"Newer" (mid quality) vs. "Older" (high quality) - same budget

Looking to get some opinions on the subject.

Purchasing a "gently used" RV in the mid-quality range vs buying something a little older that is higher build quality like a Prevost or something like that.  Either scenario would have the same budget.

Right now I'm looking to spend $100k-$125k to give you an idea of what the years/models would be.

Things I'm considering:
- Unless convinced otherwise, if we go with an RV (also considering 5th wheel), then we would get an diesel pusher
- We would be using it full time and traveling for several months, then living in it for probably another year but stationary with limited short vacations. to a year.
- After about 18+ months we would be selling it, so re-sale and short term depreciation are important factors.
- Two adults, two kids and two dogs, so everything will be used and abused.  Doors opened and shut often, lots of showers, all the sleeping areas used, cabinets opened and closed, etc.

Obviously appearance and features is a matter of opinion, I'm looking for opinions more so on the reliability, durability, and minimizing depreciation.  I've owned several BMW's (cars) that were 5-10 years old, drove them for a year or two and put on 40k miles and sold them for just a few thousand less than I paid.  Meanwhile, I've bought new-er cars and sold them a couple years later for 10-20k less than I paid.  I ended up doing better buying the older, high line models, buying them right and then selling.  Can you do something similar with an RV, or o you just get into too many maintenance issues?

BACKGROUND - I work from home and can legitmately be on the road and no one would know?or care if they did know.  I just need my cell phone.  We are also in the process of moving to another part of the country.  We (wife and I) are entertaining the idea of purchasing and RV in the next couple of months, travel continually for the summer and then end up in our destination city in mid-August.  Buy a piece of property in the country and live in the RV while we build a house.  Then sell the RV.  So it would get quite a bit of use (living) over the next 18+ months.  Probably put on 10k miles this year and then minimum miles after that.

Parents had travel trailers when I was growing up and are currently retired and living in a 5th wheel.  Wife and I owned a Monaco 36PDQ from 2007-2010 so we aren't strangers to the RV world?just getting back in it ourselves.

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY INFO YOU PROVIDE!

The older the RV, the more stable the price will be. Depreciation tends to level off after the early years, and some models/brands will depreciate less than others due to their popularity. Popularity can derive from quality, or simply from styling and layout. Upper end brands/models will generally hold up better, retain value a bit better, and be more attractive on resale. All assuming reasonable care, of course.

So I would be looking at upper end Monacos, Newmars, American Coach, Country Coach and maybe some Prevost-based coaches, Wanderlodges & Newalls too. You can get a nice upper tier, 8-10 year old, DP for $125k. The bus chassis brands will run somewhat higher, or somewhat older for the $125k price

We were able to find our used MH for less than what it would have cost us to purchase a brand new CC DRW Diesel pickup to pull the 5ers we were considering.

It was a consignment unit at an RV dealership. The original owner had purchased it from this very dealership new. It was well maintained and cared for. Such a blessing for us to find...and now happily call her home.

I'd second Gary's suggetion. That said, when we started looking we found that the floor plan and amenities we wanted were fir perfectly by a low/mid range DP of newer vintage. We bought it right (my opinion) but I expect that we'll lose at least a third the price should we sell in the next few years.

I'd caution that the price is important, but not the most important thing. You'll have to live in the RV for years. You'll have forgotten the price long before you forget that #% ?&@#? that just didn't work for you.

Ernie

Basically, what the others have said, but I will add that if this is your first RV (or first in a long while), it may be worth buying a less expensive unit to start with - it helps you to figure out what works, what doesn't and what you are missing!

Our first RV was a "Minnie Winnie" 31C class C motorhome - a 2001 model with 14,000 miles on it!  We loved it, and would still own it but for the fact that we had to tow another vehicle - typically a motorcycle, but we found this to be a real downside to enjoying our RV.  We kept it a couple of years, and after much discussion settled on a 5er with a diesel tow truck.  We love this combination - but would never have even considered it when we bought the Class C!

I agree with Limey. I feel it is a mistake to spend $100k on your first RV. I would suggest spending no more that $20k. This will limit your losses when you upgrade in a year or so. And don't think you won't be upgrading, virtually no one gets it right the first time and RVs depreciate like a rock.

Basrd on your background and your intended use, I think Limey and the bird are totally off base.  You are on a good track in your thinking, and while looking keep that in mind.  At that price you can do pretty well.  While I was in AZ I found a Beaver Monteray on consignment, about 50k miles.  It was a 2004 and selling for $64,000.  Had we actually been shopping instead of just being curious, I may have bought it.

You haven't asked but between dealers and private party, keep in mind, most private party sales (not all), are trying to payoff their loan.  My first question would be to them, 'do you have your title?'.  If they don't, the transfer will take longer, especially if they owe more than they can sell for.  At least, at a dealer, they will have the title, they will not have given more for it than it is worth.  In any, as I am sure you know, caveat emptor. 

Buying private party, you may have to fix things on your own, any damage you will find out 'just happened'.  With a dealer, if you find something wrong, you can reasonably expect, should be handled by them unless you are buying as shown.

Good luck in the search!

I totally get the concept of starting off small, figuring out what you want and then upgrading, but I believe we are passed that point and pretty much know what we want (as far as floor plan is concerned).  Just deciding between 5th wheel and DP.  We have picked out a basic floor plan concept that we like in both, just hammering out the details between the pros/cons of each option.

Between the RV we used to own, the experiences growing up in RV's and the 5th wheel my parents own we have sorted out the features we do/don't need or like.

Private party vs Dealer?this is definitely something to take into consideration.  Buying locally it might not make too much of a difference (not talking about price) but buying from a long distance from someone who owes on a loan can be tricky.  On anything.  RV, car, etc.  Plus, some lenders don't like to give you money for a non-local purchase or sometimes even a private party purchase for that matter.  They like the comfort of working with the dealership for some of the same reasons we as buyers do (ease of transaction, etc).

I'm leaning more and more toward the higher quality lines, even if that pushes us back a few more years. 

Thanks for all the input!

This is all just my opinion, but...with 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 dogs, even a 45 foot Class A may feel small fulltiming...the answer is ..SLIDES, SLIDES, and more slides.

For me and my full time family, a good full time family unit needs a "home style living room" in it with lots of open floor and several different places, desks , chairs etc. for kids and pets to lay around. We bought a Rexall strictly because of the interior layout (and we could afford it)

anyone that has ever expected 2 kids to sit on the same couch all evening without punching each other knows what I mean.

What I see is on the used higher end rigs, they were always hesitant on building slides, and they seemed to focus on just building the standard old early style M/H interior designs with solid Cherry wood hand lacquered and polished cabinets with cut glass doors, a leather couch on each side and a T.V. over the dash.

On the mid grade rigs they seem to put a lot more "family thought" into the interior design, one of the best interior designs is on the 2010 and up Winnebago 42 footers with the "L" shaped couch and fireplace t.v on a wall it really makes for a  "home style living room" and they have a really large bathroom.

that said.. IMO, the interior layout is the number one most important consideration, all the gas / Diesel,... Cat / Cummins stuff just makes for a lot of campground bragging rights,

The reality is, ... no mater what engine/trans or chassis you get,  chances are you'll still get where you want to go, and then the enjoyable family part starts.

a good fulltime family rig should have a really great living room area, a lot of kitchen counter and cabinets, and a large bathroom.

I vote for, a newer mid grade with lots of cool new features and layout.

What's your level of comfort with frusteration? Do you enjoy something that works only part time? Do you want to try to fix that cheap cabinet door with cardboard insert that finally gave way? If you're good with that then buy something cheap, pay the taxes, spend the time with the learning curve figuring out how everything works, then go buy something else and start over. Why on earth would you want to do that? Yet some folks recommend that every time.

Buy quality first. Your original post stated you were buying for an 18 month period then selling. This isn't a lifetime purchase. You want a quality rig, something that will withstand 2 kids and 2 dogs. A low end cheap rig isn't going to do that well. Buy an older Monaco/Beaver/HR/etc. with 4 slides and quality built interior. Don't spend your time and energy fixing things that were cheaply built to start with. As others have said the depreciation levels out and the cost to own is acceptable on a 10 year old unit.

Which is going to give you a better ride, comfort and resale value a 2000 Mercedes or an 2005 Kia? (nothing against Kia, but if you can afford better, why not enjoy it?)

Ken

I don't see how the dogs or the kids will see the value of the hand lacquered burlwood sides of a lighted crystal glass cabinet.

but I guess you can always shop Ebay for a replacement on that "orphaned" R/V builder if they do bounce a hard ball off of it.

you ever had to have a Mercedes serviced, gotta love those $400 oil changes.

at least on a Winnie every part has a bar code and is still available and affordable.

it's a family motorhome, it's meant to be used not cherished.

We did exactly what you propose--our Beaver was 10 yrs old when we bought it.  I would have recommended that approach for you if it weren't for the fact that you want to sell it in a short time-frame.  We've remodeled and modernized ours to our tastes and I think it would sell reasonably well if we wanted to part with it.  But it is definitely harder to find buyers for older MHs and IMO it seems foolish to spend money to do things like install a residential fridge if you plan on dumping it so soon afterwards since you won't have had time to have enjoyed your investment, but neither will you get your money back for it at sale.

However, the reasons for buying a older, high quality MH have little to do, IMHO, with the "hand lacquered burlwood sides of a lighted crystal glass cabinet" and far more with overall construction quality and the specifics of the drivetrain.  These days engines of the class of the CAT C12 that we have are only found on luxury MH's costing >$500k.  Having an engine like that with a 2-stage compression brake makes driving a MH a dream; I'd much rather have it than one of the small-block diesels found in most of the newer DPs.

I guess what they need to decide is do they want an older a Rolls Royce as a family vehicle,  or use a newer Dodge caravan as a family vehicle

I thought I would bring up a point I didn't see in reading this thread. You will find it hard to get financing on a coach over 10 years old and the lenders use the wholesale trade in value as loan value. I ran into this when I was looking. I found some killer deals but could not get financing. I would buy a diesel pusher with as many slides as you can get.
Think about this if you buy one 6-7 years old when you go to sell it it will still be less than 10 years old and the buyer can get financing.
Bill

I always advocate older high quality.

Wild bill has a great point, most banks will not finance a 10 year+ rig.  Mayne a Credit Union, but that loan is not that heavily tied to the coach.

BTW, the lacquered comments do not pertain to the Monteray, much more family friendly, and that was just an examplle.

Good point about the 10+ years and financing?  Something I was wondering about but had not researched yet. 

I guess I'll have to find that sweet spot in the middle.

a guy was here in my park last week with a brand new 2.1 million dollar 45 foot Newell,

he told he'd burn it to the ground before he ever let any kids or dogs go inside it.

So..... I'm guessing the high dollar ones don't make great "family type" recreation vehicles, I thought they were made better than that ???

While the initial cost may be in the same ball park an older large diesel m/h can run up some pretty good bills if it needs maintenance.

Jeff said:

While the initial cost may be in the same ball park an older large diesel m/h can run up some pretty good bills if it needs maintenance.

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That was part of the thought I had posted.  Between upgrades and repairs we've put a fair amount into our MH.  It was still a lot less in total than a coach of this class would have cost new.  But if I were going to sell it in <2yrs I never would have wanted to have put that much money into it.