Just bought my first RV!!! any advice on insurance?

[cnq50b]

Love this group!

Thanks for all the suggestions on insurance. I've made my spreadsheet with the questions to ask, the coverages I want & now I have the companies to contact.

As far as buying from a distance - it is a bit scary but I had a good experience about 3 years ago when my brother & I bought an 83 Toyota Dolphin off eBay for the organization we work for so I knew it could be done with good results.

So sorry to hear about Lopo's ebay experience though - that is heart-breaking...

One thing I had going for me were 2 brothers who walked me though the previous purchase & watched over this one - one is a foreign car mechanic, the other has a good eye for what to look for & what to be cautious of - both a little over-protective.

In response to Ellen's question - how did I go about it:
I've been watching RV's on eBay for a very, very long time - both for photos of actual units & to see what they were actually selling for.
I only recently got serious & started contacting sellers with questions - both on eBay & Craigslist. Most were screened out in the first contact. A couple made it a bit further - one that I really, really liked got ruled out when brother #1 asked to see the undercarriage & spotted rust.
Anyway, on the one I purchased I requested more pictures, more info on its maintenance records, even more pics (of the undercarriage for brother #1). To appease my nervousness of the long distance purchase,they did include on the contract if upon my arrival we uncover any major issues or it was misrepresented I can back out & they'll return my deposit. I had already googled their dealership for complaints & only found a couple from 2010 neither of which were relevant to my purchase. Besides they are one of the top 10 Airstream dealerships so I felt I could trust them.

Brother #1 wants me to ask how long the tires have been on it & possibly have them replaced before I head down (I said they were over-protective, didn't I ) But other than that I should be set to go.

Again, I really appreciate each of your responses & advice. It is so good to learn from women who have traveled this road already..
Pics should be coming in a couple of weeks.
Catherine

[Bethers]

Catherine, look at the tires and see the date they were manufactured. That will tell you more than how they look.

As to insurance, they definitely are not created equal. You're ok with most policies if you are not full-time and have homeowners that covers the things IN the rig. If you ever go full-time, make SURE the policy you have covers that - and everything IN the rig - like a homeowners policy will. Or you'll be out if something happens. There used to be only a couple companies who had "real" fulltime rv coverage - one being the one advertising above (I've had them and they were good - but am now with AARP's Hartford - which just started carrying a reall fulltime rv policy a couple years ago. Before that I wouldn't recommend them for full-timers.) In the case of AARP's Hartford (which is not the same as contacting Hartford - totally different) they now include emergency service as part of the policy. But unlike my emergency service I had separately, it doesn't include other vehicles - like my towed car. However, my car insurance with them covers that. Screwy, but it's all covered without me needing that separate coverage anymore - so another $100 + a year saved.

Good luck - and make sure the deductibles, etc all are comparable - each company can make their policy sound better by playing with things. It's sad, but they are in the business of selling you insurance - not making sure you get what you need, in many cases.

Be very careful with AAA. Had a friend with it. They had a problem in their home state while camping, and they weren't covered. AAA didn't cover THAT part of the state. And they had the best policy from AAA they could get. If you are going to get a separate emergency policy make sure it covers the ENTIRE continental US - and hopefully more (Canada, Alaska, sometimes Mexico) with no exceptions in area. (No asterisks, in other words). They had no clue that there were holes in their coverage - was a very bad experience.

[cnq50b]

Beth,

Thanks so much for the info on the tires - makes it less subjective - very black or white. I like that. I'd much rather replace them if I need to rather than take any chances on my maiden voyage.

And I would have assumed as your friend did that coverage is coverage. I'll watch for those asterisks & that small print. Thanks for mentioning it.

I look forward to a day when I can consider full-time but that will be another 4 years at least - so for now it's good to know that my home-owners should cover my personal belongings.

This group is so helpful!!! So happy I found it.
Thanks again!

[cpatinjones]

Congrats!

I have my RV and truck insured thru Good Sam/GMAC. They had the best price when I was shopping for RV insurance. I saved money by insuring my truck, as well.

[oregonrambler1]

Just a side note to Beth's post for anyone wondering. The DOT number on a tire is a 4 digit number, the first two numbers are the week the tires were manufactured, the last two numbers is the year thus a tire with 5110 would have been manufactured in December of 2010, a tire with 1011 would have been manufactured in March 2011. The last time I bought RV tires (for our FourWinds), I looked at the DOT date and made the salesman order a whole other set. First of all the numbers didn't match so they were definately a miss matched foursome, and they were already 2 1/2 (2 tires) and 3 (2 tires) years old! No way was I shelling out almost $300.00 a tire for those four. He was pissed but I was glad I knew what to look for!

[ellenw]

Wow! Bookmarking this post!

[Bethers]

I must say I was nervous ordering the four tires for my car from Amazon but got four matched tires with this years date. The Ford dealer where I got the new tires for the RV was really surprised when I asked to see the code and more surprised when I knew what it meant. Duh. Would I have asked if I didn't?

[cnq50b]

Thanks for the explanation of the code. That will help whenever I buy tires from here on out.
This group is a wealth of info!

[Bethers]

Most general questions have been answered many times. One reason I try to ask people to post things in the proper room - so that people can know where to search for that info.

Here's a post with the tire info with a picture:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6782

This post, actually should have been in that forum - as this one is for showing off our rigs. We don't move posts often, but when searching - it's really easy when this kind of info is in the room you'd search!

[cnq50b]

Thanks for the info, Beth.
I wasn't sure where to start this - it started out just as an announcement that I got my RV then went down an insurance rabbit hole.
I'll get it right eventually... And actually without you saying anything I never would have known where it really belonged.
Thanks!

[Bethers]

Thanks for the info, Beth.
I wasn't sure where to start this - it started out just as an announcement that I got my RV then went down an insurance rabbit hole.
I'll get it right eventually... And actually without you saying anything I never would have known where it really belonged.
Thanks!

Not a big deal, until you go looking for info later. That's the only reason I mentioned it. And sometimes, if you aren't sure, put a post in the "general" room - kind of a catch-all for everything/anything.

And, yes, one reason I didn't say anything originally is the announcement part - but the thread ended up being more about insurance And if you give us long enough, it could turn into about just about anything..