Pro's and Con's of OWNING a camper trailer?

[Chance Love]

So my wife is wanting us to get a camper to use for family vacations, weekends, ect. We do not need one for the deer lease as we have a house out there. For those of you that actually use one for this purpose, got any advice? I am leaning toward the side of "NO" because to me they all lose value rapidly, and seem to just turn to crap after a while. Guess I could be wrong.

When we go to the lake on weekends we would have to take both trucks, one for the camper and the other for the boat. That is a "CON" in my book. If we take it hunting anywhere it would be the same, one truck for the camper and the other to pull the Ranger. But I could see some potential fun for vacations.

Words of wisdom?

[canny]

I think it all depends on how you store it. Obviously campers are not built like homes and they have electrical and mechanical issues that come up. But if you have good storage where its covered when not in use then that should help protect it against extra wear due to not being in the weather. How often would you use it would be the biggest question? My wife and I have been in the same boat, but since we are both teachers we have plenty of time in the summer to travel and use it if we wanted to. Regular use will allow you to stay on top of things that wear out and allow you notice if something isn't just right. If you only use it a couple times a year then you could run into unknown problems that can put a damper on a vacation.

[Razrbk89]

We just bought a small one (18’) that wasnt too expensive. I definitely don’t look at it as any kind of investment, but we like to camp and needed it for hunting season.

The farm we deer hunt on is over 40 minutes drive time from where we live, and our old house out there has just about had it (120+ year old). An hour and a half round trip is just a lot to be driving to hunt. I put the camper up in the hay barn when we’re not over there, so it is covered. We like to camp and have several places nearby that we can take it during floating season, so I’m thinking we’ll get good use out of it.

[John Paul]

Pros:
great family time and getting a state park pass it worth it. We are gone at least one wk/end a month. Don't know if its cheaper than hotels etc., after purchasing said camper and insurance etc.. But we have some great memories over the past 10 years from south TX all the way to Salida, Co. and everywhere in between.
Cons:
Not a whole lot for me..

[Traildust]

Go with your " lean "

[Ironman]

Just make sure you buy from a dealer, to insure that a salesman makes a commission on the sale.

[Traildust]

Just make sure you buy from a dealer, to insure that a salesman makes a commission on the sale.

Pow!

[BigCohiba]

For me the largest PRO is being able to pretty much go anywhere and have a place to stay with your stuff - setup the way you want.

Largest CON is exterior maintenance. If you don't stay on top of it, they will rot out from under you.

If you buy new, I would add another large CON. Depreciation - they drop like a rock. Buy a good clean used one would be my advice. Let someone else take that initial hit.

[diamond10x]

Strictly my opinion here as I have buddies that love having them. I do not like them at all personally. I live in one 4 days a week for work only because with payment on it and insurance with rent at RV Park, comes out cheaper than rent or another mortgage.

Pros: you have your own space with all the amenities of being at home wherever you go

Cons: everything that isn’t what I stated in the pro’s section. (Maintenance, depreciation, cheaply made, a hassle when wanting to bring other toys such as four wheeler, much more expnsive than just staying in a tent or hotel, etc.)

[Phillip Fields]

If you're leaning toward no, then don't get one. My wife and I bought one a few years back. I now have it parked on my deer hunting property and it hasn't been moved in 4 or 5 years. We traveled some in it, but it was more hassle than it was worth. We like to explore when we travel, particularly in the mountains. We found lots of back roads we wanted to explore, but couldn't when we had the trailer in tow. The increased fuel cost, and campground fees meant that we weren't actually saving any money over motel costs.

[Brett A]

Some of the best family moments we have occurred in our camper.

[Walker]

If you get one you.can eliminate a bunch of downsides by forking out the extra cash on an airstream.

[Acameron52]

Go for it! The memories you can make are priceless. I grew up camping with my grand parents in their diesel pusher, then my folks bought one. Now that I’m older i have one myself. It goes to the lease half the year and is home the rest of the time. I take it on several trips a year with the rest of the family. I like it much better than a hotel. You can stay wherever the want and sleep in your own bed.

[deerplanter]

The pro's are camping in remote areas, if you are just pulling from trailer park to trailer park then it's not camping. We used to camp in very remote areas in Colorado when I was a kid, we were basically scouting where my dad would hunt for elk that winter. Personally I want a motorhome and a jeep with kayak in tow and travel the US when I retire in 6 years.

[thegrouse]

Con is depreciation, storage and maintenance. They are nice to have in Texas for summer camping but they really slow you down if you travel 500+ miles. I have went back to a tent.