The bank is interested in 2 things in this order, the principal on the loan to protect losses and the interest on the loan to protect profit. It's no secret banks operate on a profit business model just like every other business. Loss of interest as profit is still a loss. Banks assets are not only based on reserves but loans and their interest. Outstanding loans are an asset and that drives their borrowing power from the Fed as well as stock value. Ok, enough on the lesson. The bank does not want your RV. They are not an RV dealer. It's a liability. They will liquidate as quickly as possible and couldn't really care less about what they make. You are still on the hook for the entire amount. So whatever they sell it for, you still owe the rest, plus interest and fees. A voluntary repossession will wreck your credit for 5-7 years. It's not much different than charging it off as a bad debt. So in the end you really end up paying more and wrecking your credit than selling for less privately and supplementing the sale. In an era of a rebounding economy, banks are strict on requirements, so this will hurt if you plan on buying anything soon. You are better off selling private for a lower price and taking out an equity line or something with lower interest to pay the rest off (credit card, family member, 401, etc). Because you can't sell private for less than you owe and get clear title, so you need to cover the rest when you sell it.
Is bankruptcy an option? Talk to a lawyer if it is, although bankruptcies are getting harder to get approved for especially for "luxury" items like Rv's. They can be contested by the bank in a bankruptcy case. This will also wreck your credit.
If you simply walk away it's an all out repo and likely a judgment will sought and wages can be garnished and your credit wrecked.
So really the best scenario is to sell and try and get your hands on the rest to supplement the remainder. Maybe talk to your bank about a personal loan to cover the difference between selling the RV and what you owe the bank. Take a cash advance on a credit card, cash in a 401, take equity in your home, ask a family member, sell a car etc etc.
We may be selling our RV soon and fortunately we are close to being even on what fair market value and the loan is. But we put 30% down when we bought it. I would have to pay that to sell it if I hadn't put it down so it's a loss either way. Part of the RV game. Pay now or pay later to compensate for depreciation.
Your scenario is one of the fundamental problems with RV's. It's a heavily depreciating asset, so you need to have a good exit strategy if you want out of it or throw a lot of money on the front end of the loan, or get lucky with a used one. So many people daily buying RV's with only 10% down and take a hit on day 1 of at least 20-30%. If you sell within 5 or so years of buying you will take a huge loss. Many people are blind to that. You can call it cost of ownership or whatever you want but it's a reality few know about or the rest simply ignore and hope for the best. Truth in lending should require dealerships to tell you what your RV is worth amortized over the loan, but they aren't required to. Granted it's not hard and fast and there are a lot of factors but generally they follow a curve - downward. Some car companies are actually doing this now. They did recently when we bought our Honda.
I sincerely wish you good luck.
2013 ACE 29.2
