Fifth Wheel vs Motorhome – Reasons to Consider a 5th Wheel
Friday, May, 1st 2015 22:07:29
RV Lifestyle Consultant Joe Vartuli discusses before rushing into the decision of purchasing a motorhome and why you should consider: ton the five key points to take into consideration:
1. Interior Space/Ceiling Height.
Typically, fifth wheels provide more living space, especially if equipped with multiple slideouts. Slideout widths are generally smaller in motorhomes to allow for people to move about the cabin, which produces less living space. Also factor in large interior ceiling heights in fifth wheels, and you’ll feel more at home.
2. Furniture/Appliances.
Large size residential amenities provide that home away from home feeling, with optional items such as central vac, solid surface counter tops, and also larger AC units, heating systems, and appliances depending on the model of the fifth wheel.
3. Storage.
The combination of exterior and interior storage provides extra space to bring along any and all items. Because there is no engine or cabin, fifth wheels generally have large bulkhead storage for bigger sized items.
4. Towing vs Driving.
As Joe mentions, 80% of people end up towing another vehicle behind their motorhome, whereas with a fifth wheel you always have a dependable tow vehicle with you, allowing you to easily unhook and travel wherever you would like. Either way, you will be towing something.
5. Cost/Maintenance.
Insurance plays a key role in cost for owning a motorhome because there are more moving parts. A fifth wheel can be up to 30% cheaper to insure than a motorhome. Plus, you have to factor in all general maintenance items like the chassis, tires, wheel bearings, brakes, compressed air systems, hydraulic systems, oil changes, etc. Overall, maintenance costs will run higher for a motorhome vs a fifth wheel simply because of the mechanics and build.
As you can see there are many factors to determine whether or not a motorhome or fifth wheel is more suitable for you and your family. As Joe explains, fifth wheels will provide you with more livability, which is better for longer stays, and motorhomes may be better suited for quicker stop and go trips. We hope we shed some insight on the differences to help make your decision making more educated.
Pete’s RV Center is an extraordinary recreational vehicle dealer with locations in South Burlington, VT, and Schererville, IN. An RV sales and service provider since 1952, Pete’s RV Center carries an extensive inventory of Keystone, Crossroads, Coachman, Heartland, Evergreen and Forest River RV-branded campers. We can be reached at 1-888-902-9352.
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Video Transcript | Fifth Wheel vs Motorhome – Reasons to Consider a 5th Wheel
Hi, I’m Joe Vartuli, RV Lifestyle Consultant, here at Pete’s RV Center in South Burlington, Vermont. I’m going to do a little bit of a buyer’s tip here. We’re actually doing a Fifth-Wheel versus a motorhome. I want to give you reasons why you should consider a Fifth Wheel if you were thinking you were in the market for a motorhome and depending on how you use it, how the Fifth Wheel can benefit you, alright?
some of the few things that we’re going to go over in kind of this quick video are interior space ceiling height. If you’ll notice, I’m in a triple slide right now. This has a tremendous amount of floor space in it. It has lots of storage everywhere. It’s all very usable. also, the ceiling heights are incredible in the Fifth-Wheels. The, no matter how tall you are, you’re not going to hit the ceiling. It’s, it gives you the feeling of space and openness, which a lot of people like.
a couple of the other things is the furniture. some of our units have very, very plush furniture in ’em. The Fifth Wheels, this unit here, in particular, has heated massage, theater seating, that actually has a power reclining in it. So it’s, it’s all right at your fingertips, LED lighting, and solid-surface counter tops. frameless windows on a lot of our fifth wheels, fireplaces, central vacuum systems if they don’t come with a, with a Dyson already.
also, Josh just showed you the full residential style of refrigerator, which is coming in more and more of the high-midline and upper-end Fifth Wheels. Big appliances. This one has a 30-inch, over-the-counter Microwave that you can see, and we are in a Bighorn 3875 so I will mention that. this is a, a front bathroom model, has a lot of great features.
But back to what we were talking about, otherwise I’ll keep rambling. storage. You notice the cabinetry everywhere inside of here. So inside and out, Fifth Wheels give you a tremendous amount of storage. On the outside, you have pass-through [store 00:01:59] [00:02:00], which we can’t show you here, but tremendous pass, pass-through compartments. Drills, chairs, blocks, whatever you need to put in there, even a small refrigerator will fit in some of the the outside storage compartments on these units. So you can bring everything with you. All right?
Towing and driving. One thing with a Fifth-Wheel is you’re only going to have one motorized vehicle. 80% of motorhome b-, motorhome buyers will end up towing a car, maybe a trailer with a motorcycle in it, but they end up towing something.
This, you have a nice tow vehicle with you all the time, so you always have a good dependable vehicle. once you’re unhitched at the campground you go to, state park, wherever you are, you have a reliable unit that you can go anywhere with.
next thing is cost and maintenance. Insurance cost on this is, is a fraction of what a motorhome would be. So it’s, it’s a third of what an average, maybe even a gas-class A would be. maintenance is very simple because it’s not another motorized vehicle.
You have your roof system to take care of, you keep it clean, you have your brakes and your, your axles. You keep your bearings lubed. And that’s not a whole lot more that you need to do with a, with a camper. A few other small items, but with another motorized vehicle, you have the class, you have the oil changes, the transmission fluids. You have a whole other motor vehicle that you have to take care of. And the ins-, like I said, again the insurance is a big part of it. There is a lot more.
Also going back a little bit to the towing, if you have the right-sized pickup, mated to the Fifth Wheel that you want, you back in, you drop your tailgate, you stop into your hitch, you put up your power legs and away you go. It’s very, very simple.
a lot of people ask me when they come in during the week, you know, I, really want a motorhome because it’s, it’s because I want to move a lot. We want to be going every one or two days here and there. It w-, the motorhomes will work terrific for that.
That being said, if you want to do extended stays at any point, the Fifth Wheel gives you much more livability in it. it will give you more space, more storage. Some of them have two bathrooms. bigger furnace systems, bigger air-conditioning systems until you get into your really high-end level diesel pusher motorhomes.
In a lot of ways, we’re trying to tell you the Fifth Wheel will give you a great option if you’re willing to look at it. I hope you enjoyed this buying tip from Pete’s RV. My name is Joe.
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.