Saving money on RV repairs

Flea collars protect more than pets

As anyone who owns an RV knows, repairs are expensive. We found this out a couple of weeks ago, when we took our travel trailer in for what we thought were minor repairs. The bill was $2,300. Our cost was only $83.50. Luckily, we had bought a service contract when we got the trailer. At the time, we thought the $1,500 was expensive, but this visit more than paid for the contract.  We've still got another four years of service left on the service contract, so this is turning out to be a wise decision.
One way to cut down on the repair costs is to prevent breakdowns from happening in the first place. A flea collar that costs a couple of bucks can save hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars in repair costs. Why? A flea collar is good wasp prevention. Wasps love the smell of propane and will set ip housekeeping near an outlet. They don't like the smell of the chemicals used in flea collars, so they'll go elsewhere. My husband's nephew, who is a service writer for a large RV dealership, says they get a lot of rigs in for repair where the wasps -- and wiring -- were fried when the propane pilot light went on. Read more about this tip in an article I wrote for RVtravel.com's newsletter.