We are looking at upgrading from a 2013 Jayco 25 rks TT to a fifth. Talked to a dealer in Arizona who offered 13K trade in value. That's close to 55 % devaluation for a rig with 4K miles and 100 nights camping on it. Low NADA is 16.5 K. Any ideas what I could realistically push a dealer for? Or is this just how things are? Thanks for the input!

depends on what you are trading up to but I sure a heck wouldn't do that low. 19 or 18 at the least if it were me.

I don't they are shooting you too bad of an offer at 13k trade in. I just did a quick search for that model and there is at least one dealer who selling a brand new one for $18995 and some others for still under $20k. You might think it is worth more but in reality it is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. In this case the dealer will be wrapping up 13k to you and at least a little money in reconditioning and marketing. On top of that he has to be able to sell it to make a profit. With all of this known he still will have to be able to sell it for less than what a brand new one costs or a customer would simply just buy the new one. If you can buy a new one for $18995 clicky then he might have to put this used one on his lot for 15995 and be in the position to take the first 14500-15k offer that he is given to move the unit along. I don't think they are being unfair in this case. However - there still might be a lot of room to negotiate on the purchase of the new fiver you are looking at. Sometimes they might take the discount on the fiver and show more on trade. It's a rob Peter to pay Paul issue .. pay attention though. 70-75% of MSRP on the new fiver is a good spot :)

Looking at a Sabre Platinum Edition 32CKTS which is, in my mind, a major upgrade.

Low NADA is retail, for a particular condition. Wholesale will usually be 20-25% below retail, for condition, trade-in values (what dealer is thinking to put into it, not number he gives you as part of a deal which gets mixed up with he makes on what you are buying) may be 30-35% below NADA retail for condition, so he can make something wholesaling it. That's just the way his business works.Your 55% is relative to MSRP when new? That was likely never a real "value" with 20-30% discounts typical on new TT sales.

You just learned how badly you overpaid the first time around.

TT Trade In Value | Good Sam Community

tegu69
Explorer
Jan 23, 2014
If I can't pay off a tt in 5 or 6 years, I can't afford it.
wbwood
Explorer
Jan 22, 2014
DutchmenSport wrote:
You're dealer is offering you a fair price ... Welcome to the world of being upside down! You owe more on your camper than what you can sell it for. It took us 8 years on a 15 year loan to pay on our Springdale before we we could trade and come out even remotely close. We tried several times, and each time the various dealers were offering us chicken-feed for trade in value. It's just the nature of the industry.

Also depends on how much you put down. We bought a TT in 2010 and traded it in on our class c in 2913. We had a 12 yr finance, but we also put $5000 down. We actually broke a little more than even on ours. It also helped that we had a pop up I had just bought for $2000 which they gave me every penny I paid for it. They put it on their lot for more than twice that amount.
bid_time
Nomad II
Jan 21, 2014
Uncle Grumpy wrote:
That is why we ONLY buy used and pay cash. Lots of research and looking. We are happy with both our 5r and truck and no debt.
The only difference between being "upside down" and "taking a bath" is whether you financed or paid cash. Either way you still lose a lot of money and you're no better off financially one way or the other.
P.S. over the last 10 years I have averaged 7.66% AAR on my investments. My RV loan is for 5.55%. Now please tell me again how good it is to be debt free.
tegu69
Explorer
Jan 21, 2014
You need to shop around. I went to one dealer and looked at a unit that he discounted quite a bit. He offered me 13,000 trade-in off of the discounted price. I went to another dealer who also said 13,000 trade-in, but off of msrp.
Little games some play. I went with the discounted one and they immediately put my unit on sale for 23000. I don't know what it actually sold for, but it sold in about one week.
Uncle_Grumpy
Explorer
Jan 21, 2014
That is why we ONLY buy used and pay cash. Lots of research and looking. We are happy with both our 5r and truck and no debt.
Dogdad58
Explorer
Jan 21, 2014
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Lots of options....
Safe travels to all!
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Jan 21, 2014
You're dealer is offering you a fair price ... Welcome to the world of being upside down! You owe more on your camper than what you can sell it for. It took us 8 years on a 15 year loan to pay on our Springdale before we we could trade and come out even remotely close. We tried several times, and each time the various dealers were offering us chicken-feed for trade in value. It's just the nature of the industry.
Kittykath
Explorer II
Jan 21, 2014
Bottom line is all we cared about after all the "discounting" this or that. I didn't even question why the dealer was giving us $10K more than we paid for our trade-in. Could we live with the new payment? Yep. Everyone's happy no matter how they massaged the numbers.
Islandman
Explorer
Jan 21, 2014
Sell your TT yourself for cash, then you'll have the money to shop for a new 5er and do some serious bargaining with dealers.
PawPaw_n_Gram
Explorer
Jan 21, 2014
Dogdad58 wrote:
We are looking at upgrading from a 2013 Jayco 25 rks TT to a fifth. Talked to a dealer in Arizona who offered 13K trade in value. That's close to 55 % devaluation for a rig with 4K miles and 100 nights camping on it. Low NADA is 16.5 K. Any ideas what I could realistically push a dealer for? Or is this just how things are? Thanks for the input!

From your description - it doesn't sound like the dealer was able to actually look at the trailer and go over it to detect and potential issues.

I was a bit surprised to find most dealers will make a blanket offer for trade-in of a TT without seeing it. And unless the rig is completely trashed - that is what they stick with.

Some of the realities.

Your trailer lost 40-50% of its MSRP value the day it was driven off the dealer lot. The depreciation is worse than automobiles.

A dealer is only going to offer what they can get at auction if they can't or don't sell the trailer as used on their lot.

You can almost always get substantially more (20-30%) money for your trailer if you do a private sale.

You have to take the time to put the TT into best condition. Be prepared for a lot of nit-picking idiots who want you to take off $100 for every scratch in the paint, nail or screw hole on the inside. Who want your to power up and test everything in the TT, and then decide to offer you less than the dealer.

You can find a buyer at near the price you want - if you are willing to invest the time, and willing to wait until that buyer comes along - be it a few weeks or months.