This article is going to be talking about RV inspection costs. And how much an RV inspector doing an RV inspection for you should cost.
Of course, RV buying reached a fever pitch during the Covid pandemic of 2020-2022. There’s no question about that.
And more RVs were sold then than almost any other time in history.
But lots of the new RVs sold during that time had serious issues and flaws in them.
In fact, I made a video just a little while back that tried to explain the factors that went into that situation. You can view that video here.
In that video, I tried to answer why all of that happened from an industry perspective.
So if you get a chance to go through it, I’m sure it would be helpful.
But here we are well after the pandemic with all those issues that have taken place in the RV industry.
And it seems that many RV buyers still don’t want to use RV inspectors.
Instead, they seem to be more than willing to take the risk of the condition of an RV fully on themselves as they go through the buying process.
Table of Contents
- Why Are There Lots Of Unhappy RV Buyers?
- What Should An RV Inspection Do For You?
- What About RV Inspection Costs That Are Really Cheap?
- How Much Time Does It Take To Inspect An RV Properly?
- The Truth About Really Cheap RV Inspection Costs
- How Do RV Inspections Compare To Home Inspections?
- What Do Certified NRVIA Inspectors Charge For An Inspection?
- General Guidelines On RV Inspection Costs
- Is Hiring A Certified RV Inspector Worth It?
- What Certified RV Inspector Should You Choose?
- Conclusion
Why Are There Lots Of Unhappy RV Buyers?
But then, unfortunately they often have problems with the RV they’ve bought.
And then they go online and complain loud and long about the problems they are dealing with.
Often the target of their anger in many cases is RV manufacturers. And to be sure, RV manufacturers deserve a lot of the anger and resentment that they are getting.
But here’s the truth that isn’t often part of the discussion. And that is that RV inspectors can prevent a lot of that angst you hear online.
They can save you money, frustration, and time in the buying process.
They can save anxiety that could be spent while your RV is in the shop being repaired after you buy it.
That is, instead of being with you and being used for having fun RV adventures.
But of course, if RV inspections were free, well everybody would do it, right?
What Should An RV Inspection Do For You?
So when you hire an RV inspector what you’re doing is you’re paying a trained professional to test every system in that RV.
From the top of the RV all the way to the bottom. So how much is that worth? Well, let’s talk about that.
Now these days I see that there are lots of independent RV inspectors out there.
What About RV Inspection Costs That Are Really Cheap?
Ones that only charge about $200 – $300 for their inspection. And is that a proper inspection?
Well, let’s compare RV inspectors to another group of trained professionals in the RV industry.
And that is mobile RV technicians. How much do they usually charge to come to you like an RV inspector would to diagnose and repair your problem?
Generally speaking, my experience is that they’re going to charge about $150 – $170 an hour for their labor.
And at that rate, what if an RV inspector was to charge you $300 for the entire inspection?
Well, that means they have only been able to spend about 2 hours on the entire inspection.
That is, if they’re going to try make a profit like a mobile RV repair tech does.
And that includes their travel time. It also includes getting their report together and sending it to you after the inspection.
And it includes making themselves available to help answer any questions you have about the inspection report.
How Much Time Does It Take To Inspect An RV Properly?
So here’s my experience in this matter. Even the simplest of RVs will take much longer to thoroughly inspect than just 2 hours.
In fact, lets just take a look at travel trailers. Since they probably are the simplest type of RV to actually go through and inspect.
However, even a travel trailer is going to take a good inspector 5 – 6 hours to go through and inspect from top to bottom.
But remember, that’s just one end of the spectrum. All the way at the other end you have large diesel pusher RVs.
And they have lots of big and complicated systems in them. As well as lots of amenities and luxuries that have to be tested too.
So how long do they take to inspect? In my experience, they can take 10 to 12 hours or even more to go through them thoroughly.
That is if you want to perform a quality inspection. And again, that doesn’t include travel time for the inspector back and forth.
Or research that’s done in advance of the inspection to learn more about the coach in advance.
And a lot of us RV inspectors research RVs before we actually go out and inspect them.
Then it also doesn’t count the report that you put together and check for accuracy. Because nobody wants a report with mistakes in it.
And it doesn’t count the time spent with the customer to answer all of their questions about the report either.
The Truth About Really Cheap RV Inspection Costs
So here’s my question. How can someone afford to charge $200 – $300 for a full RV inspection and make any kind of profit on it?
That is, if it’s a quality inspection and they’re doing it thoroughly?
Well the truth is this. When someone charges you that little, it often means that the inspection is very limited in its scope.
It just cannot be as thorough as the average certified NRVIA inspector would perform.
Now is that what you as an RV buyer want? Is it more important to you to pay as little as you possibly can at this critical step in the RV buying process?
How Do RV Inspections Compare To Home Inspections?
Well you know, it always surprises me that some people will buy homes for $150K – $300K or more.
And they would never even consider doing so without hiring a home inspector.
They want him to go through and make sure of the condition of the home they want to buy.
And yet, they will buy an RV for the same amount of money and not even consider hiring an RV inspector.
But here’s the truth. RVs cost too much to be able to buy them with such limited information about their true condition.
Especially since RVs are actually in many cases much more complex than just a home.
Because a home just sits in one place. And it doesn’t have multiple systems for water and power like RVs do, etc.
Also, it’s not capable of being both a home and a vehicle at the same time.
So inspecting RVs is far more complicated than inspecting the average sticks and bricks house.
What Do Certified NRVIA Inspectors Charge For An Inspection?
OK, let’s get to the big question now. The one that this article is leading to.
And that is, what does a full thorough inspection from a certified NRVIA inspector cost?
Well, the answer is that it varies greatly depending on who the inspector is.
And the reason for that is that the NRVIA trains and certifies inspectors. But they don’t employ them.
Instead, we are all self-employed business owners. And that means that we’re free to set our own inspection prices as we see fit.
So that means that you’re obviously going to find a range of prices being charged.
And it can vary considerably from one inspector to another. Depending on many factors, including what the market will bear in that particular area.
But let me give you some general guidelines to go by on RV inspection costs.
General Guidelines On RV Inspection Costs
So remember that we talked about travel trailers being the simplest RV to inspect, right?
Well, if they take about 5 – 6 hours to inspect, you can often find certified RV inspectors that will charge about $500 for that kind of RV.
But let’s go to the other end of the RV spectrum now. And I’m talking about those big diesel pushers now.
The ones with all those complicated systems. As well as lots of luxuries and amenities too.
So what can you expect to spend on that kind of inspection? Well first of all, know that they can take 10 to 12 hours or more to inspect fully.
As a result, you’re going to find certified RV inspectors that charge $1200 or more for inspecting them.
Is Hiring A Certified RV Inspector Worth It?
Now is it worth that kind of money? The answer to that question is that it’s up to you to decide.
It is worth it if you value the time, experience and training of a professional who’s doing a thorough job.
One who is going to give you a complete report that you can really use to make a good decision on whether to buy that RV or not.
In my opinion, the money that certified RV inspectors charge is actually a real bargain!
But it really is up to you to decide. However, I can say this with absolute confidence.
Remember all those folks that are complaining online over what they bought in the last 3 – 4 years or so?
Well, what if they had gotten a full and thorough RV inspection from a certified RV inspector?
In that case, their buying experience would almost certainly have been much better.
And they would not be complaining anywhere near as loudly and long on social media.
Yes, you would find much less complaints about RVs and RV manufacturers then as well.
And that’s because they would have known the true condition of the RV they were buying before they actually completed the sale.
Also, they would have been able to negotiate the RV repairs before the sale was completed.
So they could have avoided so much frustration, lost time and anger then.
Just by putting a certified RV inspector who is a trained professional into the buying process.
What Certified RV Inspector Should You Choose?
OK, let’s now take on the last question that I want to cover in this article.
And that is which certified inspector should you choose? Well, here is my recommendation on that subject.
Just simply visit nrvia.org. And on the home page you’re going to see a button for “Find an RV inspector”.
So select that button and on the next page you’ll see a nationwide map.
And it contains the locations of all the certified NRVIA inspectors across the country.
Then you can just zoom in to the area where your RV that you’re considering is located.
As you do, look for the inspectors in that area. And the website will give you their contact information.
So then you can contact them and find out about their availability for an RV inspection.
I also recommend that you talk to them about your needs and expectations for the inspection.
Now who should you choose? Well, my recommendation is to just choose the one you are most comfortable with overall.
And the honest truth is all NRVIA certified inspectors have been trained to provide a good quality inspection for you.
Conclusion
So after covering all of this information about RV inspection costs, here’s my question for you.
What kind of RV inspection do you really want? Do you want a thorough one? Or just a cheap and quick one instead?
It’s up to you to decide, and I hope you make the right choice.
Have safe and happy travels my friends!