Nowadays, it can be hard to find the RV of your dreams (or, maybe in reality, the RV you’ve settled on). Dealer lots are empty and new RVs are accounted for sometimes years in advance. If you find the RV you want, it’s best to snatch it while you can… even if you do have to drive a ways to get it.
Did you buy your current RV locally or travel farther away to get a good deal, or maybe a specific brand and model you really liked?
After you vote in the poll, please comment below and tell us exactly how far you drove (and why and where!) to buy your current RV. If you can remember, that is…
Went from Austin Tx to Delmont Pa at Valero Coach Rv. Thanks Robin. But saved 10 grand on it
Google Maps said we either drove 555 miles or 745 miles. S FL to St Matthews SC for our LilSnoozy. 17 ft molded fiberglass trailer. Snoozy2 has even more options including twin beds if climbing on each other to get to the bathroom is a problem. I love my Snoozy!
We drove our tow vehicle almost 2,100 miles from So CA to Montgomery, AL to pick up our class A. Saved over $75,000 on purchase price and $21,000 on CA taxes. Then spent a week driving it back to storage in AZ. This was in Nov 2020 before Marlin Ingram retired. Allison and Marlin was awesome to deal with.
41 miles. Monterey to Gilroy. Had to take it back there a little later for warrantee work, so buying close to home is a good thing.
I drove 240 miles to pick up our RV. That same RV was purchased by my parents when they were 1700 miles from home.
From Vancouver Island to Fresno CA. Worth every mile… Had it for 10 years and sold it 2 doors down here on the Island.!
San Jose CA to SanDiego CA
Previous one San Jose CA to Milwaukie WI
We drove from SE Michigan to Texas in five days to pick up the last 2022 Newmar Mountain Aire available in the US. We love our new rig! Well worth the trip!
The dealer was 90 miles from our stix&brix. We got there at the end of 7,000 mile roundtrip trip coast to coast during which we shopped at almost every stop. We were prepared to buy as soon as we found the coach and deal we wanted. So 90 miles? or 7,000 miles? We bought the current coach to full time in and moved into it at the dealer. The S&B was gone 4 months later.
How about 1412 miles, to save $20,000 on a new Winnebago Mini motor home!
The SE US states were higher than Texas!
I wouldn’t go out of my local area, why? Because I want to develop a relationship with a local dealer when I comes to service. If RV dealers are like car dealerships, they don’t like working on something they didn’t sell. Our local Chevy dealer had a HUGE sign in the service area that said “If you bought it here, YOU come first!” That doesn’t change with RVs.
We bought our new travel trailer online from a dealer in California and drove 1237 miles north from Austin TX to what was called a sister dealer in Elkhart to pick it up Feb 2013.
I was very lucky in finding the right rv just 8 miles from home. Also the dealer delivered it to my home the next day. Unheard of service in this day and age.
We placed order thru dealer. Had it delivered to Nevada. No sales tax.This was is 2002. Calif had a tax rule that said if motorhome out of state for 6 months in first year didn’t have to pay sales tax. Allowed you to bring home to load up and complete 6 months in first year. Brought her home to load up and then took a 6 month trip soon after. We were audited. I had taped receipts to standard sheet paper from campgrounds, stores, truck stops, museums, etc in chronological order. Mailed in. Passed. Saved a big number. Now you have to be out of state for a full year.
We drove around 765 miles (OK to GA) to trade in an RV for the present one we currently live in full time. The RV we traded in had been purchased at the same used RV dealer.
Found the model we wanted with everything including head room inside BUT the only dealer for the brand SUCKED. Bit the bullet, bought it and have been fortunate with no serious issues. By the way, the dealer was bought out by even a bigger troublesome festering sewer dealing dealer, Wilkins Rv in Upstate NY. Found a local family owned dealer that sells the twin line of Forest river that I can get service done if needed.
We went to the CoachHouse factory in Florida to purchase our current RV. They pay air fare in that case.
To get the model I wanted I drove 1,100 miles home following pick-up. Took over a year just to find a dealer with any inventory and this was in 2015. Worth the search as my Serenity has delivered on its name.
I drove 893 miles from New Boston, TX to Gainesville, FL to buy my 2019 BT Cruiser. They had advertised a used RV and decided to buy the new Cruiser instead.
1,084 miles. Live in Waco, TX and bought our 2017 5th Wheel last spring from Phoenix. I could only leave work for one day so my wife and I flew out to sign the papers early in the morning and my parents drove out and met us there and hauled it home for us. We had the paperwork done and the RV hitched up to my folks’ truck by 10:30 a.m. and we were back on the plane flying home by noon… When you find a terrific deal on exactly what you’re looking for, you jump on it!
961 miles. In 2019 we found a leftover 2018 model with the exact equipment we wanted for a steal of a price. It was well worth the drive. On the other hand my factory new truck was only 350 miles but in the opposite direction.
On our way to Amazon, blowout took the lower side of our 5th wheel off. Traded it in Columbia, MO. At Camping World on 20 yr loan, are we upside down? O yes!!
3,000 miles . . . We were on vacation on the opposite coast when we found it.
I answered 25 miles or less, but that is only because we were camping close to the dealer we bought from. We were on our way from Virginia Beach to San Francisco when we stopped for a week’s stay in Tucson. We found a used Dutch Star we liked at Tucson Park & Sell RV. We agreed on a trade for our older Dutch Star, and they delivered it to us at Travis Air Force Base after installing a washing machine and fixing the one little gremlin we found. So, we traveled less than 25 miles from where we were to buy our RV, but we were 2300 miles from home and we actually took possession 2900 miles from home.
2,000 miles, from the southern Gulf Coast of Alabama, to Bullhead City AZ. The triple slide truck camper we ordered has only about 12 dealers nationwide, & this was the only one that would discount the order. Saved $16,000. Little did we know that it would turn out to be the trip from hell. As we arrived in Bullhead City, I lost a credit card & had to replace it. Then had a parking lot post accident with the truck ($9,000), & had to wait almost 3 weeks for repair, with daytime temps at 115-120 degrees every day & nighttime lows of 89-92, while staying in the truck camper. Then, the day we left Bullhead City, I got a cracked windshield, with the crack immediately running the full width of the windshield. But we’re excited about our new truck camper.
Travelled approximately 200 miles, no dealers within 90 miles, went to the closest one that carried the brand we wanted. Realities of living in a rural area.
When we bought our first and so far only coach, it was a factory direct only type of purchase. We were in western Washington and as you might have expected the rig was in Elkhart. I shipped stuff, order stuff on line for delivery there and packed our Honda CRV, then we headed east in early March 2016, with a storm chasing us most of the way across the country. We love the life and have been on the road ever since.
5 miles
We traveled 1400 miles to Chicago for our current coach. Flew there and drove it back. We had an NRVIA inspector check it out before purchasing it. The scariest part of the trip was trying to get out of Chicago. Used our trusty Garmin but encountered unfamiliar toll roads an unfamiliar coach and lots of road construction. We had a big sigh of relief when we reached Indiana and an Interstate highway to take us straight back to Florida. This is the second time we bought a used coach long distance. The first time was 2300 miles away in Sierra Vista, AZ. Have never regretted traveling far away to buy a used coach, properly inspected by an independent inspector, from a private party.
We traveled from southwest Michigan to Helper, UT last summer (1600 miles) to buy our VanLeigh Beacon. We towed our old 5er to trade in so we camped on the way there and, of course, on the way home. Would I do it that way again? Probably. Being that far from home forced us into several weeks of shake down, which was good in the sense that we uncovered issues while still under warranty. Besides, we were able to explore many places across the Midwest on our way back home.
We flew from our home in Sterling, Alaska to Forest City, Iowa to pick up our new Winnebago. After we picked it up, we drove the 3,600 miles back home to transfer our belongings from our class C into our new class A. This was just after the Labor Day holiday and we would soon be driving our new rig to our snowbird location near Galveston Texas, another 4,500 miles. In its first month, our new RV had taken us over 8,000 miles.
we traveled about 55 miles to buy it but have authorized service dealer 5 miles from our home, that make warranty work a piece of cake.
There are nearly zero RV dealers in a 30 mile radius of Seattle/Bellevue area of western WA, so little chance of finding something you want to purchase closer than that. We traveled 35 miles. This was in 2016 long before the pandemic.
You decide how far we travelled. In 2016 we came to Victoria, BC, via China, (2000Kms) from our home in New Zealand. While visiting our Son, his Wife and new granddaughter we travelled about 3.5 Kms to view the RV we still have. It’s a 1992 Mallard 28ft C class which had done only 36,000 miles. We love it and it now has 60,000 miles.
Does your Mallard live in the Americas, or did you take it back home to New Zealand?
The 2015 Dynamax DX3-37RB Super-C diesel puller I bought in 2014 had the BEST floorplan I’d seen. In the 8+ years I’ve owned it, I’ve yet to see a better floorplan (Dynamax has since “improved” on the floorplan; NOT for the better in my opinion). As it was a new model back then, finding one at a dealer was impossible. I finally thought to call Dynamax directly and they told me they had just shipped one out the day before. I was in NY, the dealer was in Grand Rapids, MI and, during the phone call, I left a deposit via credit card. It turned out that the dealer was quite incompetent and, I had to make changes in flights in order to correct the dealer’s mistakes. Being built on a Freightliner M-2 chassis, it will last longer that I will 😉
Drove about 250 miles in NC for a 5th wheel we saw on RV Trader. Actually drove 3 times, twice to look and the 3rd time to buy. Bought from a private owner.
Found the floor plan we wanted back in 2015 and searched for the model, a front living 5th wheel. Found 2 in the Southwest, both at CWs, 1 in Oklahoma City, the other In Tulsa. Drove about 300 miles to both. Informed each of the other. Nearly identical and price, one had a 12 cuft camping frig, the other had an 8. We chose the 12. But before we signed, they let us test it to the max. We tested all electrical and propane systems, every breaker, switch, slide and drawer, including the coax. For water they hooked it up and exposed it to 60 psi overnite. We also ran the ACs overnight as well. It was summer. I examined everything I could possibly think of, roof to underbelly. It all worked. This happened 1-2 years before Thor bought Jayco. So we lucked out there. I can’t imagine having that level of dealer cooperation now from anywhere.
After my RV was totaled, I flew from the middle of the country to California to pick up a used motorhome. Had a great trip coming home.
We actually ordered our 2020 Tiffin Allegro Bus through a dealer about 80 miles from where we were staying in FL. When it was ready, we drove over, moved from the old RV to the new one (we’re full-timers) and drove it back to our site.
We bought our present RV from our friends. They were in the Flagstaff AZ area, we were in Yuma. We left our 26 year old orphan class A in the campground in Winterhaven, CA next door to Yuma for our friend to sell it for us. This was in January 2017.
3 miles.
We bought our 2017, 19 ft leprechaun motor home in 2017about 35 miles from home from Roy Robinson in marysville, wa…couldn’t be more please..they did a walkthrough with us and explained everything…of course we had a learning curve and had to refer back to the book several times. We went from a 30 ft travel trailer to this little lady and love her. We live in the San Juan islands and the ferry fee was several hundred dollars with the 30 ft trailer and our large pickup each time we left the island. Now we pay the same for the motor home as our small car, under $40.00.
one of our friends wanted this motor home, it took them over a year to find a used one, I’ve searched the internet but they haven’t made them this size in several year. We have been offered more than we paid..lol..we traveled thousands of miles with zero problems and hope to keep doing that for many more years…Barbara R
We saw a trailer brand we liked at Death Valley, California. Looked it up online as we traveled eastward and called the California factory to order direct because there was no dealer east of the Mississippi. The company found an RV dealer who would take the shipment and prep it. The unit was shipped to Detroit, MI and we drove from Central Indiana to pick it up. The RV dealer had never seen one before; really knew nothing about specifics with the unit. We signed the papers, wrote a check, hitched up, and, as soon as we had plates, headed to Alaska. We know, we did everything wrong… but 10 years and thousands of miles and 5 sets of tires later, we still love traveling with our snug little trailer.
I foolishly said, Let’s go to the RV show at the Pima County Fairgrounds in Tucson. We had been at our campsite for a week and not really gotten out due to setting up and poor weather. This was at about 800 miles from home. We assured the salesman that we were not interested in buying, just lookyloos. He pointed to a coach and said “Thats a.ll we have like that” and walked away. We went inside, and, Love At First Sight! We wandered around the fairgrounds, both of us trying to talk the other out of really looking at the coach. We were spotted by an eagle eye sales guy. He brought us water and a golf cart. Off we went back to the coach. He knew about it, spent about an hour showing us how things worked and what the coach had. We drove away till the next morning, when back we went with a dog (needed mark of approval from 4 legged family member) and credit card in hand. Long story short, we now own a beautiful coach which we love.
The closest dealer changed the price during closing, was aggressive and had a bad service reputation. I took a break from the closing desk to get water. Near the water was a service writer. I asked how long it would take to get warranty items fixed. He did not know I was in the buying process and replied with “Two months”. We canceled the order, got a deposit refund and searched for the best dealer in the Pacific Northwest. We decided that driving 275 miles for good service was better than waiting two months for service.
Dealer delivered my new RV to my house.
We flew from Paris France to McAllen Tx to pick up our new to us 5th wheel. I saw the unit while visiting my parents in February 2019. They had a mobile home in a Winter Texan Park. I placed a non-refundable deposit and said I would return at the end of May upon my retirement. We kept in touch and completed the transaction on June 1, 2019. Our belongings were in storage, so we embarked on our quest to visit all 63 National Parks. We have two more to visit but they require planes. This will be completed in October.
About 60 miles one way to buy from a private seller. That was in 2008 and we still have it.
We will go wherever we need to get the right unit at the right price. Our current rig was purchased 250 miles away, but we have purchased as far away as 1600 miles.
I live about 25 miles south of Dallas. The closest RV Dealer is 30 miles
Drove about 35 miles as all the RV dealers are about that far from us.
About 60 miles 1 way. Had the price set after a show of less than half price of msrp. Same place where our previous unit came from.
I drove just about 500 miles to buy privately, then I just carried on for another 2000 miles over the next 3 months…
(I towed a rented UHaul trailer with all my RVing stuff in it for the 500 miles)
Bought our current rig at a show 1500 miles from home, in Phoenix, thanksgiving of 2020. Swapped all of our gear in the back lot at the dealer, then spent the rest of the winter in it. The few “warranty items” that popped up, I fixed on my own. Less hassle for us. None of it was big money.
I drove almost 300 miles from Arizona to the Lance factory in Lancaster, CA and purchased the trailer from the local Lance dealer, Richard’s RV & Marine in Lancaster. It was the best price I found and I stayed for two nights at the Factory Service Center to check everything out before returning to Arizona.
Less than 5 miles. Our local dealership had the best price. The price of the unit was $29,000.00 LESS than Mike Thompson’s and MT attitude was awful. Their service is a nightmare from what have heard. A friend purchased 3 rv’s from them and have told me the stories. We’ve had our 5th wheel for well over a year! I have had it in service twice. Once for post delivery corrections (3 items replaced) and once to check out the roof! Both were beyond excellent service!
Flew 1,500 miles to buy a dealer demo/show coach that had 5k miles on it after wife found it while visiting a friend. We still have the same coach 20 years & 130k+ miles later.
The problem we have is that no dealership within 500 miles that sold the model we wanted nor could they order one. The closest one that had it was a Camping World that I won’t buy anything from so we flew in and drove it home. Glad we did.
Found it on Craigslist, 45 miles from me.
We found the make and model we were looking for from a private party selling it in Quartzite. We drove from Albuquerque and back. 590 miles each way. That was 4 years ago and we’re still full timing in it with few problems.
None of the units on the lots in Colorado had all the options we wanted, especially the double pane windows. So we ordered via phone/internet, then drove to Indiana to pick it up rather than have those important break-in miles done by someone we didn’t know. It was cheaper transport that way, too.
Two and a half hours. Looked at on 6 hours away, but walked away.
We purchased ours from an RV dealer we used for our previous RV purchase. They are wonderful and are great for any repairs/improvements we’ve needed. Beckley’s RV in Thurmont MD would be worth the drive regardless of where we lived.
Central Missouri to Vermont and back!
Arizona to Minnesota.
Better customer service.
Actually about fifty feet. I was cleaning out my Aliner at Allstar RV in Plano, when a new Airstream with a For Sale sign in the window appeared about fifty feet away.
We traveled 3 hours to buy ours. We got a good deal until we needs some service. Never again do I buy or recommend anything from Camping World.
Exact same experience.
We wanted a small easy to tow trailer but not a teardrop, we wanted a place to stand up, a difficult thing to find. We found what we wanted in Tennessee at Eureka camping trailers and bought it on line and they delivered it to our door. When we realized we were on the road up to 3 months at a time we decided to get a little larger one saw what was available at Eurika called them and drove to Tennessee to pick it up, about a 1,000 mile trip. Unfortunately Eurika closed when the owner passed away, their. They had a wonderful product at a very affordable price, well built with all the necessities we wanted in an easily towable package. Our trailer is 6.5’ x 10’ with 6’ 3 headroom, not the first issue in 5 years. We have discussed getting a larger trailer but unless we decide to become a park host we I’ll keep with our Eurika.
One hour forty five minutes to my RV dealership. So everytime something, that I can’t fix, breaks….I make an appointment and drag the 5er back to the dealership. I try to get a first thing appointment and wait to tow the 5er back home that afternoon. But if it can’t be fixed in one day, I’m driving 1:45 home and 1:45 back to pick up the 5er to drive 1:45 back home again.
Wisconsin to tampa
From Michigan, Went out to Arizona for the winter and bought my new fifth wheel in Quartzite AZ.
I bought used from an individual & drove 50 miles to get it.
Purchased our RV from the manufacturer in Elkhart. It was a trade in on a new identical model. Previous owners took good care of the RV. 150,000 + miles and no major repairs yet.
We drove from McDonough Georgia to Elkhart Indiana for our 2021.5 Forest River Georgetown 7 36k7. Bringing it home served as our first shakedown trip.
I ended up buying our current Rv only 20 miles from our house. However we drove at least 300 miles looking at various rvs before we settled on this unit
We traveled from Florida to Rice, Texas, to pick up our new Casita Liberty Deluxe at the factory. It was worth it, and we RVd the southwest before bringing it back home to Florida. What a fun trip!
Ordered custom Class C from Lazy Daze. Flew from Albuquerque to Montclair, CA and drove back to Elephant Butte, NM.
Same here except flew from Austin, TX. Drove home to Brenham, TX. It was an exciting maiden voyage.
Jeff Couches rv in Ohio , drove there from Albany, ny to save thousands on new Cedar Creek fifth. After I bought I I knew I would not be back for service . We have Whites RV for service, we were lucky we have not needed any warranty work done since 2016, we have been more than happy with our Cedar creek.
We were camping in Florida (600 miles from homebase) in our 26ft bumper pull for several months when my wife said it was too crowded with our extended stay and 2 dogs. We settled on a model and started looking. On 1/1/20 I was awoken by the slamming of the restroom door at 5:54 am. I thought: look in marketplace. There were 3 within 200 miles, the closest 2 hrs south so I texted. The seller said that if the first 10am sale fell through he would contact me. He did. He was returning to Michigan and would meet 1 hr south. We did & after looking it over bought it. He delivered it to our campsite, helped me set it up, autoleveling it, and we moved everything from our old one into the new. So by that evening we bought our new to us home on wheels and living in a roomier 40 ft 5th wheel. Took it to the Adirondacks last summer and this, back to Florida last winter & will return again this fall.
Moix RV in Conway AR. Independently owned. Been around for something like 46yrs with great reputation.
Local Newmar dealer with a fantastic reputation.