Any financial advantages of buying new RV vs used?

[Veik]

Let say I want to buy a 55K Class C, NEW and I finance it
In perfect world - no money down, at 5% apr. for 15 years

Pros/Cons as I see them...


PROS
-zero miles on the odo
-new warranty (usually a year on the couch, 3 years on chassis)
-everything is new and has never been used or abused
-resale value???

CONS
-Depreciation hit the first year and the following years, at 5 years
-Interest on the loan
-Sales Tax (Virginia)


What am I missing?

I am trying to look for BENEFITS of buying new.
Are there any?
I am not trying to start heated discussion, just trying to figure it all out for the first time.

Thank you.

[noteven]

TXiceman wrote:
For the same $$$$ you will be money ahead to buy a used higher end RV than a new entry level RV.

Kne

This has worked well for us 4 times out of 4.

[ncrowley]

I purchased used because I could not afford a new one with the features that I wanted. If I had the money and I planned to keep the coach for a long time, I would consider purchasing a new one. That way I would know the history of the coach. I have the same philosophy when it comes to cars. I have purchased used but I mostly purchase new and then I keep them a long time. That has worked well for me.

[old_guy]

insurance on a new rig is higher than a used.

[Veik]

just as side note...

I was considering a brand new Winnebago Trend until I started reading more into the initial problems they are having.
Its a new ProMaster chassis (Ttalian fiat, re-branded as Dodge, assembled in Mexico): coolant/radiator leaks, cabin/roof leaks, tpms issues, noisy breaks. Now this is a 92K MSRP rig. I can get it for $60,000
Its small and mpg is around 14.

But thinking about how I will be spending days or weeks at the dealership repairing this thing....well, thats not really appealing.

[mgirardo]

Every one's experience is different. I prefer to purchase new because I don't like buying other people's problems. Most people, even the most honest of folks, aren't going to tell you about the horror stories they encountered or how they treated their vehicle poorly.

We purchased our Motorhome new in 2009 while Jayco was having a nationwide sale. The MSRP was $92,500 and we paid $67,700 for the rig (pre-tax and other fees). 6 years later, we are still above water on our loan and will stay that way. We've had a few problems under warranty; Jayco offers a 2 year warranty. Haven't had any trouble with the Chassis at all. We had a handful of problems over the summer, but only one of them I'd blame on Jayco. Everything else was failures with other manufacturer's products like the Converter/Charger or just general wear and tear, like the house battery.

The years leading up to purchasing our Motorhome, we searched the Used market and as you are finding the price of Used did not seem appealing. We were looking at 3 to 5 year old small Class Cs, 27' or smaller and private sellers and dealers were asking $50k for some units. To get what we thought was reasonable prices, we had to look in the 7 - 10 year old range. We were not interested in rigs that age.

We bought this Motorhome with the intention of keeping it for a long time. At the end of the month will mark 6 years and we plan to keep it until the kids move out, probably another 6 - 8 years. The loan will be paid off by then and we'll probably trade it in for a mid-range Class A or possibly a Super C.

-Michael

[Veik]

Let me ask this folks, how good are the trade values for a late model RV?

Say I buy a 2015 model for 60K, and want to trade up in two years...

Is it likely to get 50-55K on the trade in, or will I be looking at wholesale numbers ?

I am sure people on here have done trade ins before.

And dealer asks that all the time

[paulcardoza]

My personal view:

The more you migrate to higher end rigs, the more sense it makes to buy used. Depreciation is crazy on a mid-to-high-end DP. These also typically have a large laundry list of issues during the first year, which are likely to be resolved in a used coach.

For a class c rig, I would probably go new, rather than used. Depreciation is less (in total $$$$) and you have 100% control over how it is treated from day one. Like it or not, class c units are not built as robustly as higher end DP's, if for no other reason than to save weight.

In any case, IF you decide to buy used, there is NOTHING more important than reviewing good, complete maintenance records and a conducting thorough inspection from top to bottom, before handing over a nickle.

[jtbr3]

If you are not handy and DIY type of person, buy new otherwise buy used as there is many low mileage units for sale from folks that did not like the lifestyle or used it enough. The major item with used is copy of records which really helped with the sale of my last unit since I kept all records and when I bought a newer used unit, all the records were part of sale. I saved almost 50% buying late model used vs same model new. I would never buy new again.

[Veik]

The prices for USED I am seeing online are mind blowing at times.
I dont know what people paid for those 5+ year old rigs originally, but I suspect they paid too much, using some of the home equity funds (easy monbey) when the real estate market was HOT prior to 2007 or so.

And now they are underwater.

And they have to come up with the different on what I can potentially pay them and what BANK wants to get.

[Veik]

IAMICHABOD wrote:

Veik wrote:

Few dealers I asked so far, did not have paperwork on used RVs.

Private Party might be a different story

One thing that I found on my long quest to buy a RV was this.

Buying new the depreciation was a killer and as most of the used ones from private parties that was, at about 6-7 years into the 15 year loan they were under water,owing more than it was worth on the open market or even worse the trade in market.

I found that the record of maintenance for private sellers was almost non existent and the dealers only had records of what they had done but no history.

That is why I went the way I did,the size,floor plan,my budget and the records that were there. I did not go into this with the thought of selling in 5 years but keeping it for as long as I needed it.I paid cash so there is no lingering debt.

Its NADA estimate today is not much less than I paid for it,but I have no intent of selling,just keep it.

My only expense so far is the usual upkeep and the MODs that I have done to make it mine, the way I like it.

I am happy with my decision, you will have to weigh all of these things and make an informed decision of your own, GOOD LUCK !!

I am considering the route you went, ie - rental unit.
But there could be issues that could end up costing thousands...

I covered some of them in separate topic 🙂

[IAMICHABOD]

Veik wrote:

Few dealers I asked so far, did not have paperwork on used RVs.

Private Party might be a different story

One thing that I found on my long quest to buy a RV was this.

Buying new the depreciation was a killer and as most of the used ones from private parties that was, at about 6-7 years into the 15 year loan they were under water,owing more than it was worth on the open market or even worse the trade in market.

I found that the record of maintenance for private sellers was almost non existent and the dealers only had records of what they had done but no history.

That is why I went the way I did,the size,floor plan,my budget and the records that were there. I did not go into this with the thought of selling in 5 years but keeping it for as long as I needed it.I paid cash so there is no lingering debt.

Its NADA estimate today is not much less than I paid for it,but I have no intent of selling,just keep it.

My only expense so far is the usual upkeep and the MODs that I have done to make it mine, the way I like it.

I am happy with my decision, you will have to weigh all of these things and make an informed decision of your own, GOOD LUCK !!

[mdamerell]

Let me start by saying I'd never bought a new vehicle in my life but when we were looking at 5er's, to get what we wanted and needed for certain health issues we bought new. Not the fancy and glittery but a good basic 5er that met our wants and needs. I figure we'll have this one for 10-15 years so I'll have gotten my money's worth out of it.

As you stated there are pros and cons to each path and only you can make that decision.

[pconroy328]

Veik wrote:
Let say I want to buy a 55K Class C, NEW and I finance it
In perfect world - no money down, at 5% apr. for 15 years

oops - misread the post.
never mind...

[Bumpyroad]

do a search in this forum for posts from folks who have a problematic RV and the final solution is to unload it. I can afford new, why deprive myself of having exactly what I want?
bumpy

[korbe]

I have always felt that slightly used means that the rig is broken in and the warranty work has already been done.