I am wanting a little persuasion

[4x4ord]

We don't do a lot of camping although we are always hoping to do more in the future. In fact this year we got away for 1 weekend. Regardless of how much camping we do we need an RV to do it with and our current unit is starting to show its age. I need some help justifying spending some money on upgrading to a newer unit. How do you determine how much to spend on your RV? Should it be $1000/night of annual use? Or maybe a percentage of the value of your house? Any thoughts?

[Joyce_in_NY]

I also recommend you wait until you retire to determine your needs. Life changes in a heartbeat -- in our case, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. We had a brand new RV, which we lived in and work camped throughout my treatment. For me it was a godsend -- three steps up to bed at night, get out of the shower and sit on the bed to dress. Things were much harder when I moved back north into my 2-story house after my last treatment. You never know what life will throw your way!

[LakeN]

Splashers3 wrote:
Keep that Citation and over the next 3 years be disciplined, and start a savings account for the next unit. Save what you can each month and then after 3 years you will have something - and the pain of paying may not be so bad.

Good Luck

Ditto this plan! And try to camp more than one wkend a year!

[4x4ord]

I struggle more with dvissing a way of justifying the expenditure of an RV. One way of thinking I can come up with is this: for every 365,000 a person has in his home equity he has justified $1000 per night sleep. If the RV will be used 50 nights and you have $182,000 equity in your home then a $25,000 RV makes sense. In order for me to justify spending $50000 on an RV for 10 days use per year I would need to have a house worth about$1,825,000. So I either need to have more use for the RV or be a whole lot wealthier before spending that much on a trailer.

[Splashers3]

Keep that Citation and over the next 3 years be disciplined, and start a savings account for the next unit. Save what you can each month and then after 3 years you will have something - and the pain of paying may not be so bad.

Good Luck

[The_Mad_Norsky]

First problem you're gonna face is finding (new or used within a few model years) anything with the quality of what you have right now. That is, for a price you would be willing to pay. LOL, finding is easier than paying, that's for sure!

If I recall correctly, those Citations are no longer made, but extremely highly regarded by those who do own them.

A quandary for sure.

I do suppose that three more years on that age of a unit is not going to make a huge difference anymore in its used value. So to me, I'd keep it for now and just see what you actually end up doing as far as travel/camping. Then, if you find out you do want to travel/camp more then the option to go with a different unit will still be available.

ON EDIT: got curious, so I went to the NADA site to find an approximate value to your Citation.

One has to look under the manufacturer General Coach West to find this model, as I think this one covers the units made in Canada.

So I zeroed in on 2003 Citation Supreme 34 RLTS. I didn't click on any options, as I have not the slightest clue what your trailer is equipped with.

I found low and average retails prices of $18,140 and $21,860.

Mind you, I have no idea if this is in Canadian or US dollar amounts. But at least it is a reference point for your information. And, as I said earlier, three years will drop the value for sure, but considering where it is now, to me, its not gonna be a game changer in what one would do.

I am actually in the same boat as you as I have a 2003 Hitchhiker Discover America Quad Slide that I am thinking of replacing. New units are nice, but pricey.

Best of luck.

[4x4ord]

rhagfo wrote:
I would guess on how much you enjoy it. I would never just camp one weekend a year!
We have been out 25 days of camping, this year so far. This is not counting 8 weeks of camp hosting.

I would seriously reconsider my priority's if only got out one weekend a year.

This year was the worst...ussually we got out about 10 days per year. I probably should have reconsidered my priorities years ago and taken more time off in the summer but better late then never. Our youngest child still loves to camp and its only about 3 years from now that my wife and I have intentions of doing a bit of traveling for a month or two at a time in the winter. We could make do with what we have for another 3 years although after another 3 years the unit will be 15 years old and might be hard to give away. So it could be that owning something a little newer night not cost a whole lot more to own than keeping what we have.

[rhagfo]

I would guess on how much you enjoy it. I would never just camp one weekend a year!
We have been out 25 days of camping, this year so far. This is not counting 8 weeks of camp hosting.

I would seriously reconsider my priority's if only got out one weekend a year.

[jerem0621]

75-100% of the cost of your TV

I completely made that up...no reference...lol