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High fuel prices don't slow RVers By Bob Mims, The Salt Lake Tribune, Saturday, May 28, 2005 Watching gasoline prices climb, you may have mused that soon only a Saudi sheik could afford to drive a fuel-gulping motor home or other recreational vehicle. It makes sense. The $2 per gallon barrier was broken more than a year ago, and while pump prices going into the Memorial Day weekend had settled to the $2.25-$2.30 range for regular gas, it seems only a matter of time until we have to dig deeper for a fill-up. Then why are sales of RVs - even the bus-sized, rolling condominiums lucky to make 9 to 10 miles per gallon - climbing dramatically so far this year? "You might think there would be a big change with high fuel costs," says Steven Jensen, Utah Group manager for Blaine Jensen RVs. "But RVers not only have not stopped buying, our sales this year are up as much as almost 50 percent." Jensen says the RV habit is phased little by rising gas or diesel prices (the latter is in the $2.45-$2.50 per gallon range) because pump costs are more than offset by savings and convenience in other areas. For example, a 200-mile trip in a motor home making 10 mpg uses 20 gallons of fuel. If that cost even goes up $1 per gallon, the trip costs just $20 more. "People aren't going to stop RVing for $1 a gallon," Jensen says. "If anything, instead of a 2,000 mile trip, they may decide on a 500-mile trip." Another factor: Low interest rates. With RV funding costs low, buyers can save thousands of dollars in interest payments in just a few years. Other savings come in avoiding airline travel, expensive overnight stays in motels and being able to cook and eat inside your home on wheels. For example, PKF Consulting researchers recently found that on a weeklong trip from Atlanta to Orlando, a family of four would save $1,250, or 43 percent, by traveling in their motor home and staying in campgrounds rather than flying, renting a car, using hotels and eating in restaurants. "RVing might be the only part of the travel market growing right now," says Rod Dale, assistant general manager for Ardell Brown RVs in Sandy, where sales are reportedly up more than 40 percent. In addition to low interest rates and comparative vacation savings, Dale sees a change in Americans' travel preferences since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "Versus getting on a plane for Europe or really anywhere, no one's going to hijack an RV and fly it into a building," he says. "People now are more inclined to want to see their own country, and with a lot of them into their 50s and their 401(k)s built up, they are." While RV sales soar, trailer and motor home rentals also are on the rise. Cruise America, one of the nation's leading RV renters, estimates business is up 10-15 percent. Indeed, the rising interest in taking the conveniences of home on the road also has helped such specialized RV niche enterprises as Elden Wood's Venture RV of Salt Lake City (http://venturerecreation.com). Along with motorcycles, the company currently rents "Class B" camper vans, a luxurious step up from so-called conversion vans in terms of eating, bathroom and storage amenities. All models are new, being sold at the end of the travel season and replaced. In the $65,000-$75,000 range, the Class B option can cost almost as much as a fully equipped, top-of-the-line travel trailer or "fifth wheel" (a larger towable requiring a heavy-duty pickup truck), or even a smaller motor home. But all of those options offer more room. The modified vans are more cramped, but they do boast 20 to 22 mpg ratings and are versatile, Wood says. They "can easily double as a family vehicle and still be the family's vacation vehicle when needed," he says. "It's not enormous, and it's not a gas guzzler sitting six months out of the year."
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