Buying an RV from Dealer vs Private Owner

[rkburdick]

Getting closer to purchasing our first RV. We are looking for a good used unit and have found a few contenders. Not sure how this all works but when I recently spoke to a dealer he told us absolutely do not buy from a private owner for lots of reasons. Since he is a dealer we're not sure if we should trust his opinion. He may be right but I would like to hear from the community. Would appreciate some insight from you all. Also, is it more of a hassle to purchase out of state from either?

[Peralko]

I disagree with the notion you get a better price from a private sale. I've been doing a lot of research on our next coach, and the price asked by private owners are many times way over what I've seen from dealers. Some coach owners who paid a lot of money for their coach are unwilling to realize what their coach is now worth on the market.

[ClassAGeek]

After buying dozens of cars in private sales and having worked a few summers for a car dealer, I have never had much doubt: private wins most every time. Assuming you can negotiate a 25% lower price from an individual, that pays for a lot of major repairs should something go wrong. But honestly, with a little work you can get a 35% discount.

Dealers routinely get their vehicles from auctions and out of state sources. They know less about the vehicle than just about everyone but you. Inspect the vehicle closely - and hire an expert if you must. Buying 4 vehicles privately will save you enough to buy another for free.

Unfortunately Motorhomes are not as common as cars. Finding what you want can be difficult. You may have to settle and buy from a dealer. You will pay more for that privilege.

[I_am_still_wayn]

rkburdick wrote:
Not sure how this all works but when I recently spoke to a dealer he told us absolutely do not buy from a private owner for lots of reasons.

The dealer had considerable vested interest in telling you that. You buy from a private seller, he looses money. he tries to convince you doing business with him is in your best interest, not his. Classic salesmanship!

[Ron_Butler]

Here's my 2 cents worth - remember, you get what you pay for!!:B

We bought our first and so far only RV from a private party. We took close to 9 months of chasing down a unit that had the layout that we wanted and the price range we were willing to stay in. This was after we had spent about 2 years kicking the idea around and casually looking at various rigs.

First - kick LOTS of tires. Go through every kind of the type/class of RV that you are considering, both on sales lots and private sellers. There are always more sellers than buyers out there.

Second - post your questions here, but always remember what your paying for the advice!!:B Seriously though, you will get good information from here.

Third - keep your BS detector turned on around salespeople. Some/most are lying when they open their mouth, or at least making it up on the fly!

Figure out what features are important to you and keep looking. Take your time and don't let a salesperson stampede you into any "once in a lifetime - lowest price possible today only - another buyer is coming in an hour to look at it" bs!!

Good luck.

[shaneperch]

rkburdick wrote:
Getting closer to purchasing our first RV. We are looking for a good used unit and have found a few contenders. Not sure how this all works but when I recently spoke to a dealer he told us absolutely do not buy from a private owner for lots of reasons. Since he is a dealer we're not sure if we should trust his opinion. He may be right but I would like to hear from the community. Would appreciate some insight from you all. Also, is it more of a hassle to purchase out of state from either?

My experience has been, buying buses, is buying from dealers. I have always gotten a good deal. I never buy from churches as they want top dollar for everything, and private sellers usually don't need the money and so they want what they want and never offer a payment plan, Dealers are hungry, they don't want anything to sit too long. Whereas private sellers usually don't need the money and so they don't mind sitting on something even for a year or more. That is my experience around here with tractors. John Deere will offer financing on their used tractors and people around here want top dollar for their used stuff.
my advice is, try to go with a dealer as they are in the business to sell,

[Elizabeth24]

As previously stated no sales tax in Az if purchased privately. I know this as I have purchased and registered in AZ.

[BobR]

Buying from an individual can give a better indication of how the RV was used and cared for. Look not only at the RV, but at their other property ( cars, home etc) for pride of ownership. If it is lacking there, chances are the RV was taken care of the same way and has been dolled up (detailed)to be put up for sale.

[powderman426]

I know that auto dealers often take cars to auction that they feel could be a problem child. So does anyone know if the same applies to rv dealers, or do they sell them all good or bad off their lot?

[peaches_cream]

If you purchase from a Dealer you can come back to this site and complain about the PDI, service after the sale, and any thing else you chose. Everyone will agree because if the Salesperson lips are moving he is lying.

If you purchase from a Private Sale you can come back to this site and post about the same problems but everyone will say you should have researched the information better.

So, Dealer purchase, they will agree with you.
Private purchase, it will be your fault.

Just wait and see if I am not correct.

[rvjames]

DanTheRVMan wrote:
This is funny.

Real estate agents say the same thing do not buy a house direct from a seller only buy a house listed through a realtor.

If you do not see the BS from these sales people, I think you need help. Either the house or house on wheels is good or bad and whether there is an agent involved or not does not affect that fact.

I am not sure I could have said it better myself!

A couple of things worth reading for the original question.

RV Buyers Guide: How to Buy a RV
Buy Used RV From Dealer or Private Party?

[DanTheRVMan]

This is funny.

Real estate agents say the same thing do not buy a house direct from a seller only buy a house listed through a realtor.

If you do not see the BS from these sales people, I think you need help. Either the house or house on wheels is good or bad and whether there is an agent involved or not does not affect that fact.

[havasu]

westernrvparkowner wrote:
Private sales do not exempt the vehicle from paying sales tax. You will pay it when you transfer the title and register the vehicle.

Not in AZ there isn't - no sales tax between private parties.

I have purchased one from a dealer and 3 private sales and I have never paid Sales Tax on a private sale!

Maybe applies to other states too?

If I ever bought from a dealer again (unlikely) then I would thoroughly test everything and create a list of required repairs and get it agreed and signed off by the dealer. I would not accept delivery of it until everything was completed to my complete satisfaction. There are so many stories on the forum of dealers reneging on agreed repairs after it was driven off the lot.

To me, dealers are great for new vehicles but I don't like using them for used vehicles.

[Smitty77]

Two rigs, one bought each way:

1st rig from a couple down the street. They were honest about the condition, and we paid a fair price, knowing what we'd have to put into it in catch up baseline maintenance. No regrets.

2nd rig we determined the manufacturers and models we'd narrowed the search down to, then made contact with a salesman with a good reputation (one of three, that came recommended after searching on many forums). This is Steve Wilson from Holland RV now out of San Marcos, CA. While I also kept looking, Steve was also looking. Holland had a coach coming in on consignment that Steve knew about. It was one on our list. He knew it had been sold by Holland, and 95%+ of all service had been by Holland. I literally saw the coach before they had prepped it for sale. Crawled over/under/thru the rig, reviewed all of the paper work that the owner authorized me to look over from Holland's record.

After a Cummins dyno test to validate the health of the low mileage ISL. We then sat down and worked out a deal with the owner's consignment rep (a different Holland salesman).

I was very happy with the purchase, feel I bought a great coach at a fair price.


So, IMO, go with private owner with documentation, documentation, documentation - I don't care how nice they are, no documentation - keep looking!
But, if on consignment, you should be able to get your hands on the documentation too. So, that would be my second choice when looking for a rig.

Save some coin for some independent analysis, oil, Cummins/Cat, private PDI if needed.

Best of luck, and have some fun,
Smitty

[westernrvparkow]

Elizabeth24 wrote:
We recently purchased from a private sale, we are not new to RVing and did checkout what was available from dealers, but honestly their asking prices were quite high and did not provide much if any after purchase warranty. One other consideration for us was from a private sale - no sales tax, from the dealer, we bought in AZ and are leaving it there, -approx. 10%.

We ended up getting what we are very pleased with, at a price that we were very comfortable with, so to answer your question, private sale was best for us.

Private sales do not exempt the vehicle from paying sales tax. You will pay it when you transfer the title and register the vehicle. Proper research and inspection is the only defense you will have either against a dealer or an individual sale. But remember, a totally dishonest dealer won't last too long and you can do some research and usually find out they are shady, a totally dishonest individual seller has no history to check. Also, the dealer has insurance and you have some protections if the vehicle turns out to have had the miles rolled back or the title isn't good, or if the guy selling it doesn't pay off their loan. With an crooked individual, good luck getting anything but the phone hung up on you.

[rgatijnet1]

Follow the paper work. if a private seller has all of the service records, it can be a great deal. One dealer told me that they destroy all old service records because they do not want the new owner to be able to contact the old owner. They do what they can to keep the new owner from knowing the identity of the previous owners. Not all dealers are that way, but some are.
If a coach has good service records, they can tell you more and are more believable than any salesman's spiel or even the owner's own endorsement.