The RV itself has been incredibly sturdy and I've only had a few issues. I did have to spend 1 day upgrading the electrical from 30 amp to 50 amp so I could run the A/C and the Water Heater at the same time. I had to replace the city water inlet check valve after 8 years. The spring valve on my toilet broke after 5 years but it was less labor to just install a new one. The mattress got replaced immediately.
Otherwise, if you can get a good park to live in and don't have large pets or children, I can only highly recommend it.
Lemon Laws do not apply to RVs (except maybe in one state).
Many RVs can easily spend most of a year waiting to get a single item half-assed repaired multiple times while the 1 year warranty runs out and the 20 other things don't get fixed.
There is a relatively-new YouTube channel called Liz Amazing that showcases RV horror stories, including the most recent one where a luxury RV manufacturer didn't properly install VINs on the RV leading to a $600k fine for the user:
A few years later, after dutifully paying my insurance, but moving a few times for school the registration had lapsed and I got pulled over. They ended up taking the license plate because of this, that my car was "uninsured", and apparently I was paying for nothing for the last few years..
I cleared up the registration the next day and the insurance as well, but a few weeks later had to go to court to clear up the ticket. The judge asked me "Why didn't you check that the numbers matched on the insurance forms?", to which I replied "Did you check this with the last car you insured?". They let me off.
This is all to say, how is it possible that someone got $600k fine for a mistake that is obviously not the fault of the buyer?
Any brands you/Liz Amazing suggest?
I feel like with the tutorials out there, a novice could learn as they go and enjoy the experience of building out a van.
It's possible too to do it in stages. My Stage 1 had no solar or stove — limited cabinetry. The wife and I took it out nonetheless. You find out quickly too that way what you miss/want.
The cost of a new Ford Transit was not cheap, and there were some pricy components. As an example, the two LiPO batteries were $1K each — but they're about 1/3 that these days (wow). The electric refrigerator (more like cooler) was not cheap. The propane stove was not either — but a camp stove would have worked as well (and has the benefit that you can cook outside on hot days when you don't want to heat up the van/RV).
I never tallied up the total cost, but I promise you it was significantly less than a new RV. And because I made it myself, I can vouch for the quality of the components.
The single best resource was faroutride.com [2]. But then there were plenty of online forums, YouTube etc. with all kinds of info.
I was a few years from retirement when I began. The idea was to "van life" with the wife after I retired. As it is, we've done a good deal of travel in the U.S. but until she also retires, we don't live the van life.
(The fact is though, after a few weeks on the road, you come home appreciating your creature comforts.)
(Recently drove from the Midwaste to San Diego to get my middle daughter and her two cats. Heading out in a few weeks to the Bay Area to visit some ex-coworkers.)
[1] https://www.fordtransitusaforum.com/threads/hot-tamale-build...
What positive attitude in such a rotten situation. It really hurts reading such stories about hardworking honest people.
- it can be more expensive to repair items on or in the RV
- i wouldn't want to permanently reside in an RV in an area where tornadoes are a possibility
- they're a depreciating asset
Q: What does a divorce and a tornado have in common? A: Someone gonna lose them a trailer
This Sightline article talks about some of the people it has helped:
https://www.sightline.org/2025/09/11/homes-on-wheels-are-fil...
Long term, we should make other more permanent forms of housing cheaper and easier for people to get into, but this is a good solution for some people some of the time.
“home rv sewer dump” are the keywords to use for additional research and sources.
This is just a hypothetical story.
Sarah has 2 kids with her ex husband Bill. Everytime Sarah mentions child support Bill talks about pursuing joint custody.
Bill has no intention of actually following though, but he knows fighting in court is going to very expensive and difficult for Sarah.
Sarah drops it. Often filing for child support involves a whole lot of BS. Bill might just be a wacko she'd rather not deal with anymore.
After all, they aren't together for a reason.
I know my dad kicked me out at 15 and didn't give me a dime until I was like 20, and that was about 300$ or 400$ tops.
He wasn't going to spot me rent money during my second eviction.
Honest to God, I was grateful he just left me alone for the most part. He still lived in this fantasy land were you can kick you kid out and expect them to do well in school.
No I'm not college bound, yes my GPA was like a 1.7 when I graduated high school.
Thank you Brendan Eich, thank you for JavaScript, without that magical programing language I wouldn't be where I am now.
I guess I wasn't smart enough for C++, but I've made great money in JavaScript and other higher level languages for a long time.
Anyway, the woman who starts the story has her reasons.
The subject of the story might have her reasons (the father could be dead for all we know) and I wouldn't presume to criticize her based on such a limited set of facts. My criticism of the journalists is that they just leave that part out. It's sloppy writing and leaves the reader wondering what else they missed? Like they can ask for the intimate details of the family's financial history and living situation but they can't ask about child support? It makes no sense.
People get really messed up and vindictive when it comes to child support.
I'm 100% sure she's evaluated her options and child support just isn't one of them.
There has been net transfer of housing ownership to the wealthy through increasing LTV and rentals - interest and rent are two ways of transferring money from the working class to rentier capital. Framing this as simply a supply issue is obscures the dynamics of wealth transfer undergirding the rise in housing scarcity.
It's not for everyone, but that's more than enough to retire in much of the world. You can get a very nice apartment in much of Seoul for around 700$.
Food and healthcare is going to be better too.
It highlights that the problem most of these people have isn't a lack of income.
Ultimately, my goals ended up changing. I did a bit of modifications (modern brakes, improved electrical, upgraded alternator, 300aH 12v Lithium, and more), but I ended up only doing a couple trips in it.
It was really incredible, being able to have enough space to work, traveling anytime I want without worrying about crashing at a friend's place, or paying for a hotel or being stuck in a boring part of a city where the hotel is, etc.
I did a ton of research before purchasing, and loved the fact that it was fully built from the ground up to be a motorhome, rather than how modern conversions or RVs are built. It has a full queen size bed, and a wet bath, and I could comfortably stand when the roof is up.
Alas, the home life ended up being for me.
P.S. It's for sale.
I don't hail from the US but wouldn't it be possible for people like that to move to one of the low cost states and rent a modest apartment? I have a friend in Tulsa and I think he pays something like 750 bucks per month for what looked like a pretty nice flat, seems possibly cheaper than this:
"When the family is unable to afford a spot at a campground, which can cost $25 to $45 a night[...]"
(And to be sure, the weather is not what they are used to.)
This reminds me of how the stacks get started from that novel.
ProllyInfamous•2h ago
Freaking property owners are starting to get priced out (of living)!
bombcar•50m ago