New vs used (from another angle - RV depreciation "gap")?

I think it's very probable that the used unit on RVtrader for $70k was not bought from one of the high volume 'wholesale' RV places, like RVDirect, so your comparison won't work. You would do better to use local dealer prices for your starting point.

I think this point is exactly right - "RV direct pricing is not what most people pay for their coaches". So you really can't use them.

Many people pay too much and then want to get most of their cost back when they sell it. Getting 10-15% or even 20% off an RV price tag seems like a good deal - but it's not. I think many compare RV discounts with what they can get when buying a new car or truck. But RVs apparently are marked up way more then the average Ford F350.

I bought from one of the high volume dealers - Holman in Batavia, Ohio, and I got over 35% off list on my 5er. So when I go to sell my rig sometime in the future, I expect to be able to both recoup a higher percentage of what I paid for it and also undercut the selling price of other sellers.

bucky wrote:
I find that wholesale prices are not available online, but local libraries in this area at least have NADA books for those numbers. In the reference section.

Thank you for this reminder - I'll be stopping by the library soon!

willald wrote:
... I will say also, that if you're serious about getting one of these rigs, the full body paint is WELL worth the extra cost, for how much nicer it looks, and how it helps resale value in the long run. :)

I agree 100%. In looking used I'm trying to stay with the full paint for just those reasons. And I am so tired of peeling, fading and cracking decals!

GoPackGo wrote:
I think it's very probable that the used unit on RVtrader for $70k was not bought from one of the high volume 'wholesale' RV places, like RVDirect, so your comparison won't work. You would do better to use local dealer prices for your starting point.

I think this is true, although at some point it all has to come together. Or another way of saying it, someone is making money off of this deal. I suspect that dealers come off of wholesale only so much when trading in, and all dealers should have the same invoice on new. I guess what I'm postulating is that even if some make more margin than others on new (or used for that matter), at the end of the day when those rigs come back for trade they all would be playing from the same sheet of music.

I'm going to attempt to make offers on RVs based on wholesale and see if I get anywhere. In short order I think I'll learn which models do and don't move and have to decide what is important.

For example, when I was shopping for DW's car, we decided on a model which was somewhat popular and didn't really follow book values. There was every reason for it not to follow those values, as the cars were moving off of the lots in less than 30 days. I refused to pay retail so I waited for months, and contemplated shopping a different model. However I'm a bit stubborn (and really wanted to get her what she wanted), and ended up connecting with a private party who sold his to me for just above trade-in.

Now, I have no idea what the wholesale prices were and what dealers were paying at auction for these cars; but at least for the ones taking them in on trade, they were scoring some $. Even with the retail market on "fire", the guy I was buying from could only get "book" trade on his and sold it to me instead. Win/win.

So I'm hoping I can make that magic happen again on our next RV...

At the end of the day you do your homework, go out on the market and try to do your best deal on what you're looking for.

Great discussion anyway. Beats some of these "fast and furious" car forums I visit from time to time.