We have been camping for 15 years, and full-timing for 4 years. We have a nice 5th wheel, but the new 5th wheels look inviting. How long do you keep an RV, or motor home, before getting a newer one? Our 5th wheel is 4 years old, and still in good shape. A newer one will probably cost us $30k plus our trailer. I like the new stuff such as leveling devices and newer looks. But other than that we reall like our 5th wheel except it is too long (37 feet vs 34 feet).. . . I guess the thing is, do we sell our used, but in good shape, 5th wheel Now and buy a new one. OR, just pull the thing down the road until it falls apart, then buy a new or used one.=???your help would be appreciated. . . .ken and sue

My Creek is 10 years old and is likely my last fiver. New is nice, but....Why have payments?Why fork out for the depreciation?$3500 for 6PT level up system10K for full body paint.5K for moreride suspension and disk brake conversion.Seems to me that is still way under 30K + you would have to fork out for new.

Buy a new one. Stimulate the economy and help put shoes on the kids of the ones who are still working. I bought an older one because it was my first FW and people suggested learning on something cheaper. I will probably buy a new one or slightly used but I'll give it more time. It's easy to love the new ones when we check them out but I also look at the systems on newer ones and think that older may be better. The cheesy nature and shoddy workmanship of most rv's just doesn't seem like it's something that needs complexity added to it.

My question would be...how full time are you? Do you move alot or do you tend to sit still for months at a time? The roads absolutely beat the******out of your 5er. When our last 5er was having one problem after another with the suspension, tires, etc, it was time for something else. That's why we went new. To some it may be bad logic but for us it worked out well... Good luck on your decision!

Let's see our rig is 13 yrs old and we have no plans to buy a new one. We know her by now and it is cheaper to fix problems than opt for a new one with new bells/whistles (which won't work right for the first year) and huge outlay to do so. So we just keep what we have got until she can no longer run - - which will probably be long after we will be able to still use her.

Bought our Phaeton new on December 16 2005, just turned over 106,000 miles. Cat engine is running strong. Just had $2400 worth of service and repairs done, still way cheaper than a new rig.

How long to keep RV when Full-timing? | Good Sam Community

18 Replies

Slowmover
Explorer
Jun 24, 2015
Let's see . . My folks bought theirs when I was at the end of high school. Twenty-seven years later they sold it when my son was in college in 2003. Full timed in it for better than ten years of that. And 3-4 week annual trips plus weekend trips in those other years.

An Airstream is the only brand left of that quality of RV. And, ironically, it was the lowest quality of those.

With two TVs that covered just under 400k miles, they did pretty well. Grandparents did the same thing, but with a Streamline. All of USA , Canada and Mexico to south of the Federal District in the 1960s into the seventies.

If you're going to travel, then pay for quality. Not a rig that is basically worn out before 100k miles. I decided that those brands weren't to be beat so fixing up an older one is a better plan financially than buying new or used junk. Junk being that which can't reasonably be rebuilt.

Of course, if traveling south to watch TV in a warmer place is the majority of full timing and only in retirement, a short time, some old lumbering barely roadworthy 5er (they all are) traded often will do nicely.

Argue about floor plans.
C-Bears
Explorer
May 28, 2015
nbargolf wrote:
C-Bears wrote:
We started in a 2008 gently used unit. There were enough upgrades when looking at the new 2014 units we felt, as full timers, we needed to trade up:
1) 6-point level up
2) large frig/freezer
3) much improved suspension
4) more square feet
The only question for us was if it was better to sell our unit or do a trade-in. Due to sales tax consideration and other factors I came up with a figure which would make it better for me to trade. That "dream" trade difference figure was where I would need to get a dealer to in order for us to come out better trading as compared to selling our unit outright.

The very first trade offer our dealer made to us was actually right on that figure! We still negotiated some add-ons but we came out really good on a trade deal.

Good for you I can't seem to ever find a dealer who will give us a reasonable trade.:(

The "deal" was the only thing the dealer got right IMHO. Horrible warranty service from them. I am just lucky that nothing major went wrong with our unit while under warranty.
JPeyton
Explorer
May 28, 2015
Keep in mind ageism at certain parks... I've seen some restricting RV's to 2000 (I think) and newer now.
AprilWhine
Explorer
May 28, 2015
Which answer are you hoping people give? That's what you should do. ;)
ken_burke
Explorer
May 28, 2015
All . . . . . thanks for your response. We think that we will keep our 5th wheel for another season. As someone says, it is very expensive to upgrade. Our 5th wheel has been updated (new tires, new roof).
The only thing that is really bad is the weak axles. The 5th wheel should have higher rated axles. We have 6,000 # rated axles and we should have 7,000 rated axles and upgraded tires. I have the highest rated tires available for 6,000 axles. We are overloaded (full timers).
halfwright
Explorer
May 23, 2015
I will trade my 2007 fifth wheel when the monthly maintenance costs equal or exceed the monthly payment on a new one.
hitchup
Explorer
May 22, 2015
We had a 2009 Suite that we kept for 5 yrs before trading. Calculated the cost of upgrades: residential fridge, inverter, new countertops and because we were stuck with smaller shower and 2-pc fiberglass roof, we opted for a new one.

Sometimes, I look back and wish we would have paid for the upgrades...
nbargolf
Explorer
May 22, 2015
C-Bears wrote:
We started in a 2008 gently used unit. There were enough upgrades when looking at the new 2014 units we felt, as full timers, we needed to trade up:
1) 6-point level up
2) large frig/freezer
3) much improved suspension
4) more square feet
The only question for us was if it was better to sell our unit or do a trade-in. Due to sales tax consideration and other factors I came up with a figure which would make it better for me to trade. That "dream" trade difference figure was where I would need to get a dealer to in order for us to come out better trading as compared to selling our unit outright.

The very first trade offer our dealer made to us was actually right on that figure! We still negotiated some add-ons but we came out really good on a trade deal.

Good for you I can't seem to ever find a dealer who will give us a reasonable trade.:(
colliehauler
Explorer III
May 22, 2015
There is no definitive answer, everyone needs and wants are different. Some trade every 2 years others keep for a lifetime. I guess a lot of us fall between the two.
C-Bears
Explorer
May 22, 2015
We started in a 2008 gently used unit. There were enough upgrades when looking at the new 2014 units we felt, as full timers, we needed to trade up:
1) 6-point level up
2) large frig/freezer
3) much improved suspension
4) more square feet
The only question for us was if it was better to sell our unit or do a trade-in. Due to sales tax consideration and other factors I came up with a figure which would make it better for me to trade. That "dream" trade difference figure was where I would need to get a dealer to in order for us to come out better trading as compared to selling our unit outright.

The very first trade offer our dealer made to us was actually right on that figure! We still negotiated some add-ons but we came out really good on a trade deal.