Buying An RV Today And What I Would Change
We bought our amazing Jayco Prestige Class C Prestige 31FP, delivery was April 2021. Also, I am no expert nor do I claim to be. I am just in love with RVing as I thought I would be when I first approached my husband with the idea of buying a motorhome. The camping and traveling in our “condo on wheels” has been a joy!
I believe we made our purchase just before things began to go south for the RV industry due to the pandemic dump. One indication is the day it was delivered all exact models went up 40K on the same lot our rig was delivered on. Our salesman said we got it just in time! To me that meant a shift. The industry was going to take advantage of everyone’s interest in wanting to get out of their homes, travel but not necessarily go into hotels and motels to do it. This was post pandemic and they were going to capitalize.
When we decided to pull the trigger on buying our dream RV (dream for us because we paid cash), I dove into research mode, trying to make it something we would not regret.
While we have zero regrets, if we were to do it all over again there are only two things we would change. Otherwise our wonderful Class C is just perfect for us, for all we like to take with us, including our things, our cat, our little dog, my watercolor painting supplies, and extras as this rig has bunks and ample storage.
As I understand it you will have to change the mattress no matter how much you spend on any RV so I am not counting that as one of the two. We definitely spent a fortune on our mattress, one specialized for our rig, made in Florida while we stayed at a resort, a place that made them for yachts. It is a fantastic no matter how long we sleep on it and I have no complaints, neither does my husband.
If I were going back in time and buying our first RV all over again, what I would do differently would be, I think we’d buy a diesel for the size of motorhome we have. Class B? No, I’d definitely go gas. Ours is 32’ and while not super long, it would have been nice to just drive into the areas trucks gas up in and never worry about height requirements. My husband always plans our trips and truly knows how to maneuver “The Blast” as we affectionately call our Jayco. It’s not as if we’ve had any catastrophes, however, I think it would make planning our trips easier. At least where we go anyway.
Moochdocking with our rig visiting our grandchildren in Iowa.
The second thing I’d do is I’d get a super C with another bath. I really do find it inconvenient that the one bath we have gets tied up when we have guests, or if my husband is taking a shower etc.. I definitely would have at least a half bath as an extra option had I known.
Will be we trading in our RV and doing this? Probably not. We almost did. I wrote about it. We were absolutely ready, and found what we thought we found the perfect option for us at the dealer we bought The Blast that was just about within our budget. The dealer became snarky. Not the salesman we were talking with, the manager at the time.
It was a diesel, had that extra bath and was a Jayco.
The manager would not even counter our first offer.
Negotiations broke down.
Turns out that manager was fired. We got a call from the same salesman later, asking us if we were still interested. As I told him, “That ship has sailed.” I was nice to him, it wasn’t his fault, but shout out to RV dealers, when a potential buyer makes an offer, at least counter. You never know, it may be the beginning of a sale. That rig sat on their lot for at least a year more (I watched closely and then it just disappeared).
Our Jayco Prestige Class C 31 FP 2021
Here is the issue with buying in 2026, they are making junk. The major RV manufacturers are Thor, Winnebago, Forrest River and REV Group. They essentially make absolute garbage RV’s and want you to spend a ton of money for them.
When we bought our Jayco very little was wrong with it. Solidly built from the motor to the chassis. I believe we got in under the wire.
It did have a recall, we did have to take it to Ford for that. We had to replace the generator, but besides those two things, when we called Jayco, they were always on the other end of the phone with help.
Jayco is owned by Thor. For some reason, it had remained quite independent of Thor with regard to quality especially when we bought our rig in 2021. In 2026 I’m not really sure that is still the case.
I follow the industry as a whole and it is abysmal. There are no lemon laws and while I am a great big get-the-government-out-of-my-business kind of person, in this case I think consideration for the same types of laws applied for cars should be considered for RV’s. The horror stories are numerous.
So no, we would not buy a new rig just to get the two things on our wish list. Not until the industry corrects these grave problems. We love The Blast and plan to have many more happy times in it. If they do a major course correction, then we’ll consider a new buy.
Until then, if you want to buy, I suggest research first before ever going onto a lot.
Understand no rig is perfect.
These days going used is probably best.
Avoid all the major RV manufacturers, Thor, Winnebago, REV.
I suggest you consider buying Liz Amazing’s book. She is a trusted advocate and has really done her research.
We have absolutely no regrets and hope you can find the fun in a trouble free RV!
Until next time: Duty, Honor and Seeing the Country RV Style!
