Financing New Travel Trailer - All I Should Know?

Don’t accept extra warranties because for obvious reasons and rare exception it is a total waste of money. Don’t add any packages the dealer wants to lump into your loan because you can likely buy it cheaper yourself, AND it will be something you’ll actually use.

trailer_newbe wrote:
Generally speaking dealers don’t actually make any money from the sale of an RV on their lot. Financing is where the money is made so keep that in mind when financing through the dealer.

I don’t care who is making money, as long as I’m getting the best rate I can get. I’ve always went in knowing exactly what the best rate is I can get on my own; if the dealer can beat it, so be it. If not I use my own finance company. I’ve done it both ways in the past.
Just don’t go in blind, always go in fully armed with everything you need to know.

Generally speaking dealers don’t actually make any money from the sale of an RV on their lot. Financing is where the money is made so keep that in mind when financing through the dealer.

interest rate may depend a great deal on the term length.
And another option may be a equity line of credit.

when I bought our trailer in 2010 I was able to get an interest rate of <4% using my equity line of credit. Since at the time I was getting close to 4% tax free yield from stock dividends rather than cash I did the loan,

When I bought our Denali in 2015 a 3 year term financing the whole purchase price using my bank was 2.5%. Again, less interest than tax free dividend yield on the investments I would have sold.

Yes, payments were high, but it was a good rate and I had more than enough cash coming in to do the payments

In both cases having automatic payment every month from checking reduced the interest rate and got rid of the hassle of sending off a check.

Today with likely interest rates, If I had to finance I'd go for term that gave the lowest interest rate.

And I don't know about today, but when we bough the trailer and truck interest rates on used trailers or vehicles was definitely higher than new. No way would it make of the difference in price, but interest rates were definitely higher

I can't speak to the current market, but back when I bought mine, it was fairly widely known mark up on trailers was like 40% from sticker. My 2008 trailer was listed at $28,900. We bought it for $17,900. Something to be aware of if still bargaining.

Well looks like the ole Shawnster split, but what you posted above is wholly an incorrect and far oversimplified example.


Yeah, I tucked my tail in between my legs and scurried away! I needed time away to rehabilitate from GritDog honest response:)

I lurk around the forum a while longer before I ask another ill-prepared question! I appreciate the knowledge in this forum.

@tommyznr. You just proved my point. With your example about the truck vs the suv. And all the “conditions” you mentioned for the good value of the old camper.
Vehicles don’t even all depreciate at the same rate. Your attempt at oversimplifying the depreciation rates of vehicles and RVs is just that, oversimplified.
Sooo many other factors that a blanket statement is almost wholly inapplicable.
But in general they are similar depreciating assets, always have been.

But I’m keenly aware of the residual value of GMT800 suvs and similar as they seem to keep making their way to my house as cheap commuter/kid vehicles.
Unless more to the story, if you had a good running GMT 800 burb with 250k and not rusted out that needed (well shocks are the better part of $1000 in parts if it had air level) minor things like you said, and sold it for $1000, someone got a good deal. However it’s splitting hairs even though maybe you could have sold it for 150% more, that’s only a few % points more in overall residual value.
But even where you live in Cheeseland makes a huge difference. Your stuff in general would fetch more down south than up north where the economy has been and is perpetually severely depressed.
Cheers, man.

New campers do depreciated pretty quickly the first few years, so unless you do a large down payment you will be upside down. The dealers have lots of inventory now, so you should be able to get 30% off of MSRP, more if you can find a 2022 left over. 2023's should be dropping in price, as some 2024's are appearing at dealers now.

Grit dog wrote:

tommyznr wrote:

APT wrote:
RVs depreciate around the same rate as automobiles. ....

I don't think this is true. I was told that RVs depreciate some amount the first three years and then drop in value slowly from there. I don't remember the percentages.

Antidotal point: We bought a 2004 Suburban for around $35 - $40k and 2004 Keystone Hornet for around $12k brand new. In 2018 we got about $1k for the Suburban and about $8k for the Hornet. The Suburban with 250,000+ miles needed about $5k worth of work, the Hornet needed about $1k worth of work.

Well looks like the ole Shawnster split, but what you posted above is wholly an incorrect and far oversimplified example.
Depreciation is what it is and yes RVs, cars, other motorized toys DO depreciate similarly.
However there are many more factors to that equation.
Like your example, your rusted out or gonna be rusted out (no way it wasn’t a year round driver in the rust belt with those miles), clapped out, quarter million miles, prolly a destroyed drivers seat also on top of “$5k in (deferred or neglected) repairs needed” Burb is likely no way comparable to your camper unless it too was left out in the back yard for 14 summers and winters and crossed the country 22times while being lived in…in which case it would t have sold for much either.
The reality is your camper was probably used FAR less and not left to rot, not towed through road salt for 14 winters, etc.

Your burb was a used up old bomber. Heck I just got $4k (coulda got $4500 but I didn’t want to rip the buyer off I knew what needed work and he overlooked it…) 140k miles, needed “some” work. More like $1k, dented to shite about a 5 out of 10 in condition. No rust here.
The one before it bout same miles but no work needed and an 8-9 out of 10, sold for $8500 in 2 days 2 years ago.
And not the least of which is how desireable the “thing” is. You can buy NICE older Maseratis for dirt cheap when a comparable Porsche or Audi is FAR more expensive. They were both equally expensive new, but the Maseratis are steaming piles of poo and even more expensive to repair than the German cars. Like everyone will pay to dollar these dates for used Ford Fkin Rangers. Why? Because they’re more desirable than a same era S10.

You have to compare apples to apples although maybe don’t understand that. Hence my post.

Naw, but I realize it was just an example and the devil is in the details. But you give examples of used items sold within the last three years. I could have sold my 2017 pick up for more than I paid for it in the last three years.

The Suburban was in great shape body wise. I just remember saying that I had a choice between putting about $5000 into it and hoping nothing major went wrong right after that vs. going with a pick up and 5th wheel. It needed things like tires, shocks/struts, rear wiper and some other minor stuff I don't much remember.......it was 14 years old in 2018 after all. The camper needed an awning, tires and some minor TLC. Hail dents were barely noticeable.

Now I will admit the camper value was a hail damage insurance claim plus a "trade in" with a dealer that "does not negotiate" price on new equipment. Obviously the out the door price included over paying for my trade in.

Anyway, I am not convinced that (non-motorized) RVs and Automobiles depreciate at the same rate based on my experiences and what I had learned in the past.

tommyznr wrote:

APT wrote:
RVs depreciate around the same rate as automobiles. ....

I don't think this is true. I was told that RVs depreciate some amount the first three years and then drop in value slowly from there. I don't remember the percentages.

Antidotal point: We bought a 2004 Suburban for around $35 - $40k and 2004 Keystone Hornet for around $12k brand new. In 2018 we got about $1k for the Suburban and about $8k for the Hornet. The Suburban with 250,000+ miles needed about $5k worth of work, the Hornet needed about $1k worth of work.

Well looks like the ole Shawnster split, but what you posted above is wholly an incorrect and far oversimplified example.
Depreciation is what it is and yes RVs, cars, other motorized toys DO depreciate similarly.
However there are many more factors to that equation.
Like your example, your rusted out or gonna be rusted out (no way it wasn’t a year round driver in the rust belt with those miles), clapped out, quarter million miles, prolly a destroyed drivers seat also on top of “$5k in (deferred or neglected) repairs needed” Burb is likely no way comparable to your camper unless it too was left out in the back yard for 14 summers and winters and crossed the country 22times while being lived in…in which case it would t have sold for much either.
The reality is your camper was probably used FAR less and not left to rot, not towed through road salt for 14 winters, etc.

Your burb was a used up old bomber. Heck I just got $4k (coulda got $4500 but I didn’t want to rip the buyer off I knew what needed work and he overlooked it…) 140k miles, needed “some” work. More like $1k, dented to shite about a 5 out of 10 in condition. No rust here.
The one before it bout same miles but no work needed and an 8-9 out of 10, sold for $8500 in 2 days 2 years ago.
And not the least of which is how desireable the “thing” is. You can buy NICE older Maseratis for dirt cheap when a comparable Porsche or Audi is FAR more expensive. They were both equally expensive new, but the Maseratis are steaming piles of poo and even more expensive to repair than the German cars. Like everyone will pay to dollar these dates for used Ford Fkin Rangers. Why? Because they’re more desirable than a same era S10.

You have to compare apples to apples although maybe don’t understand that. Hence my post.