Bumpyroad wrote:
yep when you figure discount off retail, lower financing cost, any warranties, more value when you trade it in later, people who are upside down on their loan and have to have a certain amount, sellers who look at "asking" prices in ads and think that is the actual value, etc. buying new deserves being considered.
bumpy
You're right - it's how we bought our 2004 Class C: we liked the model, and when a local dealer offered to sell us a new unit for $2000 LESS that we had been seeing for used units, it was a no-brainer.
But this particular auction was different - being end-of-the-year, many companies simply want stock off their books. There were over 200 units auctioned; and almost every one was sold. Many appeared to be repos (the initial photos showed personal belongings still in the units) and I'm guessing some were rentals that had been depreciated out. Others clearly were units that no dealer wanted to mess with (delaminated, etc).
Ed and I have a small used-car lot. At car dealer auctions, THIS is the time of year when we stock up for the next year because the prices are so low. We mistakenly assumed the same would apply to RV's being auctioned - and we were horribly wrong - the demand is driving the prices UP.
We will continue to watch for used units - but if the wholesale prices continue to stay within $5000-$8000 of what we suspect we can pay for new, we'll buy new.
And if I'm buying something new - it had better be easy to winterize ;-)
