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Yes I think this epidemic will make people buy an RV to avoid motels and hotels.
I am retired, sold our RV last year due to age (RV's age not ours haha) and not looking forward to future road trips and motel stays.
We took some fantastic RV trips in the US, longest was 7 weeks. I miss that way of traveling but spouse didn't want the maintenance or mental overhead. Staying in a motel or hotel after 10 years of RV travel just sucks. Room prices have gone way up and cleanliness has gone down. Them spraying the room with 409 does not make me think "that's clean!" it makes me cough and gives me a headache. I know I'm asking a lot when I don't want a disinfectant smell in the room but I really miss my clean RV.
Yes I think this epidemic will make people buy an RV to avoid motels and hotels.
I am retired, sold our RV last year due to age (RV's age not ours haha) and not looking forward to future road trips and motel stays.
We took some fantastic RV trips in the US, longest was 7 weeks. I miss that way of traveling but spouse didn't want the maintenance or mental overhead. Staying in a motel or hotel after 10 years of RV travel just sucks. Room prices have gone way up and cleanliness has gone down. Them spraying the room with 409 does not make me think "that's clean!" it makes me cough and gives me a headache. I know I'm asking a lot when I don't want a disinfectant smell in the room but I really miss my clean RV.
Anyone buying an RV because of covid-19?
Expensive non-solution to a problem that requires a different way of looking at human contact to effect any risk reduction.
RV travelers would not have as much risk from motel rooms, sure. They still have to legally dispose of their own waste at a designated RV dump station. You wear gloves while doing so, but do you do that or disinfect every time you fill your water containers? Or connect to electricity? What about the many times you pump gas and use credit card or cash? Do you stay in your RV to avoid tourist places, thereby negating a big reason that people travel in the first place? If so, you’re just driving around in your own land-based isolation cruise ship. You might as well stay at home until the high risk period settles down. Just as with influenza and nororvirus epidemics.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We already bought one, two years ago, and yes, we would be far more confident staying in it at a campground than in a hotel. Still, I doubt that sales will surge. In fact, our dealer just reduced their hours because it’s been quiet, despite this being the start of peak sales season.
If anything I bet sales will fall off. People are freaking the heck out over this and stockpiling toilet paper and dry beans. So I highly doubt that they will also start impulse-buying RVs.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Covid-19 is likely under control in < 3 months (though not ever gone).
Hope very few travelers spring for RV with that short notice decision.
I feel a whole lot better using guest homes than hotels. For last 30 yrs, All have been very clean and typically < 10 ,(carefully screened) guests / yr use each bed. Far different than 300+ of 'who knows who?'
Traveled over 50% of 2019, used <10 hotels.
2020 will be an RV year. Welcoming low fuel costs.!
Booking cruises out through 2021, very cheap rates today! (If cruise line does not go broke). Cruise beds do not gross me out like motel beds. (Who slept here in the last week? )
Talking with a hazmat team who cleans motel rooms from crime scenes...
You don't want to know... Doubt that is a thing for most guesthomes or b&b.
Covid-19.... Probably be sleeping in the car more.! I often prefer to hotel. Shower daily at community pool, sport center.
For smaller (sub-26') RV's, I'm expecting an economic downturn that will knock down the prices on new RV's, but boost or maintain the prices on older "last legs" class-C's and maybe travel trailers.
Right now, prices for anything newer than 2008 are high due to people trying to monetize RVs with Outdoorsy and RVshare. Also, there was recently a lot of disposable income out there for people to sign up for (or have signed up for) 600/mo financing on "brand new" 2017-2020 models over the last 5 years.
Likewise, rents are high and rising, so the older Class-C's, (1994 and older) were snapped up at the sub-$7000 price point by people looking for alternative living arrangements. Van-lifers by necessity rather than by choice. I know because I was interested in buying a ~$4000 class-C and found that they would be sold within days, sometimes hours, of hitting craigslist.
However, with the bottom falling out of the market and the economy nose-diving into recession with the 1-2 punch of Coronavirus (which is going to get a LOT worse before it gets better) and the massive shock of a 30% drop in oil prices due to the price war between the Saudis and the Russians, lots of people are going to lose their jobs by year's end, if not sooner. The disposable income that allowed them to make those payments on a new RV (plus pay for the truck to haul it, go on the vacation to use it, and afford the rental space to park it) is going to dry up.
Dealers will repo a lot of 2017-2020 models, plus have their own purchase stock they can't move. Just to avoid extra warehousing costs as their lots fill up, they'll have to sell the repo'd RV's at-or-below cost. Wholly-owned RV's (of every age and condition, but mostly newer) will be put up on Craigslist by owners who need to make rent more than they need their toyhauler. Basically a massive glut across the board. Vacation travel is going to take a big hit, so the demand generated by outdoorsy and RVshare willl evaporate. Lots of sellers, no buyers, and some of those sellers will get desperate and take losses on selling the RV because they need the money to avoid losing the house. It'll be great time to buy new[er], if you can afford it, and have some plan to use it (or can sit on it for a while if you own your own covered parking).
Meanwhile, the demand for sub-$6000 rV's will proably hold steady or increase slightly. People who lose their jobs, but built up a little bit of savings, who can't afford their 1500/mo rent for more than 4-5 more months, will buy the older, cheaper RV's and try to avoid homelessness through van life.
Just roughly, I'd guess that the entry-level (like a--today's dollars-- $11K 20' bunkhouse) 2018-era will take a 25-30% haircut.
1989-era class-C's that still run ($5K range) will probably get a 10% bump.
I couldn't begin to guess the economics of the big boys, because I'm not interested in them so I don't track that world.
Expensive non-solution to a problem that requires a different way of looking at human contact to effect any risk reduction.
RV travelers would not have as much risk from motel rooms, sure. They still have to legally dispose of their own waste at a designated RV dump station. You wear gloves while doing so, but do you do that or disinfect every time you fill your water containers? Or connect to electricity? What about the many times you pump gas and use credit card or cash? Do you stay in your RV to avoid tourist places, thereby negating a big reason that people travel in the first place? If so, you’re just driving around in your own land-based isolation cruise ship. You might as well stay at home until the high risk period settles down. Just as with influenza and nororvirus epidemics.
Many full-timers are doing exactly that.
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