Looking for advice....used vs new

jplante4 wrote:
Ask the DW why she believes new is better than used. If the answer is "things won't breakdown", then she will be disappointed. Manufacturers count on the first buyer and the dealer to fix quality issues under warranty. For some period of time (let's say 6 months just to put a number on it), you will need to stay fairly close to home and/or an authorized dealer to resolve quality issues.

The more you pay for a coach, the fewer of these issues you will have, however, all coaches have quality problems.

OTOH, a 5-7 year old rig has had most or all of these issues resolved at the expense and inconvenience of the first owner, and there's a 3-5 year buffer before some of the expensive components hit end-of-life.

Exactly why I go used. While I can't afford new anyway and have to play in the used market, if I had more money to spend I'd probably go used anyway and buy a much nicer coach. I do a thorough PDI myself on used RVs and buy one that has everything working. It's pretty clear to me that the new owners are the beta testers cleaning up what was sold to them. On top of that, just like you've said, 5-7 is a sweet spot IMHO ... things still work and have plenty of useful life, and the depreciation curve isn't so steep. Although I thought we'd be different (I keep cars just about forever) we apparently are the type of people who swap RVs about every 4-5 years. So I'd like to keep my depreciation losses where I can handle them...

However this is really a personal decision and you need to weigh what's important to you. If I had the means and lived near a fantastic dealer, I could be swayed into new. It's very, very nice to order something up exactly like you want and have a good relationship with the place that is working on it for you, and have it all done for you. One day maybe I can get out of the DIY mode ... :D