Cost of Ownership Over Eight Years?

Hi Everyone, Eight years ago we purchased a 24 Foot Class C, Four Winds, E450 Ford, 22,000 miles, paid $27,000, It was in full repair as it is now. We average 5,500 miles a year. Our 8 year ownership cost including depreciation has been $62,000 or $7,800 annually. It is worth $13,000 now.

Assume the following: We will buy a used 32 foot, mid range, Ford Class A. We will pay $40,000, no finance charge, we'll have average luck as we have, fuel costs won't ski-rocket. We will sell in 8 years. I tinker but I'm pretty much a turn key guy. Storage is not a factor.

On average, in a Class A, what will our next 8 year ownership cost be? Do I dare ask the same question for an older used $40,000 mid range DP? It would be great if someone will take a stab at it without saying there are too many variables.
Thanks, Bruce

Here is how I arrived at our eight year cost of ownership                               

Purchase / Sales Tax                                        $28,600
Registration / Road Tax / Inspection                 $2,300
Loan Interest                                                 $3,500
Insurance                                                      $9,600
Repairs / Service / Brakes / Tires                        $18,000
Fuel / Tolls                                                         $10,500
Roadside Assistance                                         $1,600


Pay out over 8 years                                         $74,100

Less Resale                                                 $12,000

Total 8 Year Cost of Ownership                         $62,100

I would say that a gasser A will be about the same. Tires will be a bit more but all else should be near the same.  For a DP add  $1000 to $1500 in additional maint.

I pretty much agree with captsteve, except that I think the DP maintenance and repair cost would add maybe $5000-$8000 over 5 years. I'm not sure if captsteve meant $1000-$1500 per year or total for 8 years.

Oops, I meant per year. :

Good catch there Gary!!

And I might add, Just to get an apples to apples comparison, drop the purchase price and selling price out of the plan. My reason being is that the depreciation is not something that you can gauge especially well until after the fact and your capitol investment (I use that term loosely) is down the tubes regardless. If you get money back it is just a bonus.

If you have to ask, you can't afford it.

We did not buy our fifth wheel and truck (both used) so that we would worry about costs. We bought them so we could enjoy what was left of our lifes.  Sure, we have a budget (a tight one) , but I am not going to run a spread sheet about it.

Sorry, I disagree.

If you don't ask, how will you know if you can afford it. We are all here to share our experience with others, not slam them for asking an honest question.

I ran my own analysis last year with the following results:
36 foot motorhome with CAT 3126E engine.
8 years data, average over 8 years.
Miles driven - 9600 per year
Insurance - $1370.84 per year
License tax - $1375.00 per year
Maint cost - $1911.01 per year

Obviously, those numbers would vary by state. I perform most of my own maintenance.
We figure our monthly cost of ownership including travel costs is $846.75

Spread sheets for something like this is very tough. But if one looks at the monthly costs it may be easier to see if you can live with that. Yea if you took that and times it by how many months you will have it may be the same. But in the monthly costs that would be the end of it until something broke and then the cost only adds up after you do the fixes. The monthly costs, ins, loans, lic, for sure will be the only costs when not used. Look up the maintenance schedule for the brand chassis you are considering will give you an idea of that costs. But really the less you use it the more repair work will cost.

Steve,

I am sorry. Perhaps I should have put a smiley face in the post. I did not mean to slam anyone, but only as a joke. I  try to keep my smarta-- remarks to myself, but sometimes one slips out.

I've found a good rule of thumb is around $1.00 per mile to $1.50 per mile for a 40 foot diesel pusher, and that includes fees for campgrounds, maintenance, and fuel. That could easily vary with different units and drivers.


Lee

Over 16+ years of full time, our 1997 Endeavor LE has cost $.79/mile for operating costs and $1.63/mile if including depreciation and improvements.  This does NOT include any camping or other non-vehicle related expenses.

If I kept track of everything I spent RVing, I'd probably talk myself out of doing it.  ;D

^ 2x  ;D ;D ;D Definitely not a profitable venture!

We have spent around $10,000 a year in depreciation/major improvements over 8 years on our last DP. Our last gas Pace Arrow was closer to $5000 a year. We purchased both at 3 years old with low mileage. DP ad 125,000 miles when we sold it last year.


Our service runs 350/year for two years and then jumps to $2000 for a major service. Tires every 6-7 years and repairs average $1500/year.

Frizlefrak said:

If I kept track of everything I spent RVing, I'd probably talk myself out of doing it.  ;D

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No kidding! Every time I start to monitor and track certain expenses, I don't like how it looks, so all RVing and vacation expenses enter the budget as generic expenditures. There, all better. 

R. J. Barton said:

No kidding! Every time I start to monitor and track certain expenses, I don't like how it looks, so all RVing and vacation expenses enter the budget as generic expenditures. There, all better. 

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Exactly.  What I don't know, won't hurt me.  Denial isn't just a river in Egypt.   

Frizlefrak said:

Exactly.  What I don't know, won't hurt me.  Denial isn't just a river in Egypt.   

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I bought my 26f Gulfstream Conquest cash and at a good price.  Everything I am doing, I am either doing myself or having it done on the cheap with parts from Craigslist and Ebay.  I am also using a reputable RV shop that charges $ 75 a hour which is very reasonable.  The insurance is about $ 450 a year.  The biggest thing that hurts is swiping my debit card to gas it up.

I knew the RV experience was gonna cost me some money but I I am enjoying it a lot! 

I have discovered that you don't save money by traveling  in a motor home. It's all about the lifestyle, and RVing is the only way to travel ... regardless of the costs.

thomasamski said:

I have discovered that you don't save money by traveling  in a motor home. It's all about the lifestyle, and RVing is the only way to travel ... regardless of the costs.

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And there is something intrinsically nice about sleeping in one's own bed every night on the road, cooking your own meals, and not having to lug the baggage up to the room, unpack, repack, lug it back to the car, rinse, repeat. 

I actually broke down the cost of a 5 day weekend up to Lake Roberts (400 mile round trip) back when gas was $4 a gallon, and it came out to roughly $42 a day for us (fuel, meals, W/E campsite, beer).  Driving an economy car on the same trip, eating dinner out, and staying in a B&B was more than double that amount per day. 

People were surprised when I showed them the breakdown each way.  The question was always "how can you afford the gas to tow that thing around everywhere?".  After that, I asked them "how can you afford to drive your Corolla and stay in a hotel and eat out every night?"  ;D

The current cost of RVing? Ridiculous


The value of the summer we have had this year? Priceless!