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bclinton's avatar
bclinton
Explorer
Jan 22, 2018

In the market looking for suggestions.

Hi all. I am recently retired and have decided to look into purchasing a motor home. I had a bumper pull for a number of years up until the kids left home. I started looking of RV TRADER. I prefer, like everyone else, to get the best deal possible without any headaches. Noticed a few on the site with low miles and fairly late model (2013-2017). Most of them were out of state. It seems the used market in Arkansas is no where near as competitive as the out of state dealers. Any suggestions on buying from the ebay or RV Trader? If I go with say a 2013 year model with 30K miles. What risk do I run with having to deal with maintenance issues soon? I was looking for 29' and longer. I have always heard look in Arizona and Florida as the retirees trade up and you can get a great deal. Is that a myth. re there other places to look for great used RV deals besides Ebay and RV Trader? Thanks for any advise. I will spend some time going through this message board :)
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  • Tal_IL's avatar
    Tal_IL
    Explorer
    Jan 23, 2018
    I'm on my 3rd motorhome. I bought #1 & #2 off Ebay from private parties and out-of-state. There was lots of communication and no money changed hands until I showed up to complete the purchase. Everything turned out fine.

    #3 I bought from my local dealer because we fell in love with it. I guess my dealership experience is a little uncommon as we got a great deal on our trade and continue to get great service after the purchase.

    All have been low mileage used units, the current MH was 5 years old at purchase with 10,000 miles on it. We've had it 2 years and put another 20,000 on it with zero issues.
  • bclinton's avatar
    bclinton
    Explorer
    Jan 22, 2018
    Isaac-1 wrote:
    Chances are most people considering selling their coaches in Arkansas a huddled in for the winter, I suspect you will see more put up on the market for sale in a month or two as things start thawing out. Also you there are a few big used RV dealers in Texas that may be worth your consideration, PPL is a big consignment dealer with 3 or 4 locations throughout Texas.


    Thanks for the PPl tip. They have a huge selection.

    I have been looking up value on nada. They list low and high retail. Is nada a good source for value? Basically try and negotiate under low retail?
  • Isaac-1's avatar
    Isaac-1
    Explorer
    Jan 22, 2018
    Chances are most people considering selling their coaches in Arkansas a huddled in for the winter, I suspect you will see more put up on the market for sale in a month or two as things start thawing out. Also you there are a few big used RV dealers in Texas that may be worth your consideration, PPL is a big consignment dealer with 3 or 4 locations throughout Texas.
  • jplante4's avatar
    jplante4
    Explorer II
    Jan 22, 2018
    Local Craigs List is your best bet. You can reduce the asking prices on RVT and RVTrader by 20 percent.

    Find an RV inspector or mobile RV tech to do an inspection before you buy. Well worth the few hundred bucks to avoid a problem rig.
  • bobkatmsu's avatar
    bobkatmsu
    Explorer
    Jan 22, 2018
    There is no way to guarantee that you will not have any problems. You can lesson the chances by doing your homework and finding the best built motor homes to choose from. Then ask for maintenance records from the prior owner. Hire a mechanic go through the whole thing. You can even send a sample of the engine oil to be examined.
    Take your time, most people on here would say they spent anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to investigate and purchase. My favorite saying, that someone cleverer than me came up with is, buy your 2nd RV 1st.

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