54 RVers Share the Most Important RV features they Expect in their Next RV

Listen up RV Industry! Here is what Real RVers say are the most important RV features they want when they buy their next RV. We surveyed and heard from more than 300 of them and it's clear they know what they want. And between the lines in their responses, it's equally clear that the RV Industry hasn't been delivering it. You can listen to the podcast in the player below. And scroll down this page for shownotes, plus links and resources about all the things we talk about. Results of our Survey: The Most Important RV Features wanted by Real RVers We really hope the RV Industry gets ahold of this report because it's pretty clear to us that there seems to be a pretty big disconnect between what this industry is making and what real RVers want. Earlier this week, we asked a simple question on our RV Lifestyle Social Media accounts: What features do you want in your next RV? The response, from our RV Lifestyle Group, our RV Lifestyle Facebook Page, our RV Lifestyle YouTube community and our @rvlifestylemike Instagram followers was immediate, detailed, and well-informed. We had nearly 300 responses to that question, and more are still coming in. But from those responses we seen some clear trends. Here are the 10 things RVers say are the most important RV features they want in their next RV: Four-season capabilities, with things like heated tanks Lithium batteries for coach power Solar panels Office space for remote workers Ducted air conditioners Comfortable beds Stand up dry showers More storage space Pet friendly amenities Quality workmanship They said lots more, so much more we are going to share many of the messages we received on our voicemail line (586-372-6990) and we are going to print some selected text responses we received, too. From them all, we picked 54 responses that reflect on just about every single aspect of an RV. Clearly, consumers today know what they want. And clearly, many think the industry doesn’t know what they want. That’s why we think it so important for these voices from Real RVers be heard. Let’s start with some of the audio messages we received: Roger says local service and creature comforts count the most "Hi Mike and Jennifer, this is Rodger Stambaugh in response to your request about what we look for most in a RV. Number one is local maintenance of the chassis in the RV build. We recently ordered a Wonder we may have to change to a Unity because the local Ford dealer need not maintain that chassis of the Wonder. Next is a large storage area and a full-time bed. So in the unit they would go with the island bed, which has almost the same storage as The Wonder of rear twin beds. Next would be a dry restroom with a separate shower, and ease of dried driving, so it'd be a van chassis." Rod & Carla want a four-season camper "This is Rod and Carla in Topeka Kansas. We recently bought our first travel trailer a couple of months ago. Haven't even been out yet because of COVID but getting ready, learning a lot, reading a lot and learned a lot from this site. One thing on the table we will look for when we upgrade would be a four-season camper. We didn't even know there was such a thing before now. I think we would have to have that for starters. Enjoy camping" Reese wants an AWD Class C "Hi, Mike and Jen. My name is Reese with my husband is Mike and we're calling from Chesterfield, Virginia. We watch your Ask Us Anything show every Sunday night and have watched probably all videos over and over. Our next RV is actually our first RV and we have spent months and months during the shutdown, or lockdown, studying all the different models. And what we want for our next RV is a Class C model with all-wheel-drive, inverters, heated tanks, leveling jack options… things like that. We've looked at the Odyssey and the Quantum and the Four Winds and the Winnebago's and something lately called a Gemini. But we're not real fond of the Murphy bed, either. So big thing is we want to see more all-wheel-drive options in class C models. Thanks for your help, and you guys are great, bye-bye." Liz & Anthony want 4x4 and 4 Season RV capabilities "Hi, Mike, and Jennifer, this is Liz and Anthony from Adventures. We're calling in today to answer your question. What do you want in the next RV? For us, the two things that would love to have in our next RV is four-wheel-drive capability and Four Season ability. Thanks, and hope to see you guys again soon." Staci has a long list of desired RV features "Hey, Mike, and Jen. This is Stacy and we have our ideal RV for right now. We definitely have different things we want later in life. But now we are a family of three who love to get out and go we're looking for a true four-season travel trailer pull behind our bumper with a heated tanks package, including sufficient outside storage. generator on board. less annoying LCD light's please, under 28 ft front to tail. We would like the master at the rear under-bed storage, a secure small bookshelf in the corners at the head of the bed so we can throw some books up there, front viewing window at the head of the bed, windows on each side of the room that open for ventilation. And a door on the master. Right outside the master, we would like a full side to side walkthrough bathroom with a shower and no tub. My life husband is a double amputee and the tubs are a pain, especially if there's a railing he has to slide over. And a little bit of a larger countertop, maybe just a skinny one that goes down the wall so that we can get the Kitty food up off the floor. We do not want ants! We would like a 12 volt compressor 12 cubic foot fridge freezer combo, a decent pantry doesn't have to be huge, but decent size, a place for a for small trash can or a bag to hang, just some place that we're not going to kick it. Instead of a dinette, how about a breakfast bar under a large window that opens that can seat three to four people and put that on a two foot deep slide. I really dislike these three, three and a half foot deep slides. just something small. Give us a little bit of room but nothing giant wise. If there's any place for seating for a small couch for a few chairs, comfy chairs, anything like that. In the front over the hitch, one full double size bed, a bunk that's elevated maybe halfway up instead of three-quarters of the way up so a kid could actually sit up up there. Underneath t in the corner a closed storage cabinet. They can store all their stuff and their toys, doesn't have to be huge something useable leaving the the rest of the space open with tie-down anchors for bicycles so I have secure indoor storage for our bikes. Also in the kid's bunk. a wider window would be fantastic. Insulated blackout shades throughout, and a 30-inch entry door so the banks can go through easily without damaging anything. A bonus would be a twelve-inch wide wall space to store fishing poles on a hanger. That would be amazing. We have that right now that we we put in a trailer. And something I have only seen on class B Vans would be a hammock hanger built into the outside frane so that you could hook one of the hammock there and one side of the hammock to a tree or something. All right. That's all I have. Thank you." Jim wants room for grandkids in his next RV "Mike and Jennifer. Hello, Jim calling with your question about what we would like to include if we would upgrade or change our our current RV. We're actually pretty happy with our current Roadtrek 210. But if we would do an update probably a couple of things. Number one, the lithium battery storage is much better than it used to be. So certainly that is something that would have to be as part of the discussion. It would be nice to be able to run the microwave maybe turn on the air conditioner for a couple of hours if it was hot just using battery power. So lithium batteries would certainly be something that would be considered. I posed your question to Carolyn and she didn't even hesitate. Her comment was to make sure we had room for some grandkids as the grandkids get older. It would be fun to take them and have a little bit of extra room. So we would probably have to upgrade from our class b to a class C of some kind. We would certainly not want anything larger than that, but room for the grandkids or at enough seatbelts. Have a great day. Good question!" Reliability is this listener's #1 concern "Hi, Mike, and Jennifer. What do I want in the next RV? I would like to have an RV that's built to the same standards that modern automobiles built something that doesn't fall apart. Thanks. Bye. Now we want to share some of the text messages we received from our social media platforms. This is jst a selection. There are many more than what we will share. We collected more than 300 responses in all. On our RVLifestyle.com Travel Blog, we will print a much more complete list." Here they are: Responses from Facebook about the most important RV features Donna - Better sealing of gaps/mouse proofing! Kim -More choices in small class C for retired couples. Bigger showers..Lithium batteries..solar included Steve- A reliable RV. Sharyn -If I could have whatever I wanted, I would want solar and battery power to run anything without requiring shore power or a generator, a true King bed that could convert to two twin beds, and a self-driving RV! Valerie -Would love to have a small 5th wheel such as a Scamp 19 ft. or an escape 5.0. Really wish one of the mainstream rv manufacturers would make a small 5th wheel. Sheila - Optimum storage without compromising interior living space Dawn -Bathroom in the back on a diesel pusher. The bedroom in the back stays hot for hours after a long road trip. Moving it a bit forward would help. Kathi -dedicated office space. Some of us want to work remotely even while 'retired' from the 9-5.