulation or even heated water tanks. You’ll want to check with the dealership or previous owner to see what packages the RV comes with, but if you plan to travel in cold climates, that will be important to have.

I plan on Boondocking, what will I need to do that? 

Boondocking means that you’re camping without any hookups. Maybe you’re stopping overnight in a Walmart parking lot, which means you will not have power or water or sewer to hook up to. Many people get solar for their RVs, which will give them enough power to run their fridge, turn on some lights or charge their phones in the RV. I recommend that you get familiar with how long you can go without needing to empty your black water tank or fill up your grey tank when you are not hooked up to the city water source. 

This post is all about tips when buying an RV for the first time