Must haves

[Olebiker]

We received a copy of the new Trailer Life magazine the other day. There is an article about a Winnebago Minnie Plus fifth wheel that, at first glance, looked pretty appealing. That is until I realized that there is no night stand or shelf by the bed for SWMBO and I to put our CPAPs.

When we look at RVs the first thing I do is look to see if there is a spot for my CPAP and the second thing I do is sit on the toilet to see if it has enough room around it. (I really wanted to use the word "commodious.") Another thing that will eliminate an RV from my consideration is the location of the television in relation to the seating. I don't want to have to look off at ninety degrees from where I am sitting to watch TV.

What items are on your go/no go list for RVs?

[RFSims]

Floorplan with a recliner, full length mattress Sealy or Serta, free standing dinette table

[Kbob]

Big window on the back to look out at the lake.

[Bass Junkie]

Fiberglass exterior, direction of TV from seating area, lots of windows to look at the view are my main check boxes.

[SteveDyer]

Sherry and I just started looking into a small travel trailer. There are so many brands and floor plans it's a bit intimidating. We are close to a camping world, but I read some bad things about them.

[bshort]

Storage!

[Bill2e]

auto leveling

[BoatBuggy]

Gotta haves are king sized bed, auto leveling, clear straight on view to the TV (no island in the way), living area has one big slide on both sides, elbow room in the shower and around the toilet, roof fans in the bathroom and main living area, dining table with chairs.

We thought the smaller interior space of the AC/Propane fridge would be a no-go but after living in it for 5+ months it was fine and was actually nice when storms would knock the power out for a few hours.

I don't like the powered theater seats but my wife loves them and she's not giving them up. Too bad for me that we need to keep the sofa otherwise I would remove it and put in a nice recliner.

[DiawaKid]

40Ft Layton with 20ft slide and bedroom slide, on Logan Martin lake. Paid for.

[mikeSF]

My wife is 4ft 10. The microwave has to be low enough for her to safely take out the food without dumping it on top of her. The shower has to be big enough so she can raise her hands to wash her hair without her elbows touching the sides of the shower.

[Mark Perry]

Dual/multiple AC units, adult sized toilets and showers, tankless water heater, ceiling fans, less wasted space. Its usually just wife and I so no need for extra bedrooms etc. I want true, useable space. Lots of storage as I hate clutter.

[SteveDyer]

Dual/multiple AC units, adult sized toilets and showers, tankless water heater, ceiling fans, less wasted space. Its usually just wife and I so no need for extra bedrooms etc. I want true, useable space. Lots of storage as I hate clutter.

Do you have one like this now Mark? If so, what brand/model?

[okhawg]

A lot of what has been mentioned here. Bathroom with maneuvering room. Big slide in the bedroom. TV in front of me. Good size dinette. I really want a separate 1/2 bath also. Absolutely 2 ac's.

[okhawg]

Sherry and I just started looking into a small travel trailer. There are so many brands and floor plans it's a bit intimidating. We are close to a camping world, but I read some bad things about them.

Steve, I recommend you go visit every rv dealer around you. We did this (7 of them) and after seeing a lot of rv's our preconceived idea of what we wanted changed. We had our "must list" that got modified almost daily. When you first look, you get a little goo-goo eyed, so take your time and think about what is important. We told every salesman, we absolutely wouldn't buy in the next 6 months. Surprising, we only had one annoying salesman (I said no bunkhouses!). A couple followed us around and answered questions.

[bassn5150]

Dual/multiple AC units, adult sized toilets and showers, tankless water heater, ceiling fans, less wasted space. Its usually just wife and I so no need for extra bedrooms etc. I want true, useable space. Lots of storage as I hate clutter.

We have one very similar to the features you mentioned, less the tankless water heater. But we do have a combo washer/dryer and a dish washer. Ours is a Columbus 365RL. I also agree with the notion of maximum, usable space. The more ways to comfortably store items, the more comfortable your camping experience will be. At the end of the day, my biggest piece of advice to anyone, other than maybe the most wealthy, is buy used! If you look hard enough, you can find what you want thats a year or two old and used 5-6 times and people want to bail out. Campers are a bathtub drain. Let the original purchaser take the 35% hit right off the bat.

[Mark Perry]

We have one very similar to the features you mentioned, less the tankless water heater. But we do have a combo washer/dryer and a dish washer. Ours is a Columbus 365RL. I also agree with the notion of maximum, usable space. The more ways to comfortably store items, the more comfortable your camping experience will be. At the end of the day, my biggest piece of advice to anyone, other than maybe the most wealthy, is buy used! If you look hard enough, you can find what you want thats a year or two old and used 5-6 times and people want to bail out. Campers are a bathtub drain. Let the original purchaser take the 35% hit right off the bat.

We have a 42' Cedar Creek that took us a bit to find. Love it. One bedroom only.

[Riccochet]

Shower stall that isn't the size of a coffin, gray/black tank dump valves that aren't under a slide, enough kitchen counter space to actually be useful, dual A/C units, NO CARPET, regular dining table/chairs and not a U-shaped dinette.

Things I do when getting a new TT: Replace all faucets with residential models, Oxygenics shower head, peel-n-stick tile backsplash in kitchen, Maxair vent covers over all roof vents, POR15 entire frame and any exposed metal underneath, replace OEM chinabomb tires, Eternabond tape all roof seals, replace all fuses(strange, but I've found the OEM fuses to be a bit on the cheap side and blow too easy).