Financing a truck camper

mkirsch wrote:
It would take me 10 years to save enough to pay cash for an RV. Meanwhile I miss out on 10 years of priceless camping fun.

You'll only miss out on the camping fun if you insist on getting the RV that takes you ten years to save for. I paid $900 cash for my TC seven years ago. Still works great, and I'd bet I have just as much fun in it as anyone else. Yes, it has a few dings. Yes, its decor is an older style. Do I care? Nope. Not worth worrying about to me. What I do care about is keeping it clean and functional, which is easy.

A couple of buddies have newer TCs, and honestly I like mine better. Every time he sees me, one of them says, "that rig was made for you." I'm still trying to figure out if that's a compliment or an insult. :)

FreeLanceing wrote:
How about this, pay for it. Just save a little and pay cash, you get to keep the intrest. This is not the current american way but it once was. I have not made a car payment since 1978. I have not carried a CC balance since about 1980. I do not make a lot of money but I am good with what I have. Today I buy a new truck every 2 or 3 years and walk in find the best deal and write a ripper done. 2 boats, Harley, camper, tractor , etc all paid for. You want to feel free go debt free all it takes is a little discipline. I also self insure. I carry a major liability plan and self insure for any damage claim. Why pay the man when you can pay yourself. This will be very unpopular I know but its the best advise you will get today.

You are 100% correct, of course. I never would have believed it if I had read your post 25 years ago, but a lot has happened in that time. I went from a typical underwater American lifestyle spending more than I earned every month to retired, happy and debt free (with one exception) in 15 years. A divorce and an "awakening" to finally being in full control of my own finances led to some pretty drastic (and very positive) changes in which I slashed my expenses and started saving money like a mad man from a middle-income job. Credit as a way of life ceased at that time, with the exception of using it to my advantage instead of the lender's (cc rewards, zero finance charges by paying in full each month).

A wise person once said, "if you have to borrow for it, you can't afford it." Those are words that I live by these days.

Not passing judgment on anyone here - to each his/her own.

Mooring product,

Very good info. You got an awesome rate!

When I got my used Lance 820 I used a 1 yr
0% credit card check and paid it off with in
the yr worked out great But it was tight for awhile
plus I got bonus points :)

We used our local credit union. The loan was a personal loan for us because the camper has no title. After we picked up the camper we drove it to the CU and they took pictures and changed the loan to a low 3 percent RV loan.

skipro3 wrote:

kerry4951 wrote:
When I see someone bragging about the great price that they paid for their RV, I figure chances are that same person has a loan out on their new toy and until its paid off they will have paid back a ton of interest. Now that cheap RV wasn't so cheap. So many borrowers never figure in the total pay back on their loan. I paid too much for my TC when I bought it, but I was fortunate enough to be able to pay cash, so I guess I got a good deal after all.

So, you are saying, instead of a cash discount, you paid a cash premium??? That's just plain insane. Cash talks. Usually. and will get you a better price than financing. Except when they feed you a line....

Why didn't you just get the lower financing rate, then pay it all off in full the next month when the monthly payment was due? Then you would have the lowest price and no finance charges.

I agree, normally cash does talk, unless you are buying in the east. Prices here on TCs are much less negotiable as a general rule of thumb compared to prices from western dealers. My next purchase will be in Oregon where I will get a better cash purchase price, save on shipping, and no sales tax, since TCs are not registered in Pa. This was my first TC purchase and I wanted to buy locally in case I needed a close by dealer. I also never realized the price differences from east to west on TCs. Its an area where I did not do as much homework as I should have.

kerry4951 wrote:
When I see someone bragging about the great price that they paid for their RV, I figure chances are that same person has a loan out on their new toy and until its paid off they will have paid back a ton of interest. Now that cheap RV wasn't so cheap. So many borrowers never figure in the total pay back on their loan. I paid too much for my TC when I bought it, but I was fortunate enough to be able to pay cash, so I guess I got a good deal after all.

So, you are saying, instead of a cash discount, you paid a cash premium??? That's just plain insane. Cash talks. Usually. and will get you a better price than financing. Except when they feed you a line....

Why didn't you just get the lower financing rate, then pay it all off in full the next month when the monthly payment was due? Then you would have the lowest price and no finance charges.

Get the dealer to provide the financing. Once you have that paperwork, then go to your credit union and 'let' them offer you a better rate and to transfer the loan over to them. My credit union did it this way. Long as you do the loan transfer within the first 6 months of the loan, no problem.

When I see someone bragging about the great price that they paid for their RV, I figure chances are that same person has a loan out on their new toy and until its paid off they will have paid back a ton of interest. Now that cheap RV wasn't so cheap. So many borrowers never figure in the total pay back on their loan. I paid too much for my TC when I bought it, but I was fortunate enough to be able to pay cash, so I guess I got a good deal after all.

Paying for items up front instead of financing can be done. We are on a single income because my spouse takes care of a relative and cannot commit to a job, yet we were able to pay off the mortgage a few years ago and have not had a vehicle payment since 2008 (only because it was a cheaper loan than my savings collected back then).

We buy some things new and others used, but keep most of them long enough that by the time they're sold there is little residual value. Timing of asset turnover can be topic of a whole other forum...

I know that items have a useful life and try to bank away replacement funds for the things we currently use. Priorities and interests in life change and the money put away reflects our current goals. This is no different than a business or condo association projecting future costs and building a reserve to cover expected expenditures.

The argument about the value of a purchase depreciating holds some merit. But by financing that purchase, the acquisition cost increases due to finance fees and actually puts you under water deeper even if you are spreading it over longer time period. Gambling that your purchase will be damaged or stolen while you owe more on it than it is worth is a very negative view of life that has not mirrored my reality. Expecting that your losses will be covered by the others that pay premiums sounds socialistic...