RVT.com RV Trader Blog

New Video Makes Selling Your RV Easy

RVT.com’s new how-to video makes it even easier to sell your RV online. You’ll find this helpful sales aid on the RVT.com website homepage under Sell Your RV Fast. The video takes you on a step-by-step tour of the online sales process, highlighting each step in creating an effective online RV sales ad that will help you sell you RV quickly. Watch this new video to understand how easy it is to sell your RV online at RVT.com.

The North American leader in online RV sales, RVT.com has helped sell more than 40,000 RVs online. Our new video taps into the tremendous experience we’ve gained over a decade in online sales. The video highlights ad features and upgrades that can increase buyer traffic and clicks and help sell your RV even faster.  For example, adding bold or red type to your ad draws buyers’ attention as they browse online ads, making your ad stand out from the crowd. Choosing to make your ad a featured ad increases its exposure to potential buyers by making certain they see it first when they start their RV search.

RVT.com allows RV sellers unlimited text and 12 free photos to describe their RV and list its many features. You can even add extra photos or an interior diagram to your ad to increase buyer interest. Or use our newest sales feature and ad a You Tube video to your RV ad. For complete information on how to successfully sell your RV online, visit RVT.com.

Follow RVT.com on Twitter

If you’re not following RVT.com on Twitter yet, you’re missing some great RV travel destinations, helpful tips and the opportunity to be the first to hear important RV news. For example: Today we’re tweeting on cool zoos you can visit with your family. Zoos are popular RV trip destinations, particularly for families, and fall, when cool weather makes animals more active and playful, is the best time to visit our nation’s many zoos.

You can find first-class zoos in every part of the country. Most are planning special events for Halloween with special activities for children (the popular Boo at the Zoo). The whole family will enjoy a trip to a zoo with recent newborn animals, and it’s a great way to teach your children about wildlife and habitat preservation. U.S. zoos support vigorous breeding programs to preserve and repopulate the world’s animal species. Visiting zoos to watch the playful antics of newborn animals makes for a fun family weekend and a great RV destination. Before you go, check out the ZooBorns website where you can watch pictures and videos of recently born animals at U.S. and world zoos. Use the site to plan your next RV zoo trek.

Information about great zoos to visit is being tweeted to followers on RVT.com Twitter today. Sign up for RVT.com Twitter on our website so you don’t miss out. Sign up is easy. Just click the “Follow Us On Twitter” link toward the bottom of the left-hand navigation column on our homepage.

Ken Burns Tours National Parks on PBS

Film maker Ken Burns, who teamed up with PBS in 1990 to bring us an epic series on the Civil War, chronicles the development of our country’s extraordinary national parks system in a 12-hour PBS series debuting at 8 p.m. this Sunday. The National Parks: America’s Best Idea will run on PBS stations at 8 p.m. on consecutive nights from Sunday, Sept. 27 through Friday, Oct. 2 (check your local listings). This series is a must see for RV travelers who enjoy camping at national parks. Each two-hour episode will explore the park system’s rich history, from its evolution to the people whose efforts turned dream into reality to the history and development of individual parks. Expect plenty of gorgeous film footage of scenic park vistas. The series promises to enrich your next RV trip to a national park while showcasing parks you may want to visit.

Many of our national parks were simply tracts of preserved land until President Roosevelt used the CCC to put people back to work during the 1930’s depression (see our last post). Roads, trails, campsites and visitors’ centers built by the CCC opened America’s national parks to the public, for the first time providing easy access to these natural treasures. Shenandoah National Park in Virginia was the first park to benefit. CCC-built Skyline Drive provides sweeping vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains as it twists through 105 miles bisecting the park. The beautiful RV campsites and great hiking and biking trails we enjoy at Shenandoah now began with the CCC.

CCC Boys Built Many of America’s Parks

Take a close look next time you park your RV at a state or national park. From campsites to lookout points, ranger stations to visitor centers, hiking paths to rest stops (known in camping vernacular as pit toilets), the incredibly beautiful park system RVers,  campers and day trippers enjoy today was largely built by the “CCC boys” of the 1930s. 

During our country’s last major economic disaster, the Civilian Conservation Corps was one of the ways President Franklin D. Roosevelt put America back to work. Established in 1933 at the height of the depression, the CCC lured men off the soup lines with the promise of food, lodging and $30 a month, $25 of which was sent home to their families. Signing up for 6-month hitches with many staying on for the full two years, the CCC’s ranks swelled with World War I vets, out of work fathers anxious to support their families and 18-year-olds forced to fend for themselves, though some boys as young as 14 slipped by recruiters.

The CCC sent huge teams of workers into the wilderness where they carved out the campsites and hiking trails we enjoy today. Those comfortable trails that meander through the forest, the timber-framed stair steps that make it easy to climb up hills, the rough-hewn log bridges over creeks along the path are all courtesy of FDR’s back-to-work program.

Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains was one of the CCC’s first projects. An RVers paradise, we’ll tell you more on Friday.

Scenic Byways Great Way to View Fall Colors

The leaves were just beginning to turn along the Blue Ridge Highway this weekend, but the big fall show won’t start for another couple of weeks. RVers still have plenty of time to map out scenic drives to enjoy colorful autumn leaves. America’s designated scenic byways are a natural for fall color tours. Promising gorgeous, panoramic views no matter what the season, scenic byways trace across America’s mountain ridges and through lush valleys, offering some of the most beautiful drives in America.

Scenic drives are marked on most state maps and some of the most famous, like the Blue Ridge Parkway through North Carolina or the Seward Highway between Anchorage and Seward, Alaska, even warrant their own maps. A good place to start planning a weekend of autumn leaf peeping is the National Scenic Byways Program website. Sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration which designates scenic byways, the site provides an interesting overview of each scenic drive, including history, development information and sights to look for along the way.

Read personal accounts of trips taken along each byway with great tips on places to stop and things to do and see. The NSBP website also offers news of jazz fests, harvest markets and other interesting events along drive routes. You’ll also find information on waterfall drives, fall color tours and intriguing natural and manmade wonders to include in your RV traveling plans.

Gentlemen, Start Your RVs!

When you think of drag racing, big, boxy RVs aren’t the vehicle that comes to mind. But that didn’t stop fans of souped up historic GMC motorhomes. The 3rd Annual Florida Sunshine Statesman GMC Drag Race drew RV fans from across the country to Orlando, Florida for an all-in-good-fun, pedal-to-the-metal race down the drag strip. Watch RVers burn rubber on RV Buddies.

Veteran RVer Bob Heller was crowned King of the Strip, setting a new record of 22.514 seconds at 62 mph. Bob drove a souped up 1974 GMC with a 455 big-block engine with 110,000 miles on the odometer. A true RVer, Bob handles all the repair work and maintenance on his beloved GMC.

There are more than 20 GMC RV clubs nationwide dedicated to preserving this classic motorcoach. The GMC’s automotive heritage, revolutionary front-wheel-drive drive train, low center of gravity, air-spring suspension and sleek, bullet-shaped good looks have made this RV a cult classic. When they first started rolling off the production line in 1973, GMC motorhomes were the first to break away from the boxy look of their predecessors and adopt a sleek, aerodynamic design. GMC motorhomes featured the same drive train and front suspension used in Oldsmobile’s Toronado, providing a truly comfortable ride. Innovative coach bodies featured fiberglass and aluminum. The last GMC RV rolled off the assembly line in 1978, a victim of the fuel crisis.

RVT.com offers many classic GMC motorhomes for sale online. Just select GMC from the “Make” category and click.

Finding RV Repair Services

Just like a car or truck, RVs require regular maintenance, scheduled service and occasional repairs. An RV dealer is a logical place to take your RV when regular maintenance is required or repair issues arise. Even if you bought your RV online or in another state, RV dealers are a good repair source. But just like car dealers, not all RV dealership service departments are created equal. Then, of course, there is the transportation problem of dropping your RV off and arranging a ride to and from the dealership. If your RV breaks down while you’re traveling far from home, this can present a considerable logistical problem. If you’re forced to cab back and forth, cab fares can add significantly to your repair bill.

It’s not like you can take your RV to the corner auto repair shop. Many RV repair issues require specialized expertise beyond the knowledge of the typical auto tech. Your best bet might be a mobile RV repair service. Mobile RV repair services, which are available across the country (check online or yellow page listings), bring the mechanic to your door. You don’t have to arrange transportation, just greet the tech at your door. Mobile RV service providers are particularly great if you break down on the road, in a parking lot or at a campground. Many mobile RV repair services can even provide warranty repairs.

Tips for RV Traveling with Rover

Taking your dog along is one of the joys of RV living. No separation anxiety or kennel fees to deal with; when you RV, the whole family travels together — Rover too. Because of space availability small dogs are naturals for RV traveling; but even big dogs can enjoy the trip with a little thought and planning. Follow these tips and both you and Rover will enjoy your next RV excursion:

Dogs like a view. Small dogs love to take in the view from the RV dash, but it’s not the safest spot for them when you’re on the road. Let them take in the view from the lap of whoever’s riding shotgun in the passenger seat. Or secure a bed or crate to a surface by a window. Encourage floor time with chewy toys and treats.

Exercise breaks. Dogs need regular potty and exercise breaks, especially on long trips. Younger dogs will need more frequent play breaks. Stop at interesting sights along the way or stop at roadside rest stops to walk and play with Rover. Always leash your pooch and carry plenty of baggies for clean up.

Fun at camp. Invest in a portable exercise pen. They collapse flat for easy transport and fold out accordion style into a safe play yard for your dog. Play yards allow Rover freedom of movement so he can be outside with the family but safe from car traffic. Rover will love hiking; be sure to take along water and a bowl.