Heapie wrote:
Barrie,
I just went through the process you are going through. I studied asking prices in all the class b used rv's on the internet, and after a while got a good feel for what they were worth depending upon manufacture, model and size, age, mileage, condition, and geographical location.(You don't want to purchase it without seeing it.) Also during my search, the question of price, age, model, and mileage came up in a discussion on Yahoo Roadtrek Blog before it went over to Facebook.
The general used prices were between $5,000.00 and $10,000.00 for anything older than 1999 and 100,000 miles. Other than that prices went up according to mileage and age.
Roadtrek seems to be the best of the class b's, though you might find a good Pleasureway or an older Coach House that was a real class b van.
The Roadtrek 190's are about the best for most of us. I felt that the 170 was a little small for me. As for the Popular vs the Versatile,
I was hoping to buy a Popular and went to a Roadtrek Rally with the express purpose of trading our Versatile for a Popular. When we got there, we talked with people with Versatile's and realized that it didn't make to much of a difference because the rear seat is usually made up into a full sized bed. We have ours that way. Also the Versatile is a real second car with two back seats.
Why we purchased a Versatile was we found one in New Hampshire at a very good price, and felt that if we did not grab it, it would be gone in a day or two. We knew it was a good price because we had been doing our research, and we could also inspect it because it was so close.
It is a 2002 Roadtrek 190v built on a Chev 3500 Van.
We are very happy with our choice.
Good luck.
Heapie.
Thanks for the helpful advice. I'm also starting to get a feel for what's out there and at what price. But, I'm not sure if the prices change seasonally. I can see the prices going up in areas that get snow and a true winter, as any snowbirds would have already purchased a motorhome and gone south by now. I see prices in California seem a tiny bit higher. After looking on RV Trader (Auto Trader), it looks like there are several RV dealers in the Chicagao, IL/Milwaukee, WI area with a good selection of used Roadtreks in my price range. Those RV dealers are only about an hour apart and I'm only about a 10 hour drive away so I could fly there or take a bus, rent a car for a day or two and check out all of the Roadtreks in my price range. I'll be paying cash for one in the low $20,000 to low or mid $30,000 range - ideally closer to the lower end of that price range.
WIth so many to choose from, I'm sure I'll find one I like. They all look rust free even though they're in the rust belt. Perhaps many of those motorhomes spent their summers down south. I'd definitely check for that - I don't want to buy a rusty one. Being a cash buyer might give me a bit more leverage. I've already checked on temp tags for one of them - I think it was for Illinois. I'm sure Wisconsin has a similar deal. If not, Florida is my next choice. A bit further away, but if there's a good selection in a relative small geographic area, I'd go there and rent a car for a day or two and go check out as many as I can.
I'm hoping to get a 2003 or 2004 Chevy based Roadtrek 190 or 170 with between 50,000 miles and 110,000 miles for the high $20k to low $30k range. Or possibly late 90s to 2002 Chevy based RT 190/170 in the low $20k range, depending on condition and mileage.
I'm not sure where you saw 1990s Roadtreks with over 100,000 miles for $5,000 to $10,000. Most of the mid to late 1990s models I saw were Dodge based and around $10,000 to $15,000 or sometimes even a bit more. But I've kind of ruled out the older Dodge based and would prefer something closer to 50,000 miles. Then again, high mileage may not be as big of an issue as with regular cars since motorhomes, I would think, see mostly highway driving, or at least the majority of driving is highway which is better than city miles.
