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If buying a recreation vehicle in Canada is on your mind, or you are thinking about upgrading your RV, you should go to different dealers in your area. You have the opportunity to contact them directly so that you may find out the different types of tow able RVs, motor homes, or camper vans they have for sale.

Dealers in Canada are listed by province, or select dealers for a specific region. However RVs are not just for sale in Canada you can also rent them and usually at places where you buy them. They also have repair facilities for anyone wishing to repair or renovate.

It does not matter if are thinking about purchasing a new or used RV, you should visit the dealers near you so that you may have a close up view of all the different types of RV models that they have to offer. The employees will be able to answer all if not most of your questions and have plenty of information on different financing options, insurance, towing specifications, licensing requirements and after-market recommendations.

The dealers will set up your new unit for you and will also demonstrate all the different systems that are built into your newly purchased RV. Call them or visit their website to see what additional services they offer. Most dealerships give you a good thing by offering recreational vehicle maintenance, different RV accessories, parts and service. Certain dealerships even have unique services such as consignment sales, storage, RV collision repair, hitch service, van conversion and also solar power installation.

Before you take any steps you should first check lists of RV dealers first, or take a glance at the Yellow Pages, and if you still have difficulties contacting a dealer neat you, you can always go and search on the internet for your RVs for sale in Canada.

When considering which motor home or recreational vehicle is appropriate for you, there is a great deal of information to sort through. In Canada and the United States, leading RV dealers supply vehicles made by more than 80 manufacturers, in at least nine distinct classes.

Smaller, used vehicles can start as low as $5,000, while new, high-end models can fetch more than $300,000 at sale. The most gratuitous vehicles which, among other luxuries, are capable of storing a small car within the main “hull” have been known to cost several million dollars! The features offered by the vehicles of different size, class, and make vary a great deal, and it is always wise to make your purchase knowing that you are an informed buyer.

There are nine different RV classes you should be familiar with when shopping around. The first three of these are what are strictly known as motor homes, although it is still correct to call some other classes of RV a motor home. Class A motor homes are usually built around a commercial sized truck or bus chassis and are usually more than 30 feet long. A second-hand unit can be found for as little as $11,000; however, Class A motor homes will be found between $100,000 and $300,000 when new.

Class B motor homes are smaller, usually between 19 and 30 feet long. You can easily recognize Class B vehicles by the more common name of camper vans. Built around a modified conventional van body, a new one will usually cost between $30,000 and $70,000.

Class C motor homes are more similar to Class A, being built on a truck chassis between 21 and 35 feet long, costing anywhere over $50,000 new. They are distinctive in that they always have a section which overhangs the truck’s cabin, making the most of the available space.

The next largest class of recreational vehicle is what is known as a 5th wheel trailer. This is an RV trailer which hitches onto the back of a truck with a semi-trailer coupling. These are typically the heaviest-duty trailer hitching available, used by the largest trucks, and suitable for a large RV with a relatively heavy load. 5th wheel trailers are often modified from some other original vehicle, so prices and sizes vary, but they are usually between 30 and 40 feet long, fetching anywhere between $30,000 and $100,000.

Fifth wheels have the advantage of being able to unhook from the vehicle towing it, giving you much greater flexibility in how you use both your motor home, and your towing vehicle. Note that a 5th wheel coupling is unsuitable for retrofitting to most types of vehicle, so the preferred towing vehicle is a light commercial truck or something similar.

Next, are the smaller caravan-style trailers ranging from 13 feet to around 30 feet. These include the smallest class, folding campers, that have extensible fold-out awnings when deployed, and can be found for between $5,000 and around $20,000. These represent the lightest type of RV you can normally find. Slightly larger are bi-fold, conversion vans, and travel trailers - each of these is typically sized less than 30 feet.

Conversion vans resemble a really large camper van or light bus, and are available for around $90,000. Bi-fold RVs are large trailers of around 30 feet when deployed, but which are towed when ‘folded’ to make them much shorter and lower profile which makes them lighter, and easier for you to tow. Bi-folds and travel trailers are each usually found for between $15,000 and $40,000, and like conversion vans, may need external hookups for water, waste, and power, frequently available at properly equipped trailer parks.

With dozens of different types of RVs available, you are sure to be able to find a motor home or other recreational vehicle to suit your needs, whether you’re a retiree, camper, on a college road-trip, move around a lot for work, or you’re after a low-cost housing solution. Budgets can range anywhere between five thousand to three million dollars, depending on your needs.

If you are an RV owner and looking to sell your RV, you will probably need to know just what it is worth before you know how much you are willing to take for it. The best place for you to turn is to the trusty blue book. This book is like the bible of RV values. Surely, you have heard of the blue book for cars, well this is relatively the same, but with the blue book price for RVs.

How Is the Blue Book Value Calculated?

The RV blue book value takes a lot of different conditions into consideration. First, it will consider the average price asked by dealers for that specific make, model, and year. Depending on which blue book you choose to use, you may be provided various values, such as retail, private party, and trade-in. The retail price will include profit, advertisement, commission, and other amounts that may be associated with doing business. Typically, retail value is used for selling the RV to a dealer.

Private party will give the value that someone might consider when selling to another person that is not a professional dealer. This value assumes that the RV is in top condition and meets all standards that it originally came with. Of course, there are many things to be considered when determining your selling price.

Some things to consider, include:

- Current Body Condition Is there any rust, dents, dings, or weather related signs?

- Current Mechanical Condition

Does the RV run in top shape? Have you kept up on routine maintenance? Is there anything missing or not working?

- Current Interior Condition

Do all appliances and facilities within the RV function properly? Are there any problems? Does the interior show any signs of wear and tear? Plus the model, the make and the year it was manufactured. It is always possible to get the most out of your RV, match the real value if you find the right buyer, and make any necessary adjustments to ensure that the RV is in top condition inside and out.

Where can I Find Current Blue Book Values?

There are several blue book value guides available for your use. However, one of the most popular is the Kelley Blue Book. This book has been used by dealers and private sellers for many years. What is great about the Kelly Blue Book for RVs is that they offer both a hard copy of the book, as well as an online version that is updated weekly. The actual guide is updated several times per year.

Another great blue book guide is the N.A.D.A. Recreation Vehicle Appraisal Guide. This guide, provided by the National Automobile Dealers Association (N.A.D.A.) offers a wide range of prices that includes suggested listing, retail, and wholesale. This one is updated three times every year. Knowing the RV blue book prices can help you get a great starting point when you are looking to sell your recreation vehicle.

This article discusses an age old question and one I get asked a lot, should I buy gas or diesel? This question has fueled many a heated debates too. Sometimes this question involves a truck that will be used to tow a trailer, and other times it involves what type of motorhome to purchase. A universal response you could expect to hear to this question goes something like this: Diesels cost more. Don’t buy a diesel unless you plan to put a bunch of miles on it and keep it for a long time. That’s the only way you can justify the extra cost of a diesel.

Several years ago there was some truth to this somewhat typical response. But things are changing, especially when you’re talking about motorhomes. Today, the cost of some gasoline powered motorhomes is about the same as many of the entry level diesel motorhomes available on the market. This higher cost is mainly due to advancements in gasoline RV chassis’ design; with greater Gross Vehicle Weight Ratings (GVWR) to accommodate coach designs with 3 and 4 slideouts. And don’t forget to factor in the new technology in gasoline engine and transmission design over the past several years.

The old response, of diesels costing more, does hold true with some of the specialized diesel chassis manufacturers, but it’s not just the engine that accounts for these higher prices. You are moving to a much higher plateau across the board. For the most part gasoline RV chassis’ are heavy duty truck chassis’ modified for Recreation Vehicle use, whereas many diesel chassis’ are a bus chassis. These bus chassis’ have even greater GVWR’s, air brakes, air ride suspension systems, larger transmissions, rear mounted diesel engines and more. They handle better, ride better and cost more. I always say you get what you pay for.

Other than the cost factor between gas and diesel motorhomes, what are we really talking about when it comes down to gas versus diesel? Say for example in a truck you want to use to pull a trailer. This is where we need to factor in the engine itself. This is also where torque and horsepower come into the equation.

Explaining torque and horsepower can get extremely technical, and we want to keep this simple and easy to understand. With that said, torque is basically the force or energy required to move something. Torque is the measurement of force, and force is measured in reference to a twisting or rotating shaft. In English terms torque is measured in pounds-feet, but is more commonly referred to as foot-pounds. So in keeping it simple let’s just say that torque can be thought of as the amount of turning force it takes to move one pound of weight the distance of one foot.

Torque can be multiplied through gear ratios. You have probably heard that the higher the real axle gear ratio is the better the truck will tow. The axle ratio is the number of times the driveshaft must rotate to turn the rear wheels one time. If you have a 3.73:1 axle ratio the drive shaft turns 3.73 times for each full turn of the axle. So in a sense torque really equals towing capacity.

Horsepower on the other hand is torque X RPM’s. Torque is how much work is being done, and horsepower is how fast you get the actual work done. What’s interesting is an engine rated at 350 horsepower only produces that horsepower at a rated peak power RPM. This RPM range, for a gasoline engine, is often between 5,000 and 6,000 RPM’s. When an engine is idling the horsepower is significantly lower, and as the RPM’s raise so does the horsepower. When you are towing a trailer the engine speed is more likely to be in the low to mid 2,000 RPM range, which means you probably have slightly more than half of the rated horsepower. Horsepower is measured by a dynamometer. A dynamometer puts a load on the engine and measures the amount of power the engine produces against the load at various speeds. In reality it is measuring torque in pound-feet and converting it to horsepower. Even at the rated peak power RPM you won’t really get the rated horsepower because a percentage is lost through auxiliary equipment on the engine and the process of getting it back to the wheels.

In a diesel engine the horsepower peaks at a lower RPM, and there is more torque at a lower RPM compared to a gasoline engine. This results in a diesel engine having much more power at a lower RPM, around the RPM range you will be towing at. This higher torque and higher horsepower at a lower RPM equates to better towing.

There are many other factors involved in the question of gas versus diesel that you will need to consider. What are the maintenance costs involved, cost difference between fuel types, fuel economy, your budget, and the resale value? Whether it’s for a tow vehicle or a motor home, take your time and make a well informed decision when comparing gas to diesel.

If the question is which truck will tow more or which motor home has more torque the diesel will win hands down, but I honestly have no complaints with our gas powered motor home either. Especially when considering the price.

Q&A

Question: Why does a diesel engine have more torque?

Mark Says: Much of the reason is in the way the engine is designed. Internal combustion engines use spark from a spark plug to ignite fuel in the combustion chamber of a gasoline engine and the high heat from compression to ignite the fuel in a diesel engine. It’s more difficult to burn diesel fuel so diesel engines have higher compression ratios resulting in more heat to ignite the fuel and more power.

Question: I have always heard that a diesel engine is much louder than a gas engine, is this true?

Mark Says: If you asked me that several years ago the answer would have been yes, but newer diesel engines are actually very quiet.

Question: You said in the article a diesel motor home rides better, why is that?

Mark Says: Most gas motor home chassis’ use leaf spring suspension systems. With this suspension system you will experience things like “body roll” and “pitch.” whenever pressure is exerted against one side of the motor home. It can be caused by a gust of wind, a shift in weight while cornering, or a passing truck. The effects of sway on a motor home are increased because of the height and mass of the motor home. A diesel chassis uses an air ride suspension system. These systems keep the chassis adjusted to the proper ride height at all times by adding and releasing air as required. And the way the system is designed eliminates the pitch and roll affect you get from leaf spring suspensions, resulting in a smoother riding motor home.

Looking to take a trip cross-country this year? Save your money on the Greyhound, because investing in a surplus RV might be the best way to go. Many people are skeptical and feel that an RV (a Recreational Vehicles, that is,) is simply too much to handle. For all you naysayers let me assure you that purchasing and maintaining an RV has never been easier. Let me just get out of the way however, that the worst thing about purchasing an RV is the lack of maid service; but if that doesn’t faze you then an RV is a perfect, solid investment!

With an RV, the pros obviously outweigh the cons. RVs are convenient because lodging at motels is not necessary, you get to sleep in your very own bed and kitchens make it convenient to prepare your own food, consequently saving you a ton of money on outside dining. Now while everything about RVs sound peachy keen, the hardest thing about them is finding the right one for you. Fortunately for you there are a plethora of surplus RV auctions are out there and somewhere in this country there might be an RV with your name on it.

The term surplus simply means that excess goods were originally purchased at one point or another (typically by a government agency) and are now being offered up to the general public because they are no longer needed by the agency. Since RVs are normally purchased in lots, many of the excess RVs offered up for sale are brand new and have never even been used! And because government agencies like GSA (General Services Administration) are not seeking to make a profit off of these items, you’re practically guaranteed an amazing deal when you attend an RV surplus auction.

Because of this technological era that we live in, there are a couple of ways to go about purchasing surplus RVs. Aside from the usual live auctions available to the public, online auctions have been gaining popularity as of late. Just imagine going on your computer, finding the surplus RV of your dreams, and bidding on it directly online! Believe it or not this is now a reality and countless buyers and investors are doing it everyday. Anyone who knows and understand how websites like eBay and Amazon operate can truly appreciate these types of auctions that are offered.

Finding the right RV for you might be a daunting task but luckily there are comprehensive resource websites like GovernmentAuctions.org that can help put your mind at ease. Picking the perfect RV has never been easier with websites like theirs because what they do is aggregate information on various government surplus auctions, and other surplus auctions and list that information directly through the use of their online directory. So be sure to check out an RV surplus auction today where you’ll not only save huge, but you could very well walk away with the investment and deal of a lifetime.