buying an rv

It doesn't matter much where you buy it. The main thing is to find a motorhome that you love at a price that's fair. We ended up buying from a repair shop that helps his regular customers by selling their used rigs on consignment. The plusses were: a) He knew the history of the rig because he'd been servicing it for years, b) He understood what it was really worth, not just what his customers wanted for it.

The other piece of advice is to try to avoid falling "in love" with any particular deal. Once that happens you're gonna get hosed on the price. The best deals I've gotten are ones that I walked away from -- and a few days/weeks later the seller contacted me and accepted a far lower price. There are LOTS of nice motorhomes out there. If you don't get one, another will come along.

We have purchased new from dealer, used form dealer, and used from private party. By far the best deal for us was the used/private party. Had a very difficult time shopping for a good used rig here in WA state. Spent a couple of months on dealer lots. Many said they would not even detail the rig until they had an offer on it...saw some really abused, stinky and dirty rigs. Believe it or not, one local lot even showed us a rig that still had a pair of dirty underwear on the closet floor. Buying from a private party especially if they are the original purchaser can show maintenance and care efforts. At least it worked for us.

Best Wishes on your quest!

Either will work. The deciding factor should be the condition of the coach and if you can get maintenance records. And, of course, if it meets your needs.

Look for the one you want. Why limit yourself to only dealers or only private party? As an aside we bought private party on our last RV, dealer for the first 2.

bought mine privately with cash for next to nothing WAAAAY past depreciating out. don't need anything fancy. its dry and warm and off the ground and I love it. also its paid for.

We bought our 02 32' Georgetown from the original owner. It was 8 years old and had 11,000 miles on the clock and 48 hours on the generator. It had been very well looked after and was being sold because the owner had developed medical issues.

We kept it for four years and added another 6000 miles, but decided to give up the lifestyle when we realised we were dipping into our IRAs to do it. We sold on consignment - bad idea - and lost a bundle of $$. A year later, gas had dropped from $4.50/gal down to around $2.25. We could have kept it if we'd known that was coming!

First, if you are buying used, stick to something 2-5 years old. Less chance of problems.

The only reason I would buy from a dealer would be if they included some kind of warranty.

Well Chief,

Without any idea what you are looking for, A, B, C - 19 to 44 feet..

I can say three things for certain:
1 - Do not buy anything that has not been in use recently. (like last year)
2 - Do not buy anything that shows any signs of water intrusion.
3 - If the seller is his heirs or he has a new one coming, that is you best bet.

Matt

Effy wrote:
Waaaaaay too many variables to make a blanket decision like this. You might find a good or bad deal in either place. The best way to shop for an RV is pick a floorplan you like, a brand or model you like and shop online - private and dealer for prices so you can start narrowing down where you will shop. Many folks in a private sale think their RV is worth way more than it is. Dealers are in the business of making money on RV's. You have to educate yourself on what a "good" price is for the RV you want and find that price. It could be in either place.

This is the best advice yet,that is exactly what I did and what I found.

I then went Another way of looking for my next RV and found exactly what I wanted within my budget and I am very happy with that decision.

Waaaaaay too many variables to make a blanket decision like this. You might find a good or bad deal in either place. The best way to shop for an RV is pick a floorplan you like, a brand or model you like and shop online - private and dealer for prices so you can start narrowing down where you will shop. Many folks in a private sale think their RV is worth way more than it is. Dealers are in the business of making money on RV's. You have to educate yourself on what a "good" price is for the RV you want and find that price. It could be in either place.

I will say this for dealers: they have better means of getting the inventory you want (obviously), have better means of securing financing and likely have better ways to negotiate pricing. They also have more customers than a private seller so they may not negotiate as far and they also are not emotionally attached to their RV's like a private sale.