Why did we buy our Toyota RV?
Even before we purchased this RV, we had sailor friends who owned Toyota RV's and brought them up to our attention.
From the very early stages of our search for this, our first RV, we settled on the Toyota Class C as the target we were looking for.
The dependability and reliability that the Toyota brand is well-known for attracted us. Also, the very high number of modest-sized Toyota trucks out on the street guaranteed that we would always find parts and qualified, experienced mechanics on this chassis, the same chassis used to build this National RV Dolphin.
Another key factor that swayed us to the Toyota-based RV is the incredible valuable internet user forum made up of hundreds of enthusiastic Toyota RV owners. We used this group to learn more about these RV's even before we purchased one. The more we learned, the more we were convinced that this would be a great RV to buy and learn with, requiring only a very modest investment.
After we owner our Toy, through the yahoo Toyota Campers group, we found out about and attended a "Toy" Rally in Pensacola, FL (see images on this website), where many owners from the SE United States came together to enjoy a great time as a group, trade interesting stories and exchange ideas on maintenance and modifications of these well-loved RV units.
The yahoo group toyota-campers is a very active group, with a hand-full of new posts every day, and a collection of document files and images that guide the prospective buyer and the new owner with priceless information. No matter what kind of question you post on this forum, a significan number of experienced owners who are knowledgeable mechanics and handymen are always glad to chime in. The is a vast library of postings that can be searched by subject to see if the issue has been previously addressed.
The URL for this very important online internet group is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-campers/
There are many other good places to look and learn about how to buy an RV and how to camp out on one as a rookie, too many to list here. Google will provide a lot of good sources.
The convenience of having an RV that is small enough to be used as a car was a plus as we made our decision. The Dolphin is a relatively small vehicle, one that can be parked anywhere a car can be parked. This is in stark contrast to much larger RV's that, although offering more room, are cumbersome to park, move around and drive. We did not want to tow a vehicle. A couple of bicycles or a small motor scooter carried on the back would do for us. The RV is both the mobile home and the car. This makes things much nore simple.
We have used our RV many times to visit our daughter and our grandaughters, including month-long visits to assist in the post-birth care of both our grandaughters. When we visit our daughter's home, we have the best of both worlds: we can comfortably spend significant time visiting while enjoying the comfort of our own home on their premises: our favorite pillows, our favorite food for snacking, our rest-room facilities during the night, and, most important, the ability to have some private time to ourselves which gives them some privacy as well. This use of our RV has turned out to be even more valuable that we imagined. In case of an illness or an emergency, like a hurricane evacuation from the Florida Keys, we always have a comfortable home, equipped and ready to go at a moment's notice. This purpose alone makes the ownership of an RV this size very desirable for us.
We have found that traveling in this RV to visit more distant friends and relatives has been a pleasure. Even with the higher cost of fuel, being able to have so many choices to safely and comfortably stay overnight with minimum or no cost at all, is a blessing that can only be appreciate when you travel this way. Anytime we are hungry or tired, we can pull to the side and fix a sandwich, microwave a frozen dinner using our generator, and use our own restroom facilities.
We have at times attended events on this RV. There are two additional seat belts in the main salon convertible lounge bed, for two passengers. We have gone to the Bahia Honda State Park to join our local astronomy club night watch, in full comfort for wonderful nights of star-gazing. We have attended local football games, using our comfortable tailgating RV facilities, and parked our RV right off the beach to lay in the shade of the huge awning on our comfortable foldable reclining lounge chairs.
We are convinced that this size RV is the best compromise to provide a highly-versatile little home away from home. We know several people who actually live full-time on a Toyota RV.
Only after having the confidence and satisfaction of having owned a Toyota RV of this size and functionality did we decide to purchase a much more expensive version of the same small class C RV. Our new RV is only one foot longer, but it reflects the technology improvements that have taken place in twenty years. Our "new" two-year old RV cost almost $60,000 and it has, among other things, a slide-out which expands the interior of the living area when parked. We would never have made this significant commitment, in these times when the future of RV's is being questioned, without the confidence that this type of vehicle is ideal to address our many needs at this point in our lives. It was a tough decision since we know that our "toy" has many miles ahead of it, and will provide satisfaction and versatility to its new owner(s).