Being forced to purchase an "As Is" RV due to a lack of credit and/or funds is jumping from one desperate situation into a never ending nightmare of frustration, physical danger and extreme stress. It is far worse for seniors and the disabled because they are not physically capable of doing any of the repairs themselves and have to hire expensive mobile repairmen to do the work.
There are no protections nor standards in place for people in this situation to assure them the "As Is" RV is safe. That the roof won't leak and fall in on you. That the electrical system won't electrocute you or burn the thing down with you in it. That the water system plumbing is not going to poison you with high levels of contaminates or the water pump won't spray water all over the converter box. That the sewage system dump tanks are in good shape and their gates actually work properly instead of leaking and spraying waste water everywhere underneath the RV because the gate won't properly close/open. That the water heater is not so caked with limescale as to cause the electric heating element to pop the breakers and the water heater to rupture sending water everywhere. That the furnace, if it works, isn't going to kill you with carbon monoxide emissions and there is no carbon monoxide detector to warn you of the danger. That the propane lines are not leaking and priming the place to explode.
The reason nothing is ever repaired on "As Is" RVs is because to bring them up to a functional level would cost more than the RV is worth and, most often, cost more than a new one. Still, I find it abhorrent that people are forced into these situations because they have no other choice and there is absolutely no one who is willing to help. No Christian groups, no die hard RVer's, none of the manufacturers, no politicians and certainly no insurance companies.
Everyone here loves the RV lifestyle, myself included, and to be forced to give it up would be a fate worse than death. It's long past time that RVer's stop thinking like vacationers. It's past time that the RV manufacturers started seeing the RV as a pernament home as so many of us have. It's past time that we fight for those in the RV community who are forced to live in an "As Is" get the help they need just to be able to live in it safety and the comfort that brings. There are lemon laws for automobiles, but they do little to protect the buyer. The few states that do have lemon laws for RV's are useless. This needs to change. If the RV community doesn't step up then what good are they? None at all.
As you might suspect, I am someone caught in this nightmare of "As Is" RVing. "As Is" RVing is about trying to survive. Making do. Micro-homesteading is how I describe it. Maybe the next time you go to an event or travel for a change of scenery you could remember that people like me and many others would just be happy if our RV wasn't falling apart around us.
There are no protections nor standards in place for people in this situation to assure them the "As Is" RV is safe. That the roof won't leak and fall in on you. That the electrical system won't electrocute you or burn the thing down with you in it. That the water system plumbing is not going to poison you with high levels of contaminates or the water pump won't spray water all over the converter box. That the sewage system dump tanks are in good shape and their gates actually work properly instead of leaking and spraying waste water everywhere underneath the RV because the gate won't properly close/open. That the water heater is not so caked with limescale as to cause the electric heating element to pop the breakers and the water heater to rupture sending water everywhere. That the furnace, if it works, isn't going to kill you with carbon monoxide emissions and there is no carbon monoxide detector to warn you of the danger. That the propane lines are not leaking and priming the place to explode.
The reason nothing is ever repaired on "As Is" RVs is because to bring them up to a functional level would cost more than the RV is worth and, most often, cost more than a new one. Still, I find it abhorrent that people are forced into these situations because they have no other choice and there is absolutely no one who is willing to help. No Christian groups, no die hard RVer's, none of the manufacturers, no politicians and certainly no insurance companies.
Everyone here loves the RV lifestyle, myself included, and to be forced to give it up would be a fate worse than death. It's long past time that RVer's stop thinking like vacationers. It's past time that the RV manufacturers started seeing the RV as a pernament home as so many of us have. It's past time that we fight for those in the RV community who are forced to live in an "As Is" get the help they need just to be able to live in it safety and the comfort that brings. There are lemon laws for automobiles, but they do little to protect the buyer. The few states that do have lemon laws for RV's are useless. This needs to change. If the RV community doesn't step up then what good are they? None at all.
As you might suspect, I am someone caught in this nightmare of "As Is" RVing. "As Is" RVing is about trying to survive. Making do. Micro-homesteading is how I describe it. Maybe the next time you go to an event or travel for a change of scenery you could remember that people like me and many others would just be happy if our RV wasn't falling apart around us.
