Considering Trading our 2009 Gas for a Diesel

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RVHealthy

RVHealthy

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Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Posts
16
Location
Atlanta, GA
Would you trade after only owning a coach for 2 years?????  I've heard both arguments........(1) trade when you can and before the coach depreciates too much and (2) wait and trade later after depreciation settles down.

Would love to hear from others who may have purchased new and traded early on and their experiences.

Thank you for all your input!
 
I would sure think the first two years are the biggest depreciation hit so, at this point I would do want I really wanted to do and not worry about what "they" say.  ;)

Sounds like you're not thrilled with your new gasser.

Rick

 
We had bought the 2007 new in late 2009 and it's been a very good motorhome for us..had no real need or logic to change ..... but we decided we were going to start traveling in a MH more and planning a Alaska trip in 2013 so....  I wanted a few trips behind us for familiarity of it all betfore we take off that far/that long so we decided to move up to a 2009 AB 40QSP almost new now... wouldn't bet it makes sense but got a few more things and features we like so .....
I believe we got an excellent deal when we bought the Voyage and I believe we got an excellend deal by trading it in .. so we must have done the right thing... for us.
Everythings Relative...
 
Not that we aren't thrilled with our Gasser, just like the diesels and possibly going from a 35 ft to 40 ft.  We are really just THINKING at this time.  Our concern really is we travel in our MH every month for a long weekend and at least two full weeks during the summer/fall months.  My husband still works full-time so we are really just thinking, but then again keep deciding it may be better to wait until closer to his retirement.

Thank you for the advice and letting me brainstorm with you! :)
 
How does the Neil Young song go?  "Tell me why". "Is it's hard to make arrangements with yourself.  When you're old enough to re-paint but young enough to sell."

I guess a lot would depend upon how much I like my current coach and it's potential over x duration vs.  deal on something that I like better.  Newer, bigger, more power, etc.  and what I would get in trade.
 
My wife and I bought our first 2009 class C motor home last fall. After one trip in northern Michigan we purchased a high milage used class A diesel pusher that we put over 5000 miles on it in 6 months. I too still work full time and turn 50 this year. 3 weeks ago we traded in our used Itasca Meridian for a 2011 Winnebago Tour 40CD. Does it make sense??? Dave Ramsey would tell you no but we can afford it even though a little stretch and we had to take our a loan to get it. I just lost 2 sisters and my folks in the last 10 years and I say, enjoy life when you can. Life is more than money and savings for "the future". I'm not about being reckless but about enjoying life while we can with the love of my life, my kids and grandkids while the good Lord gives me breath. A class A diesel pusher is an awesome ride that gives us all the comforts of home while enjoying this big, beautiful country of ours while meeting the unique and different people we meet along the way. Go for it!
 
Thanks aribb!  We are looking at the #'s at this time to see if we can get into what we really want.  We aren't unhappy with our current coach, just know that we would love the extra 5 feet AND having a diesel pusher.  If it doesn't work out at this time we at least know we have a wealth of information and friends to listen to on this forum.

Congrats to you all in your recent purchase!  So exciting!!
 
Don't forget the soft market. I would try to sell outright first before trading. I have seen some real "give aways" on the market lately. Eight to ten years seems to be the magic number for real bargains. I love DP's, so there's no need to convince me.
 
Hi,
Just thought I'd jump in here because we're just past the point where you seen to find yourselves. At the two year point, we were pretty well convinced that a diesel pusher was the way to go. We currently have a smaller gas rig and we are looking to travel to Alaska in a year or two.
We're currently traveling in the western part of the country (Rockies) and its demonstrated that the gas/diesel issue is not primarily one of power. At just under 20,000 lb. and having a Ford V10, we're getting around just fine. We pass some trucks and others pass us, but the time you spend on the hills is a tiny part of the RV experience.
In the other times, we enjoy the RV we bought and, having gotten my ego under control, the diesel urge has pretty well gone away. Today, I spend more time thinking about improvements; inverter, full body paint, upgrade computer stations, etc. I'd urge you to decide based on what you want (floor plan sound familiar) or need (washer/dryer?) rather than DP or gas. I'd also go slow, its taken us over two years of essentially full time travel (35,000 plus miles) to figure out what we want/need, and I'm not totally confident we're there yet.
Either way, enjoy! Life is short!
Ernie

PS Its not a cost issue for us; just a decision on trade offs - size (smaller is better for us) vs. benefits.
 
Absolutely no one buys the RV that is going to last them the rest of their life on their first attempt. Usually people go through three or four before finally settling on the one they really want. So your reaction is typical. You really don't know what it is you want in an RV until you have spent a considerable amount of time using one.

The advise I give every one who is considering buying an expensive RV is to rent one first. I think you should rent a 40 foot class A DP for at least a week and see if your feeling change. Yes it will cost some bucks to rent a class A for a week, but it could prevent you from making an extremely large mistake. It would be a different story if you hated you current rig, but since you like it are your really in need of spending all that extra money to trade up to a DP?

There are a lot of people who bought an expensive RV a few years ago and then because of the economy are no longer using it. When they finally decide to sell it they find out they are upside down (owe a lot more money than they can sell it for) and they can no longer afford the payments. This usually results in financial disaster and bankruptcy. I would not buy any RV on credit unless I was going to be putting down at least half of the purchase price. Actually I haven't used credit in 30 years and I wouldn't buy an RV on credit if you held a gun to my head, but my ideals are different than yours. A large disaster can happen at any time. Sickness, layoffs, getting fired, natural disasters, like hurricanes. No one is bullet proof so make sure you are going too far out on a limb to trade up, it just isn't worth it.

Having said all that, I much prefer a DP over a gasser and if you can comfortably afford it then I think you should go for it. DPs are wonderful.
 
Thanks for all the great advice - and to put this topic for us to bed now, we are keeping our current coach.  Many reasons have come to this decision, but mostly it was the cost vs need decision.  We do really like a lot about our current coach and probably why it did take us over 8 months looking and deciding to make the decision on it.  We have put just over 10,000 miles on it which seems low, but is a lot to us as my DH still works full-time.  We have decided we do love the MH lifestyle and when we are at a stage in our lives where we are going more and farther then that will be when we look for our DP.

I am also one who doesn't like to put much on credit (working as a corporate trainer for Dave Ramsey should tell you why), however we are financing part of our current coach and our home as a few more years to go so again, timing will make these two items paid for.  We don't finance anything else so I will be happy when these other two are free and clear!

Thanks again and love all the words of wisdom!
 
"Absolutely no one buys the RV that is going to last them the rest of their life on their first attempt."

We must be no-one.
 
starnuzzer said:
Not that we aren't thrilled with our Gasser, just like the diesels and possibly going from a 35 ft to 40 ft.  We are really just THINKING at this time.  Our concern really is we travel in our MH every month for a long weekend and at least two full weeks during the summer/fall months.  My husband still works full-time so we are really just thinking, but then again keep deciding it may be better to wait until closer to his retirement.

Thank you for the advice and letting me brainstorm with you! :)
Click to expand...

This has not been brought up in while, but we are back looking again and actually found this while googling something and found my post.  The one coach we are looking at is actually the 2009 AB 40QSP.  I would love to hear your comments about your coach, positive, negative or any other information.  Thank you!
 
That is the 2009 Allegro Bus, beautiful rig with the 425 Cummins.
If you want to stay optimistic about your thought process on this DO NOT test drive any DP. 99% will never go back to gas. I also think looking at used in the current market is a wise choice, you have a lot of negotiating power. Have fun, you can't take it with you!
 
Thanks Lou, I thought so, but didn't want to presume.  8)

RVHealthy,

I don't have a 2009 Allegro Bus, but I do have a 2003 Allegro Bus, and we have been very-very happy with the coach.  We bought ours new and worked the bugs out, as all new owners do; but the thing we like the most is the service and support provided by Tiffin.

FWIW, we've been tossing around the idea of a newer coach and keep going back to the Tiffins; either the Bus or the Phaeton.

Marsha~
 
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