I Thought The Economy Was Depressed

donn0128 wrote:
Strange. because my trailer has been at a dealers for two weeks waiting on parts and they have dozens of nice used units in stock. May not be what your willing to pay, but they are there. Must be a Seattle thing, because Portland is still in the toilet.

From what I am hearing (friends in the industry), sales are solid there too.

Back to the OP, keep looking, finding a perfect used rig takes a lot longer then just ordering a new rig (which is what we did after 6 months of looking)

Private options pop up from time to time but one has to be ready to buy. keep looking.

donn0128 wrote:
Must be a Seattle thing, because Portland is still in the toilet.

I stopped by Curtis Trailers a few weeks ago. They said they sold over 300 new trailer just the weekend prior when I was asking why they didn't have any larger toy haulers in stock. I also went to Guarantee, and they said it's been their busiest spring in their history. Portland hoe rental market is nearly at 3%, and for-sale home inventory is down to six-weeks! One of my good friends put an offer in at asking price on the first day of listing on a large home on 3-acres. They lost out because there were three other offers the same day above asking.

My last three new-hires came from out-of-state (WA, OK, AZ) because we couldn't find anyone local that was qualified. The campus I'm at has a 50-person/day limit on New Employee Orientation, and the wait list is nearly month long right for NEO. They have to add more capacity, because the site expects to increase hiring to over 1,000/month shortly.

OP here. I can't afford a new or newer RV at this time, regardless of how much better they may be. (My personal Economy is still in a depressed state). In a couple years, that may change. It appears that I am looking for something that is difficult to find so I guess it is going to take longer to find it. I'll keep looking but I am about to write off camping this summer.

pnichols wrote:
.......had the same problem finding a used, clean, good condition small Class C back a few years ago when things were booming. We had the same problem in 2006 - so we finally had to buy new to get what we wanted. However, in buying new we got more modern technology in our Class C than we would have in buying used. For instance, under the coach we got a higher horsepower V10 - that also didn't blow spark plugs - and a 5-6 speed computer controlled transmission.

We have a very similar story.

I agree with you regarding chassis & drive train improvements. A motor home built on a 2009 or newer Ford E350 or E450 assures the latest improvements....though I still question the "improved" styling. :)

A 2008 chassis was a transition year getting current day with exception to the interior design.

The OP was talking about finding a Class C RV in what they thought was (still) an oppressed economy.

You're probably going to find way more used, clean, good condition TTs and 5'ers out there - any day - than Class C motorhomes of the same caliber regardless of the economy. Friends of ours had the same problem finding a used, clean, good condition small Class C back a few years ago when things were booming. We had the same problem in 2006 - so we finally had to buy new to get what we wanted. However, in buying new we got more modern technology in our Class C than we would have in buying used. For instance, under the coach we got a higher horsepower V10 - that also didn't blow spark plugs - and a 5-6 speed computer controlled transmission.

rockhillmanor wrote:

ol' yeller wrote:
I've been watching Craigslist very carefully. Everyday I have to sort through about 5,000 ads there only to find that there are many repeat ads from dealers, sometimes 5 or 6 ads for the same rig on the same day. .....

Look near the top you can CHOOSE either by owner or dealer or both.
Click by owner only.

Also when you are searching off to the right in red it will say owner or dealer so you don't have to click on all of them.

I don't click on all of them, only those that could be a class C I may be interested in. I want to search both by owner and dealer just so I don't miss something. Also I have found that most often, if I find a dealer I haven't been to, I can look at their inventory online which may or may not be accurate.

Sorry if this sounded like a whiney lament. I guess that is what it is. Somehow I thought this would be easier. I'm better now.

ol' yeller wrote:
I've been watching Craigslist very carefully. Everyday I have to sort through about 5,000 ads there only to find that there are many repeat ads from dealers, sometimes 5 or 6 ads for the same rig on the same day. .....

Look near the top you can CHOOSE either by owner or dealer or both.
Click by owner only.

Also when you are searching off to the right in red it will say owner or dealer so you don't have to click on all of them.

I've been watching Craigslist very carefully. Everyday I have to sort through about 5,000 ads there only to find that there are many repeat ads from dealers, sometimes 5 or 6 ads for the same rig on the same day. I search under RVs so I don't miss anything by having too narrow of a search. I also search the RV Trader as well as dealer lot online inventories. I have also been to a couple rental firms only to find RVs that are not optioned the way we want.

My DW has some requirements that eliminates a lot of RVs. First, she wants the dinette on the passenger side or at least big windows on that side. We also need a walk around queen bed. That eliminates a lot of the shorter RVs. My budget allows for something that is 2000-2005 and around 28 feet or so. We have found about 4 or 5 that might work but they are either very dated or worn out inside or have other major issues (Dlam eg.). I haven't found one yet that we even began to discuss the price. We would also prefer to have an overhead bunk over the entertainment center we often find.

I think my problem is trying to buy during the busy season. I should have known as I sold both my TT and truck within days of listing them for full asking price.

If I miss this camping season I guess that will be OK. I hope that in the fall and winter there will be more inventory.

Holiday27 wrote:
Try Craigslist, I've seen some great deals and plenty of class c's. Last year we bought ours and

looked on the lots and the supply was pretty sad.

We ended up buying from a private party. Good luck with your search!

X2
The used ones I saw on the lots across the board where all the ones road hard and put away wet. I think the nice ones ARE put on Craigslist and sell fast. The bad ones just get traded in. :B