My rationale for buying used

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NCSU Dad

NCSU Dad

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 24, 2017
Posts
174
Location
OBX NC
In weighing new vs used I did this math:

"NEW 2018 WINNEBAGO MINNIE WINNIE 22M offered by Bill Plemmons RV in NC
MSRP: $91,716 - Plemmons' RV Discount: $22,730 - Your Price: $68,986
PAYMENTS FROM: $387 /mo. - 20.00% down - 5.74% apr, 240 months"

My price $68,986

$13,797 = 20% down
$92,880 = 240 payments
$106,667 cost of unit

If I decide to sell after 36 payments I will still owe $50,362

$13,797 = my down-payment
$13,932 = 36 payments
$27,729 my 3 year cost in owning motor-home (not including insurance, tags, taxes, service, etc, etc, etc )

I went to NADA and searched for a similar 3 year old Winnebago and came up with average retail $45,804
If I decide to sell at the end of 3 years I won't even get the payoff let alone the $27,729 out of pocket.
And heaven help me if I traded in at a dealer because my underwater costs will be rolled into my new unit and financing.

My decision is buy used and balance out the cost of the unit + repairs needed and hopefully I'll be in for $25,000 +-

#1 does my thinking & math sound right?
#2 assuming the unit with repairs is 99.9% dependable would you drive such a used unit across country?

Thanks!

 
In my opinion, used is the way to go especially if this is your 1st RV. There are a lot of them out there 2 and 3 years old or even older, which are like brand new.  Also, when buying new, you have the issue with warrantee repairs. New RV's are notorious for having many issues once it leaves the factory. Take your time when looking. If you're not familiar with RV's, have a RV inspector look at it. It will be well worth the money. Now would be a good time to buy because people will be trying to unload them before winter.
 
I'm with Rene on this one. When we were shopping for RVs (1 cab-over camper and 3 Class As) we could have afforded to buy new, but the RV industry hasn't changed much when it comes to quality control (or lack there of) It's a real crap shoot. I didn't want to deal with all the headaches of a new RV. I preferred to buy an RV that had most of the bugs worked out.

Depreciation was another factor. All of our motorhomes were less than two years old when we bought them, so we saved a lot on depreciation (for the first year anyway.)

Kev
 
You already have decided to buy used from your math in your posting.  Good for you.

Now do yourself a favor and buy a bigger unit then you think you need so you don't have to take a big hit (even with a used unit) because
you needed to upgrade to a bigger unit like many people do and then find out how expensive that is.

Unless you were alone - and from your user name I assume your not alone - you might very well find that a 22ft RV is very small.
Spend some time in one with all in the family present and see if you can do it without stepping on anyone. Storage space will be limited
too even when the salesman (or seller) tell you "look at all this storage room".  Tank sizes will be smaller too. 
Not saying you need a Class A 40+ft, but a 30ft is still considered small but certainly bigger then a 22ft. 
It's your call - just trying to save you from the upgrading merry-go-round that so many people end up on. 
 
I'm with Red&Silver, don't ask me how I know how much money you'll loose when you trade a 2016 Thor 22FE for a 2017 Jayco 26XD. I thought the 22 was big enough for us, until we found that the grandkids absolutely loved to camp in the RV. Suddenly the camper wasn't so big for 6 people. BTW the larger Jayco rides better and drives easier, perhaps because of the higher weight, they're both on the Ford E450 chassis. Biggest difference in driving was that I could park the 22FE in a single space in a parking lot, it's only about a foot longer than a crew cab long bed pickup, but the 26XD always takes up 2 spaces end to end.

For what it's worth, I lost about $7000 on the deal, but I'm much happier in the larger RV. Well worth the money to me, if only we had seen this floor plan first, we may have bought it from the git go.  Repeat after me, floorplan, floorplan, floorplan.
 
It is just the 2 of us. The children are own their own so it will not be 4 people traveling. No grandchildren.

$387 per month is no problem. I do not want another loan payment.

As I written in another thread I had mistakenly thought a 22' Class C was the box part i.e. 22' from the back of the drivers seat to the back wall. Now I know 22' is approximately bumper to bumper. So we will likely go bigger. I was using the 22' RV for illustration purposes.

2 RV's my wife has said no way to are popups and Class A's. I think her fear of class A's stem from commuting to work in a huge metro-buses. The Class A units we glanced at during the Raleigh show where monsters costing $200K and up. I might be able to get her to accept a smaller Class A.

Back to question #2 would you seasoned RV'ers travel across country in a $25,000 (purchase price + fix up $) RV?
 
Absolutely.  RVs are a huge depreciating asset.  The only way it can pencil out buying new is to keep it until its paid off plus a lot of years.
 
NCSU Dad said:
Back to question #2 would you seasoned RV'ers travel across country in a $25,000 (purchase price + fix up $) RV?
Click to expand...
I have done it many times in an RV that costs $6200 plus a few grand in repairs.
 
I agree 100% with everything stated, but, I like new things. Both of my houses were bought new. All the vehicles in the last 25 years have been new. Both of my motorhomes were new and have had very few minor repairs. I feel better knowing where it has been and how it was maintained.
 
NCSU Dad said:
2 RV's my wife has said no way to are popups and Class A's. I think her fear of class A's stem from commuting to work in a huge metro-buses.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure SeilerBird is the Author of this - but I'll repeat it anyways.  You spend 5% of your time driving in a RV and 95% of your time living in a RV.  So for your wife not to want a Class A because she used one to go to work - you (and her) will be giving up the comfort of living in a Class A which makes life much nicer & easier - IMO.

But she's your wife and you have to live with her so I understand that.  All I know is 95% of the time being in comfort, should outweigh any other fears.

I wish you luck in finding the perfect unit that both of you will be happy with.
 
All I know is 95% of the time being in comfort, should outweigh any other fears.
Click to expand...

"Should" doesn't mean much with wives. And that 95% figure is Tom's, but that's not the correct ratio for many folks. Ours is closer to 65-70% "in comfort" sometimes, and maybe 85% at other times, with a rare 90%-95% on occasion (usually in northeastern or northcentral Colorado).
 
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