Forum Discussion

BurbMan's avatar
BurbMan
Explorer II
Dec 28, 2015

How is the Used RV Market?

I know a few years back, when the economy was in the dumper, you couldn't give an RV away. Now I see sales of new units in 2015 up 11% from the prior year. Is that translating into a brisk market for used units? Or is inventory still high?

In my case I'm looking specifically at towables, TTs and 5ers.
  • donn0128 wrote:
    I think you will find the market reagional. Some places are hot, while others are luke warm. There is always a lot of junk on the market, not always at reasonable prices. Good ones priced fairly will always sell fast.


    X2

    Come down and look at used RV's for sale in Florida.
    Prices are static and never follow the market trends. Cheap prices all the time.
    There are SO many of them down here they practically give them away! :B

    Sad for me because I am going to sell mine down here this year and am going to take a big hit on the selling price. Stupid me I Should have sold it up North before I came down where I would have made a big chunk of change on it. :(
  • As others have said, it depends on the location. I have also found that in the winter the supply of used trailers almost completely dries up. While winter can be a good time to buy a trailer, the trick is to find the trailer, as it may not be advertised until the spring. I would post in the some of the "wanted" sections of the various forums. Someone might be sitting on a trailer until spring, see it and offer a good deal.
    Dan
  • It's awful in my neck of the woods. Tried to sell mine for thousands less than NADA low retail. It's perfect and loaded with options. Not a single phone call. After 2-3 months I gave up. Dis appointing.

    B.O.
  • I've been shopping for months and I may need to reevaluate what I think a used trailer is worth, because I've yet to find one that seems like a good value. Part of my problem is my location because from what I've seen on RV Trader, prices seem a lot lower in the midwest, east and southeast. The northwest and down into Nevada and California seems like it has less inventory and higher prices (I'm sure there's a correlation there).
  • Here in sunny California where National Parks are close by and beach camping is plentiful, used RV's always sell quickly and are very hard to find both in great shape and for a bargain. The only RV's that remain on the used market here are really old ones that have been abused and even these sell eventually once the seller realistically adjusts the price.

    All that said, nationally speaking, the economy is vastly improved, the job market is on the rise,and gas is insanely cheap and predicted to remain so for a while. I saw a report stating that sales of large cars/suv's has increased dramatically recently thanks to cheaper gas and a better economy. I would assume that will also effect the RV world as well.
  • Depends on where you live ............ will vary greatly. Good here in Southern Virginia....... Cheaper models going better than higher end.
  • Yeah and that's all I'm asking for, what folks are seeing in their local markets. Hopefully someone shopping for a used unit will chime in.

    We have been thinking of looking for an older C that we can do a 4WD conversion on. We bought the TT new at the end of 2007 and thanks to me spending too much time here on the forum, it's got so many upgrades I'm not sure I could list them all. I'm never gonna get my money out of it, but I stand a better chance in a seller's market.
  • I can only comment on what I see in the private market in WI. It seems the bigger units sit for long periods, often a year or longer. The smaller ones (25' or less) sell in weeks, not months.

    There were 2 units near my house that are comparable in size to your Terry. Both sat for over 12 months. One sold just a couple of weeks ago. There are a couple of beautiful late model 5vers on the way north to our favorite CG that have been for sale for going on 2 years. There's a couple of units on M35 in the UP that have been for sale since at least late last year.

    Could be price. Don't know. I'm just making an observation on what I see.
  • I think you will find the market reagional. Some places are hot, while others are luke warm. There is always a lot of junk on the market, not always at reasonable prices. Good ones priced fairly will always sell fast.