How to get best value selling 2014 TT: trade in, sell to dealer, private sale?

First off, I'm not trying to advertise here, just looking for advice about the inns and outs of selling our TT and truck.

We have a 2014 Tracer (by Forest River) Ultra Lite Executive Series M-3150 BHD, Touring Edition. Used lightly and in good condition (or better). Here's what it looks like: http://www.primetimerv.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=252&Image=6825&ModelID=1658#Main

We're looking to sell this, and the low mileage, crew cab, diesel 2012 F-250 Lariat we've used as a tow vehicle. Ultimately, we want to replace these with a MH - maybe something like a Windsport 31S (http://thormotorcoach.com/windsport/floorplans/).

We could sell our TT and truck now, and either buy the MH now, or delay the purchase for a couple/few years - we are flexible in that regard.

I'm a bit new at this, and I'd appreciate some pointers regarding trade in vs sell to dealer vs private sale of these vehicles.

Thanks.

I was told by a sales person at the largest RV dealership in the country (their words) that dealers will always make money when someone trades with them. We were talking about buying a small RV and trading up in a couple of years and he said we would get hammered when coming back to trade in. We would not have enough equity to make it worth our while.

Take that for what it's worth, but I believe it because of the big depreciation.

If you want to get the most for the truck and trailer sell them yourself, don't trade and now is a good time.
You can go to the NADA website and see what your trailer is worth. Be careful when using the site. Do not check off items that are not an option such as air conditioner, awning, etc. If it's a real option, go ahead and check it. Once you see the price you can get a rough idea how to price it. I would also look at RV Trader and see if you can find the same trailer as yours so you can see what other private party sellers are asking.
Try Craigslist for the truck. You can go to Kelley Blue Book for the value of your truck and also check out what other sellers are asking on Autotrader.
Hope this helps.

Stan

RV values drop like a rock when purchased new, and as mentioned just about any dealer will hammer you on trade-in value.  Sell yourself but expect to lose money (unfortunately), it's one of the reasons that most of us highly recommend buying used RVs after heavy research.

The truck will hold its value better, and you could shop it around some local dealers.  A buddy of mine sold his truck outright to a dealership after having it for a year or two, and lost very little money.  Call around, talk to sales managers, and see what they might offer.  Post it up on Craigslist simultaneously, and see what kind of bites you get from local buyers.  You could advertise them together as a package deal, but that would limit your buyer field.  Either way, in the RV ad you could mention you also have a truck for sale if a potential buyer is interested... And vice versa in the truck ad.

It might take awhile but I'm sure you could sell both privately, and you'll come away with a lot more money in your pocket.  As others have suggested, a ballpark value on the RV can be researched at NADAguides.com and also KBB.com and/or Edmunds.com for truck value.

Thank you Moebius, Donuts and scottydl for your much appreciated feedback.   

I'll be cleaning up these vehicles and posting them soon!

Dealers only buy at wholesale, whether buying for cash or accepting a trade-in. The trade-in price may look good, but a big chunk of it is actually a discount on the price of the new one.  It's pretty basic business arithmetic - they buy at wholesale and sell at retail. So yes, you get hammered when you sell or trade to a dealer, especially on a late model rig.

Selling privately is usually much better from a sales price viewpoint, but there are three caveats:
1. Private buyers are nearly always looking for a bargain and seldom willing to pay above low retail.
2. In most states, the trade-in value is exempt from sales taxes, so when you sell privately and buy a new one, you pay more in taxes than you would with a trade. You need to consider the extra taxes as an offset to the extra you (hopefully) make from a private sale.
3. It may take a long time to make a private sales, plus you have the hassle of creating listings, answering fruitless inquiries, showing the rig, etc. And maybe making payments until it sells. For some, this may outweigh the monetary gain.

Hi Gary,

I almost missed your post! For some reason, its notification arrived in my junk mail folder (unlike others - go figure).

Thanks for your advice - I hadn't considered the sales tax angle of a trade in - good point.

The thing is, we're not ready to buy our next vehicle yet. I could be wrong, but we're thinking that holding the vehicle for trade in later (probably a couple of years) is not a good idea - the vehicle will just further depreciate. So for us it's either sell to a dealer or sell privately. I'm thinking we'll try for a private sale, and then perhaps a dealer if the private sale doesn't go as planned.

Thanks again.

Trucks are hot sellers, so it should be easy enough to sell privately and get better a much better price than from a dealer (who only buys at wholesale prices). RVs are harder to move - might go quickly or might take ages. Go ahead and list the RV now, but be prepared for tire kickers and annoying calls from people who want to sell it in your behalf, i.e. consignment sale or advertising deals. Most of their promises will likely be just sales hype, hoping to make an easy commission or get you to pay for advertising.

Most likely a private sale.

We traded in a two year old 2013 bumper pull trailer last year for a new 5th-wheel . . .

We had some major axle and suspension issues with the bumper pull and our extended warranty offered to pay $150 of an over $4000 repair bill . . . after we paid our $150 deductible, of course.

The problems all started a few months earlier when they refused to fix the trailer while we were 1000 miles away from home when a wheel bearing burned up in Phoenix, AZ on a trailer with 3000 miles on it at that time.

I told the warranty company (N*Compass) to keep their money, and immediately started the process of opting out of said warranty and got our remaining purchase price back from them (which we used as the down payment on our new 5'ver).

We got that trailer fixed, and one week later while trying it out at a local campground . . . we traded it in while it was sitting at the campground!

We took a hit on it . . . but at least we got rid of it when we wanted and needed to get rid of it.

We thought about selling it outright, but then I remembered all of the RV's around our neighborhood that have been sitting around with for sale signs on them for over a year or two . . . and some even longer than that!

If you decide to sell it yourself, be prepared to sit on it while you wait to get your asking price . . . or to lower the price enough to beat out all of the other local RV's that are for sale around you.

Our dealership definitely got the better end of the deal as our trade in sold two days after they put it out on their lot!

Gary RV Roamer said:

Dealers only buy at wholesale, whether buying for cash or accepting a trade-in. The trade-in price may look good, but a big chunk of it is actually a discount on the price of the new one.  It's pretty basic business arithmetic - they buy at wholesale and sell at retail. So yes, you get hammered when you sell or trade to a dealer, especially on a late model rig.

Selling privately is usually much better from a sales price viewpoint, but there are three caveats:
1. Private buyers are nearly always looking for a bargain and seldom willing to pay above low retail.
2. In most states, the trade-in value is exempt from sales taxes, so when you sell privately and buy a new one, you pay more in taxes than you would with a trade. You need to consider the extra taxes as an offset to the extra you (hopefully) make from a private sale.
3. It may take a long time to make a private sales, plus you have the hassle of creating listings, answering fruitless inquiries, showing the rig, etc. And maybe making payments until it sells. For some, this may outweigh the monetary gain.

Click to expand...

Sound advice and worth considering.  Also if you have a loan on the RV, you may find it tough to sell privately since you are likely not to have the title in hand. 

As has been said, you will be taken to the cleaners if you trade it in... either the truck or the trailer. A private sale is the best way to save money, usually. I once got $6,000- for a van that a dealer staunchly said was worth $1,500- and no more... and sold it the morning the ad came out. It's amazing how some folks don't seem to understand that if it's dirty, needs repair, hasn't been maintained, etc. that it's not going to sell fast or for nearly as much as something that's been well maintained, and clean. Clean counts double when the wife comes along... usually...

Good luck with it!

As mentioned the trailer will take some time. I pass buy two of them every day for the last year that are up for sale. Now for the truck, a 4x4 lariat crew cab diesel will sell like hot cakes in Michigan. Especially if it is in good shape so hold your price on that one.

Thanks outofhere2 ...

FYI, my truck is in very good condition and has less than 8,000 miles, so I'll take your advice and try to get a good price with a private sale.

kbb.com puts the value at $49.5k for a private sale and $45k - $50k as a trade-in value. I don't know how realistic these figures are, and I don't know if "trade-in" value is the same as sale to a dealer. We'll see ...

I'm also thinking about taking in it to the local Ford dealer just to see what they will offer. You never know ... 

Thanks to all for the tips and insights. I appreciate the time you took to give me feedback.

And happy Fathers Day to all you dads out there!

Also consider a consignment sale. Some rv dealers do that exclusively. If you find the right dealer, it's a pleasant experience and you can do better than a trade in or dealer cash buy. Maybe not as good as a private sale but the consignment dealer handles the hassle and the sale for a fee. Just another option.

BruceinFL

A consignment sale hadn't even occurred to me! Definitely something to look into - Thanks!

Just thought I'd post my experience. It took a while, but I sold my TT. We posted it on Craig's List and RV Trader for $23,900. We did not get a lot of interest at first, so we lowered the price $3k and then got several parties interested and sold it in mid-August for that price ($20,900).

I might have been able to get a bit more, but given that the dealer offered only $15k as a trade-in, we were glad to make the sale. Thanks to all for the advice and feedback!

AND, we bought a new 2016 Winnebago Vista LX 30T !!!  We're very excited about this, our first motor home! We discovered a number of issues - mostly minor - on our first trip, so the dealer has it right now to correct these issues.

It was actually a bit of an adventure ... we live in central NY and bought this coach from Camping World of Savannah, Georgia! We got a great deal, so we flew down to Savanna and took delivery in mid-August, right after the check for the trailer cleared!

Our maiden voyage was the trip back home. We actually spent the first night in the Savannah area, to try all the features and make sure there were no major issues. After that, we took our time, visiting relatives in North Carolina along the way. After 20 some odd years or trailer camping, one thing I can say is that auto-leveling is way cool !!  8)

As many others have posted about this coach model, I found it quite difficult to handle on the highway - the front end was loose, so it was easily "pushed around" by light winds and passing trucks. So the ride home was something of a white-knuckle ride.

When we took it to the local dealer with our punch list of issues, after a test drive they agreed that the highway handling was poor. Under warranty, they are going to balance the tires, adjust tire pressure and align the front end. My guess is that it will still handle poorly at speed, so I'm planning on doing the "Cheap Handling Fix" that many have posted about for the Ford F53 chassis (using the lower holes on the torsion bars instead of the upper ones that are stock).

I'm thinking that a steering stabilizer might not be a bad idea as well, which many say will greatly assist in the case of a front end blowout on the highway. Any opinions on whether that's a good investment?

The only thing I have to do now is sell my truck. I'm hoping to get a good price for it - as I posted previously, it's a cherry with less than 8,000 miles.

Thanks again to all for the help!

Try checking the air pressure in your tires AFTER weighing the rig set up in camper mode, (ie loaded as you would be using it). Tire pressures should be set up for the weight each tire is to support and most major tire manufacturers publish tables for weight vs pressure needed. The chances are good that the tire pressures were set by your dealer to the MAXimum  cold tire pressure as stamped into the tire and this can account for the handling you described.

Thanks Alpha.

After we get the coach back, we'll load it up with our stuff and go to our local recycle center that has a commercial truck scale.

I knew we needed to do this, but I did not know about the availability of weight-pressure tables. I guess the "manufacturer" would be Ford, since they produce the chassis.

Thanks for the tip!