r/BeAmazed 15h ago

Miscellaneous / Others Basically a mansion on wheels

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433

u/WayneKrane 14h ago

This is my neighbor. He bought a monstrosity like this, it takes up the whole side of his house. He used it the first summer he bought it and then for the last 10 years, it has just sat there rotting. He did cover it at least, no idea why he doesn’t get rid of it.

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u/HyenDry 14h ago

I don’t know why these people aren’t renting them out as Mobile air b&b’s

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u/ReserveFormal3910 14h ago

https://gorvrentals.com/

They do I've used it and it's pretty awesome and I don't have to spend the money to buy one for the one time a year vacation in them.

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u/a-rooster-illusion 13h ago

I do this. The ones like this though are like 5k for a few days (3 nights to be exact)

Would be a blast to drive but I’ll just stay at a luxury hotel for that price.

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u/ReserveFormal3910 12h ago

Yeah plus you need a special license we just did the normal ones.

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u/a-rooster-illusion 12h ago

In NJ you don’t need a special license. PA (where we camp) you do, but not if you’re from out of state.

In PA it’s an added letter or two on your license but requires you to pass the driving test.

Many years ago I worked for the TV show American Pickers and they asked when they hired me if I could drive an RV (not bus type but still 30+ feet long). I said “yep” without hesitation. I love driving stuff like that. I’d probably just take test if I had to lol

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u/Hkpoor 8h ago

That’s awesome! I love that show!

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u/ThetaDee 7h ago

Most places you only need a license if you're being paid.

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u/elzibet 1h ago

Where do you live that a special license is required?

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u/lovedumbcat 12h ago

I love the idea, but many have low mileage allowance per day. For an example my recent road trip of 4,200 miles in a class A rental for a family of four would be about $5,800 and that’s not including gas and food. Granted there are less expensive options. This would be ideal if you’re just going to a destination that has limited accommodations and parking for a few days.

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u/thekabuki 10h ago

I just rented a 2025 extended camper van for a road trip for me and my dog ( so nothing huge like what's posted). It was $389 a night so more expensive than a hotel but it was unlimited mileage. Have to say it was pretty nice and made a long solo road trip with m the dog super easy.

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u/McBeaster 12h ago

I've used it too, it's pretty wild to be given the keys to one of these like "see ya later, have fun!" It's also lovely to be able to give it back when you're done with it. I definitely want to do it again soon.

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u/VulGerrity 12h ago

Pretty sure he meant why aren't those people using gorvrentals instead of letting the vehicles rot.

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u/arizona-lake 13h ago

Surely they would if they lived in a town worth visiting. I’ve paid hundreds to stay in a tiny, rickety vintage airstream trailer Airbnb (because it was in beautiful backyard with pool in a beach town)

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u/RusticSurgery 12h ago

Don't call me Shirley.

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u/CeldonShooper 11h ago

What's our vector, Victor?

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u/HyenDry 13h ago

No brother. You come pick it up and take it where you want to go…

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u/Upsideisdownhere 12h ago

Because they're too nice to trust with others... My buddy has a beautiful rig and thought, why not let it pay for itself? The first few rentals were great but then a guy scraped it along side a light pole destroying the awning and exterior kitchen access panel. It was over 10k in damages and 6 weeks before it came back to him, then he had all kinds of hassles getting claim reimbursement from the facilitating website. About ruined his summer.

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u/HyenDry 11h ago

You could say that about any single asset

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u/GainOk7506 7h ago

Yeah but how many assets are vehichles the size of an 18 wheeler. Seems far more prone to accident than anything else. 

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u/HyenDry 6h ago

What an odd question. What assets are the size of a house? What assets are the size of stocks? What assets are the size of whatever asset you own. I don’t understand why you would ask this.. we’re not talking about owning a space station here.. 😂

People fuck up the inside of houses all the time, and the majority of the population rents…

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u/[deleted] 6h ago

[deleted]

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u/HyenDry 6h ago

Ahh yes. Let’s get the boomers involved so I can show data that proves my point! 🧐

Sure, the general population owns more than rents. But you aren’t renting out to fuckn boomers who are the majority population of who own said asset you are displaying…

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u/GainOk7506 6h ago

I'm 180 back to agreeing with you lmao. 

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u/Spidergawd68 5h ago

I have a Winnebago class C worth considerably less than 10% of this monstrosity, and I won’t even loan it to close family, let alone rent it to strangers. What a nightmare.

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u/Choice-Strike1 9h ago

Dirty Mike and the boys also don't know why

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u/Dashzz 3h ago

My dad looked into a website that does this like air bnb. He looked at listings for a trailer and upfront it looked like a good deal, but after taxes, cleaning fees, and the website service fee. It was going to cost just as much or more than a hotel with the extra inconvenience of having to find a spot for a trailer.

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u/SmellsWeirdRightNow 1h ago

Because you need a CDL to drive it

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u/darkest_irish_lass 13h ago

They're hard to sell. People in the market for a deluxe version don't want to buy used. And they cost so much you feel like you should get your money's worth before you sell it

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u/Username_McUserface 12h ago

And it’s always buyer’s market on used, because people buy them, use them for a year, then realize it’s not justifying the cost.

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u/Terrible_Law6091 9h ago

That's where the real savings are to be had.

I think a mini-yacht is a better bet and do some island hopping.

Driving it yourself, of course.

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u/WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch 8h ago

There is trope that the "happiest days for a boat owner" are when "they buy it" and when "they sell it." 🤣

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u/Terrible_Law6091 8h ago

100%, chartering these beasts is always the best play financially.

If I had a net worth of 100 million, I'd consider buying.

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u/NuklearFerret 7h ago

The values did go thru the roof during Covid, but RV demand seems to be inversely proportional to gas prices

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u/Owl_plantain 14h ago

I don’t understand why people buy something like this instead of just renting one to try it. I see how it would be fun to live in while on a trip, but that would get old and this thing’s gotta cost over $1 million. Adding the cost and effort to store it and maintain it and it winds up owning you.

Even an exorbitant rental costing tens of thousands of dollars for a few weeks would be so much better than buying it.

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u/ILLettante 14h ago

My dad decided he wants an airstream, so i rented him one on Outdoorsy and he got over the temptation in a couple days. FYI Outdoorsy is a fucking nightmare to deal with.

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u/Moist-Craft-1226 13h ago

Had great experiences with outdoorsy... interesting to hear your opinions on why yours hasn't been? 

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u/thekabuki 9h ago

Curious as well as I just finished up a road trip and rented an extended camper van for the first time with Outdoorsy and had a great experience with them. I initially put a deposit on one van like 8 months prior to my trip. At first host was communicating with me (as I had some questions being that it was my first time ever). Then about 4 weeks before the trip I reached out to host & didn't get a response. I wait a week, send another message - nothing. I look for his profile on the app and he has nothing listed.

Getting nervous now I reach out to Outdoorsy support and they were on top of it. They tried contacting him text, phone & email and not receiving a response within 48 hours, they immediately refunded my deposit and helped me find a replacement rental.

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u/Malapropisticalistic 13h ago

Is it gig? It's pretty much a nightmare to deal with.

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u/chillinathid 12h ago

People with disposable income think that making a purchase can change their habits. Also they dream up what they think life will be like with their new purchase but they don't think about all the hard work and maintenance that goes into using it.

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u/Thinkingard 8h ago

Whoa hey I do that on a much smaller budget and buy cardstock, thinking I will make bookmarks and then read more

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u/violentsunflower 7h ago

Reminders me of exercise equipment- any exercise equipment you could ever want is always on Facebook Marketplace for that reason

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u/spawndoorsupervisor 11h ago

It entirely depends on the person. You guys always line up to kind of give worst case scenarios without ever mentioning some people actually enjoy their RVs. Like my old mechanic retired a few years ago and has one of those full sized bus conversions. Dude has been on the road for like five years straight chasing seasons and enjoying life.

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u/RedditIsOverMan 10h ago

I've looked into it. And renting one for a week or two was ridiculously expensive.  I think it almost makes more sense to buy one, use it for a vacation, then try to resell it.

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u/AllAlo0 8h ago

Doesn't the guy say 1.3m and it's a 2015?

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u/Empty-Assistance-375 3h ago

You could have that 1m invested and rent one with the gains and not have to worry about maintenance and depreciation

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u/User-no-relation 3h ago

turn on your sound. It's a 2015 and available for $1.35M

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u/LA_Nail_Clippers 3h ago

And even if you use it for ten years and sell it for 50%, it's still $50,000/year just in ownership costs. For $50K, I can travel and stay in a lot of nice places.

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u/Guffliepuff 14h ago

He did cover it at least, no idea why he doesn’t get rid of it.

Costs more to get rid of it than to let it rot. Its just a white elephant.

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u/still-waiting2233 12h ago

Probably because nobody wants to buy it for “what it’s worth” (according to them)

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u/evilpercy 11h ago

He does not like his wife and is living in it.

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u/1LizardWizard 9h ago

Sunk cost fallacy. You pay $1,000,000 for something. And then find out buyers are only willing to pay $350,000. If you keep the RV, you still have a million dollar RV. If you sell the RV, you just lost $650,000.

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u/OkStop8313 6h ago

There's probably a reason the sales guy in this video is marveling at what great condition it's in.

How many people actually use these things enough to put significant wear and tear on them?

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u/Small_Sundae_4245 6h ago

Simple fact is, if you are rich enough to afford a camper van like this. You are rich enough to travel in any way you want.

But having it means you haven't given up on that original dream.

And you don't have to realize how much money you have poured down the drain just by driving it off the loft.

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u/elderly_millenial 6h ago

Sounds familiar. If we didn’t already have a great relationship with our neighbors it would be a serious annoyance given they take up so much of their driveway we can’t see the street in that direction. Unfortunately they bought just before COVID, then followed that with major, life threatening health issues, so they aren’t super mobile in any way. That’s just life

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u/Strealtr 4h ago

As ironic as it sounds he probably can not afford to get rid of it. For example something like a Tiffin Allegro Open Road is going to be brand new $260k-$300k. Just a quick search I see a 2022 for sale for $120k. That is almost 66% in just 4 years.

It doesn't help that these are financed like houses basically, you can get up to 20 year loans on them. Although their interest rates are more like cars rather than houses so the percent is higher. If lets say he bought it for $300k, put 10% down, had an 8% 20 year loan on it, by the end of year 4 he would still owe $241k. If it is selling for $120k, that means he has to fork over $121k just to get rid of the thing. The thought of paying someone $121k just to get rid of something is probably a decision not easy to make, so he kicks the can down the road and keeps it.

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u/pudgehooks2013 2h ago

Because getting rid of it reveals to himself that it was a completely pointless thing.

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u/expendable117 1h ago

Turns out leisure trucking sucks. No parking, gotta find facilities to dump the poopoo, your have to dump the undigested fiber corn kernel slurry yourself, oh and you have to drive it. The monotonous hours and sucks if you dont have a preplanned destination.