RVingAndMore.com

Most of the time, the RV lifestyle is an enjoyable experience. You get to meet many interesting people from different parts of the country. You get to see a lot more of the country than you can flying in a plane and you get to set your own pace while doing it.

However, there are times when things go wrong and you have to wonder if it is really worth the effort.

My wife and I have been very fortunate in our adventures with very few issues, even considering the fact that we do have an older coach. We seem to be on the side of luck with this and I hope to stay that way.

Unfortunately, our friends Larry and Cathy can't say the same even through they purchased a brand new coach last summer and it seems that they have had nothing put problems with it.

Larry and I met this winter at a campground in Kerrville Texas. Both of us were from Ohio, so that helps break the ice in getting a conversation going. Since we were only a few lots away from each other, we got to visiting back and forth quite often.

Larry is one of those kinds of folks who is instantly likeable, but has no luck when it comes to anything of a mechanical nature.

The first problem he encountered was the roof began leaking directly over the passenger seat when he washed his rig after arriving at the campground. The water ran down the inside wall and bowed the paneling on the inside of the area. He seemed to take this in stride and borrowed a telescoping ladder from me to apply some silicone sealant to the seam and stop the leak. He then called back to inform the dealership where he bought the coach from that it would be coming back for warranty work in the summer.

Second problem occurred a week later when his hot water tank decided to stop working. Turned out the printed circuit board went bad and he had to call a local RV repair shop to come and replace the part. Another call to the dealership concerning this warranty issue.

The weather can be very finicky down here in Texas, which produced a third problem 2 weeks later. The temperature dropped to sub-freezing and his water line froze, breaking a line inside of his coach! Water running out everywhere from the bottom of the coach. Another call to the RV repair shop and more money, so the problem was fixed.

3 weeks passed without further incident and we hoped his string of bad luck had come to and end, but this was not to be.

Larry forgot one of the cardinal rules in the hill country area of Texas. That rule is to get off the road before dark! The deer own this area once darkness falls and they simply do not move off of the roads. Sure enough, while returning from a trip to Ingram Texas, Larry hit a deer and did over $2000.00 worth of damage to the front of his toad! At this point, I believe he was really ready to call it quits and head back to Ohio and sell his coach at the first chance he had.

After a week of dealing with insurance companies and bills for repairs, I hope this dark cloud of doom has finally moved on. People who live in a RV fulltime or part-time must be aware that things are not always going to be a bed of roses and to be prepared when things go wrong. It will happen eventually as these coaches and trailers are not designed for extremely long use and things do wear out eventually, so be prepared. I think Larry just had an extreme case of bad luck and hope he sticks with it, but time will tell.