Used Class C's or New Ones

[Schnauzerlvr]

We have looked at 2014 Chateau's(Thor) and find them to be quite nice. I previously had a 2005 Concord Coachmen B+. It was a 25 footer and of course only slept 2 because of the layout.
We also were looking at used Class C's. 2010 Triple E Regal C24; 2011 Winnebago Access 24 V.
Does anyone have any suggestions about buying used with low mileage or going for the new one's. What are the pro's and con's? Are the Thor units reliable? Let me know what types of Class C's you think are best.
Thanks for your help.
Charlene:h

[Harvard]

We are on our 3rd used motor home in 12 years. They have all been Triple E products, one was a former rental and the last 2 privately owned. We paid inflated prices for all of them (as compared to NADA) but have no regrets. Touch wood.

[johnwalkerpa1]

Hank85713 wrote:
If you look I said if you buy new/used from a dealer you will/maybe charged taxes. If you purchase from an individual you do not pay taxes and I mean SALES taxes. there are no taxes generally to license per se but there are registration fees for license plates and sometimes there are velorum taxes, but it will depend your legal residence. I only paid to have the rig registered no taxes but also as I said the registration is generally based on msrp.

.

Perhaps it is different in some states, but in PA, you DO indeed pay sales tax when you legally transfer a used vehicle, just not to the seller. Of course it is based on the price you paid.

The only way to pay less sales tax is to lie about the price you paid and even that doesn't work most times...if you lie and low-ball the price they will often charge you tax on the book value. There are a few rare cases where the old "I bought it for $1.00" is still allowed but it is very rare anymore....

Just like paying sales or use tax on online or out of state purchases...its always been the law...its just that they are starting to really enforce it over the past few years...

[Hank85713]

If you look I said if you buy new/used from a dealer you will/maybe charged taxes. If you purchase from an individual you do not pay taxes and I mean SALES taxes. there are no taxes generally to license per se but there are registration fees for license plates and sometimes there are velorum taxes, but it will depend your legal residence. I only paid to have the rig registered no taxes but also as I said the registration is generally based on msrp.

An extended warranty is basic insurance, you are trying to cya if something goes wrong. a lot of the warranty ones referred to above are the fly by nite ones from the dealers where they make profit on new used vehicles. I dont know about the GS one but they are a national firm who will not take a chance to sell a product that doesn't work as advertised.

[dicknellen]

My last 2 Winnebago's have been used, in fact our current one was a rental and is the best one yet. No problems with used Winnies I have purchased. Not many if any problems with 2 new Winnie's also. Dick

[Snowman9000]

Hank,
As Bobbo said, these things vary. In Illinois, you have to pay the full tax rate on a high value used vehicle. The three dealers I got competitive quotes from, including the one we went with, charge no or minimal prep, and they include full gas and propane at delivery, which is worth $200 give or take.

[Schnauzerlvr]

Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments. This has made us re-think many issues pertaining to RV's.
If you are lucky enough to be sitting next to the fire ring- I'm envious!:D
Thanks

[Bobbo]

Hank85713 wrote:
New always has to have the taxes added. Used will not in most cases involve any taxes if not purchased from a dealer.

This is not true at all. Unless your state doesn't charge taxes on vehicles, you will be hit for all the taxes when you register it in your state.

Hank85713 wrote:
you can purchase rv insurance from Good Sam to cover your investment. So if you get a used unit from a dealer or individual this would be a way to have some sense of being that you will not be out on a limb if something goes wrong with the unit.

This is not "rv insurance." It is an extended warranty, and most are a waste of money. While there are a few who have had good luck with these, the majority who try to use them get rejected. Search here for "extended warranty" and you will find many threads.

[Hank85713]

couple of things in the new/used scenario. New always has to have the taxes added and then there are the costs of the dealer prep etc. Some of the dealer prep can be discounted but most likely not. Used will not in most cases involve any taxes if not purchased from a dealer. We were told that you can add up to 15% to the price from the dealer when making a purchase! Also remember when bought new most license and taxes are based on the msrp at least here in az. we bought a 2012 winnebago with less than 4500 miles for at least 20K less than new and NO sales or VLT taxes from an individual. Last year the same unit off a lot was at 84K and we still got it cheaper than that so you have to make the determination based on where the purchase will occur. You can purchase out of state but your home state will collect the license fees when you register. There is a place in texas that has $100 fees and some small taxes for out of state purchases but you get caught when you get home. Knew a guy that bought a vehicle in Ky while at Ft Knox, paid no state taxes, got home and they got him for them.

forgot to add, you can purchase rv insurance from Good Sam to cover your investment. So if you get a used unit from a dealer or individual this would be a way to have some sense of being that you will not be out on a limb if something goes wrong with the unit. Even with buying the insurance its still cheaper than buying new (normally 1 year on appliance and whatever on the coach and drive train 3/36000?), and even from a dealer used (they normally dont warrantee anything either).

[Snowman9000]

I see your location is Cochrane. If you mean up in the Great White North, then I am not sure if my pricing comments will apply to your situation.

What I have found here in the US is that aggressive dealers will price new ones closely enough to prices of 1,2,3 year old units that it doesn't pay to buy the used ones. RV pricing is very cloudy here, and I'm sure dealers like it that way. The MSRP's are very inflated. If a unit has MSRP of $70K, there will be some buyers who pay in the 60's, some in the 50's, and some in the 40's, even down to the mid and lower 40's. Of course, bringing a trade-in to the deal makes it even cloudier.

We were looking for a unit that happens to be one of the lines handled by RVDirect.com. Their prices are super low. You can request a quote from them by email, with very little hassle. If you choose not to buy from them, you can use their price to get your dealer down. We did just that, and had 3 dealers become very competitive. Two of them beat the RVDirect price, and we ordered from one of them. We got 38% off the MSRP, but I believe our particular model has an extra amount of room built into the price for some reason. You will not see the real low prices advertised. You have to get the dealers bidding for your business, then the prices drop substantially. Using the RVDirect quote is simple and painless.

I'm mentioning this because sellers of late model used ones were asking more than we are paying new. That is the situation in the most popular part of the market, brands like Winnebago, Jayco, Coachmen, Four Winds, Sunseeker. But it probably doesn't happen in the boutique brands like Triple E, Born Free, etc., because those brands are sold new at much higher prices.

We ordered a Sunseeker, on a Chevy chassis. It's a middle of the road brand, but I feel the quality is pretty good. They use good materials and equipment, and the several we've been in have been well designed and put together. Owners seem satsified. I think the main brands are all going to be decent, but they all do have typical RV cost cutting somewhere. I feel like Winnebago has slightly better build quality, but not so much better than the Sunseeker we ordered to make us buy a Winnebago for more money instead.

OK, my morning ramble is complete. 🙂

[Skid_Row_Joe]

Schnauzerlvr wrote:
We have looked at 2014 Chateau's(Thor) and find them to be quite nice. I previously had a 2005 Concord Coachmen B+. It was a 25 footer and of course only slept 2 because of the layout.
We also were looking at used Class C's. 2010 Triple E Regal C24; 2011 Winnebago Access 24 V.
Does anyone have any suggestions about buying used with low mileage or going for the new one's. What are the pro's and con's? Are the Thor units reliable? Let me know what types of Class C's you think are best.
Thanks for your help.
Charlene:h

I bought a 9-month old Born Free 24' Class C with 5K miles on it. I paid $20K less than what the 1st owner paid for it. With the $20K savings, I felt a lot better about buying it, since I was not going to pay the new price for anything. Many coach warranties do not transfer to the used buyer except when you buy from the manufacturers that re-sell used units. In my case, I wanted an almost new unit without the warranty to save tens of thousands of dollars over new. Today? I would buy a Winnebago Class C, since I have had so much trouble with my Born Free.

[Bobbo]

With a new MH or towable, you are GOING to have issues that need to be addressed. RV's, even the best ones, always seem to have minor problems that need to be corrected.

With a used MH or towable, you will be getting it after the previous owner has handled those initial headaches. However, you need to worry about the care and attention that the previous owner gave it, and there is probably no longer a warranty. For instance, was the generator properly exercised every month? Was the plumbing properly winterized before freezing temps. Were the seams inspected and resealed on a timely basis to prevent water intrusion? This is not an all inclusive list.

[Schnauzerlvr]

Thanks Don for the info!

[pianotuna]

Hi Charlene,

I'd buy Triple E over Thor every time. I'd try to buy a unit that is less than five years old.