Is a Low Trade-In Offer on My RV Normal or Am I Being Lowballed?

[Excalibur1]

Good evening all. DW and I are looking for a slightly bigger trailer than our current 17 foot Aspen Trail. Pretty basic trailer. Getting older makes crawling over DW to get into the East-west bed harder, and the dinette seats are getting harder after about 15 minutes. So looking for a 20-22 ft. with a north- south bed and a couch. Found one that checks all our other boxes too, @ $20,000. Good price I think. But dealer only wants to give me $4000 on my trailer when researching shows me that same model , same year and even one or two years older units are being sold at dealerships for $10,000 - $12,000. This seems way out of line. I know dealers have to make a profit, but selling for 3 times what they paid for it? Is this normal, or did I just get a shyster dealer? Obviously I told him to go pound sand, I will sell it myself. What say you? Is this typical?

 

[RayIN]

Yes. If the customer doesn't bite, they lost nothing.

 

[TheBar]

Doubling or even tripling their money is not unheard of. To be fair dealers have more expenses and liabilities than a private seller who has none. Insurance, lot rent/lease salesperson's salaries, electricity, warranty claims, etc.

And prices you see at other dealers are therefore inflated over private sellers.. Same with cars and trucks. If you can sell it yourself or buy from a private seller you get a better deal almost every time.

But as a buyer you'll have zero recourse if you buy a misrepresented lemon. And as a seller you'll have to deal with bounced checks, hassles and possible lawsuits, people never putting the vehicle in their name instead of yours, etc. Which is why most people go through dealers instead.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Wholesale value on an RV is typically 50% or 60% of the average retail, so not way out of line. As TheBar says, the dealer eats a lot of expenses and may or may not actually get the asking prices you see advertised elsewhere. To be sure, you can get more cash if willing to sell yourself. However, remember you will almost surely pay more sales tax on the new one because most states tax only the cash difference on the transaction.

 

[Excalibur1]

Wholesale value on an RV is typically 50% or 60% of the average retail, so not way out of line. As TheBar says, the dealer eats a lot of expenses and may or may not actually get the asking prices you see advertised elsewhere. To be sure, you can get more cash if willing to sell yourself. However, remember you will almost surely pay more sales tax on the new one because most states tax only the cash difference on the transaction.

That would only be about 350 More in sales tax vs. 6-8 grand More for me if I sell it myself. So willing to do that.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Sometimes you get a lot of bargain hunters and tire kickers, but I've been lucky enough to find a serious buyer fairly quickly. Hope you find a willing buyer without too much hassle.

 

[RV_Lee122]

A 17 foot basic trailer that can be towed by a wide variety of vehicles will be far easier to sell than a 40 foot 5th wheel. I dont think you'll have a problem selling it yourself

 

[Kirk]

But dealer only wants to give me $4000 on my trailer when researching shows me that same model , same year and even one or two years older units are being sold at dealerships for $10,000 - $12,000.

Are they being sold at dealerships for $10,000 - $12,000, or are you seeing them advertised for those prices? Very seldom does a buyer pay the price asked by a dealership. That is also true for most private sales. And like Gary, I have owned RVs for many years and have sold my own on several occasions, but only one time did I get my asking price and that was for a large popup trailer that I sold in 1979. On the other hand, the sale of our last class A took 10 months, and I finally sold it for about half of my first asking price. I had it advertised on Craig's List in the DFW area and also in east TX area. It was listed for a time on RV Trader and for a week in the local newspaper. It is difficult to predict the results of a private sale or the time that it will take. In most cases you can get a better return on it by selling it yourself, but there is risk involved and if you have a pending purchase with a dealership, there is a limit to how long it will be available to you. If you are not in a big rush, you could easily try selling it yourself for a while and trade it if you don't get reasonable results.

 

[PancakeBill]

Yes to what Kirk says. The 20k trailer is listed at how much? If 20 there is room to move. You are at the start of negotiations. Go back on the 27th. End of month negotiating always better.

 

[Excalibur1]

Yes to what Kirk says. The 20k trailer is listed at how much? If 20 there is room to move. You are at the start of negotiations. Go back on the 27th. End of month negotiating always better.

List is 26,000. Another quote for same unit is 22,000. So I think 20,000 is as low as I am going to get.

 

[Excalibur1]

Are they being sold at dealerships for $10,000 - $12,000, or are you seeing them advertised for those prices? Very seldom does a buyer pay the price asked by a dealership. That is also true for most private sales. And like Gary, I have owned RVs for many years and have sold my own on several occasions, but only one time did I get my asking price and that was for a large popup trailer that I sold in 1979. On the other hand, the sale of our last class A took 10 months, and I finally sold it for about half of my first asking price. I had it advertised on Craig's List in the DFW area and also in east TX area. It was listed for a time on RV Trader and for a week in the local newspaper. It is difficult to predict the results of a private sale or the time that it will take. In most cases you can get a better return on it by selling it yourself, but there is risk involved and if you have a pending purchase with a dealership, there is a limit to how long it will be available to you. If you are not in a big rush, you could easily try selling it yourself for a while and trade it if you don't get reasonable results.

Since I am paying cash, I am going to buy new one before I sell the old one. Just works out better for me logistically. Then put proceeds from sale of old back into savings account.

 

[scottydl]

I’ve never bought or traded to/from an RV dealer, and never plan to. They take full advantage of the already-steep depreciation factor of newer RVs by offering low trade-ins, paired with the low/average knowledge of the industry among many RV owners. (Nobody here of course. ) MSRP is also a fictitious number in the RV industry, but dealers will use it to give the appearance that they’re offering steep discounts on their sales lot as well.

You are wise to sell privately, and as we approach the beginning of RV season you should have some interest buyers if you price your trailer competitively. The JD Power online pricing tools for RVs is a good starting point for private party values, although it shouldn’t be considered gospel.

Get to searching on Facebook marketplace within 100 miles or so of your home area and you might find your replacement trailer that way too, and a much better price than anything a dealer would offer.

 

[Kirk]

I’ve never bought or traded to/from an RV dealer, and never plan to.

Based on this, where does your expertise come from? There is some truth to what you say, but you paint with a pretty broad brush for not all dealers or dealerships are the same.

 

[scottydl]

Definitely agree that there could be exceptions… but it’s the basic model of how retail establishments in general are able to pay for their giant facilities and advertising. They take advantage of consumers who don’t know any different, and think they don’t have any other options to buy or sell. I’m not saying they’re all crooks, but they all do business in the same fundamental way… and for RV dealers in particular, add in the fact that most people who work there are not longtime RV owners themselves. It takes away some credibility in my view.

Any time I’ve been buying or selling cars, RVs, or other high dollar items over the years — I always check out dealer listings on the same things, and find the same trends. That plus almost 20 years of reading hundreds of dealer buying/selling/servicing encounters from people here on the forum.

My opinion is just mine, but I do know it’s rooted in a deeper-than-average factual understanding of the industry and retail buying/selling trends.

 

[Derby6]

Yea I almost always buy new. The sell my old one myself. Financially worth the effort. Only time I didn’t was a car that was all but worthless. Probably could have got a grand or so more but just unloaded it.

 

[Excalibur1]

I’ve never bought or traded to/from an RV dealer, and never plan to. They take full advantage of the already-steep depreciation factor of newer RVs by offering low trade-ins, paired with the low/average knowledge of the industry among many RV owners. (Nobody here of course. ) MSRP is also a fictitious number in the RV industry, but dealers will use it to give the appearance that they’re offering steep discounts on their sales lot as well.

You are wise to sell privately, and as we approach the beginning of RV season you should have some interest buyers if you price your trailer competitively. The JD Power online pricing tools for RVs is a good starting point for private party values, although it shouldn’t be considered gospel.

Get to searching on Facebook marketplace within 100 miles or so of your home area and you might find your replacement trailer that way too, and a much better price than anything a dealer would offer.

l have looked at a couple of used ones for sale, but they were not anywhere near the condition advertised. " Excellent condition " translates to beat to **** interiors, it seems.

 

[PancakeBill]

In understand avoiding dealers, but I have found more misrepresentation from private parties than pretty much any dealer. As shown above. One fifth wheel I looked at had a stack of books in a corner on a counter. Moved them, black mold. Said he nevr noticd it before, which may have been true, the camper was a mess.

Advice to sellers, take your personal stuff out and clean it before showing.

 

[Kirk]

My opinion is just mine, but I do know it’s rooted in a deeper-than-average factual understanding of the industry and retail buying/selling trends.

I worked in a service business that supported a commissioned salesforce for 32 years and my wife was the administrative assistant for the Executive VP of a chapter of NADA for 6 or 7 years. I do have some experience with the sales business. I have bought 7 used and 8 new cars, 1 new and 3 used trucks, 4 new and 3 used RVs.