One of the realities of RV life is the fact that the home on wheels you reside in must somehow withstand the times in between the campsites you stay at across the countryside. From ideal highways to pot-holed roads and everything in between. A great definition is that an RV in motion on the road is ‘moving earthquake’: those pots and pans, the plates, the drawers and any item you happened to not tie down is going to clang and bang around, and you may find it clear across the place where from where it started.
Another fact is that a new RV is not immune from problems, from cracking trim to serious engine/drivetrain/slide-in motor failures. The warranty period where you need to bring your RV back for repair is now an extension of the manufacturers’ assembly line, an ongoing never-ending cycle of tweaking, replacing, refining, adjusting and getting you back on the road. There may be challenges getting time at a service center, even when you’re mid-journey and have paid reservations waiting your arrival down the road.
In the year I have owned my new RV it has spent over 30 days in 4 separate service locations. Two of those occurred when I was not on the road back home in Pennsylvania, which is not that big of an issue. The other two occurred while I was traveling in the southwest, so expenses increased in those time periods owing to the need for aribnb or hotel accommodations. I’ve learned that it’s not enough to budget for diesel, campground stays and food: an RVer needs an emergency fund for those unplanned breakdowns.
Confidence in my RV has eroded due to these issues. That shiny wondrous RV that I took the wheel of a year ago with great hopes of phenomenal handling across the nation now has a strained reliability history, has been tainted by a myriad of mechanical failures. Two of my slide-outs have received numerous overhauls so now when it comes time to bring them in I hold my breath until they actually work, tuck away in to their rightful place and allow me to hit the road.
I hope to go a year or two without unexpected breakdowns at this point. I will faithfully service the mandatory prescribed maintenance items, and hope that my faith is restored in time to help my RV journey continue with confidence in to the future.
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