Looking at purchasing an RV

ksg5000 wrote:
Many would argue that you should never borrow to buy an RV - they depreciate rapidly and your likely to be underwater soon after you purchase.

Agreed. It was very enticing to hear how low the payment on my TT would be when buying it, and now, 2 years later, I definitely owe more than it is worth.

Did you budget for a toad?

thanks for the information. It helps a lot with search process. Yeah, plan is to purchase with a 20 year loan and payoff within 12 years.

thanks again for the information and things to think about, I didn't budget for maintenance. Budgeted for monthly payment, storage, annual insurance and vacation money to get us places.

Many would argue that you should never borrow to buy an RV - they depreciate rapidly and your likely to be underwater soon after you purchase.

RV lose about half of their value in the first 8 years or so and some would argue buying used is better than new because you avoid most of the depreciation and new RV's tend to come with plenty of small/big problems which might be covered by warranty but you might wait weeks for a dealer to get around to fixing them. No fun making RV payments while your rig is sitting on dealer parking lot waiting for warranty repair work.

If it were me - I would buy used - probably a 10 year old rig from owner who kept maintenance records (priceless). I would keep sufficient cash reserve to insure I could keep up with the required maintenance. If you go diesel then make sure you do additional research on the specific engine (some have issues). Also - some rigs have better reps than others - research is key.

I would look for a well-maintained used unit, especially for a first RV. If possible, I would avoid financing an RV (or any "toy"), but I do know others have different opinions on fiscal matters.

You will need to budget some for maintenance; how much varies some with different RVs. Tires, in particular, can be a not insignificant expense especially for a large class A; a set of 19.5" or especially 22.5" truck tires adds up to thousands of dollars. If you're not handy (and not willing to learn how to be handy), paying someone to do all the little fixes and maintenance duties an RV requires will also get pretty expensive pretty quickly; they're similar to boats in that regard. It's been said that the main difference between an RV and a boat is that the water can also leak out of the RV.

If you don't have experience RVing, I would heartily recommend renting one for a weekend or preferably a week before buying. It will help you know if you enjoy the mode of travel or not, and give you a better idea of some of the sorts of things that matter to you in looking at various models. (Do you prioritize a larger shower or more kitchen counter space? Is the arrangement for dumping tanks convenient enough for you use easily? Is there space to put a trash can?)

Thanks for the info. We used to own a 26' TT that was good when the kids were little, then they grew and it was cramped. With my monthly budget I have planned, the max I would like to finance is about $144,000, we plan on putting down at least $5k, maybe more. That was the other option was purchasing used from a dealer. The ones I have looked at were were priced between 85k -130k. Similar in size from 33' - 38'. The larger one was a Class A toy hauler.

Remember, a class A is the absolute most expensive form of RV there is. Not only purchase price and insurance, but upkeep and maintenance costs. Add the necessity of a second vehicle, a "toad" to get around when parked, does it make economic sense? That you have to decide. I would look and make your purchase now. Make time to start your RV experiences by taking weekends, vacations etc to see if this is what you really want. A decent quality used 35 foot MH can be had for under a hundred thousand dollars. Is that within your budget?