RV Sellers Trading In to Save

The poor economy has sparked a resurgence in payment practices common more than a century ago. Bartering and the fine art of haggling are making a comeback. Before opening their wallets, more people are asking retailers to meet competitors’ prices or requesting deeper discounts to win their business. Bartering groups have sprung up on Craigslist where cash-strapped folks trade services. And it’s not just moms offering to trade babysitting services for help unplugging a clogged drain; business owners are embracing bartering. Recently, a contractor traded plumbing for electrical services. A landscaper traded a truckload of topsoil for web design services.

Used car dealers no longer have an exclusive lock on the “trade in” concept. Particularly on the Internet, more sellers are embracing trade ins, including a number of RV sellers on RVT.com. Some RV sellers on RVT.com are accepting trade ins instead of cash. If a seller says “will trade” in his RV sales ad, it means he’ll consider taking something in trade either in an even swap or as an incentive to reduce the selling price.

What gets traded is up to the seller and buyer. When RV dealerships list “will trade” in their ads, expect the transaction to work like buying a car. The dealer will give you money off the sale price in exchange for your old RV. Private sellers offer more room to negotiate, often taking in trade another RV, a boat, a car, a plane, a trailer or something else the buyer has to offer.

RV Convenience Lures Tired Tent Campers

My sister’s family just got back from an eight-week, 9,000-mile tour of the West. Veteran campers, my sister and her husband have been leading Boy Scout groups into the wilds for years. They think nothing of packing up the van and heading out for a week of primitive camping with their kids. So an extended trek to every major national park west of the Mississippi was a much-anticipated adventure. What they discovered is that what’s fun for a week can get old pretty fast after a month.

After putting up and tearing down their tent nearly every day for 56 days, in all kinds of weather, no matter how exhausted they were, tent camping has lost its luster. As they struggled to erect their tent in gale-force winds in Kansas, my sister recalled watching in envy as the family next door pushed a button and entered their cozy “pop-up” folding trailer in minutes. As she huddled over the gas stove during a torrential downpour in Washington, she watched the family in a nearby motorhome laughing and talking over their hot dinner. And as she listened to her children squabbling in the back of the crowded van, she dreamed of cruising in a comfortable, roomy motorhome.

As soon as they returned home, my sister started searching RVT.com for a used RV. His back still aching from sleeping on a leaky air mattress, her husband is all in favor of trading in their tent for a comfy RV before their next trek.

Time Is Right to Upgrade Your RV

Have you been sneaking covert looks at the luxurious Class A motorhome parked at the campsite next door? Are you drooling over your neighbor’s roomy slideouts and extra kitchen space? From the confines of your truck camper do you thirst for the added amenities of a Class C motorhome? Are you ready to trade in your cozy pop-up camper for a more spacious travel trailer? If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to a bigger, better RV, this is the time to trade up.

RVers across the country are taking advantage of today’s excellent selection and even better prices to trade up to the RV of their dreams. RVT.com, the North American leader in online RV sales, lists thousands of premium new and used RVs for sale at terrific prices. On the RVT.com website, you’ll find a huge selection of gas and diesel motorhomes in every class, travel trailers, truck campers, 5th wheelers, toy haulers, toterhomes and folding trailers to fit every budget. Ready to stake out your retirement home or looking for a long-term vacation getaway? RVT.com has extra roomy RV park models, many offering free delivery.

On RVT.com you’ll also find a great selection of tow behind cars, trailers, hitches, RV equipment and furniture. We have fun ride ‘ems of all kinds from motorcycles and scooters to electric cars. Tow them behind your RV for quick and easy transportation when you reach your destination. RVT.com is your one-stop shopping source for everything you need to enjoy the RV lifestyle.

More Travel Resources for Your RV Library

August is the heaviest travel month of the summer. Most RVers are on the road, traveling to their favorite vacation spots or heading for exciting new vacation destinations. While GPS devices have taken much of the guesswork out of getting from point A to point B, a well-stocked travel resource library is still essential for RV families on the go. Here are a few travel guides you might want to consider:

• Reader’s Digest Off the Beaten Path lists more than 1,000 places to go from the fabulous to the quirky. Easy-to-read state maps, a list of seasonal festivals and events in each state and plenty of photos make this a delightful aid to trip planning.
• Roadfood is a coast-to-coast culinary guide to the country’s 700 best roadside diners and regional gastronomic delights. From finger-licking barbecue joints to mouth-watering lobster shacks to old-time ice cream parlors, this guide is for anyone who enjoys good food.
• Michelin Road Atlas 2009 is a comprehensive road guide to the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Easy to use, this spiral-bound atlas features detailed maps organized in a grid format with helpful driving distances provided on every two-page spread. Those who prefer to take the road less traveled will find pages of scenic drives.
• Eyewitness Travel Guide: USA divides the country into 14 regions to aid trip planning. The guide offers exceptionally detailed information and maps chronicling major tourist sites, national parks, scenic routes, interesting walks and thematic tours with plenty of illustrations.

New Exit Guide Great RV Resource Book

If there was ever a resource book tailor made for RV owners, it’s Exit Now: Interstate Exit Directory, new from Trailer Life Books. There is nothing more annoying when you’re piloting an RV down the highway than finding out that the exit you just zoomed past is the one you needed to take. It can be miles before you reach another exit where you can head back. Even if U-turns were allowed on the interstate, trying to safely turn a Class A motorhome or travel trailer through a narrow gravel pass-through with traffic whipping by in both directions is a sure way to raise your insurance rates. It’s reason enough to add Exit Now to your RV library before your next trek.

Spiral-bound so it lies conveniently flat, Exit Now is 600 easy-to-read pages that tell RVers what they’ll find within a one-mile radius of each of the 17,797 exits listed, including gas stations, restaurants, RV parks and campgrounds, RV dump stations, groceries, shopping malls, RV and auto repair shops, post offices, pharmacies, hospitals, walk-in emergency clinics, pet hospitals, colleges, etc. Listings are color coded so that facilities available at each exit can be determined with a quick glance if your navigator nods off or is busy wrangling the kids. Interstates are listed numerically and followed from start to finish, making this a particularly valuable travel guide when following a highway through several states. No flipping back and forth to pick up the trail every time you cross a state border.