Ep 07 Nick Schmidt GM of Sunshine State RV

Alright, guys. For the second time, welcome back to the Vanasore podcast. We do this live Thursdays at 2 PM Eastern Time. We're exploring class b, RVs, Overlanding, and Vanlife co right here. That's what we do. My guests for the second time, Nick Schmidt of Sunshine state RVs. What is up? What is up? What? You know, what's up, man? Hopefully, the signal is up. That's what I hope is up. Yes. That's what I hope is up. So this is episode number 7 me as Hang. Thanks for having me as a guest, man.

I really appreciate it. You're welcome. You're welcome. And just a little brief recap for everyone out there. We, I'm at Sunshine State RV. You're also here. So I'm you know, I don't know if that's part of our problem, right, like, 2 dudes sitting at Sunshine State RV trying to get a signal up and out So Robert Riel has says I can hear you pretty good now so far. No lag. So there you go. You know, the internet. The internet lords decided to bless us with a little bit of signal right now.

So there was there was a fish fry going on. That's what you were telling to people. How often do you, have, like, a it's kinda like a family gathering you have here at Sunshine State RV. I hope you guys do that. So it's pretty cool. We we go fishing once a year with the entire, with the entire company. So we had twenty five people go this time. And then we did the big we always did a big Chris fry on the Tuesday or Wednesday after, the fish ride.

This time we did it Thursday, because we do a big lunch every Thursday for the entire team. So, you know, we do do things to help build morale, trying trying to do things to help build, build everybody wanting to work together, be together, and, getting to know each other outside of working. And, you know, anytime Hank anytime Hank comes by here and hangs out with us, everybody appreciates it. He's like a local celebrity here. So, it's pretty cool. Pori there in the picture?

Yeah. I'm running this picture. Pori's the one that does all the walk throughs. He teaches everybody how to use their RV. There's another guy Justin as well that does them, and, after he's in that picture. Yep. But, yeah. Fish fry was great. Hank, was it my wife even came? Did you see my wife there? I I saw Mary. I didn't take any pictures, but I did see Mary she was here. Lovely as ever, Mary, always good to see Mary. Yep. She was there. She got to eat the punch, and it was, yeah, it was great.

We had a couple of customers that were here. Somebody just bought a roadtrek Zion. So pretty I think they bought a roadtrek and they got to eat some lunch with us. And, there's some other people here now buying a coach and beyond. So very busy day today at sunshine. Stay RVs. Yeah. Absolutely. So one of the things, you know, you've been on before. You'll be on, several times from from now.

One of the things I think that we wanna do is get to some of the questions that we don't get to answer for folks out there, you know, the videos are in the, you know, in the comment section of the videos, or if you guys who are tuning in Hank questions. So if you have them, you know, us with questions, comments, and all that. You know, maybe for the people who haven't seen this before, you would wanna explain to them what you do here. So Thanks.

We're about to lose we're about to lose one of our, listeners, Aaron Thor said she's out of here. What are we gonna do, man? We have to we feel like ants around and I don't know. I mean, when they're detained here. I mean, what are we doing? Hey. Listen. This is one of the things that I think that goes back to when we make our videos, you know, if we're think there's people here who are entertained. So if you're not entertained, hey. You know, was it Russell Crow?

I think Russell Crow said, oh, you not entertained? We should get off gladiator swords and fight it up right now. See see how that goes over. One of the one of the biggest comments that we get on videos when we do videos is that we ham it up too much. So what, you know, what is it? Do people like it when we ham it up in the videos? I'm gonna ask everyone out there a question you guys could tell us. Do you like it when we Hank it up in the videos, or you don't like it?

I always see people, oh, you guys talk too much. Then there's a lot of people like, oh, this I love this. It's entertaining. So you know? Yeah. I I think for the people that don't like it, they might going to watch other other videos. I mean Yeah. Absolutely. It's YouTube. You always say freedom of choice here. You know? It's the whole point. Lots of options, lots of options. But, you know, this is the thing.

If I'm gonna do a video with somebody in an RV with them, talking about an RV, my natural personality is gonna come out, and my natural personality is that, somebody who hokes fun at my friends around me, someone who puts my life experiences and things, someone who, you know, looks at a bunch of different scenarios and not just going through a bunch of facts and and and stats about an RV, but it's actually, you know, how are people gonna use this? How am I gonna use What are we gonna do?

And it's just making light of everything and having fun with it. So that's the way I do everything. So that's obviously the way that I choose to do. Yeah. Now, obviously, you know, Sunshine State RV is your business, but I try to explain to people. You're not really at the sales guy here. You have really good sales, folk here, right, at Sunshine State RV, but in the videos, your kind of like the sales guy for the video, and I'm kind of like playing the customer.

And I try to ask questions from my point of view, you know, my limited knowledge of fans and all that kind of stuff of owning a van and going around and seeing a bunch of this stuff. And then, you know, you hit me back with your knowledge of selling these things and selling a lot of different vans from different companies. So that's that's kind of what our videos are, and we we try to play off of that. It's not just entertainment. There's some information.

In there, you know, and we try to keep it fun. And I think most people realize that and enjoy it. So

No. You're right. I think you're absolutely correct. I think the, the banter back and forth does make it a little with everybody else's. And and the I mean, this is all I do all day every day. So I have a lot of knowledge about the EVs and and sometimes I can bore the paint off of a wall talking about RVs. So let's keep it interesting.

Yeah. Exactly. So like I said, if you guys have questions out there, things you wanna know about the the, class B van business, you know, If you wanna know about these kinds of RVs, let hit us up with those questions right now, and we'll get to it. What do you let's start with this, Nick. What do Hank, what do you feel is the state of the class b RV industry right now? Is it up? Is it down? Is it in the middle?

You know, I think that, the classroom industry is the only industry, the only segment of the issue that is growing. That is, still doing good. That is staying strong. We actually Hank our Wells Fargo rep here today. He was that's when we do all of our RV banking with. And and and what they said was guys that are just and travel trailers and class a's, they are really, really struggling.

What people that are well diversified in the class b's some of the c's and motorized stuff, they're doing much better. So, you know, this is this is still still a, a good market for last lease. You know, is it what it was 2 years ago? No. But we are right. We are exactly on par with where we were last year. So January 1st to June 30th, 2022, 1st January 1st to June 30th, 2023, we sold the same number of RVs. So it's we're not down, but we're not up. We we have sold the exact same.

So know, the industry is good. What's great right now is I'm really hoping we can see some innovation from the platform manufacturers. I'm really, really hoping that that the ones that that are creative and that can come up with some nice stuff they can action.

Like, now it's when they starting to put some cool stuff in the vans that where the last 2 years, they weren't able to because of parts shortages, because of things, now they're actually, becoming innovative again, which is really exciting.

Yeah. So, do you think that what's happening right now, right, in terms of, you know, in the overall RV industry sales backing off I would I would say, like, from my point of view, with with class b vans, it's either like you're saying the same or down a little bit. Do you think that's due to the economy, interest rates, people are worried about things going on, all of the above. Yeah. No. I I really think it's everything. I mean, it is interest rates Hank have definitely marketing.

So that's making people think twice. And then and then also, I mean, the economy is is, questionable. You know, real estate still good here in Gainesville, but in some parts of the country, it's not as as good as it was. You know, there's equipment. There's a lot of uncertainty in the country, and I think it all kind of plays an effect on our on the recreational mark it. But I think that as as new stuff comes out, it it it brings people back in.

So what's exciting is as coaching and road track and all of that as they're as they're, you know, being innovative as they're coming out with with new features, new options, new ways RV, that it's bringing people who are sitting on the sideline bringing them back into the market, which is nice. Yeah. I so I think this you could tell me if I'm wrong here. I think the traditional buyer for class bs are kind of the retirement age.

So folks who've worked their whole life, they've saved for this, you know, and now they decide, hey, we're gonna get out there and the country. Right?

Is that the traditional buyer? Would you say? Okay. And so the big boom you guys had is people outside of those traditional buyers were coming in along with the traditional buyers. Right? That is correct. Yeah. There's, you know, it's always kind of been the same buyer in the fifty five to seventy year old, couple typically who is retired and kinda wanting to go visit some grandkids, see the country, kinda, you know, have a little bit of freedom doing things.

And then through the boom, it was it was a lot of people who were working remote who, you know, instead of traveling internationally, they traveled domestically. And people who were just like, man, I've I've I've never actually seen our beautiful country, and and I really wanna I really wanna spend some time in energy seeing it. So that was a lot of of the reason that we were selling. I mean, that's a lot of the reason for the for the big growth for the last 3 years.

Yeah. And I think going back to what you said about the, you know, the companies in this particular section of industry innovating. I think when they think about innovating, not only, obviously, I get it why they wanna think about the traditional buy because those are the solid buyers. Those folks who are retiring, even though they're concerned about the economy and interest rates, They're they're retiring now, you know, and so they still do what they wanna do.

But if you wanna bring in the younger folks, you want to make these vans more flexible, you know, cooler. You wanna think about your, age, the age differences there or the generation differences, I think, with people. That's that's my opinion. And then folks out there, you guys can let me know, or you can let me know what you think about that, Nick. I know we talk about sometimes. Yeah. I like what Travel Green was saying. It's infotainment. Oh, yeah. For us to infotainment. Yes. Infotainment.

Let me get some comments in. Day 49 says what a nice company tradition. You can just go out on the boat for a ride. Yeah, I guess those guys are kinda competitive. Right? I think you had a competition of who caught the biggest fish. Sure. But some people Yeah. And Shelley, one of our, sales people, one of our top sales people, she she won the competition. She called a 20 pound red snapper. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Pound red mapper. Shelly. Shelly's badass, man. I'm a big fan of Shelly.

You know, that's who I bought my van from. When when Lee came here, and she's awesome. So Oh, that's true. That is true. Yeah. So I'm trying to get the comments up here and get to questions. Look, see. Lola has some. So let me get something in from Lola. She says, I wish Mercedes offered all wheel drive on the B plus Tifin, renegade, Thor, Etcetera. It is ridiculous to pay. Oh, this is a comment from someone, so Lola's given us those.

It is ridiculous to pay 2.60 k for a B van when you can get plus for 160 k and have, you know, 2 feet. So they're okay. I I'm sure you hear this one. What's your answer to that one? So, yeah, you know, Mercedes just started offering, the the all wheel drive, and they are not doing it on the B plus on the cutaway chassis yet, only on the the B van. My guess is that they will start offering it, within the next year. So that's my guess. There's usually a little lag thinking of lag. Right.

There's usually a little bit of a lag when it comes to them offering things on the on the other way chassis versus the van chassis. But, you know, it would be really nice to have it on the, on the D plus. Yeah. I think it's possible to see that. I was looking at Coachmen, the class b section, I forgot what's the name of the I did a short on it. Is it Man, I forgot the I forgot the name of it. Maybe Lobo remember what I'm talking about.

Here was a really nice Mercedes, and it's a newer Mercedes, but it's, yeah, it's not on that chassis yet. And that would be nice because you can get all wheel drive. There are some options out there of all wheel drive from the Ford point of view. There are some companies that are building stuff on the all wheel drive, chassis that's, you know, B plus C. So, yeah, I think we'll see it. It'll happen. Take your time. Let's see. I think so too. I agree with it. Here's a question from day 49.

It says any rumors of the new Ford Transit Trail model being used in a new Forward Thinking RV design. Good question. You got some rumors that you can share without getting into too much trouble? Yeah. Notice I said don't get in trouble. We've definitely heard the rumors. Right. We're good. We're we're probably if if you wanna me to take this first, right, because I look at a lot of, a lot of this stuff of what's coming out with the Strange and all that. It's really cool.

Basically, folks don't know how there for themselves Hank seen how popular these vans are for folks not only buying RVs from traditional builders, like coachman, American Coach, Winnebago, etcetera, but people just buying a van and fixing it up to get out there go more off road and everything. And the Strange is very popular for that being all wheel drive. So Ford is lifting it, putting bigger tires on, adding a power pack that can cut the hole and install a max fan for you.

So that goes a long way to that, you know, being a camper van, even if it's self build, but then also now it creates the opportunity where some of these company can come in and do their own build. And I think whoever's going to do it on the trail is probably gonna think about making it lighter weight and making it more flexible like we were talking about.

I'm gonna imagine that's what they're gonna do, but we haven't seen, I think when Ford announced this, the only one that that I saw out there is, Van Duet. So they have, you know, they have a prototype out there, but I haven't seen anyone else because the vans have not gotten delivered yet. Right. So they've only gotten the one Some of the other manufacturers have told me that they're thinking they're getting one soon. Right.

So, you know, my my thought is by next year, we'll definitely see some of the Strange Hank, the Strange trail. But I don't think hang on. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think they have the dual wheels. I They're just single rear wheels. Is that right? Yeah. Because I think Ford's focus with the transit is more off road. So the van's gonna be more off rotable if it's single wheels. Now, traditional builders, I don't know of any traditional builders that are building with the single wheels.

I think well, what Bago's prototype for the ERV 2. That's on single wheels. That's electric. So I'm trying to think 27 North 27 North. They Oh, yes. Right. They're they're port on a single wheel. They don't do anything with dual wheels because when you're off roading, when you're off roading in the, like the transit or the Sprinter or the ProMaster.

Oh, ProMaster doesn't offer it, but they wanna have dual wheels like rocks get stuck the middle, they said, and just weight wise and all that with single wheels to better off road machine. Yeah. I agree with that. And and as you said, I think, 20 in North is kind of like the off road vans that you are carrying here at Sunshine State RV. Right? Yeah.

Yes. They are. Now everybody has an offer inversion. American coach, Coachmen, everyone kinda has an off road version. Mhmm. But 27 I mean, Winnebago has the rebel, and they have bunch of, like, 27 north is that's what they do. Like, they do it very, very well. They do off road vans. Yeah. Absolutely. And in the interest of fairness, just because PJ will probably look at this and leave a comment there. So does Mod vans bills all of their stuff and single wheels.

If you're looking for that, there you go. That's a good option too. I don't You don't carry that. Uh-huh. I don't know anything about Van Duyn. I've I've I've seen them and met them. They're great, but I don't know what mod vans, mod vans, mod vans, you're saying. I Hank, well, you know what? Van do it, probably also. A lot of the smaller, like, off road or overlanding builders are probably gonna build on single wheels versus dual wheels, dually's in the back.

And the dually's are gonna give you more stability the road, they'll be able to carry more weight, etcetera. So, that's gonna be that's gonna be your big difference with that. Lola has another question here from from, from someone, has American coach gone back to 12 volt AC unit? What other options are there in B vans, that's from Ryan R. And I think that was on a video we recently did where you and I were driving the new, American Coach MD4 Patriot.

Yeah. So the American Coach is still doing the approval. They are also offering what they call a green air conditioner, g r e e. It's a brand new design, brand new air conditioner. It is a one thing. Mhmm. Very energy efficient, very quiet, and and lots of, BTUs. But, but, yeah, no, American Coach is still doing the premier 12 volt air conditioner.

Coachman is doing the same air conditioner, but Coachman's doing So as you guys might have already heard Lola and myself our brand ambassadors for Sunshine State RV. And as Vanasource, I wanna take this moment to encourage anyone who is in the market a class B van to start their journey with SS RV. Sunshine State RVs specializes in selling class B vans and B plus RV. That is the reason why they are the number one dealer in all of the state of Florida. Number 3 in the whole United States.

SSRV will fly you right to their location in Gainesville, Florida. They'll give you a very detailed and thorough walk through of your van, and they'll give you a 2 night stay at a local campground so you can get used to your van anywhere in the United States of your RV. We bought our coachman from Sunshine State RV. 2 years ago. And over the past 2 years, we've seen how they treat customers when it comes to warranty side. Their service team is great.

Whether you bought it from them or not, every person that comes in there gets the same service and care when it comes to warranty repairs. The same service, attention, and care. And their team does a great job getting you back on the road safely. So if you guys are in the market for a b or b plus van, consider Sunshine State RV. We've got a link in the description that you guys can use to see their current inventory and have someone get in touch with you.

That is the beauty and the beast of going live, and I'm not talking not me, as the beast and Lola as the beauty, but, you know, I didn't see the countdown end, so I didn't get a chance to you know that we were going to that break, but it was a sunshine state RV break. So I mean, I can't complain too much thing. Yeah. You gotta forgive me on that one. Yeah. So, but my bad, do you wanna finish your thought on that here before we move on?

Yeah. So just the total air conditioner. It is America coach is still doing it. Coachman is doing it. Winnipeg it's not. Roadtrek does not. They're they're they're both, road trucks doing the truman air conditioner mainly. Mhmm. And, Winnebago is still doing pullman, MDQ, the mock air conditioner, the 110. Yeah. I have the, truma in my van. It's awesome, but it's not 12 volts. It is more efficient, though. I found that it that it's more efficient to run it.

By the way, did did you give me your shout outs for for hooking you up with Tremont. I mean, I feel like I should get a little bit of credit for that, Hank. Okay. You can get you can get that credit, you know, any other credit. That you are due. But, so, you know, we always argue over who gets credit for life. Yes. Yeah. Exactly. Giving me credit. No. I don't. Yeah. So you try to you try to catch me right here, who I don't have any choice.

I was gonna ask you about degree from American Coach because that AC looks really nice. I've not used it extensively to, you know, really try it out, but it looks really good. Is that 12 volts or 110? Do you know? No. It is a 110 air conditioner. It is it is a newer air conditioner start using. It is more energy efficient than the the medic AC that they've been using. It's quieter, and and it has a built in dehumidifier as well. So there's a lot of a lot of cool features that that degree offers.

And that's an one of the reasons that that American coach was using it because of that. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. Travel Dreamer has this question here. And if you guys have questions, please leave them. Smash the thumbs ups. Okay. We need that. I know we had a rough start here, but I'm sure you guys out there will forgive for the rough start.

Travel dreamer says, are you seeing the Pro Master begin, creating an all wheel drive version, or do you think that will happen from Ram all wheel drive ProMaster. I hope. I hope. I really, really hope. That would be if they do that, they're gonna I'm not seen it. Yeah. If if, wow. Can you imagine that? I think if if, Ram put out a all wheel drive Pro Master? Cause they who has the biggest who sells the most vans, chassis wise? Is it Ram? Do you Hank, or is it Yeah. It is It is Ram.

I mean, Ram Ram sells the most. What's been cool the last couple of years is that Ram has really stepped their game up. So be on almost a level playing field with Mercedes and Ford, where they have the push button start. They have the sweet transmission. They have, the the big navigation screen. They have all the safety features that the Ford has. And so they've they've really every year, they keep stepping their game up to do a better job.

And with them add if they add an all wheel drive to it, it would really, really be a game changer for them. I think I think that for anybody that uses a random chassis, that would be a big deal. Yeah. I would, yeah, I would agree with the Ram chassis just looks really, really, really nice.

I was trying to see if I had a picture here on my phone that I could pull up really quick for you guys, but I got so many picture I don't think I'm getting to I mean, I'm not gonna get to it fast enough to show you all actually, oh, no. You know what? I do have a nice picture here. From Coachmen. This is gonna be an upcoming video, but, this is a, I'll switch over to my phone here for a second. Boom. So that's gonna be a nova. That is a way better looking van now, Nick, way better look at it.

That's nice. That's nice. Really, really nice. And then is it just coachman doing these wheels, or is that are those Ram wheels? Cause these wheels look good. Do that that we're getting on there. Those are those are coachman wheels. Yes. Oh, okay. So that's an exclusive thing to coachman. Well, yeah, no. Coach invites them, and they upgrade those wheels. That is not a standard wheel. That's not what comes with it, but that that is the brand new chassis.

Okay. Yeah. That's a great idea from Coachman, I think, to do those wheels. And I guess other guys can do nice fancy wheels also. He put it on there.

Yeah. Every I mean, we, yeah, we do that with everybody. I mean, we're always Mhmm. Always upgrading wheels for customers. I mean, there's a lot of logs, stuff like that, we do. Yeah. So I think, you know, just on the on the subject of the ProMaster, right, This big change that we've seen that happened, a lot of these companies don't really how often do they change these things? Maybe 5 years, maybe 6 years? Them to do another generation.

Yeah. So I don't know if and if we see it with everything going on, we're probably gonna see electric know some people wanna get mad when I say that, but that's probably gonna be the future changes we see. Yeah. I really think that's gonna be the change with everybody from Mercedes before before it's already there. Ford's already doing it. Mercedes is making their electric cars and a bunch of their cars. Yeah. Yeah. And I think And I don't think mhmm. Ramit's doing well.

I've heard rumors, but what does that mean? You know what I mean? I've heard rumors that Ram is planning on having an electric ProMaster. We haven't seen in America, them, announced the e Sprinter. Everybody is. Yeah. Mercedes is gonna have Hank e Strange. You know? So, yeah, we we're gonna see some stuff on that. Here, here we go. What's Lola at? Okay. On the all wheel drive, can you flat tow like 4 wheel drive? That's from the hangman. I'm not sure. We're gonna have to I know people Mhmm.

Go ahead. People bought the these Strange vans that are four wheel drive, to tow behind their big class a. So I must they can be flat towed. Mhmm. All wheel drive, I'm not sure it's still it's still pretty new. So this is my understanding of that is that So that's why a lot of folks, what they have RVs, tow a jeep, right, like a Wrangler, because this, four wheel drive is completely different, right? Unless you put it in 4 wheel drive, it's it's in rear wheel drive.

So, towing that and being the all the wheels being flat on the ground is fine. But if you're towing anything all wheel drive. You can flat tow it from what I understand, but you can't flat tow it that far. So if you're flat towing that, you have to stop more off in and let all that stuff cool down because everything's everything's gonna be turning as the wheels are going. So, yeah.

And like I said, I'm not a mechanic, So my understanding is you're gonna have to put that on a trailer if you wanna be safe and drive long distances. And friends I've had in the past that have had all wheel drive vehicles like Honda made one for a long time that was very popular with people RVING, and you had to stop. I think it was like every thousand miles or something. And let that sink cool down or whatever.

So but that's a that's a question that the manufacturers would be able to answer the easiest. Sorry. Go ahead, Nick.

Yeah. Yeah. No. I was, you know, I was, we always get it. We always get this question every time one of the American manufacturers can incorporate some of the European models because that is a question that every every time every time we go live, every time we're at it today, that that question always, always, always gets asked. I think it's a great question. What's your answer? I think to be an there's there is an answer Hank. Mhmm. Okay. I'm weighted with waiting with baited breath.

You wanna know the answer? Yes. Go for it. So, roadtrek is on to buy a European company, and they they are gonna be releasing some European models. They promised me this year. So they've already started with a pivot, which has a European flare to it, but they have another model coming out in, by theendofthisyear, that is gonna be a European model. And so, Hank, I already got all the backstage access to it when it comes out.

Okay. Doing pretty exciting, but, road check seems like they're gonna be the first one to do it this year. I you know, everybody's talked about doing it. Just haven't seen anybody actually do it. Yeah. There's lots of promised things out there, but what I would say is that I think a lot of the manufacturers hear those same calls from folks, and I'm starting to see more elements of European styling being worked in. Aren't you seeing that too?

Not like not like full blown going, you know, to exactly what it looks like in Europe, but I'm we're starting to see stuff getting worked in, I think. Yeah. I think the RVs are not made in Indiana. So I think that like, Winnebago has some has had some of that little here, little there. And then definitely definitely the, you know, road track being made in Canada. And and them and them have being owned by a European company, they are very much influenced by by the European way of making RVs.

So I would say that they are gonna they'll probably be the first ones to bring it to Marcus. Yeah. And let me just say this is a complete aside. I hope you learned your lesson. About having a big fish fry over here and then eating dessert and all that and then getting on camera, because I can see every time you yawn, you can meet you on. This is remember I said to you, I don't wanna eat anymore because I gotta fall asleep. Can you tell what I'm on I I guess. I'm like, cool. Oh, no. I'm over.

I'm over trying to protect you on that one. This is what happened next. Don't do this. Don't have a big dinner. I'm gonna give you a scrape of that right now. We had fried fish. We had it all. Yes. Your stomach is working overtime right now. I I know Craig was like, okay, I ate too much. I was like, what do you mean? Too much. She's like, oh, people kept giving me, what is it, bread pudding? Remember I said I'm not eating that bread pudding? Yeah. Yeah. I was staying away from that.

Yeah. Okay. So there you go. Carolyn Smith's, food forest homestead says I'm just yards outside of Gainesville Cause cable keeps going in and out on me. Also, there's a stow solar storm out there messing with internet signals. So there you go. That's from, I know I think ro Robert, Rojas has a good question, Hank. Oh, okay. You want me to get to that? I was gonna get to Tommy, but let's see. Let's get to Robert Rojas first. I have a question for answered Tommy.

Oh, you did? Okay. I missed it. Okay. A question for both of you guys as far as the Trivado 59 k and 59 kl. Which would you guys prefer if you were to buy if you were to buy 1 is lithium better or is the generator better? Do you wanna go first on that one? So, you know, hang I always mention this during our videos. Mhmm. People always ask what would we do? They ask you, what would you do? They ask what would I do? And and I'm like a good politician. I always turn the question around back on you.

How are you gonna use the RV? Why do an RV? What problem are you trying to solve with your new RV? And then that will help me better answer your question. Robert, if you really care about medium, whatever. I would buy. I'd buy a lithium 1, but they're not for everybody. You know, not everybody needs a lithium 1. Some people, they're be in Campground to every night for as long as you own it, you can you can get by as a generator, just plug in.

And then for a little bit of time, that chip that you want to run the AC without, being plugged in, just turn your generator on. But if you tell me you're always gonna be in in, in, national parks and off the grid and all that, then I would tell you you need, lifting patterns. So, you know, everybody has a different reason why they're gonna buy an RV. For me, I buy a lithium 1, but everyone uses it so different. And, and so this is this is a a very, very personal question. Yeah. Absolutely.

I agree. You know, from my point of view, I agree that it is a a a personal thing. I mean, it also has do with your budget. Right? The lithium generally is gonna cost you more. Right? So Yeah. That's something to think about. There. So for example, I I bought a, AGM, so I bought mine had a AGM battery and the generator. Right? And then I converted it to lithium battery, so I have lithium and the generator.

And I'll tell you guys, and Nick is probably gonna laugh right now because he saw me experiencing this to day. I'm not doing generators anymore. I'm over generators. So if I buy any van that I buy from now on, it's just gonna a lot of lithium and a second alternator in it, and that's it. I have been cured of any I remember when I first did this, Nick was like, I don't know why why do you still want the generator?

Let's just put a bunch of battery And I was like, no. I gotta have the generator for the apocalypse. Alright. I'm done. And like I said, my personal preference is But everybody uses them differently. You're in a parking lot doing a podcast. You need as much lifting and batteries that you can fit in your RV Hank. Right. Right. Period. You just need as much looking batteries. Not everybody does podcast from parking lot. Like, I mean, if you're not doing that, you need lithium batteries.

You can get by with the generator if you're going from Kitter. Save the $20 and go buy your camp grounds for the next 10 years. Mhmm. Yeah. So I think yeah. You know what? I mean, it's true. I think people look, with the generator, you just have to maintain it and all that kind of stuff. Probably what I did comp located everything. Right? I think buying something and then spending more money.

It's better if you buy what you want in the first place, and that manufacturer has built it all to work together. Versus you're now introducing part things to the system that didn't exist there. So I'm not I I I'm not really knocking the generator, but I really do think after looking at this for a long time. That lithium second alternator, that's really the best way to go, but it's gonna cost you more.

I think you're looking probably depending on how much lithium and all that, somewhere, like, somewhere between 10, 20, maybe $30,000 extra. For that. Well, now they're having a 1000 amp hour battery packs, 3000 one inverters, 300 watts of solar. I mean, there's some very, very serious lithium deals out there that they're not cheap you know, just the batteries himself are 12 to $15,000, then the inverter, then the installation. I mean, it's a serious it's a serious investment.

And like I said, if if you need it, you're gonna use it. It's all. Yeah. I think yeah. There you go. So that's that's I don't know if that's a decline answer for Robert, but I think based on that, you know, my experiences, I I wouldn't I would just go with lithium. And then also there's big lithium power packs that have now, or what they call solar generators, or all this kind of stuff. So Strange alone ones, Lola and I have something from Jackery.

We just bought a bigger one from Jack degree, but that one you that you can move around. So you can have it in your van and then move it to like, I'm gonna have it in my electric van or you could put it in the house and stuff like that, but they tend to get heavy too as they get bigger, and it's not purpose. It's not purpose built for vans. And if you put those in your van, you better have room for somewhere. Right. 100%. So Yeah. There you go.

Yeah. I hope that answers your question, Robert. That's a long answer for a short question. Right. Now there's a question I saw on Hank is scared of that. Yeah. Well, I'm trying to give people all the, the know, the different perspectives on it. You know, and then there was a question that came in from, Facebook you know, as well that someone was asking about medications.

So I'm gonna try to see if I can get Lola to answer that while I'm on the air not, that Facebook question, I'll just let her answer it separately. Just to tell you guys what I'm talking about here, someone asked about medications and traveling and the R and stuff like that. Lola's a pharmacist. I think she's probably a better person to answer that. So maybe I'll answer that in a different video, or she'll just go personally. Answer that one. It is a good question.

You know, if you're gonna travel in the RV, there's fridges in here. Some medications need to be in the fridge. Some don't have to be. RVs do tend to get hot though. So you might wanna keep those things in the fridge. So I don't know if you have an answer for that, like, when you're traveling with medications. I mean, I would say that you should definitely consult Lola on that. Yes. There you go. And Lola's That's my professional opinion. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. She's the one who's a pharmacist.

I'll get her to answer that. If she answers it while I'm here on the chat, I'll give you guys whatever her answer is, about that. So what other what other FAQs do you get from the videos that you could think of? You know? I know there was someone complaining on that video where we drove the all wheel drive. There's always people complaining. So but this guy was complaining, and I won't I won't show the comment here.

I'm not trying to, you know, set people up or anything, but this guy was complaining because I was trying to point out to you that when an all wheel drive, when you take off a stop, you don't get that skipping that happens. And he was like, what are you talking about skipping? And what I meant is you have a 4 by 4. Like, I've had a 4 by 4 pickup truck, and I've done this when I've driven the 4 by 4 vans or even just rear wheel drive Hank.

When you first go to start that, those rare wheels just spin out sometimes, especially if you kinda like match on the on the gas. Obviously, these things have a lot of weight, so that kinda keeps everything pinned down. But I do feel that skipping sensation on the wheels, and maybe I'm just a lead foot, but I was pointing that out to you that that just doesn't happen with all wheel drive. And this person thought that I was crazy. What do you think about that?

Yeah. Yeah. So I you know, it's it is it is different when you're depends on where you're diving from and what you doing and all that, you know, the there is the all wheel drives kinda kinda mean, that's why you have your, the dual wheels. You have the all wheel drive, traction control. You know, that's that's the yeah, kinda all part of that system there.

But the all wheel drive, it's meant to automatically pick in same on the Mercedes and the transit where it automatically kicks in when you need it. And when you don't need it, it's not there. And that's kinda We're taking a break. We're taking a break. Hold on one second. Lola and I are now official brand ambassadors for Coachmen class b. So I wanted to take a moment to tell you guys why we, as Vanosaurus, like it says on our t shirt, are very excited about our partnership with Coachmen Class B.

First off, Coachmen RVs has been a leader to the great outdoors since 1964. So next is the fact