50% less from what you paid

dewey02 wrote:

ct78barnes wrote:
Just for fun I called a big dealer and ask him to give me what he would give for my 4 year old Winnebago Sightseer . It was 1/2 of what I payed for it. Does it ever stop going down or level off.

Well, maybe "just for fun" the dealer gave you a lowball offer.
Or maybe he has to make money to cover for all the wasted time he spends giving responses to bogus, non-serious inquiries about the value of someone's RV when they have no intention of doing a deal. You wasted his time and you are the one complaining?

Maybe it was just fun for you, it was non-productive work for the dealer.

Best post in this thread!!. On top of that, how can any dealer give a quote on a rig they aren't even looking at. They have two choices. 1) Give a safe quote, leaving them with a little bit of wiggle room should the rig is not be exactly as described. Trouble is, you get a situation like the first poster where they are upset with the value given. They of course don't come in to trade or sell the rig to the dealer and the dealer does indeed just waste time and money. 2) give a high quote and nit-pick the every detail about the rig when the guy brings it in to drive the actual price down to what it is worth. This might bring the customer into the dealership, giving the dealer at least a puncher's chance at making a deal. But almost always people take offense with someone telling them all the little things wrong with their RV and it just turns into bad blood and a waste of time.
Most of us would not waste the time of other businesses. We wouldn't have construction companies come out and give us estimates on remodeling jobs we have no intention of undertaking. Just like the "boy who cried Wolf", enough people waste the dealer's time with nonsense like this, you will end up with a dealer who assumes every such call is a waste of time.
And finally, is there anyone, anywhere, who didn't know that RVs depreciate about as fast as a punctured balloon?

ct78barnes wrote:
It looks like I hit a nerve I am all for a dealer making a fair profit but to go after people that have to sell and low ball them just does not seem right.

You should not look at it this way. On a 5 year old MH the dealer is just following the standard deprecation curve, that is not unfair. The deprecation curve works to your advantage when you buy a 5 year old MH from him. If you are concerned about loosing a lot to deprecation a 6 year old MH is already down the curve and would only lose 6% per year. This is the reason many on here say it is better to buy a quality older MH than a brand new lower quality brand new MH. Also an older well maintained and highly modified MH will hold it value better than one that is not. Once you get past 10 years or so it is all about the condition of the MH.

ct78barnes wrote:
Just for fun I called a big dealer and ask him to give me what he would give for my 4 year old Winnebago Sightseer . It was 1/2 of what I payed for it. Does it ever stop going down or level off.

Well, maybe "just for fun" the dealer gave you a lowball offer.
Or maybe he has to make money to cover for all the wasted time he spends giving responses to bogus, non-serious inquiries about the value of someone's RV when they have no intention of doing a deal. You wasted his time and you are the one complaining?

Maybe it was just fun for you, it was non-productive work for the dealer.

It looks like I hit a nerve I am all for a dealer making a fair profit but to go after people that have to sell and low ball them just does not seem right.

kalynzoo wrote:
Amazingly, when we were shopping for our current MH we can across a number of 2013's and 2014's where the buyer purchased the new rig and then traded it back in within 6 months or a year of purchase. Talking with sales people I learned that often the trade is because they just didn't like the first purchase and traded back to purchase a bigger or smaller RV. I can't even imagine the depreciation loss that was taken.

Or there were so many problems with the coach that they traded it to get rid of it. Buyer beware means a lot with late model MHs.

Sorry to say.... but you cannot even compare this to a bricks and sticks !!!!

Many reasons why the bricks and sticks is going to generally speaking ,Be worth more in time .
The cost of materials to build a new one would cost more, the area around it if its a good area will go up in value ,and generally speaking all things considered a sticks and bricks will bring you more money used then when you paid for it new.... generally speaking .


Now let's talk about an RV .......... A RV is built to be on the road ....and they're constantly improving them ....Which makes yours worth less,as soon as a new model comes out...Even a week,Day ,Month later.

A new one...... and as soon as you buy it.....it drops off in value ,that's just the way it is !!!

Now you're driving this thing down the road( or not driving down the road) its still going to lose money ..... whole lot more maintenance to it because its not sitting on a foundation and just overall it's not the same thing as a bricks and sticks !!!

That in a nutshell is the way things are...... most people understand that going to RV ing that they choose what they want based on what they want.
Their not looking to save a ton of money cuz if you're looking to save a ton of money
you're going to put up a tent in your backyard and never travel anywhere!!!!!!
That's how you save money....:W

ct78barnes wrote:
Thanks for all the help I just wonder if some one would buy a stick and brick house for 100,000 and know when they are buying it that in 4 years it would only be worth 50,000 dollars. Would they still buy it . I knew it would go down in what it was worth and we ordered it and are not going to sell it any time soon. It was just a shock and awe moment. The internet sites say it should go for a low of 69,000 and a high of 89,000 for full body paint . I guess the dealer want to make a killing on people that are forced to sell it at any cost which is sad. I wonder how many little old ladys when there husband dies and have to sell and these dealers take them to the cleaners.

Odd you should say that. We were looking on a lot for a Class A. They had new and they had a few consignments. One we considered was a 1 year old Bounder. We got past the rubber roof (we want fiberglass) and was talking to the salesperson. He had no personal knowledge of the unit we were looking at, but he said..."we can work with the owner and try to negotiate something for you, but sometimes these are really tough because we get a lot of these big coaches that are 1-2 years old and the widow will bring them in to consign because their husband died and they either can't, or don't want, to continue RV'ing.

I just would feel too dirty hagglin down some widow on a unit and then have the dealer take his percentage too.

Dealers with a heart are bankrupt in short order. Everyone seems to forget the large amount of cash or the large credit line it takes to open a RV dealership. There is property that needs to be purchased or leased, a franchise/dealer fee that is payed to the RV manufacturer, the inventory (vehicles & parts), plus office personnel, sales people, and a myriad or other expenses; expected and unexpected. So a good business plan is what is required not a heart.

Thanks for all the help I just wonder if some one would buy a stick and brick house for 100,000 and know when they are buying it that in 4 years it would only be worth 50,000 dollars. Would they still buy it . I knew it would go down in what it was worth and we ordered it and are not going to sell it any time soon. It was just a shock and awe moment. The internet sites say it should go for a low of 69,000 and a high of 89,000 for full body paint . I guess the dealer want to make a killing on people that are forced to sell it at any cost which is sad. I wonder how many little old ladys when there husband dies and have to sell and these dealers take them to the cleaners.

valhalla360 wrote:

happy-2 wrote:
I never bought an RV as an investment,I buy for the freedom of going when i want, where i want, no bed bugs, we buy when we find a coach that fulfills our needs.and then we keep it . I just found our 2nd MH,it took me about a year of looking,It will be our last.When we get ready to Stop The RV life Im not going to care what Its worth.I never buy from a Dealer.

No it's not an investement but if you understand how much you lose to buy that "new car smell", you can save a ton of money.

The 'new car smell' is just the icing on the cake.

You get new:
-engine
-tires
-radiator
-drive train
-shocks
-hoses
-windshield
-air bags
-all appliances
-full body paint...no scratches
-new roof
-new electronics
-new mattress
-new toilets
-new flooring



-etc, etc., etc.

And most of all (drum roll)....

YOU KNOW EXACTLY HOW IT'S BEEN SERVICED AND DRIVEN. That worth it to me.

MM.