New vs used TT

gbopp wrote:

GaryWT wrote:
My thought is always to go new as I like everything fresh and unused, bathroom, mattress, black tank etc. For me it is worth the loss in value for buying new.

Can we assume you have never stayed at a hotel/motel, dorm room or military barracks? :B

Barracks No
Dorm in my younger days
Hotel have yet to find one with a black tank, LOL but we do try to limit that as much as possible

I like buying new units, but I buy it and keep it for a long time. By buying new, I've got the warranty period to take care of any issues, and the unit gets taken care of properly from day 1. But, if you want to change trailers every couple of years or so, going used will definitely save money. And, the bottom line is your personal finances and what you can comfortably afford.

I will warn that when looking at used units online, be sure to ask if the pictures are recent.

I drove 3 hours to look at a used camper that looked great in the pictures, only to discover that the pics were at least a couple years old. Most likely from when the current owner had bought the unit.

The camper I was looking at was in much worse shape than when the pictures were taken. With the cash in my pocket, I let the seller know I was not interested in a project camper and drove away.

A lot can happen in a few years if not taken care of.

New is always new and I tend to buy new when I don't know the product too well and may not be able to repair problems myself. I'm a bit of a hippy tree hugger so I like to buy used/second hand when it works out.

I've bought new and I've bought used. I experienced many more problems with the new ones than used. We were shopping for new last week and ended up buying a barely used 2 year old.

Each purchase was because we found just what we wanted for the price we wanted to pay, end of story.

For same price, I'd go new. But first I'd try to dicker the used TT price down another couple thousand, which could make it worthwhile picking that one. With the prices the same, I don't see the financial incentive (they'll both depreciate).

The exception would be if I could see some way in which the used one was better built, had stronger construction, than the new one.

Many, many people over-pay for their RVs when new so the used prices are ridiculous. If you buy right, new is a great way to go. I just paid 31K for a new 2016 5th wheel MSRP @ 47K. That's about 66% of MSRP. You can go on Craigslist and RVTrader all day long and see people trying to get 66% of MSRP for 3-4 year old trailers because they paid 90% and were told by the salesmen it was a good deal.

IMO, either buy new or find a seller who doesn't have their expectations in the clouds.

Personally, I would not buy a used RV because there is too much damage that can occur in the first few years if they are not kept sealed up from the weather.

Depreciation means little to me, because I keep stuff for a very long time. So I prefer to buy new ( trucks, cars, motorcycles, boats ), maintain meticulously, and keep for a long time.

I don't buy stuff on a whim though, so by the time I have decided I want to pursue something as an activity, I've pretty much decided this will be something I will do for a long time.
It took me 19 months of serious looking before I decided this trailer I am in right now was the one I wanted.

To the OP, if you think you may only keep this thing a fairly short period of time, used may be a better way to go from a dollars and sense point of view.

My wife and I were set on buying new. We found the exact unit we were looking for last November. It was a 2014 model bought November of 15, like brand new it still had 1 full year of warranty remaining and we were able to pay cash for the unit. We have a new queen mattress to replace the flat factory mattress ready to go. I would recommend looking for used, especially if this is your first rv. We have been rving out of my in laws class c the last 2 years, but we decided we needed our own. So we are not new to rving, just new to the TT crowd. However we knew what we wanted in a unit do to previous experience.

gbopp wrote:

GaryWT wrote:
My thought is always to go new as I like everything fresh and unused, bathroom, mattress, black tank etc. For me it is worth the loss in value for buying new.

Can we assume you have never stayed at a hotel/motel, dorm room or military barracks? :B

I don't know about him but motel rooms creep me out. One of the reasons I have a RV...

When we had to go to a motel even nice ones we remove the blankets and bed spread and use our own.. yuck I think I am feeling something crawling on me just thinking about it.......... And don't shine one of the motel room black lights around if you know whats goof for you...