SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sales have dropped 28 percent from last year. Fuel prices are climbing. And some manufacturers and dealers have pulled the plug. Yet for folks who believe heaven on Earth is a 40-foot motor home with twin slide-outs, two bathrooms and crystal chandeliers, the RV oasis continues to shimmer in a desert of pallid economic numbers.
"High fuel prices will never kill RVing," said Joann Hadwick of Reno, Nev., one of the Red Mountaineers RV club members relaxing the other morning outside the group's collection of giant rigs at Smithwoods RV Park near Felton, Calif.
"We're all just taking shorter trips instead of going to Yellowstone or Yosemite. This is still cheaper than flying and staying in hotels. And you can't beat the lifestyle."
It may seem counter- intuitive that vehicles that get seven miles per gallon and can take a half-hour to refuel aren't being traded in for something smaller — or simply taken out back and parked.
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But many RVers say they're not going to let a little annoyance like a $500 fill-up keep them from hitting the road.
"You have to be strong-hearted to fork over that kind of money at the pump," said Brian Horner, owner of Milpitas RV & Self Storage. "But sold-out RV parks tell you that cooler heads are prevailing. If the average motor-home owner drives around 6,000 miles a year, that's about $1,000 more in diesel fuel. For some owners, that just means spending $1,000 less a year on cocktails."
A study commissioned last month for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association found typical RV vacations cost up to 61 percent less than other types of vacations, even factoring in fuel costs. The study's authors say a family of four traveling by motor home from Phoenix to Napa and paying $33 a night to park in campgrounds would save $1,700 over the same trip taken by car, eating in restaurants and staying in hotels averaging $122 a night.
Still, diesel fuel, which many of the larger motor homes slurp up, has risen about a buck — or 30 percent — since this time last year. And while the RV community adapts by targeting parks closer to home, the folks who build and sell the rigs are feeling the pinch of the wider economic malaise.
"The down market is winnowing out some of the manufacturers and dealers on the fringe," said Tom Walworth of Statistical Surveys. His Michigan firm tracks sales in an industry with about 600,000 recreational vehicles on the roads nationwide — from pull-behind trailers up to Class A monster motor homes.
"The Fleetwoods and Winnebagos are also feeling the pain, but they'll hang in there," Walworth said of the industry's leading names. "People love the RV lifestyle, and they're very loyal."
Walworth said some in the industry predict a turnaround in the RV market by mid-2009, thanks to "a lot of pent-up demand. And as the baby boomers retire, they're not going to want to sit at home."
But for now, "buyers are sitting on their hands — they just don't want to venture out there right now," he added.
Walworth said RV sales have historically served as a leading economic indicator. "Once the economy picks up, RV sales will lead the charge. They're the first to go down in bad times, and the first to go up when things get better."
To help spur sales, manufacturers have already begun to churn out more fuel-efficient models, like the Winnebago View, which reportedly can get up to 20 mpg.