Travel Trailer Buying/Financing Questions

#1nobby wrote:
I really think that the key to ANY purchase is a budget....whether you pay cash or finance.

Get a budget in place and stick to it.


On an aside: I purchased a brand new VW for Nobette for her birthday a couple of years ago.

Every September VW has a 5 year 0% down and 0% financing deal.

Even if I had the cash....why would I use it????

The zero interest/ zero down appeals to a lot of buyers that do not realize that they are being suckered in.

Sounds to a lot of people that I know that they are getting a interest free loan..

In reality, with these types of loans you ARE paying interest UP FRONT.

Typically with these deals you lose any "discounts" or cash back incentives and you pay the MSRP..

Additionally with ANY Zero % deals you are locked into a closed ended loan. In other words you cannot save any interest by paying off early and some may even have additional fees tacked on if you do pay off early..

In some cases, you may not have a choice, I ran into that when buying a tractor with front loader and backhoe.. Had no choice since no conventional bank would touch a loan on a tractor and the only way they would is if I went with a personal loan or a home line of credit..

I am no fool and putting my paid off home up for collateral is a foolish thing to do (so what if it is a low interest loan, miss a payment and you lose your home).

A RV or auto, a Zero % loan is not a very smart thing to do, but folks flock to it..