If anyone is thinking about this, please do research into how crappy modern, mass-produced RVs are built.

Lemon Laws do not apply to RVs (except maybe in one state).

Many RVs can easily spend most of a year waiting to get a single item half-assed repaired multiple times while the 1 year warranty runs out and the 20 other things don't get fixed.

There is a relatively-new YouTube channel called Liz Amazing that showcases RV horror stories, including the most recent one where a luxury RV manufacturer didn't properly install VINs on the RV leading to a $600k fine for the user:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=zGOANydJURQ

Back around 2000, I bought a Honda Civic, and in buying insurance the VIN number was entered wrong by the insurance company employee - had a 1 instead of a 7 or something, due to the handwritten process in use at the time.

A few years later, after dutifully paying my insurance, but moving a few times for school the registration had lapsed and I got pulled over. They ended up taking the license plate because of this, that my car was "uninsured", and apparently I was paying for nothing for the last few years..

I cleared up the registration the next day and the insurance as well, but a few weeks later had to go to court to clear up the ticket. The judge asked me "Why didn't you check that the numbers matched on the insurance forms?", to which I replied "Did you check this with the last car you insured?". They let me off.

This is all to say, how is it possible that someone got $600k fine for a mistake that is obviously not the fault of the buyer?

I watched several videos from the Liz Amazing YT-link you provided — very thoughtful content from two obviously-compatible sunbirders.

Her overall recommendations tend to recommend older, well-taken-care-of models over the newer less-expensive trash being mass-produced. Get a PROFESSIONAL INSPECTION before purchasing any RV particularly if your first purchase, and buy from a local person (instead of a dealership).

Really loved that some of Liz's most-popular videos weren't about RVs, particularly her Introduction to Electric Bicycles (helpful as we've gotten older).

By least-favorite brother (maker of terrible decisions™) lived in an RV for about two years, and it was absolutely embarassing to the neighborhood... just a squalor'd pig-stye.

If anybody near Chattanooga wants to restore an old Airstream, I know a guy... [that owns a dozen, variously delapidated]

I built my own [1] — but then I have a garage (and had been building something approximating furniture for several years).

I feel like with the tutorials out there, a novice could learn as they go and enjoy the experience of building out a van.

It's possible too to do it in stages. My Stage 1 had no solar or stove — limited cabinetry. The wife and I took it out nonetheless. You find out quickly too that way what you miss/want.

The cost of a new Ford Transit was not cheap, and there were some pricy components. As an example, the two LiPO batteries were $1K each — but they're about 1/3 that these days (wow). The electric refrigerator (more like cooler) was not cheap. The propane stove was not either — but a camp stove would have worked as well (and has the benefit that you can cook outside on hot days when you don't want to heat up the van/RV).

I never tallied up the total cost, but I promise you it was significantly less than a new RV. And because I made it myself, I can vouch for the quality of the components.

The single best resource was faroutride.com [2]. But then there were plenty of online forums, YouTube etc. with all kinds of info.

I was a few years from retirement when I began. The idea was to "van life" with the wife after I retired. As it is, we've done a good deal of travel in the U.S. but until she also retires, we don't live the van life.

(The fact is though, after a few weeks on the road, you come home appreciating your creature comforts.)

(Recently drove from the Midwaste to San Diego to get my middle daughter and her two cats. Heading out in a few weeks to the Bay Area to visit some ex-coworkers.)

[1] https://www.fordtransitusaforum.com/threads/hot-tamale-build...

[2] https://faroutride.com/van-build/

Just another example... We bought a small teardrop camper last year (basically a king bed on wheels, with a small kitchenette on the rear under a clam shell). We used to car camp with a large tent - we got tired of sleeping on an inflatable mattress and wanted to do longer trips, so the teardrop made a lot of sense (we aren't ready to give up "camping" for "RVing", if that makes sense).

On day one, the solar controller (feeds power from panels to battery) was wired wrong. Fixed by dealer on the spot, but not a great start. Thankfully, this dealer has a solid post-sale/delivery-day walk through (not all do), so we picked up on the issue.

The wiring in the battery box is a bit of a rats nest. It's not wrong per se, but it's not as tidy as it should be, IMO. The battery lives in a storage box on the front of the trailer, alongside miscellaneous items (tools, bucket, hose, power cord, etc), so having the wiring untidy makes it more likely for connections to get broken.

The AC unit sits on a drain pan that's a bit too shallow for the job. If the trailer isn't nearly perfectly level, it will overflow into foot of the bed. Again, not wrong per se, but if you don't know in advance, you could be in for very wet bedding.

The brand is well-known and considered middle-of-the road. Not the cheapest, not the most expensive. We knew what we were getting into, and we're quite happy with the purchase, but if we hadn't done due diligence, we'd probably be a bit disappointed.

>please do research into how crappy modern, mass-produced RVs are built.

Any brands you/Liz Amazing suggest?

RVs are absolutely garbage quality. Damage is not a matter of IF but WHEN, so it is essential to budget for big ticket, frequent repairs. And you will be replacing your roof in ten years at best.