New to campers and surprised by the high prices. How come a camper is half the cost of a car?

[Buddha.]

Free internet points if you can spot the problem with the break away switch on this factory fresh unit.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

No problem, you pull the trailer backwards, nbd

 

[68camaro]

You have a point and I had no intention to categorize the ppl who prefer to buy a camper instead of a house and to have no house at all
It is your option. Having house does not mean you are fantastically rich
As someone who lived in a communist country I am telling you that compared with other ppl you might be rich.
Some live in tents and others under the open sky so compared with those YOU are fantastically rich. How does that sound ?

Having the luxury to travel as much as you want makes you rich, others have no food on their plate for days.
We can stretch the discussion (to continue your flower power tone) as much as you like.
My comment was made in an average person context in a country that has a certain standard of living and where despite of the appearances, ppl have less money than they believe hence
my choice to encourage the wise spending of time and money and discourage wasting the same.

You are seeing the world now? I could not care less. If I wanted to walk in your shoes I could, at any moment.
Each one of us choses to give a meaning to his life according with our aspirations and with our understanding of life, society and of the human being and its needs.
I am convinced that the uncontacted tribes that are still out there and live off the land in Amazonia or wherever, are much more free than you are and in their understanding, happier then us.
So compared with them your life (and mine) sucks!! Deal with that if you can. How do you like the comparison?

We are living in a time when buying a home in a major city is extremely costly.
Of course some prefer to live in a camper rather that to live in zone where the houses still have acceptable prices
So if you put this expense (buying a camper) in that context then sure, it makes sense
If I was just fresh out of Uni today that is what I would do. And work remote. Or buy out of the big cities
Hopefully Musk and his satellites will make working remote possible everywhere ...

So if you want to make that extreme comparison be my guest but to do not count on my replies beyond this one because as I said you call me rich but you are richer than you think.
I might know a little bit more than you think about poverty and lack of food.
I certainly did not become rich as you see me, by traveling. So if you don't like the fact that I am rich compared with you either ignore it or work to become rich
You could be rich too if you let a corporation decide when you can see the world and travel and retire

If you pick up that side of the argument stay on it and don't jump back and forth.
I came to this country with 7K in my pocket and nothing else other than education which was the only thing you could get for free in my home country back then (and you still can)
So if you are unhappy that you live in a camper and if you need education go to one of the countries that still offer free education to average candidates, live there for a while and since you are younger you will be at the same starting point where I was years ago. Work from there
But if you are happy with the way you chose to live then don't compare yourself with me or others and don't victimize yourself because that was your decision
Don't call me rich because you decided to live the way you live. (which comes with pros and cons)

Of course you can expand the discussion and bring up all sort of extreme situations but I am talking about average ppl , 'obsessed' with money. This does not apply to free spirits, OK ?

Bada....boom.....nicely said.....

 

[68camaro]

In real terms most things go down in price. Pretty much anything that benefits from improved productivity gets cheaper.

That is how economy works, however, with Fed sacrificing savers and the dollars purchasing power at alter of bubbled asset prices few things will get cheaper until Fed is reigned in. Then everything will get cheaper...very quickly....if Fed gets reigned in! Hopefully this happens before next summer when I am ready to pull trigger on new rig.....

ADMIN: Political Post warning - this is walking to close to politics please.

 

[68camaro]

Yep waiting for the COVID RE madness to drop then its another rental?. Rentals are also great ways to balance inflation.

We bought another 2 months ago (took forever to find good deal), about to list in next few weeks, rents are increasing so no rush. We are patiently looking for another.

 

[workerdrone]

That is how economy works, however, with Fed sacrificing savers and the dollars purchasing power at alter of bubbled asset prices few things will get cheaper until Fed is reigned in. Then everything will get cheaper...very quickly....if Fed gets reigned in! Hopefully this happens before next summer when I am ready to pull trigger on new rig.....

Bitcoin is trying to fix this - it's surprising how far you can go in an argument that unsound/endlessly devalued fiat money can be seen as the root cause of so many of society's evils and inefficiencies.

 

[calicamper]

As for homeless vs campers? LOL thats like saying making sand castles is a long term thing. My dad spent most of his kid years living in a surplus army tent in of all places California. My grandfather was an orchard foreman. It wasn’t till my dad was in his teens that my grandfather’s knowledge of metals and welding y pure accident landed him a welding booth at a jet engine research facility. Early jet engines had this annoying problem of shedding compressor blades. My grand father stayed late and machined up his own version using the metal types he Knew were far better suited for the task. The next week top the top brass showed up at his booth demanding to know what he did.Turns out he was right and they had a jet engine that didn’t shed parts anymore. A yr later he bought his first house in Gilroy. He retired a highly respected metals expert many yrs later. He was self taught…

Fixing the homeless problem means having a fixed location where you can safely develop a value to your community ie become part of your community. The Mobile homeless by design do not become part of the community they are passing through. So they might be homeless but they also better be skilled enough to find remote work without traditional relationship building etc.

 

[MM4Overland]

I did state that it should be government paying for it, maybe also private contributions.

Ends up being the cheapest solution to homelessness, dignity in housing should be a right of citizenship.

Cities that have Solved Homelessness - 4 cities that have done it

What cities have the smallest homeless population? What have each of these cities done to solve homelessness? Read this to find out!

caufsociety.com

‘Simply not an option’: How Finland is solving the problem of homelessness

Finland’s strategy of immediately providing permanent housing for those who most need it has made the country the leading example of how to drastically reduce homelessness

www.theglobeandmail.com

yes you did
Like someone who DOES know what the things cost you could probably tell us how much it would cost a homeless to keep a camper on the road (insurance, gas maintenance and so on)
Or you are seeing those as just stationary capsules -which would result in a lots of problems (overcrowding, sanitary problems and so on, I do not even what to think about how 'wise' is this option)
Buying campers for homeless is the most laughable idea I have heard in a while, please keep entertaining us since you know what the things cost

Because unlike you I do not know what the things cost I had the curiosity to check the cost to build an one room unit (lowest cost in 65K)
This is probably a much better solution and explains why the cities in those articles opted for that

Of course buying a camper for a homeless is as realistic as paying 40K for one these days )

 

[john61ct]

Still much cheaper than what we are currently doing.

Stationary housing may be preferred by some, that's fine.

A transportable tiny-home would work better for many so they can choose to relocate.

Key is their having dignity in ownership, with plenty of support resources to give them as much control as possible

 

[Todd780]

Forrest River??

Ouch... lol That's what we have.

 

[Todd780]

View attachment 678768
Just for fun.
This is from one of forest rivers higher end models. A micro lite. Careful when you’re reaching for a fresh pair of socks under your bed.

Yikes! Ours does not have that! Not saying it's super well built but maybe since it's a 2016 it was built a 'little' better than the covid madness RV's?

 

[calicamper]

Yikes! Ours does not have that! Not saying it's super well built but maybe since it's a 2016 it was built a 'little' better than the covid madness RV's?

Covid built RVs and boats are a mess. And there are lots of them! 2020-2022 will no doubt be build yrs people avoid ?

 

[Todd780]

Covid built RVs and boats are a mess. And there are lots of them! 2020-2022 will no doubt be build yrs people avoid ?

When we brought ours into our dealer to be serviced this spring, we were told they received some trailers from the factory with no brakes....

That being said, I usually have to repair something every time we tow ours. (usually screws that came out) So, I'm slowing rebuilding it anyway... Nature of the beast.

 

[MM4Overland]

Still much cheaper than what we are currently doing.

Stationary housing may be preferred by some, that's fine.

A transportable tiny-home would work better for many so they can choose to relocate.

Key is their having dignity in ownership, with plenty of support resources to give them as much control as possible

I totally get it, more than half of the switzerland population does not own a house, they live in complete humiliation, third world country

Switzerland Home Ownership Rate | 2010-2019 Data | 2020-2021 Forecast | Historical

Home Ownership Rate in Switzerland decreased to 41.60 percent in 2019 from 42.50 percent in 2018. Home Ownership Rate in Switzerland averaged 43.18 percent from 2010 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 44.50 percent in 2014 and a record low of 41.30 percent in 2017. This page provides the...

tradingeconomics.com

.

Some **************** in US inoculated the idea that every person must own a house and "the american dream" includes this and many others
If you don't you are considered low life or whatever

In Europe especially in major cities the norm seems to be on the opposite side and they don't feel so humiliated and undignified
I say let's stop here because for someone who knows what things cost you are missing lots of things from the picture and connecting a freaking insulated box where you can live and eat with the human dignity is hilarious

I think that, to put things in perspective, if they say that it costs 60K at minimum to build a one room appartment and 40K for a camper we have lost our compass.
Yes it is a luxury industry, some can afford it
There is RVs and truck size overland vehicles costing 200K -500K-1mil.
Who the heck buys that ? It beats me but hey they are there ...someone must buy them as they buy these: https://www.google.com/search?q=gold+ferrary

 

[Buddha.]

When we brought ours into our dealer to be serviced this spring, we were told they received some trailers from the factory with no brakes....

I was working on a new big fifth wheel that had no brakes. The transport guy was the one that pointed it out. I wasted some time on that one. Long story short they didn’t connect the axle wires(brakes) to anything. I found the brake wires tucked up into the underbelly.