Used Prices - Where to get the skinny on them?

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NACEInspector

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Aug 20, 2018
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Okay, I am seeing that getting a used TT is the best option.  How do you best determine price?  I have looked at NADA but they seem a bit high on their prices.  Quick example, just looked at a new one and got a great offer of 36K, retail was around 49K, but when I look at the price of a used one that is 2 years old it says the price is between 27,400 to 33K.  I know the dealerships do not pay that much on trade for trailers.

Any vets out there got advice?
 
NADA is basically fantasyland. The best thing to do is spend several months doing some serious shopping and you will get a handle on prices. Yes, RVs drop in value like a rock, which is one of the reasons I always recommend buying used, especially if it is your first one. New buyers really don't know what they want and usually end up buying too small and then trading it in after a year. And most new TT buyers want to tow it with an underpowered vehicle thinking they are saving money or something.
 
SeilerBird said:
NADA is basically fantasyland. The best thing to do is spend several months doing some serious shopping and you will get a handle on prices. Yes, RVs drop in value like a rock, which is one of the reasons I always recommend buying used, especially if it is your first one. New buyers really don't know what they want and usually end up buying too small and then trading it in after a year. And most new TT buyers want to tow it with an underpowered vehicle thinking they are saving money or something.

That was me on the underpowered truck but people on here told me I was getting too much tailer for my truck.  Now looking at used and much lighter.  It is going to be for work and not for family camping.  I will be following pipelines or going somewhere in Texas I am sure and set up for months at a time.  Do not want to waste my money on hotel rooms when I can get the company to basically buy me a trailer.

I thought that car business was rough but nothing compared to the confusion of buying a TT.  Glad this forum is around to help people like me.
 
If you check out Ebay for Travel Trailers, Used; you can not only see what is currently being offered - and the possibly unrealistic asking price - but you can also check out auctions that are over to see what such trailers actually sold for.  That should give you some idea of what real world prices are.
 
Check PPL in Texas, they list sold prices on units in the last 2 years https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/sold-rvs , plus are a big consignment lot.
 
NADA is useless on an older coach other than as a negotiation tool, it is simply a depreciation curve, and not a good one at that as it lumps all  coaches of a given general size and age range together.

Take for example the coach I own, a 28 ff 2002 Safari Trek with no slides on P32 chassis which had an original MSRP of $119,000 according to NADA it is worth $15,105, if you look up a much cheaper entry level 27 ft P32 Fleetwood flair from 1999 with an MSRP of $63,000 NADA says it is worth $15,105,  the same is true of any other sub 30 ft P32 chassis motorhome built between 1997-2002.

As to real value, I spent 5 months shopping for my Trek within a 1,500 mile radius, the cheapest 01-02 model I found had a firm asking price of $15,500, it had not moved in 2 years as the brakes had failed driving up a mountain to its permanent camping spot, so at a minimum it needed to be towed 50 miles or have a mobile mechanic repair the brake failure.  In the end I paid $20,500 for mine and consider myself lucky (asking price was $25,000).  This is not to say that some don't sell for less, I looked at a Trek of the same model I ended up buying though a 1996 model, just a few miles from my house, asking was $6,900, I walked away when the seller was down to $4,900, it was a money pit, leaking roof, the list of stuff that did not work was much longer than the list of what did, paint was peeling, and the tires had been on it when the seller bought it 7 years before.
 

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