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Not all RVs are created equal, and many are outfitted with high-end amenities that outclass some pricey real estate
By Sheila G. Miller / The Bulletin
Published: July 22. 2007 4:00AM PSTREDMOND —
Jim Needham’s RV has three flat-screen televisions, cameras on each side and on the back to
ease lane changes, high-end tile and a king-size bed. It’s no wonder he asks that you take off your shoes to enter.
The retired engineer’s 40-foot RV, parked among rows of motor homes as far as the eye can see at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center for The Rally this weekend, seems to sit a bit higher and shine a bit brighter than many of the other rigs on the grounds.
While Needham, who traveled from Washington with his wife for The Rally, doesn’t live full time in his RV, he certainly could.
Not all RVs are created equal. Gone are the days of the slowpoke trailers with cramped living quarters covered in shag carpeting. Today, anything you want in your dream home — from marble countertops and custom tile backsplash to king-size beds and walk-in closets — is available on wheels. And The Rally is the place to go to see the latest technology and add-ons that are available to everyone, from the guy towing a trailer to those with top-of-the-line rigs.
“As your kids get older, the parents have a little more discretionary income ... You can step up a little bit,” Needham said. “With RVs, there is something for everybody.”
Crème de la crème
At The Rally, which is a showcase for the industry and a chance for enthusiasts to check out all the new gadgets available for their RVs, people stream among the 1,000 showcase RVs, among marble statues and potted plants that companies have set out on AstroTurf near their RVs.
People walk their dogs around the exteriors, eyeing the custom paint jobs and reading signs that entice potential buyers with lists of the newest improvements made to the motor homes. When they tire of the exhibit RVs, there’s always the vendors, who hawk everything from caravan tours to license plate frames.
The average motor home buyer spends about $280,000 for a vehicle that comes equipped with all the standard features, such as modern appliances and comfortable furniture. But there are enough add-ons on display at The Rally, as well as RVs with special features to get a driver thinking and dreaming.
One vehicle attracts a line of people who wait patiently to enter its lavish interior, and that is the Country Coach’s Prevost.
The Prevost is a top-of-the-line bus about the size of two freshman dorm rooms. Except it retails for $1.5 million, and comes with tile floors, leather upholstery and mirrors over the king-size bed, making it much nicer than a dorm room filled with tapestries and patchouli scent.
“It has eye appeal,” Neville Proud of Beaudry RV, a dealership with locations throughout the Southwest, and a specialist at The Rally’s Country Coach exhibit said. “It’s very sexy.”
Not everyone finds a huge bus sexy, even one that’s dirt-resistant. But when Proud talks about it in his British accent, it’s hard not to get a bit starry-eyed.
Country Coach, which is based in Junction City, handles the Prevost with particular care. Each Prevost is one of a kind and is hand built from the ground up. It starts out as a bus shell, and buyers have it made to their exact specifications, with everything from mirrors on the ceilings to washers and dryers to bunk beds and marble countertops.
“There’s not anything you can’t have,” Proud said. “People with some wealth want something special, and we sell a lifestyle.”
The 45-foot converted bus looks like something a rock star might use to tour the country, and indeed, Proud mentioned the “Nashville conversion,” which equips the Prevost with bunk beds for traveling bands. It has double awnings on both sides and two slide outs on one side of the RV that move outward from the body to expand the interior, making it even more grandiose.
Inside, the dollar signs keep adding up. The Prevost is covered in leather, marble and tile. There are flat-screen televisions throughout, as well as a large refrigerator and a king-size bed with mirrors on the ceiling. In the back, behind the bed, is a walk-in closet.
It’s easy to see why the company, which has eight different motor homes in its product line, produces just 18 to 22 Prevosts each year.
Proud said there are ways to tell whether an RV is upscale .
“You look for quality,” he said. “Electronics, storage. You know, Country Coach makes approximately 800 coaches each year. Some places make 800 each month, or each week.”
A room — or two — of one’s own
While $1.5 million is out of reach for many of The Rally’s attendees, they can see a quality that is a bit more in reach if they visit Needham’s 2007 Winnebago Vectra, which has every factory add-on available, bringing its price tag to just over $300,000. It is 375 square feet of luxury.
Needham, 67, recently retired from Boeing, and he traveled all over the world for his work. But he and his wife, Laurie, never saw much of the United States. He spent three years searching for his perfect RV, creating a spreadsheet that listed all of his options and joining all the owner Web sites to read up on what users wrote about their RV experiences.
After reading up on the national transportation recalls, checking safety reviews for each RV in his price range and eyeing the value depreciation for them, he then started ticking manufacturers off the list. The RV he finally purchased retailed at just over $300,000, a 40-footer with three slide outs and every factory option available.
“I kind of thought, ‘Why not?’ I’ve worked all my life, I can afford it,” he said.
The couple spends three months out of the year in the RV, and during those months the Needhams ride in style. They’ve got a king-size bed with a Sleep Number mattress, a handle next to the front door that lights up at night, gas and brake pedals that extend higher so that Laurie can reach them with ease and a titanium-covered refrigerator that stays fingerprint-free. With cherry wood paneling, thick carpet and deep, rich colors, the RV’s decor is spotlessly clean.
Many of the trappings in the Needhams’ RV are the things people look for in dream houses: a solar panel on the roof to be sure the battery is always charged; an outdoor entertainment center with a refrigerator; three flat-screen TVs with surround sound.
And then there are the little things that are unique to living on the road in an RV: All the wires used to connect to the electricity grids in an RV park contract automatically when they’re unplugged. The 100-gallon tank of fresh water is purified twice, and the rig can handle 65 gallons of “black water” (from the toilet) and 65 gallons of “gray water” (from other sources). There are special latches on each of those water hoses so that, as Needham said, “there is no spillage.”
There are dozens of buttons around various parts of the RV, which allows Needham not only to enjoy his many gadgets, but to check the RV’s fluid levels. With a built-in vacuum system and a washer and dryer, it’s also easy to keep clean.
Needham said the expense comes in the addition of these little things.
“There are subtle differences in the fabric, in the cabinets,” he said. “They use less expensive veneer or fixtures. It’s the creature comforts.
“Storage, woodwork and tile.”
And with clearly labeled buttons and easy-to-understand instructions, anyone can figure out how to operate the RV.
“It’s designed to be idiot proof,” Needham said. “I’m an engineer so a lot of this is intuitive to me, but it’s foreign to others.”
While Needham has only recently learned the joy of the upscale RV, Gaylord Maxwell, 82, has written about the RV lifestyle for more than 30 years and founded the RV Life on Wheels conference series. Because he helps design the Coachman RVs, he receives a free motor home from the manufacturer each year. Parked in the newly finished RV park at the edge of the fairgrounds, Maxwell was surrounded by rigs of every conceivable size and shape.
“I think it’s important to ask users about (livability),” Maxwell said. “I mean, I think sometimes the bedspread and pillows cost more than the mattress, but the important thing is the mattress.”
The Sportscoach Elite that Maxwell currently pilots has four slide outs, and he uses a remote control to unlock the door and move the awnings back and forth.
“It enlarges the space, so you don’t have to be confined,” he said. “This is a big enough living space for anyone.”
There’s even a special place for his dog, Suzie, who sits on a platform over the dashboard, barking at cows and sometimes tractors.
Maxwell’s RV counted three flat-screen TVs, including one “on the patio.” But he doesn’t use them and seems to be disdainful of the idea of watching television when beautiful views abound.
“I just think, you’re in Yellowstone, and you put out your awning and you sit out there, and what do you do? Watch TV,” he said.
The lifestyle, not the bells and whistles
On Thursday, Maxwell’s friend Mike Steffen sat in the relative luxury of Maxwell’s RV and referred to his camper, parked across the aisle from Maxwell’s 40-foot rig, as a “tin can.”
The RV enthusiast from Salt Flat, Texas, 70 miles east of El Paso, used to live full time in an RV. Now he spends just two to three months a year on the road and has a house and another trailer. But for The Rally, Steffen decided to drive his truck-bed camper.
While large RVs dominate the landscape at The Rally, plenty of rigs parked at the fairgrounds ascribe to a simpler style. Everything from Steffen’s truck-bed camper to trailers can be found here; in fact, the Needhams came down to The Rally with a couple who travel in a pop-up tent camper.
The 1968 camper that Steffen is restoring sits atop a 1986 Ford F-250 truck, and may not look like much from the outside, but it has plenty of amenities. There’s a shower, a queen-size bed and a refrigerator. And there’s still enough room in there for his 120-pound dog.
Steffen has struggled to find any of the DuraCoat aluminum required for the restoration.
“It hasn’t been made since the ‘60s,” he said.
Despite Steffen’s admittedly downscale surroundings, he said that no one ever judges him based on his rig.
“Something about RVers is that they don’t talk about (the cost of their RVs),” he said. “They don’t worry about their rigs. It’s more about the lifestyle.”
The Rally ends today after four days of events, performances and RV showcases at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center. The attempt to break the world record for largest whoopee cushion sit-in on Friday evening fell short of the record. The final tally showed that 4,752 people participated, which failed to beat the record of 5,983 participants, according to a spokeswoman for The Rally.
The fairgrounds will continue to buzz with activity. Among the notable events, the Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo starts on Wednesday, Aug. 1, and lasts through Sunday, Aug. 5. The Family Motor Coach Association convention is scheduled from Aug. 13 to Aug. 16.
Sheila G. Miller can be reached at 633-2162 or at smiller@bendbulletin.com.
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