Читать книгу RVs & Campers For Dummies - Christopher Hodapp - Страница 39

Class As excel at being self-contained, with large water and fuel tanks and electric generators. You can pull over anywhere and boondock. They’re quick to set up when you stop and quick to be ready to leave. And they’re among the most spacious RVs available.

But these massive Class As have their drawbacks. Class As give up their benefits when you have to run an errand or take short day trips. They’re designed for the highway, not downtown city streets or rough terrain. They don’t come in 4-wheel drive models, so you won’t be going mud bogging in a Class A. And if you get stuck trying, you’ll be calling for a giant, very expensive tow truck.

The biggest issue is where to park such a rolling whale, both when you’re on the road and when you’re not. Because it’s not only your vacation home but your vehicle, too, running to the grocery for that forgotten quart of milk means closing down your entire campsite, pulling up stakes, and taking the whole family to the Piggly Wiggly where you pray there’s a big stretch of empty asphalt to park it in.

A Class A motorhome won’t fit in your two-car garage at home or the underground parking lot at Grandma’s condo. And forget parallel parking at a space downtown. That’s why you see so many Class A motorhomes towing a car behind them on the road. Fortunately, Class As are designed with towing a second vehicle in mind, because it’s so common.

RVers refer to their towed cars as a toad or dinghy. We talk all about towing your toad in Chapter 19.

There is an enormous price spread when it comes to shopping for a new Class A motorhome. Class As have a reputation for costing in excess of $200,000 for a high-quality, well-appointed rig. But in recent years, Class A builders have developed lower-priced rigs to appeal to a wider group of shoppers. Depending on market conditions, options, and manufacturers, you’ll encounter prices from as low as $65,000 to over a million dollars. But the overwhelming majority of new Class As range from $80,000 to $150,000.