Unfazed by Cost, RV Owners Fill ‘er Up

Everything about George Genarme’s sparkling Southwind RV is big: its length (35 feet), its television set (21 inches), its bed (queen size). The gas tank, too, is gigantic (75 gallons), and with the latest hike in fuel prices, now costs more than $150 to fill up.

But record-high gas bills won’t stop Genarme and his wife, Bev, from cruising down to Mazatlan, Mexico, next month. Or from taking a two-week trip from their Palm Springs home to Calgary, Canada, in July. Nor is it likely to get in the way of a cross-country drive to see their son in New York.

By summer’s end, the Genarmes may have logged as many as 10,000 miles on their 2-year-old home on wheels. And at a rate of 8 1/2 miles per gallon, such massive motoring this year will cost the couple more than just a little pocket change.

None of which fazes the Genarmes one bit.

Even as gasoline hit $2 a gallon in California last week and some are predicting a $3-per-gallon summer, most of the country’s 30 million RV enthusiasts seem about as concerned with the issue as they are with, say, getting a bug on their 8-foot-wide windshields. A recent survey of RV owners nationally showed barely anyone cutting back travel.

“It’s not gonna keep us off the road,” shrugs Genarme, a retired engineer. “We may pay a little more at the pumps, but it’s not enough to scare us away. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Gas crunches have typically prompted changes in driving habits, but so far there are few signs that the biggest gas guzzlers are cutting back. Conservation won’t exactly be on the minds of those with sport utility vehicles, minivans and boats, either--at least not in the short term.

Summer travel is widely expected to be brisk. Advance bookings at campgrounds are up 4% for the season, and occupancy is already at 86% for the Memorial Day weekend, according to the National Assn. of RV Parks and Campgrounds.

“As counter-intuitive as it may be, we’re just not seeing much of a reaction to fuel prices at this point,” says Lynn Reaser, chief economist for Banc of America Capital Management in St. Louis. Despite the slowing economy, she says, consumers are still feeling pretty flush.

“My guess is prices are really going to have to get up there, like $3 [per gallon] or more, before people really start thinking about their traveling habits.”

At the moment, it’s hard to see any slowdown, especially in RVs.

According to an April survey by the Recreational Vehicle Industry Assn., fewer than 3% of RV owners say they expect to travel less than they did last summer. Hardly anyone mentioned gas as a factor. And RV drivers, who encompass a wide range of income levels, plan to rack up an average of 3,000 miles this summer--200 more than last year.

Many who will hit the road this summer are new owners; RV sales have remained solid. Last year RV makers shipped more than 300,000 vehicles--the second-highest number since 1978. Compare that with the gas crunch years of 1979-80, when consumers were forced to ration fuel and wait in long lines at the pumps: RV shipments plummeted.

Howard Watson, who manages Saddleback RV Rentals in Irvine, says his customers are actually joking about the record-high fuel prices--while plopping down $1,000 to $2,000 to rent a motor home for a week or two.

“People just sigh and make their reservations,” said Watson, adding that rentals are slightly up this year over last. “In the long run, we’re really talking about $50 to $100 more for gas right now. . . . That’s nothing when you’ve just paid over $1,000 just to rent the RV in the first place.”

Actually, it will probably cost as much as $200 more for the typical RV traveler. Current gas prices in Los Angeles and Orange counties are 60 cents to 70 cents more than last summer’s prices.

Many RV owners point out that their mode of travel is a lot more economical than people might think. While paying more for gas, they say, they save on lodging and restaurant expenses.

Libby and Stephen Anderson recently drove their older-model Lindy camper 1,100 miles from Boulder, Colo., to spend six days camping at Newport Dunes on Upper Newport Bay. They filled up three times along the way, at $65 a pop, but said that in the long run, their vacation averaged less than $80 a day for both of them.

“We had our own bed, our own food and certainly our own entertainment,” said Libby Anderson, pointing to the camper’s satellite dish and CD player. “I sewed, he fished, we both played cards . . . who’s thinking about gas prices at a time like this?”

Buoying such optimistic attitudes could be perceptions of overall economic health and the fact that there is not yet a fuel shortage, tourism officials said. Consumer confidence was up this month, indicating that people are feeling better about the economic landscape. And despite the recent hike at the pumps, gasoline still accounts for less than 4% of typical household budgets.

“If people have to start waiting in line at the pumps and we find ourselves in a real shortage crisis, that’s when the problems will arise,” says Fred Sater, a California Tourism Council spokesman. “But the economy’s the biggest indicator. And right now, people are still feeling pretty good about the money in their pockets. Cutting their road trip up the Oregon coast this year just because they have to pay $1 more a gallon in gas, well, that’s not likely to happen.”

Even RV owners who are slightly worried about rising fuel prices say the only travel change they’re likely to make is shorter trips rather than no trips at all.

At a Shell station near San Clemente State Beach last week, Frank Doane anxiously busied himself while gasoline flowed briskly into his 24-foot-long Bounder’s 60-gallon tank. He washed his windows, brushed sand off the RV’s front steps, checked the oil.

“I can’t watch,” the Riverside man said as the meter clicked past the $100 mark.

Doane, who was returning home from a four-day stay at the beach campground, said he plans to shorten his family’s trips this summer if fuel prices top $3 per gallon. Already he is paying $25 more to fill up his RV than he did, say, a month ago, and the retired teacher said he hates to think about spending much more.

“If it keeps going up, I’m thinking we’ll be doing a lot more quick trips this year, rather than those long drives,” said Doane, 60. He winced as he examined his tab: $115.12. “Of course, it’ll probably all even out in the end. But at least I won’t have to feel this kind of pain two or three times a day. I’ll just space it out a little.”