In this post, I will share my experience purchasing a new RV out of state and bringing it home. In 2020, we purchased an RV in Kent, Washington and drove it home to Torrance, CA (just outside of L.A.). There were definitely lessons learned! I hope our tips for bringing home an RV from out of state will help you out.
Purchasing
We watched lot’s of videos. One of our favorites was Matt’s RV Reviews. Once we found the model we wanted we searched all over for where we could purchase it. Of course we were looking at the worst time right in the middle of the pandemic when the demand for RVs was at an all time high and the supply was at a low. This made it very challenging to find the particular model we wanted.
The model we fell in love with was the 2021 Jayco Precept 34G. Unfortunately, there were none in the Los Angeles area. We found a few and were considering travelling to Atlanta or Texas but finally found the one we wanted in Kent, Washington at Valley RV Supercenter.
We were able to do all the initial paperwork over the phone and also get a facetime walk through of the unit and agreed to the purchase.
We then scheduled to pick it up about 3 weeks later. This was due to the best flight prices for a family of four.
Planning
Now that we knew we were finally getting the RV we were super excited. It was now time to plan our trip. Not only did we need to plan the route home, but more importantly we needed to figure out what we needed to bring in order to make it home. We decided that we would take our time coming home and use this to explore more of our beautiful country.
We picked flights that allowed us to bring checked bags at no extra cost. Here are some of the items that we took with us:
- Electrical Adapters
- Sheets and blankets
- Pots and Pans
- Cooking Utensils
- Sewer hose
- We owned an RV previously so I didn’t want to buy this again
- I wrapped it inside a garbage bag
- Tools – I couldn’t bring everything, but I brought as much as I could fit
The other key piece we needed to plan for was for our route home. We picked the RV up in October so it wasn’t as critical to have reservations for each night. We were able to figure it out as we went but it was nice having done research ahead of time for where we wanted to stop.
Pick Up Day
On the day we were to pick up the RV we flew from LAX to SeaTac. Picked up our rental car and drove to the dealership. We were in shock how big it was, never seeing it in person. We did the walk through and were provided some basic instruction on how things worked. Previously I had owned a couple of Class C RVs and had never driven a Class A, so I had them take me out on a test drive to give me some pointers.
After all the final paper work was done, it was time to hit the road. We planned to stay in the area for the night so it was a short drive to a local RV campground. It was a cute little campground all decorated for the upcoming Halloween holiday, but it has since closed as it was bought out to be replaced by a large warehouse.
After arriving at the campground, we took the RV to Walmart to pick up the necessary supplies we would need to start our journey home. I can’t remember everything we bought, but it was a lot. We bought so much that we needed to have our kids sit in our small rental car and then hand them items through the window to put on their laps. We purchased mostly food, but other products like paper towels, toilet paper, garbage bags, trash can, etc.
TIP: It might be good to rent a larger rental car, or just take the RV directly to the store.
Next Day
The next day it was off on our drive home. We did notice an issue with the barn door that is used for the bathroom. We called the dealership but it was a Sunday and most departments were closed. We had a long drive ahead of us and really needed to hit our road, plus we had reservations for this evening in Oregon.
TIP: It might be good to plan to pick up earlier in the week and not on a Saturday or stay a few nights in the area in case you run into any issues or need further training.
Now it was off on our way home! Our first stop was at Fort Stevens State Park in Astoria, Oregon.
Lessons Learned: If you come across a sign for a truck detour and you are in a large Class A RV you should take it! We came across a bridge under construction and only one lane was open and boy was it nerve wracking driving across the bridge with only a few inches to spare on each side. Remember, this was the first day of driving a class A RV.
Remainder of the Trip
The entire trip back home was awesome. I am not going into all the details here, but wanted to share any additional lessons learned.
- Don’t wait to long to try and book your campsite. We waited too long when driving into Portland that the place we wanted was already closed for the day and their online system had already jumped to the next day.
- Remember to latch your fridge lock, especially when going over the large hills/mountains in Oregon. We had the door open and one of the drawers ended up breaking.
- At one of the sites, I couldn’t remove the sewer hose adapter from the sewer inlet. I didn’t have the tools for this and needed to just leave it.
- One of the campgrounds had the sewer dump connection at a strange location and I didn’t have a long enough sewer hose. Luckily the camp host had one I could borrow.
Summary
It was a great experience, especially if you can take some time driving home and exploring the country and getting to know your RV.
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