Creative Ideas?

Gdetrailer wrote:

If OP doesn't wish to spend the money RENTING a trailer then BUYING makes ZERO sense either.

The cost of a rental for 6 months will be LESS than buying a trailer, using it then selling it.

Even a used trailer is a money pit. OP will pay sales tax, title fees, plate fees (figure $400 easily) then if tow vehicle is not equipped have to buy a hitch ($250-$500) and brake controller ($100) plus WD ($250-$500)..

Then good chance would need to slap some tires on the trailer ($300-$600), then address things like fridge ($600-$2000), stove ($300), water heater ($300-$400), furnace ($500-$600, Electric brake repairs ($300-$1000).. All of those will cost money to fix if not working and we have not even got to water damage, floor rot and other RV related wear and tear..

RVs are a depreciating asset, the OP will LOSE money big time on even a USED trailer..

They WILL have to fix broken things and if they are not "handy" they WILL spend a lot of money in labor costs to fix those things.

It will be pretty much the same as if the OP was renting a trailer and at the end of the journey the OP will HAVE to unload the trailer.. That takes TIME, lots of time especially if the OP prices it for the same price they bought it for..

Sure, they may get "lucky" and find one that is cheap and good shape, but ANYONE who has owned a RV knows darn well that there IS a better chance of getting a rotted out one with a buch of things needing fixed..

I am merely pointing out that they ARE NOT GOING TO SAVE MONEY..

For some reason folks seem to think owning a RV is a cheap way of living.. It is not. You WILL spend a lot more money in the end.

Been there, done that.

RVing is a "life style", a "hobby" if you will, it will cost.

We own a trailer not to save money but to enjoy a different paced life style when not working. It costs us to do that but it is family time well spent for us.

My advice IS coming from the fact that I HAVE bought, repaired, used and flipped several RVs.. There is no money in it, I was lucky to have gotten 60% of my money and ZERO % of the time I put into it.

Would I do that again..

NO, My current TT is the last and when I am done with it, I would rather burn it to the ground instead of dealing with cheap low ballers again.

The OP IS NOT trying to save money. Per his 2nd post:

The trip is a bucket list trip for my wife and I. We want to see the country, visit friends, and explore for a new place to live.

I'm not opposed to depreciation. I fully expect to lose money on the deal. My concern was how much would I lose and how long and difficult will the resale process be.


In the OP's situation, buying an older used trailer, putting a few bucks into it, then selling it afterwards is the most feasable way to do what he wants to do.

I agree with you completely about folks who think living in an RV will be cheaper than living in an apartment, etc. But that is NOT the OP's situation.

Trailer Newbie wrote:
My situation is unusual. We want a good trailer for a single, 6-month trip. We won't need it after that. Given what I've heard in this forum about resale values, I'm searching for a way to make this economically feasible. I can't afford to spend $20k - $30k without the ability to get most of it back at the end.

A lease might make sense, but I understand that due to the depreciation, it's not even an option. The rental rates I've seen are outrageous for an extended trip, so that's out. Do any of the dealers have anything like a "buy-back" plan? Does anybody have any creative ideas?

Thanks again for all the help!

Lots of opinions and facts born of experience in this thread. But, I think you might still be able to do what you want. Depending on what that is. There are several unanswered questions yet. For example, do you already have a tow vehicle? What is it? What size camper are you looking for? It is possible to buy a brand new entry level camper for less than $10,000.00. They are very much entry level, but what do you care? You aren't looking for something to keep for ten years or more.
One of my campers is a Summerland Mini. It's 17 feet long and is truly half ton towable without a weight distribution hitch. For two people it's actually very comfortable. The biggest downside is the refrigerator is apartment (or hotel) sized, so won't hold a whole lot of groceries.
I should think that after six months you should be able to get at least $6k of your $10k back.

Wow, Joe, that is an amazing and terrific story -- well done! I guess there is an element of luck here -- I got lucky (as described above), although not as lucky as you were. Others have not. Part of the luck (skill, actually) would be in inspecting the used trailer very carefully before buying, something I did not really know how to do when I bought my first one. (More luck -- as it turns out, there was nothing wrong with it.)

Knowing what I know now, I would have hired someone knowledgeable to inspect it for me.

I can't speak to every circumstance, but we bought our first TT, an 8 year old model, for $7k, and it only needed minor work. We bought it from a dealer, and state law required them to make it roadworthy - so it had good tires, tested good brakes, etc.

Best part - 2 years later when we traded it in towards a new one, we got $7k for it. :)

I don't think we spent more than $500 on the trailer that was unrecoverable.

I think if it's something you want to do, and understand you're going to spend / lose all money on in the process, go for it. I think you'll have a blast, and may even find that 6 months could become 6 years.

My recommendation is to find a 3-5 year old smaller TT and buy it from an individual rather than a dealer. You may have to do a little more leg work, but won't have to pay sales tax or a dealers overhead / mark up. Then sell as an individual as vwell.

Gdetrailer wrote:
.....snip......

Buying a old trailer PLUS putting time and parts like tires into it IS going to be very costly.......


I am merely pointing out that they ARE NOT GOING TO SAVE MONEY..

For some reason folks seem to think owning a RV is a cheap way of living.. It is not. You WILL spend a lot more money in the end.

.......snip.....

There have been posts in threads where I did not always agree with Gdetrailer......but I gotta say, he nailed the truth to wall in that lengthy post !!!

Do you really need a trailer?

How about an SUV you can sleep in, with a good mattress, and a nice camp kitchen setup? Or a tent you can stand up in and an airbed?

You could buy a lot of great gear for what you would lose on a 6 month trailer. If you are going out west you won't need AC or heat.

toedtoes wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

toedtoes wrote:

korbe wrote:
Is the trip to site see the country? To live in one place for a job?

I would buy the cheapest used trailer that fit our needs after seeing what does and doesn't work. Put some new tires on it and take off.

Sell it when you get home.

x2.

You can find an inexpensive used trailer well below your $20-30K max. I would recommend the new tires and an initial recaulking of all seams/windows/vents.

Buying a old trailer PLUS putting time and parts like tires into it IS going to be very costly.

Then the OP would most likely NEED to buy a WD hitch (typically those do not come with even a used trailer).. Then the OP will need to outfit the trailer..

By the time they get done for a 6 month trip they will have spent more money than if they RENTED a trailer.

Then on top of that attempt to resell the trailer.. Market is flooded with used units, most likely will take a lot of time and effort to unload it and even then they will most likely sell it for a heck of a lot less than all the money they put into it.

The OP's question isn't "should we get a trailer", it is "how can we minimize the loss of money when we buy a trailer for a single 6-month trip". For that answer, buying used, putting some cash into it, and then selling it for near what they paid is the better option than buying new.

The OP has already indicated that renting a trailer is not a viable option for them.

While it may not be YOUR choice (to buy a trailer for a single trip), it can be done without losing a whole lot of money.

If OP doesn't wish to spend the money RENTING a trailer then BUYING makes ZERO sense either.

The cost of a rental for 6 months will be LESS than buying a trailer, using it then selling it.

Even a used trailer is a money pit. OP will pay sales tax, title fees, plate fees (figure $400 easily) then if tow vehicle is not equipped have to buy a hitch ($250-$500) and brake controller ($100) plus WD ($250-$500)..

Then good chance would need to slap some tires on the trailer ($300-$600), then address things like fridge ($600-$2000), stove ($300), water heater ($300-$400), furnace ($500-$600, Electric brake repairs ($300-$1000).. All of those will cost money to fix if not working and we have not even got to water damage, floor rot and other RV related wear and tear..

RVs are a depreciating asset, the OP will LOSE money big time on even a USED trailer..

They WILL have to fix broken things and if they are not "handy" they WILL spend a lot of money in labor costs to fix those things.

It will be pretty much the same as if the OP was renting a trailer and at the end of the journey the OP will HAVE to unload the trailer.. That takes TIME, lots of time especially if the OP prices it for the same price they bought it for..

Sure, they may get "lucky" and find one that is cheap and good shape, but ANYONE who has owned a RV knows darn well that there IS a better chance of getting a rotted out one with a buch of things needing fixed..

I am merely pointing out that they ARE NOT GOING TO SAVE MONEY..

For some reason folks seem to think owning a RV is a cheap way of living.. It is not. You WILL spend a lot more money in the end.

Been there, done that.

RVing is a "life style", a "hobby" if you will, it will cost.

We own a trailer not to save money but to enjoy a different paced life style when not working. It costs us to do that but it is family time well spent for us.

My advice IS coming from the fact that I HAVE bought, repaired, used and flipped several RVs.. There is no money in it, I was lucky to have gotten 60% of my money and ZERO % of the time I put into it.

Would I do that again..

NO, My current TT is the last and when I am done with it, I would rather burn it to the ground instead of dealing with cheap low ballers again.

Hmmm. We did sort of the same thing -- we bought a trailer as an experiment, not sure if we liked camping at all. (We had never gone camping before, and we are not young.) We bought a cheap little used trailer. Surprise! We loved it, we kept it, we fixed it up, and then after six years we sold it. We did lose money, but not much -- we bought it for $7000 and sold it for $4000, after using it for about 400 nights. Doing the math, that means it cost us $7.50 per night, not counting campground fees -- not a bad room rate!

We then bought a similar trailer, brand new, for $12,000. We then put more money into it, in the form of upgrades to the undercarriage. We have used it between 60 and 90 nights a year for the last four years.

So in light of my own experience, here are some thoughts: yes, it is absolutely possible to buy a decent used trailer, keep it and use it for a while, and then sell it for a reasonable loss. But watch out -- you may discover, much to your shock, that you actually like camping and that you want to keep the trailer!

I note that you live in Reno -- this is essentially ground zero for camping heaven. This shot was taken in August of 2015, less than three hours from your house:




There was no one within several miles of us. This is what this area looked like at night -- you can see the lights of the trailer in the lower right corner of the shot:




My point is that it may pay to get a trailer that you think you might keep, because there is a good chance that you will, since you have so much world-class camping at your doorstep.

So now, give us some guidance so we can help you -- what sorts of things do you like to do? Are you a hiker who loves to stay in remote places? Or are you a sightseer, happy to stay in an RV park? Have you done any camping? Do you think you might camp in cold weather? Are you handy with tools?

All of these factors (and more) would be relevant in selecting a trailer.

Gdetrailer wrote:

toedtoes wrote:

korbe wrote:
Is the trip to site see the country? To live in one place for a job?

I would buy the cheapest used trailer that fit our needs after seeing what does and doesn't work. Put some new tires on it and take off.

Sell it when you get home.

x2.

You can find an inexpensive used trailer well below your $20-30K max. I would recommend the new tires and an initial recaulking of all seams/windows/vents.

Buying a old trailer PLUS putting time and parts like tires into it IS going to be very costly.

Then the OP would most likely NEED to buy a WD hitch (typically those do not come with even a used trailer).. Then the OP will need to outfit the trailer..

By the time they get done for a 6 month trip they will have spent more money than if they RENTED a trailer.

Then on top of that attempt to resell the trailer.. Market is flooded with used units, most likely will take a lot of time and effort to unload it and even then they will most likely sell it for a heck of a lot less than all the money they put into it.

The OP's question isn't "should we get a trailer", it is "how can we minimize the loss of money when we buy a trailer for a single 6-month trip". For that answer, buying used, putting some cash into it, and then selling it for near what they paid is the better option than buying new.

The OP has already indicated that renting a trailer is not a viable option for them.

While it may not be YOUR choice (to buy a trailer for a single trip), it can be done without losing a whole lot of money.