My wife & I bought an RV to use while she travel-nursed across the country. It's a 2003 Holiday Rambler Neptune, diesel pusher. She now has a permanent full-time job where our house is located. I've been insisting that we should sell the RV because I'm worried sick that even if I take it on the road every couple of months to exercise the brakes, transmission, etc, if we are only using it for trips once every few years we're going to be dealing with nothing but expensive headaches because of it being stored for so long. My concern stems from the fact that even when we were using it full-time and driving it every month, both the back and front brakes seized, costing us thousands to fix. The problem is that we've already taken the RV to a dealership for an appraisal and been told that we can expect, at best, to only get about 30 or 40% of our purchase price back because of the fact that the RV is now 12 years old and because the interior needs so much work from being lived in full-time for a number of years. It's a diesel pusher with only 40,000 miles on it so it certainly has plenty of life left in it mechanically. But the thing is, if we were to keep it, is it really possible to have an RV that is only used once every few years for trips (but taking it out for short runs every couple of months to exercise the brakes, etc) without the RV ending up with an endless repair bill from sitting so much?

ONCE every couple of years? That system you have to running the motorhome every couple weeks is fine...but that DOES get old after awhile. Then...rust gets into everything...tires go bad....it just doesn't make sense (to me, anyway).I suggest....cut your losses...sell the thing...and use whatever thousands you get to take vacations via airplane or autombile/hotels.g'luck!

jerseyjim wrote:ONCE every couple of years? That system you have to running the motorhome every couple weeks is fine...but that DOES get old after awhile. Then...rust gets into everything...tires go bad....it just doesn't make sense (to me, anyway).I suggest....cut your losses...sell the thing...and use whatever thousands you get to take vacations via airplane or autombile/hotels.g'luck!X2, it will just deteriorate sitting idle, the use it or lose it adage applies here. Definitely, cut your losses and sell it.

60-70% depreciation on a 12yr old unit is doing pretty good. On the positive side, you are at the point where depreciation starts to slow down but it won't stop and when you factor in maintenance and repairs you will continue to lose money.40k miles: This is why I always get a chuckle when I hear people talk about million mile drivetrains. It would take upwards of 300yr to get to that million mile mark given your past usage rate and you aren't that far from typical. If you won't be using it regularly, you are best off selling it.

Of course you can let a motor home set for years at a time. All you have to do is to not abandon it completely. If you occasionally check to insure that you will not have any leak deterioration and run the engine by driving the coach from time to time, it should not be any problem. It makes no sense to take a 30-40% hit when just requires a little upkeep to store the coach for a long term situation. I live in Florida, right on a lake, and within a mile of the salt water and my coach sits outside all of the time. As long as I make sure there are no roof or window leaks, the coach will last a long time. The tires will also be OK especially if you keep them covered to help prevent sun damage. Your tires will probably age out, just like 90% of the other RV owners tires age out. By driving the coach every few months, you are exercising the coach as much as many full timers do down here. Many people on this forum have purchased really low mileage RV's, that obviously sat for years with little use, and they without any major problems. As long as you do a regular inspection of your coach to insure that no problems have cropped up, you should be fine.

Hi,I don't understand why you won't be able to use it periodically. Are you saying that your wife's work schedule and yours is such that you'll never have the same days off? No "weekend get-a-ways"? Heck, even overnighters...in the driveway? :) Man, you're in Florida where you can use the rig 365 days a year. You don't even have to take it "out of commission" for winterizing. At 40,000 miles, the chassis has lots of life left in it. I can't directly respond about the interior. Do YOU think it's very worn? Remember the buyer (dealer) will do and say whatever possible to keep the price low. We've often used our motorhome just for day trips. It's just so much nicer to travel in than the minivan. During the off season, we sometimes even use it just to go to the mall or do other shopping. I'm assuming your rig is paid for, so the biggest expense is behind you. We've had a few summers where we weren't able to use our rig as much as we would have liked, but I really can't even imaging NOT having a motorhome to travel in. Good Luck in whatever decision you make.~Rick

Long Term Storage: Can it be done?? | Good Sam Community

67Cutlass
Explorer
Apr 04, 2015
rgatijnet1 wrote:
Of course you can let a motor home set for years at a time. All you have to do is to not abandon it completely. If you occasionally check to insure that you will not have any leak deterioration and run the engine by driving the coach from time to time, it should not be any problem.
It makes no sense to take a 30-40% hit when just requires a little upkeep to store the coach for a long term situation.
I live in Florida, right on a lake, and within a mile of the salt water and my coach sits outside all of the time. As long as I make sure there are no roof or window leaks, the coach will last a long time. The tires will also be OK especially if you keep them covered to help prevent sun damage. Your tires will probably age out, just like 90% of the other RV owners tires age out.
By driving the coach every few months, you are exercising the coach as much as many full timers do down here.
Many people on this forum have purchased really low mileage RV's, that obviously sat for years with little use, and they without any major problems.
As long as you do a regular inspection of your coach to insure that no problems have cropped up, you should be fine.

Agree with everything you have said. I would like to add if you can find covered parking that would really help with damage from sun and rain. The best option would be if you could find enclosed parking.

We had covered parking for our last motorhome for ten years. It really help with appearance and weathering. We were able to get top dollar when traded in.
vegasfoodguy
Explorer II
Apr 03, 2015
So, What is your plan? Sit and watch the grass grow? If you don't like RVing sell it.
tatest
Explorer II
Apr 03, 2015
Once every few years is not enough. If you don't have a use for it, sell it and take your loss now.

Depreciation is depreciation, part of cost of ownership of a capital asset. I mentally accept that cost over the period I am using it. Hanging on to the asset when it is no longer used just makes things worse, depreciation continues, value received is zero, anything divided by zero is infinity, as your cost for use,

Actually using it once or twice a year, that is something else. Say another $2000 depreciation, you go camping twice for two nights each time, it only cost you $500 a night. That's a lot less than infinity. Might be less than cost of a rental.
gonesouth
Explorer
Apr 02, 2015
just a small suggestion.......tell us what you expect to get for it and somebody on here may want it.
mowermech
Explorer
Apr 02, 2015
I would keep it, even if I only used it once or twice a year.
Especially if it doesn't cost anything to store it.
If I had to pay to store it in a lot, it might be different.
We use our coach about three times a summer, and not at all in the winter, but I have no intention of getting rid of it.
The rest of the time it sits beside the house or in the driveway. It makes a great guest house!
Matt_Colie
Explorer II
Apr 02, 2015
I did a great deal of boat work before the recent depression, and I can tell you that it can be done. BUT....
It will have to be stored in a dry building. Heated would be best, but that is not essential.
Look for the lay-up to cost about 2500$us. There is still a problem, even blocked up, the tires will still age-out. (They age-out on dealer's shelves too.)
All the rubber parts and coolant and brake fluid will also age even without use.
Then, when you want to put it back in service, fitting out to travel will probably cost another 1000$us. That does not include the above.

If it were mine, I would find a young couple that has more time than money and make them a deal.

Matt - Free advice is seldom cost effective
time2roll
Nomad
Apr 02, 2015
Give it one more year then decide. Depreciation will not be huge compared to getting back into an RV if you decide you miss the adventure.
the_bear_II
Explorer
Apr 02, 2015
If you decide to sell it, I would hire an RV detailer to spruce it up. Get it looking as best as possible outside and inside.

Don't pay attention to the dealer's appraisal. Take a look at RVtrader.com, Ebay and Craigslist at similar MHs for pricing help. Price yours at the highend to test the market. Publish the price in your ads. If you get calls from regular RV buyers (not dealers or speculators) have them come by and take a look at it. If no calls then start lowering the price in small increments tell the calls start coming in.
bluwtr49
Explorer II
Apr 02, 2015
Based on the info supplied, I would just take the money and run. You knew going in that this was not an investment but a life style and now the life style has changed.

Find another passion you guys can enjoy in your current circumstances and don't worry about the $$$. Later, perhaps revisit the RV life.
Dale_Traveling
Explorer II
Apr 02, 2015
Not knowing how long you have owned the coach or the initial purchase price a 30% to 40% return could either be painful or pretty good. Any rig, be it a bare bones entry level or a half million top of the line, is going to lose value with age and use.

With consideration of your future usage it would be best to sell the coach. Even sitting it's going to require regular care and feeding. A minor roof leak that goes either undetected or unrepaired for a few months will quickly bring the potential value down even further or to the point that no one will take the coach off your hands.

Invest a bit of sweat equity and clean the coach up as best you can and sell it.