How to pay for an RV that makes the most sense and saves money?

Why do you need the full experience?

There are in fact quite a number of people who simply park their rv in a storage lot, pay to have some else maintain it, have some kid wash it, and just drive it until something breaks and then have someone else fix it. Are they qualified simply because of ownership or are they not part of the full experience?

Why is it necessary to see if the RV life suits someone by following your ways.

So what if it takes more work to load and unload, maybe you will learn to travel taking less.

Ownership is extremely expensive and these are basically entertainment toys.  They also depreciate rapidly. Within six years they are worth half of what you paid for them and some of these were driven very few miles.

How many times have you been married in the last 10 years? How many homes have you bought in the last 10 years? Why wouldn't you trust your good sense to buy a MH that you'll be happy with for 10 years? Why would you plan to fail? Because you failed to plan? Think about it. Buy what fits your needs and go enjoy.

How to finance it? Save enough money before retirement to have your house and RV paid off when you retire. Think about that. If you worked an extra year and put everything you earned above what your retirement income will be into paying off debt, where would you be then?

Ken

I think SeilerBird brings up an excellent train of thought. Maybe there is a preference for one of two points of views, full timers excepted as that is a special case.

Is the preference on using the motorhome as a recreational vehicle, and it is simply an option based on the location you wish to visit OR is the focus on the motorhome for the sake of owing one regardless of the recreational experience? Personally, the sake of ownership means little to me compared to using it as a means to enjoy a destination.

I will never sell my house and join the full timers AND I will never focus on puttering around as more important than the destination AND that is why I will also travel overseas as well as travel about the U.S. and up to Alaska. A boat, an airplane, etc. are valid and appropriate recreational vehicles. I won't be limited to a motorhome whether I chose to own one or not or rent one.

With all due respect and kindest regards...

Don't equate a recreational vehicle, with a wife and a family.

Own your own home free and clear, motorhome or stick and  brick.

If I buy a motorhome I would never take a loan out on it or buy new, same as my cars. Would not sell my house to buy one either.

Good sense is most likely an attempt to hide ones naive lack of sense compared to learning how to inspect and repair and maintain an motorhome.

Well, you can gamble for success or you can plan to succeed. Failure is foisted on those who buy emotionally without thinking things through and educating themselves. 

Right, save the money and pay cash...excellent retirement plan.

But, I have no problem with others that do and think differently than me. Go for it.

Seilerbird showed you a good gas unit -however it is at the upper limit at 36'-I owned a 37' gasser that got 7mpg down hill.

Here's a decent '99 300hp CAT diesel at PPL under 20K
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/diesel/1999-Tradewinds-By-National-RV-28341.htm

That is a nice looking rig Bob. Let me clear up what I said. I was not recommending that RV. I said it was an example of what he could get for around $20. I only spent about one minute looking for it. I did not do a serious comparison shopping, that would be up to him. I never recommend a particular used RV, only examples. I just wanted to show him that for around $20k he could get a pretty nice starter rig to see if RVing was a good fit for him.

Just love all you guys, this is such a great forum with a ton of advise.

I still try to digest a lot what everyone is saying. Be sure I will look at all things. One thing I have to point out, the fact that we have a top credit score proofs that we know how to deal with money, in my starting post I ridiculed already some options. I know buying an RV and saving money is a contradiction but in the end you have to pay for it and we like to do it in the most economic way.

Someone said I need to work  another year to collect some money.... That is so wrong.... It's not going to happen, enough is enough!

The last few replies is about a $20000 RV... I agree a brand new RV is not an option, to high in price and a lot of depreciation with the annoyance to work out the kinks. However $20000 gives us an old rig with a ton of risk and problems on the horizon and difficult to get a extended warranty on. I possibly would double the amount ($40000) to get a decent RV in a popular price range, that way if we need to sell it again it will sell more easily.  (And if we loose $5000 - $8000 with that, it substitutes a month RV rental) at least we did give it a try and it makes a good story. Also it depends how much money you have,  $20000 can be a huge amount for some people or the amount of a savings account for others. If we really like it then it is a good start to scale upwards and go full-time.

Renting is not for us, it is not your own RV, the floorplan will probably not be our choice and we do not feel comfortable using it. I know its a weird thing, some people will understand what I mean with a strange feeling. 

We still keep our house until we make up our mind to go full-time or downsize be it in house or in RV as keeping both get expensive really fast.

This is fantastic food for thoughts, we really like the discussions. Ok back to reading and trying to make sense of our thoughts, its a great adventure we are looking forward to materialize it.         

Wondering,

If DutchEagle buys a good used unit for $20 grand, what the resale value would be in a year or two if he wanted to trade up? Probablly sell the unit outright, then buy the next unit, unless the dealer gave a great deal.

What you pay for a unit doesn't really tell you much about what you can sell it for a year later. It depends on demand, how others perceive that unit, and how you perceived that unit.

If you were the only interested party over a six months on the market period, then that is a unit that is not all that desirable. If most say people would have paid $5k for the unit, you may have trouble finding someone to pay $20k for the unit again or a little less. The reverse can also be true.

Some savvy buyers purchase desirable units if they can buy below its desired value, use it for a year, then resell for the same. Sounds good, but takes some honed research, selling, inspecting, and negotiating skills.

Worse is if you characterized the unit in some manner, like this looks good, before inspecting it, then the probability goes up that you are buying problems that cost dollars to fix because you likely breezed through or shortcut the inspection process. 

Worse is if you have to put $10k into it and find the best you can do a year later is selling it for $10k, losing $20k. Depn on a really old unit may be 2 percent or less.

"top credit score" mostly means you have been consistently paying your bills. Good credit can make people sleepy and a soft target...easier to get lulled into buying too much without realizing that ones financial situation may change.

Bankruptcy attorneys love credit card users...they are a great source of clients.

DutchEagle said:

One thing I have to point out, the fact that we have a top credit score proofs that we know how to deal with money

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Really all your credit score means is that you make your debt payments on time... it has no bearing on whether or not you are good at budgeting or cash management.  You may BE good at those things, but it's not your credit/debt score that tells us that.

I hate debt and my wife and I plan to have it be gone from our lives (all we have left is the primary home mortgage) way before we retire.  That should be everyone's goal, so they can really enjoy their retirement and not have every 401k dollar going back out to pay off some loan or mortgage.  "The borrower is slave to the lender" as the saying goes, and I don't plan to be anyone's slave. 

I agree with everything ArdraF posted above, so no need to type it all again.    Whatever RV you buy will depreciate, and at higher rates the newer you buy.  RV ownership also will require ongoing maintenance and tinkering, no matter how new you buy.  So don't be deceived that spending 2x-3x more on a rig will eliminate those costs (of time/money).  You might get nicer amenities and woodwork, but otherwise all the same stuff breaks on pretty much all levels of RV's.  It is important to have a realistic view on that, so you know to expect the breakdowns when they happen.

DutchEagle said:

However $20000 gives us an old rig with a ton of risk and problems on the horizon and difficult to get a extended warranty on.

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???  I'm not sure where you picked up that idea, but there are plenty of nice $20,000 RV's on the market.  And extended warranties are also another item that is usually not needed... for the price that you pay for the warranty, you can sock away just as much cash as an emergency fund for repairs.  Then you get to keep the money even after the warranty period would be over!

DutchEagle said:

I possibly would double the amount ($40000) to get a decent RV in a popular price range, that way if we need to sell it again it will sell more easily.

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As with my comment above, I would think there are a whole lot more folks who might be buying $20,000 RV's than $40,000 RV's.  I don't think resale opportunity would be a problem.  And even better to start out cheaper, as some folks already mentioned, until you decide how you like the RV lifestyle and whether or not you may go fulltime, snowbirding, etc.

camperAL said:

If DutchEagle buys a good used unit for $20 grand, what the resale value would be in a year or two if he wanted to trade up? Probablly sell the unit outright, then buy the next unit, unless the dealer gave a great deal.

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There really are too many factors to say for sure.... year/make/model, motorhome or trailer, condition before and after, etc.  If you buy from a dealer, you will overpay up front though... so that will definitely impact the resale/trade value in a negative direction.  Buy private and sell private is the best method to save money on both ends.

RodgerS said:

"top credit score" mostly means you have been consistently paying your bills. Good credit can make people sleepy and a soft target...easier to get lulled into buying too much without realizing that ones financial situation may change.

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Your posted this while I was typing almost the same exact thing.  I agree that "credit scores" are given WAY too much importance by the average American consumer.  Someday I hope my credit score will be 0 ... which will happen if I go long enough in life without any debt, living solely on cash.

"However $20,000 gives us an old rig with a ton of risk and problems on the horizon and difficult to get a extended warranty on."

That is not absolutely true if 1) you are truly willing to pay to have the rig inspected by both an rv inspector and a mechanic, someone with expertise on your chassis, and take fluid sample. That reduces the risk significantly.

As to wanting a warranty, getting one doesn't necessarily mean quick and competent solutions to your problems. Better would be to increase you diy skills and be your own warranty service as much as possible.
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"I possibly would double the amount ($40000) to get a decent RV in a popular price range, that way if we need to sell it again it will sell more easily."

Do you really think the word "decent" means anything? Sounds to me like you are just fooling yourself with a series of assumptions.
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"And if we loose $5000 - $8000 with that, it substitutes a month RV rental) at least we did give it a try and it makes a good story."

Nothing like commiserating with others about having that "full" rv experience.
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"some people will understand what I mean with a strange feeling."
Nothing like a good phobia to base your decisions on.
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Sounds to me you are gonna be a good fit for the "full" range of rv experiences.

Best of luck!

OM will be along shortly to tell you to not listen to me...and I agree.

I don't think a $20k motorhome is necessarily a risky junker, but agree that, in general, the risk gets higher as the price goes down. Somewhere in the $20-$40k range there will be good ones available, but it takes more hunting. There are clunkers in the $60-$90k too. On the used market, price is not a reliable indicator of condition, or even initial design & construction quality.

One of the major risks in buying the first RV is that you will buy the wrong floor plan or size. Yeah, that can be a bit hard for newbie buyers to believe, but it's a very common mistake to (1) make the wrong space tradeoffs, or (2) overlook factors that can be crucial to your enjoyment.  That's also one of the reasons that renting an RV may not be all that helpful, since it will rarely be either the size or the layout you would choose for yourself. Good planning and analysis can reduce this risk, but few people have any experience in living in very small spaces (under 400 sq ft) with limited power and water systems. It's a whole different world.  Buying at the larger size and upper end model range reduces the risks somewhat, but by no means eliminates them.

I, for one, am willing to accept that DutchEagle's excellent credit rating indicates he manages his finances well enough. At least much better than average. Choosing to live debt free is not the only way to a sound financial standing.

RodgerS said:

"top credit score" mostly means you have been consistently paying your bills. Good credit can make people sleepy and a soft target...easier to get lulled into buying too much without realizing that ones financial situation may change.

Bankruptcy attorneys love credit card users...they are a great source of clients.

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Good point but if I was that sleepy I would not ask all those questions to figure this out. I'm not willing to disclose my whole financial situation on a forum so you have to trust me on that.

DutchEagle said:

I still try to digest a lot what everyone is saying. Be sure I will look at all things. One thing I have to point out, the fact that we have a top credit score proofs that we know how to deal with money, in my starting post I ridiculed already some options. I know buying an RV and saving money is a contradiction but in the end you have to pay for it and we like to do it in the most economic way.

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You are wise to think through your decision process.  The more information you can gather before your purchase the better.  As you read through the posts, keep in mind that not all members of this forum have the same level of experience.  Some have owned several RV's over many years and will provide input based on that experience.  Others base their comments only on their research since they don't actually own an RV.  Personally I like to follow the lead of those that have had real time success in a particular venture.  That's not to say I don't do my own research, but frankly, there's only so much you can learn from books.  Lots of college grads out there not doing that well. 

Someone said I need to work  another year to collect some money.... That is so wrong.... It's not going to happen, enough is enough!

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I took early retirement from a high paying job.  If I worked another 4 years, I could have paid cash for a mid-level diesel pusher.  Of course, I may not have lived another 4 years.  I could have gone to prison for killing my new boss  or died of a heart attack because of a growing anger over that same individual.  At the end of the day, I have no regrets.  Trust me, a year at 61 when I retired is a whole lot better than a year at 71, which I just completed a few months ago. 

The last few replies is about a $20000 RV... I agree a brand new RV is not an option, to high in price and a lot of depreciation with the annoyance to work out the kinks. However $20000 gives us an old rig with a ton of risk and problems on the horizon and difficult to get a extended warranty on. I possibly would double the amount ($40000) to get a decent RV in a popular price range, that way if we need to sell it again it will sell more easily.  (And if we loose $5000 - $8000 with that, it substitutes a month RV rental) at least we did give it a try and it makes a good story. Also it depends how much money you have,  $20000 can be a huge amount for some people or the amount of a savings account for others. If we really like it then it is a good start to scale upwards and go full-time.

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You can spend $100,000 on a used luxury RV and buy a blown engine on your first trip.  Read enough about the experiences of new owners and you will find one or two that have had horrible experiences.  Still the vast majority have no complaints.  Remember, those that don't have significant problems with their purchases, any purchase, usually don't post about their experience.  Those that do often find their way to a forum looking for help. 

Renting is not for us, it is not your own RV, the floorplan will probably not be our choice and we do not feel comfortable using it. I know its a weird thing, some people will understand what I mean with a strange feeling.

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  We're all different.  Bear that in mind as you read through these or any other posts. 

Good luck with your decision making process.  Your off to a good start. 

    As Gary has said, read all the comments, but take each and everyone with a grain of salt.  We each post based on our own biases and experiences, with the reaction to those experiences varying on our personalities.  You are new on this forum, and a lot of us have developed our sensitivities to frequent posters and understand where they are coming from.  Some we just dismiss outright, others we take for gospel, but mostly all are meant to be helpful and should be read and then make your own assessment.
    As for ourselves, we were on a trip to Florida with RV friends, with the intent to start our investigation process for a cheap gasser Class A.  We ended up driving home to Nova Scotia in an entry level DP, that was more expensive than we had planned, but we fell in love with the floor plan, and the unit.  That was in 2004, we kept it until this summer when we sold it in 2 days from putting it on the market.  It is extremely difficult to full time as a Canadian but in the years following my retirement, we spent between 8 to 10 months in the coach, and we only sold it because we now bought a winter place in Florida, so we were not using it as much as we had.  We are looking for a smaller RV, likely a small TT to use for shorter trips, duration not distance since we do love our cross continent trips.
    All that said, for us debt is fine for necessities, such a housing, vehicle, etc, but not for pleasure items.  However, as for cashing Registered savings, only you can estimate your future needs compared to those savings.
    Remember that RVing is not either an expensive, nor a cheap lifestyle.  Budgeting needs to include not only the cost to purchase and finance, but also maintenance, and ongoing costs to meet the lifestyle that you want to live.  Then make the decision best suited to you.

Ed

RodgerS said:

"top credit score" mostly means you have been consistently paying your bills. Good credit can make people sleepy and a soft target...easier to get lulled into buying too much without realizing that ones financial situation may change.

Bankruptcy attorneys love credit card users...they are a great source of clients.

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Here's something I agree with Rodger about. Top credit score in no way means that you know anything about money. It means you knew enough to pay your bills, or at least the minimum amount on time. Real skillful money people have their houses and toys bought and paid for before they retire, or leveraged just right so that economic downturns won't effect them. Or they have enough assets piled up to trade one for another.  That is, trade a $200,000 investment for a MH. Maybe it's land or stocks or bonds or at one time CD's. In any event, they aren't concerned about how to make the payments.

And old man (who was in his mid 70's, really old to me in my late 20's at the time) told me 30 years ago that there are rich people and there are wealthy people. The rich people make a lot of money and spend a lot of money. They have fancy houses, with big payments, new cars, with big payments, go out to fancy restaurants, with big credit card bills each month. These people are at great risk when the economy tanks, when layoffs come, when they get sick or injured. Wealthy people have modest houses that are paid for, nice cars that they keep until they're worn out, they eat at modest restaurants, and clip coupons. They notice economic downturns, layoffs and injuries, but they aren't financially ruined by them.

We all know people that fit cleanly into each of these categories. And some people who are somewhere in between. I make no judgement of where anyone is, that's their personal business until they ask for advice. I'll bet there are some "rich" people that wind up right where they want to be in retirement. But I think that takes a lot more luck that if you save and work towards the wealthy route. Remember that "wealthy" is relative and can mean a net worth of $100,000 or $100 million depending on the person.

Ken

"We each post based on our own biases and experiences, with the reaction to those experiences varying on our personalities."

Well said.

"you have to trust me on that."

Trust but verify.
The original Russian proverb is a short rhyme which states, Доверяй, но проверяй (doveryai, no proveryai).
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On another point, I seem to recall some wise advice relating more to a preference for seat time than to relying too much on think time, assumptions, and beliefs.