Sunday, May 11, 2014

RV behemoths? Please, call us motor coaches!



Manufacturer's suggested retail price:  $445,942.
Motor Home Specialist sale price:  $299,912.
Length:  40 feet 5 inches
Number of slide-outs:  3
Number of air-conditioners: 2
Gas mileage:  Not provided.

Supersize Motor Homes Can Be a Good Wayt to Go, or Stay. (The New York Times, 5/9/2014)

Not for your average road warrior.   The big motor homes like the Kuehns’ start at 35 feet. Called motor coaches, they go up to 45 feet and weigh up to 25 tons — 14 times the weight of the average car. Most have two, three or four slide-outs — wall sections that are pushed out once the vehicle is parked, nearly doubling the living space. New, these big rigs sell for $200,000 to $2 million.

You need to make money -- big bucks -- save money. Retirees from high-tax states in the Northeast and Midwest can come out ahead if they go south. In Connecticut, the Andersons paid a 6 percent state income tax and a $13,000 real estate tax on their 18th-century nine-bedroom home. In Florida, they pay no state income tax and they pay $1,000 a year on their $56,000 lot. “We’re saving $20,000 a year right off the top,” Ms. Anderson said.

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