Even though gas prices keep going up, Americans still love to drive recreational vehicles. They are big and bulky and don't get good gas mileage, but it's nice to be able to drive a vehicle that has some of the comforts of home and is easy to park in national parks and other campgrounds. Why stay in a hotel when you can stay near a lake? A recreational vehicle does give you vacation options that other kinds of vehicles, like sport utility vehicles, don't. But an RV can break down just like any other vehicle, and when it does, the repairs can be expensive. They can be even more expensive if you aren't ready for something that most RV buyers don't know: that most states don't have lemon laws for RVs.
Recreational vehicles aren't cheap. Some of them can cost more than a million dollars. But even though they are legal cars, most states don't cover them under their lemon laws. Lemon laws are laws that give people who buy bad cars a way to get their money back from the company that made the car if the car keeps breaking down. Since RVs are usually pretty expensive, you might think that these laws would cover them, but in most states, that's not the case. So what?
RVs are mostly put together by hand, while most cars are mass-produced in the millions. Not only that, but many different companies usually make the parts. The drive train could be made by a company that makes cars, and the body and living space could be made by different companies. There isn't a single company that can be blamed for problems with cars. Only a few states cover RVs, and those that do usually only cover the parts that move the vehicle, not the parts where people live. Under the lemon law, you may be able to get your money back if your car's transmission is broken. If the stove stops working, you have to deal with the problem.
If you want to buy an RV, you should do the following to reduce the chances of problems:
Check the lemon laws in your state to see if the kind of car you want to buy is covered.
Look at cars from a number of different companies and pay close attention to the warranties they offer. If a longer warranty is available when you buy the item, you might want to think about getting it.
Find out how reliable the type of vehicle you want to buy has been in the past. If that company has had problems in the past, you might want to buy from a different company.
Check to see if the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association's seal is on the vehicle. This seal shows that the company makes the product and is a member of an industry group that requires its members to meet more than 500 safety standards.
Having a recreational vehicle is a lot of fun and can make vacations more fun. You don't want to spend your vacation at home while the RV is in the shop, though. Remember that the lemon law in your state probably won't help you.
