Forum Discussion

lacofdfireman's avatar
lacofdfireman
Explorer
Feb 19, 2017

NADA values for used Fifth Wheels

I'm in the market for a Fifth Wheel and from what I'm seeing so far either people are mighty proud of their Fifth Wheels or they seem to hold their value really well. Most that I look at are priced above NADA value. I've inquired on a few and when I tell them they are priced above value they say then move along. That's what I'm asking for it and don't make me these silly offers. So I've always been taught that when you book a vehicle the only extras you can add on when getting a used value are extras. People are adding in there A/C units, furnaces, refrigerators, slides, awnings, gel coat exteriors etc when they are already included in the book price. So basically they are adding them in twice making their values sometimes up to $10k higher than it should be. It even says in the fine print when you book out an RV that you do not include any items that come standard on the RV when purchase. The things I mentioned above are standard items.

Am I wrong for pointing this out to sellers? And why are people paying over book value for these units? Just curious. What are your thoughts on used RV values.
  • Veebyes's avatar
    Veebyes
    Explorer II
    Feb 25, 2017
    As a boater I compare RV used market sales with boat used market sales.

    One huge difference seems to be that RVs are usually stripped down to as they were from the dealer, new. If it is not bolted on or screwed in it is not there except for the shorepower cord.

    Boats, not little trailer boats, are different. It is more likely that the seller has all kinds of extras onboard, right down to silverware, linens, cleaning supplies, tools, spares, about everything except personal items & food. The term "Turn Key" means just that.

    When the day comes to sell my truck & trailer that is the way it will go. I will not be selling to get another. I will take the personal stuff out but it will be sold "Turn Key". Put your clothes, your food in it & you will be ready to go stocked right down to spare landing leg parts, spare wet bolts for the springs, light bulbs for inside & all kinds of galley gadgets that the foodie DW has.
  • ChuckV1's avatar
    ChuckV1
    Explorer
    Feb 25, 2017
    lacofdfireman wrote:
    mtofell1 wrote:
    lacofdfireman wrote:

    I really like the Keystone Hideouts but know they are Keystones bottom of the barrel units.


    I ended up buying a new one just over a year ago. And it wasn't even so much cost. It just had the perfect floor plan for my family. I really dragged my feet because of it being the low end of Keystone. In the end, DW and kids loved the features so I own one.

    Overall, I'm super happy. I got lucky and haven't had a single problem in my year of ownership. I don't use it much so that's probably part of the reason nothing has gone wrong (yet :)) I think I've spent around 20 nights in it over the last year. The features on these newer trailers are nice compared to what you find used. And I don't know how/why people are so hard on RVs. I can never seem to find a used unit that doesn't smell like a dirty sock and have huge stains on everything.


    Glad to hear you like yours. Just found out a co-worker just bought a bunkhouse Hideout also and is very happy with it.

    One of the craziest things I've noticed in some ads are that the people selling make zero effort in cleaning the unit before taking photos. Clutter on the floors and counters, clothes laying around and beds not made. That I'll never understand but I'd never even consider buying a trailer that someone wasn't even willing to try and clean up before snapping photos to post for sale.


    I have to laugh about cleaning a trailer before selling it, my wife stated that we needed to clean our 5er before we traded it in for our new one. So we washed the inside top to bottom, washed the outside, took the cushion to the cleaner to be dry cleaned and then took it to the dealer .... The gal that looked at it stated "WOW" we don't have to anything to this unit but put it on the lot ! I stated that you can give me an extra few thousand then right, she laughed, but we did get $10K for a 2006 5th wheel on trade ....
  • leeper's avatar
    leeper
    Explorer
    Feb 25, 2017
    Dealers can charge more because of other things they do when selling, such as getting you financing that a private seller can not. That is a biggy for most buyers. NADA is as they say, A GUIDE. Dealers use them to determine how much to offer when one is being traded in. Not used when a dealer is selling. Financing might be based on NADA. Because of NADA, private sellers have hard time selling.
  • Jetstreamer's avatar
    Jetstreamer
    Explorer
    Feb 25, 2017
    I had the same issue as you did, when we bought our fiver, with the seller adding on all of the standard equipment when filling out the Nada form. It was really my first dealings with the Nada pricing so it took me a while to make sure I knew what I was talking about before I confronted the seller. In our case it didn't really matter much anyway because the seller was looking to unload the unit, it was the middle of winter, and we got a great price in the end.

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