In addition to timeshares that allow you the use of recreational vehicle timeshares, you sometimes can find a program that will let you purchase a timeshare in the RV itself. As with a boating timeshare, you would almost never own an actual share in the vehicle, but rather the right to use it for a certain amount of time each year.

Some RV timeshare programs are run by recreational vehicle manufacturers themselves, while others are organized through RV rental companies or even by RV owners who want to form individual shared-use partnerships when buying a new, high-end recreational vehicle. In some cases, you can even use timeshare resort points through a company like Resort Condominiums International to purchase a week of RV vacation.

Why not just rent? Some people argue that RVs made available to renters are not always in the best of shape, while timeshare recreational vehicles are better models to begin with that benefit over time from more stringent maintenance schedules.

A typical recreational vehicle timeshare can cost as little as $5,000 or more than $150,000, depending on the RV model and usage benefits — plus the maintenance fees that you would pay for any other kind of timeshare. With a recreational vehicle timeshare, you often will be entitled to four weeks or more of annual vehicle use, with a weekly limit on the number of miles that you are allowed to drive (say, in the 1,000-mile-per-week range). You may be charged a monthly maintenance fee instead of an annual one, as you would be with a resort timeshare unit.

As recreational vehicles, like all vehicles, have a limited lifespan, there usually will be an end date for your timeshare term. When that date comes, the RV may be sold or taken back by its manufacturer, sometimes with at least part of the income from any sale being given back to you and the other RV timeshare owners. Some companies will let you cash out or reinvest that money in another recreational vehicle timeshare, whichever you prefer. Other companies may keep the entire bankroll, as part of your original buy-in agreement.

American QuarterCoach, based in Burr Ridge, Illinois, is one company that offers recreational vehicle timeshares under the name “fractional ownership.” It has offered the program since 2003. You pay an initial buy-in fee, just as you would with a timeshare resort unit, and then you pay additional monthly management fees to cover maintenance, insurance, and other expenses.

Different buy-in rates allow you different amounts of RV usage in the American QuarterCoach system. A one-half plan will allow you twenty-four weeks of use a year, a one-quarter plan gives you twelve weeks annually, and a one-eighth plan will include five weeks of RV use for you and your family each year.

The company says that fractional ownership makes sense for many people because typical recreational vehicle owners use their RVs only about three weeks each year. And, as a bonus to its fractional ownership members, the company will even provide pickup and delivery of its recreational vehicles — with the goal of making RV vacation travel as hassle-free as possible.

As with any timeshare purchase, you will want to ensure that you are dealing with an upstanding company before you sign anything. Your safest course of action is to ask your attorney to take a look at the contract, specifically the terms of usage and the rights you have to getting any money back after the end date of your timeshare period.