Does RV market acknowledge low miles on Motorhome?

[I_did_that]

Hello all, long time no post!

I'm in the market to sell my motorhome. I'm talking to a dealer, who said that "RV market and banks don't acknowledge low miles when it comes to motorhome." On the face of it, I'm thinking that this is nonsense, but wanted to pose the question to you all. Any insights would be helpful.

Thanks!

 

[Heli_av8tor]

Low mileage generally means long periods of inactivity and can actually be detrimental.

 

[I_did_that]

Low mileage generally means long periods of inactivity and can actually be detrimental.

I didn't think about that but a good point. Thanks.

 

[Boat Bum]

I'll proffer that, at least for gassers, the majority don't put a lot of miles a year on them, maybe 8-10k, so I'd expect most used models to have lower miles on average so maybe it's expected.

 

[Kirk]

I didn't think about that but a good point.

The second part of it is that low mileage does not mean seldom used as one can live in an RV that never moves. For example, we bought a motorhome new that we owned for 14 years, and 12 of those years it was our only home so was in use for 365 days per year. But we were RV volunteers, typically spending at least one month at a stop and occasionally staying as long as 4 months putting no miles on the motorhome at all. In the typical year we spent at least half of our time in this activity. We also towed a CR-V which we drove exclusively when parked. After 14 years we sold the motorhome with only 88,000 miles, or a little less than 7,000 miles be year, but the motorhome was lived in every day for 12 of those years. For a chassis of 14 years it was very low mileage, yet the RV use was far higher than typical.

 

[Rene T]

To the OP, how old is your MH and how many miles on it

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

If you look up your RV on JD Powers, formerly N.A.D.A., you will find that publication does give credit for Gas motorhomes' low mileage, but for diesel rigs, they don't consider mileage at all.

 

[LarsMac]

Well, they certainly are sure to point those low miles out when they're selling the thing.

 

[Primerump]

Hello all, long time no post!

I'm in the market to sell my motorhome. I'm talking to a dealer, who said that "RV market and banks don't acknowledge low miles when it comes to motorhome." On the face of it, I'm thinking that this is nonsense, but wanted to pose the question to you all. Any insights would be helpful.

Thanks!

If I were ever to buy a used RV, my main concern would be the interior and condition thereof..

 

[old RV guy]

If you look up your RV on JD Powers, formerly N.A.D.A., you will find that publication does give credit for Gas motorhomes' low mileage, but for diesel rigs, they don't consider mileage at all.

That would matter to me. A gas engine at 100k and a diesel at 100k are apples and oranges.

 

[Professor David]

Generally, a lower miles vehicle (motorhome included) is always more desirable to me given that all other things being equal (such as maintenance, lived in or not, etc...) especially for a gasser. I've seen people make an argument against this idea with a diesel pusher...not sure this is actually correct. The gasser rig we have only had 17K miles when we bought it a few years ago. The important thing is to have a good truck mechanic take a very close look at the engine and drive train. We have a very good truck mechanic who looked everything over and gave a big thumbs up...so we were in very, very good shape with this low mileage rig. Also, the interior was in very good shape with no real wear or tear. So in my mind, mileage is an important metric when making a purchase...and the lower the better. I would certainly have more interest in a lower mileage motorhome and potentially pay more for it ...if everything else checked out.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

My current RV is the third motorhome we bought, and they were all used. When we purchased our first motorhome, I found a six-year-old Tiffin Allegro with 10K miles and a spotless interior, we bought it. After putting 20K miles on that rig, we looked to upgrade to a newer model. After almost getting hooked into a used Geogie Boy (my mistake, whew), we came across a one-year-old Geogetown with only 4K miles on it, and the entire RV looked showroom new, so we bought that one. We put 36K miles on that rig, so it was time to move up again. We came across our diesel Sportscoach in 2018 with 15K miles on it. Once again, the RV was spotlessly clean, so we bought that one, too.

So, from our experience with three used RVs purchased mileage played a role in our decision. My wife and I were both aware from the second RV purchase on that you have to be careful relying on mileage only as an indication of wear and tear. Any type of camper could sit as a seasonal camper/cottage used by a large family and their in-laws summers long and show little mileage.


We'll stay with the Sportscoach until our traveling slows down to more regional areas. Then, we plan to move down to a small Class C or a bigger B+.

 

[RayIN]

My experience with this low mileage MH. It is a 2000 yr. The previous owner became too ill to drive it, so it was parked in a barn for 8 years until it was sold.
I bought the MH in 2013 with 22,xxx miles on the odometer. Those 22,xxx miles he spent driving to NASCAR events in the East and advertising his business; Speedco.
The genset had 8xx hrs on it as a result of all the dry-camping at those events.
The first 1,000 miles after our purchase the engine used a gallon of oil. Then suddenly stopped using oil on one long trip through the mountains.
I asked my SIL, who is maintenance manager for a nationwide trucking company about it, and he said the rings had been stuck from non-use but the heavy use in the mountains worked the engine hard enough to free-up the rings.

It's been a great MH ever since; now with 59,xxx miles on the odometer at 25 years old. In actuality, the engine is barely broken-in, according to my SIL. BTW, Cummins classifies their engine use in RV's as light-duty use.