Our family (my wife, 3 kids, 11, 8 and 3) is planning a month long vacation this summer. We're going to hit the midwest including the Dakotas, Yellowstone, Glacier NP, some of Utah, Colorado and as many other places we can fit in. We rented a Class C RV in Alaska for 2 weeks a few years ago and had a great time. My wife grew up camping with a pop-up trailer.Looking at the cost of renting, it seems like buying would cost about the same. I got quotes from about 10 different rental companies and the average is about $288/night with all the miles, taxes and fees included. $288*30 = $8,640.If we buy a $60-70k used RV, the costs look similar. $4k in sales tax, $1k in excise tax, $1200 for insurance, $3k in depreciation plus some more for maintenance and registration. We have a place to store it at no cost. The cost of flying out to say Minneapolis and renting is about the same as driving there from Boston if you include gas, food and campground fees. My wife and kids have the time to drive out, so that's not an issue.We like small class As (under 33') especially if they have a bunkhouse so we don't have to break down the kids' beds every night and it gives us extra room. We went to an RV show a few weekends ago and liked the Thor ACE, but reading up, it sounds like a lot of people have had quality issues with them. We’re looking more towards a Winnebago Vista or Intent. If we bought an RV in the next few months, we'd probably take it for a test run for a couple weekends before our big trip. After that, I'm not sure if we'd want to keep it or sell it.Are my numbers in the right ballpark for a used unit? If we own it just for the summer, is it worth the hassle?Thanks for your thoughts.

Many campgrounds have cabins or even nearby motels that would be cheaper than buying or renting an RV. If you plan on using the RV more than just this one time then buying might be better.

The costs aren't similar because you have to get a loan or pay cash for the $60-$70K and there is no guarantee you will get that back IF you can sell it quickly. Every month after your trip that you cannot sell it you're out that payment.

If you are considering buying then reselling, you might want to consider a used rental unit from one of the big RV rental companies. These units generally have detailed maintenance history,refurbish coaches before selling them and they are also custom built for rental use with more robust interiors and fewer luxury features to potentially fail. Also the depreciation hit on a used coach would be MUCH lower than the depreciation hit on a new coach.Having said that be sure your math accounts for total cost of ownership, which in this case should probably include some type of extended warranty, either up front on a used coach, or calculate the cost of one into the back end when it comes time to sell. Otherwise you take a chance of the cost to repair a major mechanical failure completely blowing your budget.p.s. in general I don't personally like the bare bones nature of these units, but see it as less of a detraction on a unit one would only use once and then sell, as they are one less thing to learn to work, this is part of the same reason they are not included on rental units, keep it all simple .

If you drop back to a lower cost slightly older unit, I might agree but a new or almost new if you quickly sell in the fall is likely going to take bigger depreciation hit and as mentioned if you aren't paying cash, you still need to make payments if you wait for a better price and early on in a loan, most of the payment goes to interest not principal.The nice thing about owning is if you put a dent in it or other minor wear, you shrug and move on. If it's a rental, you are immediately wondering how much you will get charged for it but it really makes more sense if you plan to keep and use it longer term.

9 grand to rent?You can do it for a whole lot less. I'd buy a motorhome right now, middle of winter. Get a deal in the off season. Figure out the tax deal, used private party, wink. Take a trip, put 10,000 miles on it and sell it. If you buy it right, you could potentially get out of it for free otherwise you got A 9k cushion. That's what I'd do. Besides I like having my own stuff. Will be an awesome trip.

Should we Rent or Buy an RV? | Good Sam Community

47 Replies

jplante4
Explorer II
Jan 23, 2018
We were facing the same issue. We wanted to do a few vacation and weekend trips before retirement to see if we liked it and also to get a list of the things we'd need in a motorhome to do a six month trip.

I looked at renting but for what I would pay to rent I could buy a 20 year old gasser and use that for a couple of years then resell it.
So that's what we did. We got a 95 P30 chassis 28 foot class A and I put about $5k into getting it fixed up. I got more than what I paid for it when I sold it 2 years later, so 2 years of ownership cost me about $5k.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Jan 23, 2018
3K depreciation????????????????? are you dreaming? more like $20,000
bumpy
Grit_dog
Navigator II
Jan 23, 2018
9 grand to rent?
You can do it for a whole lot less. I'd buy a motorhome right now, middle of winter. Get a deal in the off season.
Figure out the tax deal, used private party, wink.
Take a trip, put 10,000 miles on it and sell it. If you buy it right, you could potentially get out of it for free otherwise you got A 9k cushion.

That's what I'd do. Besides I like having my own stuff.
Will be an awesome trip.
valhalla360
Navigator
Jan 23, 2018
If you drop back to a lower cost slightly older unit, I might agree but a new or almost new if you quickly sell in the fall is likely going to take bigger depreciation hit and as mentioned if you aren't paying cash, you still need to make payments if you wait for a better price and early on in a loan, most of the payment goes to interest not principal.

The nice thing about owning is if you put a dent in it or other minor wear, you shrug and move on. If it's a rental, you are immediately wondering how much you will get charged for it but it really makes more sense if you plan to keep and use it longer term.
Isaac-1
Explorer
Jan 23, 2018
If you are considering buying then reselling, you might want to consider a used rental unit from one of the big RV rental companies. These units generally have detailed maintenance history,refurbish coaches before selling them and they are also custom built for rental use with more robust interiors and fewer luxury features to potentially fail. Also the depreciation hit on a used coach would be MUCH lower than the depreciation hit on a new coach.

Having said that be sure your math accounts for total cost of ownership, which in this case should probably include some type of extended warranty, either up front on a used coach, or calculate the cost of one into the back end when it comes time to sell. Otherwise you take a chance of the cost to repair a major mechanical failure completely blowing your budget.

p.s. in general I don't personally like the bare bones nature of these units, but see it as less of a detraction on a unit one would only use once and then sell, as they are one less thing to learn to work, this is part of the same reason they are not included on rental units, keep it all simple .
toedtoes
Explorer III
Jan 23, 2018
The costs aren't similar because you have to get a loan or pay cash for the $60-$70K and there is no guarantee you will get that back IF you can sell it quickly. Every month after your trip that you cannot sell it you're out that payment.
guidry
Explorer II
Jan 23, 2018
Many campgrounds have cabins or even nearby motels that would be cheaper than buying or renting an RV. If you plan on using the RV more than just this one time then buying might be better.

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Should we Rent or Buy an RV?

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