Putting more into my travel trailer than it's worth!

What something is worth is only important if you are selling. I spent the day at a local RV show and saw a lot of nice TTs but none that I would trade for my four year old Dutchmen.

Since a similar new unit is selling for at least twice what my TT is now valued at; how much is my TT really worth?

In any area I always find local bank loan value
a good starting point.

After that is is whatever you can get.

I think 99% of us that keep anything for a while
will put in it more that "what it is worth".
I always look at the extra as for "our enjoyment".

If I did a cost breakdown on everything I bought , I would have a lot of money in the bank , and have had no fun . Cant take it with you .

Here is another way to think about the inevitable loss when selling -- take the net loss and spread it out over all the nights you have spent in that RV. On a per-night basis, it is probably a pretty good deal. Ten years ago, we bought our first trailer (used) for $7000, fixed it up, and sold it after six seasons for $4000. We lost $3000, but we camped about 50 nights per year, or 300 nights in total. That's ten dollars a night -- not too bad. (This does not count the cost of the improvements, like new cushions and so forth, or the value of my labor, which was worth at least a dime an hour, given my skill level.)

There is probably a forum member who gets more money for his rig when he sells it than what he has in it. That same member probably gets 25 mpg pulling mountain grades with 12,000 pounds behind his half ton pickup.

tiretramp4059 wrote:
:W

Rv is much like a Boat. A boat is a large/small hole on the water one pours $$$$ into at the rate you can not afford. A RV is a hole setting on 2-4 wheels which also requires one to pour vast amounts of $$$ into also with ZERO returns out side of enjoyment.

Tiretramp

a boat is an RV x 10 in terms of pouring $$$$ into it

I'll stick with my RV. I already have a canoe.... :)

I think the only way to view an RV, or a boat, is through the prism of life. They are a depreciating asset the minute you buy them. Every cent you put into them will not come back. But, the memories, once in a lifetime moments, time with family, seeing new places - in your own house puts a value on them that is far greater than dollars and cents. A person once told me that the happiest day in a guys life is when he buys his boat and the 2nd happiest day is when he sells it. I've done it, 3 times, and I couldn't agree more. The RV is different. I was happy when I bought it and I'm happy now - I don't want to sell it and it wouldn't be a happy experience.

Thanks for the feedback and info. Much appreciated.

Do you have to replace the entire awning, or just the fabric? I've done it on a friend's trailer and it's doable and around 200-300 bucks. The Honda 3000 is pricey but there are cheaper gennys like Champion that are good too.

W4RLR wrote:
I just sunk more money into my rig than it is worth.

Did the same last year. Had a floor replacement done due to a leak under the tub. I'll say this, though; the shop that did the work did an OUTSTANDING job. Looks like a new rig and I'll easily get 5 more years out of it. That leaves me plenty of time to start shopping for the eventual replacement TT (we don't need the bunks anymore).