Considering used Coach. How old is too old?
Good afternoon, My wife and I are in the infancy stages of research toward an rv purchase. I'm trying to start by casting a wide search net and then narrow it down over the next year or so. Resea...
Forum Discussion
2006-2008 was the heyday of the motorhome industry. While motorhomes today have improvements most of them are minor. Maybe that $400k coach in 2008 had a flat screen but it was 4" thick. Now it is 1" thick or it might even be a curved screen in some of the high end coaches.
Not a lot has changed. If you are getting a 4-slide MH with all the bells and whistles it is comparable in many regards to what is being produced today.
Styling has changed so things are more modern looking today but that is subtle. If the paint is glossy and shiny and the coach looks new (mud flaps are pristine, undercarriage is nice and black) then I have no idea if it is 2 months or 10 years old.
I think in the next few years, though, that will change as the industry is really picking up. Things were very quiet in 2008-2012 and so manufacturers did not spend as much on R&D but tried to keep inventories low and costs to a minimum. Now they are starting to ramp up and we can see interesting things.
Also, it was not just the manufacturers but the suppliers of the product. They still sell the same water pumps, toilets, generators. Maybe they are slight improvements but nothing major. If anything, I find the coaches today have less for the money because 200k in 2007 bought a little more than 200k today.
So.. 2006-2008 is not too old by today's standards. The coach for $400k then would cost $700k today so it does not even exist because people dont want to spend 700k. Actually, as I look at 700k coaches I see cost cutting -- 4 battery house banks with 6V batteries instead of 6 12V batteries. Fewer solar panels (which really wasnt worth the $$ back in 2008 but they put a lot on those coaches). They dont do the kind of stuff like they did in 2006-2008 when people would buy a coach with 0-10% down using a second home mortgage.
I remember in 2006-2008 if you saw a 10 year old motorhome (no slides) it could have been regarded as old because of the huge technology improvement with the slides.
I think things will change now that the industry has been picking up steam (i can tell because campgrounds are starting to get full. cant believe how many are "sold out" when we call now). Hopefully some really cool stuff happens.
Not a lot has changed. If you are getting a 4-slide MH with all the bells and whistles it is comparable in many regards to what is being produced today.
Styling has changed so things are more modern looking today but that is subtle. If the paint is glossy and shiny and the coach looks new (mud flaps are pristine, undercarriage is nice and black) then I have no idea if it is 2 months or 10 years old.
I think in the next few years, though, that will change as the industry is really picking up. Things were very quiet in 2008-2012 and so manufacturers did not spend as much on R&D but tried to keep inventories low and costs to a minimum. Now they are starting to ramp up and we can see interesting things.
Also, it was not just the manufacturers but the suppliers of the product. They still sell the same water pumps, toilets, generators. Maybe they are slight improvements but nothing major. If anything, I find the coaches today have less for the money because 200k in 2007 bought a little more than 200k today.
So.. 2006-2008 is not too old by today's standards. The coach for $400k then would cost $700k today so it does not even exist because people dont want to spend 700k. Actually, as I look at 700k coaches I see cost cutting -- 4 battery house banks with 6V batteries instead of 6 12V batteries. Fewer solar panels (which really wasnt worth the $$ back in 2008 but they put a lot on those coaches). They dont do the kind of stuff like they did in 2006-2008 when people would buy a coach with 0-10% down using a second home mortgage.
I remember in 2006-2008 if you saw a 10 year old motorhome (no slides) it could have been regarded as old because of the huge technology improvement with the slides.
I think things will change now that the industry has been picking up steam (i can tell because campgrounds are starting to get full. cant believe how many are "sold out" when we call now). Hopefully some really cool stuff happens.
