NADA Wholesale really possible on used units?

OK So through this process of trying to buy a Class A or Class C thats a little older but still works good I've been under the impression from reading posts on this site that one can get away with paying the wholesale price or even 5-10% below that in this economy.. So with that in mind and armed with my Orange NADA Recreational Vehicle guide I set off to find a bargain.  After looking at rigs that seem to fit the bill on what I want, I simply cannot find anybody willing to sale their RV for even close to wholesale. 

For instance I find a Class C 1996 Tioga Montara 31' that has been taken care off and well maintained and I'm very comfortable making an offer.  Well I go to my book and it lists wholesale at $8070 and used retail at $11940.  Guy listed for 15k.  40k on OD and 600 hrs on gen.  no damage and it had been taken care of.  Well Guy wont even consider anything in the price range and I even offered 13k because I liked it and it was worth it to me.  Refused that too..  Turns out it's selling for almost the asking.. 

The 99 Georgie I'm looking at is the same way.  NADA is $10900-$13920 ish.  Lowest he will go is 16.5k and it needs new tires.

Is this only true with newer higher dollar units on the lots and not the case on private sales?  Am I expecting to much or is the Nada guide useless when it comes to a little older coach and the prices "level" out more in this era of coach? 

I'm usually a pretty good haggler but I'm not looking to take somebody for a ride.. I Just want a fair deal in this economy. 

Thanks and you all have been a fantastic resource.. I feel like a leach just asking Q's and having no feedback but hopefully years from now I will have accumulated some knowledge and actually provide info

I think what you are finding is perfectly understandable.  The book values will probably be more reflective of what actually is happening in coach sales of 20/40K or less than in coaches in the 50/150k and up range. 

These older coaches are usually paid for, well cared for and are not presenting a financial burden to the current owner, thus not forcing a desperation to sell. 

That's not to say that the market is not depressed and that you won't find some real bargains out there, but you can't expect anyone to give their coach away either.     

I got my rig in December for way way way under wholesale NADA. But that was after shopping and comparing for several months and I had to drive 1000 miles to get it. I spent at least an hour every morning on eBay shopping the ads. PPL in Houston has some great deals. There are still a lot of units that are priced way too high for the current market. I am retired and I have a lot more time than money so it was worth it for me to spend a lot of time shopping. This will be the last motorhome I ever buy and I wanted to make sure I got the right one at the right price.

seilerbird said:

I got my rig in December for way way way under wholesale NADA. But that was after shopping and comparing for several months and I had to drive 1000 miles to get it. I spent at least an hour every morning on eBay shopping the ads. PPL in Houston has some great deals. There are still a lot of units that are priced way too high for the current market. I am retired and I have a lot more time than money so it was worth it for me to spend a lot of time shopping. This will be the last motorhome I ever buy and I wanted to make sure I got the right one at the right price.

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I think the new age and price tag puts your rig into that category where a great deal is possible.  But when your talking 15-20k the deals get hard to find. 

I'm just trying to understand the rules of the game. 

The guy I sold my class C to sold it for $10,000 which was $3,000 under wholesale NADA.

I'm surprised that many at all are selling for under wholesale. We generally say that NADA Low Retail is a pretty decent deal and you won't get that from many dealers anyway. Private sales can be all over the map - depends on how desperate the seller is and whether the right buyer comes along.  People I know in the RV sales business say that used rigs are selling better than new ones and that is keeping the prices up.  They are easier to finance too.

It is common for private sellers to have unrealistic expectations for the price, but once in awhile they get lucky. Or find somebody who doesn't know values very well.

I don't think we ever said it was easy to get a great deal, but they are out there.

To OP, I don't think you are going to find many or any deals in that price bracket.  The deals people are getting are on new or slightly used units above $60k at least.  The dealer I frequent says he can't keep used rigs under $50k on the lot.  It is kind of like the housing market, when people cant afford a new big McMansion, they buy a slightly used McMansion.  When they can't afford the slightly used McMansion, they buy the condo, etc. 

I am afraid you are just too low on the price scale for their to be many deals out there.  You didn't mention what area you are in either...that will have a lot to do with the local prices.  As others suggested, if you are willing to travel, I am sure you will find a reasonable deal (but not likely a steal). 

Traveling around locally will probably not result in many deals like you are after... like seilerbird, I researched and shopped online for a year.  Finally traveled 650 miles one way (from IL to NY) to buy my Class A after watching it not sell on eBay twice and then contacting the seller direct (by phone) to work out a private deal.  I got our rig (retailed for $17,500 at the time) for $12,000.  So the deals are there, you just have to be lucky enough to find them and be willing to travel to get it.

Are NADA numbers accumulated from private sales? I know NADA automotive and truck sales are from numbers collected from NADA member dealers sales.

tallyo said:

Are NADA numbers accumulated from private sales? I know NADA automotive and truck sales are from numbers collected from NADA member dealers sales.

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I don't know how private sales data could ever get into the mix.

tallyo said:

Are NADA numbers accumulated from private sales? I know NADA automotive and truck sales are from numbers collected from NADA member dealers sales.

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According to this thread even commercial data are not used for the RV NADA listings.. NADA o

I ran the numbers on mine and it was a percentage drop per year.

Lou ,
That's what I figured, so I am not sure why some folks are comparing what they might have sold or purchased to/from a private sale.......

I always figured the best price was what ever I was willing to buy or sell something for..... :

I thought NADA numbers were made up by some accountant on drugs.

The NADA is just a guide that gives you an idea of what the vehicle is worth.  A good deal makes both parties happy when buying or selling.  Most dealers will be higher than NADA wholesale as they are trying to make money to exsist.  You can offer anything but if you like it, try to negotiate a price thats good for both parties. 

With respect to the car and truck industry NADA numbers are taken from actual dealer sales and it takes time for dealers to report monthly sales, it takes time for the NADA to sort the numbers by make model and year and then it takes time to send this stuff to be edited, and published and mailed out to subscribers. The advent of computers this process has greatly improved over the years. Since there isn't enough monthly data on RV they have some magic formula they use then they compare it to actual data to ensure the formula is somewhere near accurate. Numbers /sales have to be sorted by region as .for example a Convertible sold in December in New England will not bring the same price as that same car sold in San Diego. Conversely a 4x4 sold in New England during the same period will sell for more than the San Diego sale. RV sales are the same. Better prices in the late winter and early spring when folks in the cold climates are thinking about RV'ing again.

Any good dealer will use actual weekly auction data as that represents a more true picture of today's values and not some number that could be 30-60 90 days old. A dealer can generally tell you what he can sell a unit for at retail. The number he is most interested in it's wholesale value on the day of the trade in; so he doesn't put too much into the trade in.

In the end the true " what is it worth?"; is the actual amount it gets sold for.

NADA 101 8)

Going with a private party we got our class A a few months ago at about 20% under NADA wholesale, and I think it is in pretty good shape.  It shows its age (at 9-10 years) but all seems to have been fairly well maintained, and I expect to put some $$$ into the unit after getting it at that price.  Tires and batteries are what I'd consider to be marginal, and fixing up some trim work and miscellaneous wear items I figure we'll be at about NADA wholesale after the first 6 months to a year of owning after spending the money on fix-up work.  A number of people would probably be happy with the coach as-is, but DW (and I to some extent) tend to be a bit picky.  She's into the cosmetics, I am into the maintenance and mechanicals.  That's probably normal.

We paid the asking price with no haggling, the prior owner just wanted to get what he owed on it to pay it off in the sale.  He seemed surprised that we offered the asking price without haggling, and was quite accommodating in showing us the ins and outs, maintenance history, etc. (for the most part).  He did leave his email and telephone info with me if I have questions, but I've not availed myself of that.  His records were included so I know most of what I need to anyway and don't want to bother him unnecessarily.

We found it on Craigslist - there were two others we were interested in (both class C) that were snapped up in a hurry before we could make the 2 hour drive on a Saturday to see them.

So my point is that there are deals out there, but keep in mind you probably won't get anything MORE than what you pay for.  I just wanted to make sure I didn't get anything LESS, and think we came out OK.  The bank was very happy to finance the rig at the price we paid.  Financing took about 30 minutes on the phone and we had a cashiers check ready for the seller as soon as we could drive into the bank.

The best deals are found in the dead of winter from desperate private sellers.  You have to hunt and look every day and the good ones often do get snapped up right away. Sometimes a rig doesn't sell because it's located in a far flung place.

I got a deal on my rig, in part, because it was located in a tiny town in remote mountains. Sure it was a hassle, it was over two  and a half  hours one way to go see it.  I went to see it twice before I even made the offer.  By then it was very c-c-c-cold and the owner was ready to let it go, rather than wait it out until spring and summer when the buyers are in full force.

I found mine, yes with bumper dented and other flaws as many on here have seen in the remodeling section for $6k, the guy wanted $8900.  He hadn't cleaned up the inside, it smelled, carpet needed replaced for sure.  It had been sitting in kind of an out of the way place, I would see it once a month when I went to some property we owned to mow and think I might look at it.  After about 6 months I did and ended up buying it. He was glad to get the offer I think, he just didn't have a use for it, death of his wife, etc.  Now I wish I had offered even less, but oh well.  It's really old, 1991, has 100k miles, but so far hubby says mechanicals are fine.  We likely won't get back to putting the inside back together for a few more weeks, still into house remodeling, hubby has so much to do when he is home which is rarely. Right now he is between projects and doesn't know when he will get back out so we are trying to get a lot done.  He is teasing DD that if he can get it finished he will take her to a Walmart parking lot to stay overnight, she thinks he is silly. :

There are a few out there if you can find the right circumstances and are willing to do some work on them.

We've been in Fl for the past six seeks and I have been looking in some of the local PennySaver mags.  There are quite a few cheaper rigs for sale at that level.  But keep in mind that somebody will not start out with a deep discount.  Those great deals are after a unit has been on the market for some time.  But they are clearly there.

Just hang on, gas prices are going up, oil is almost $80 /barrel.  Gas prices go up RV prices go down.  Remember when gas was 4 something a gallon.  You could not give a RV away.  Don