Is RV supply running out?

[Camerong]

As I mentioned in another thread, we intend to buy at before winter, but we don’t need to do so immediately. However, sales people are claiming RVs are running out, selling like crazy, and material shortages and high lumber cost mean prices will go up and supply will not keep up with demand. I wouldn’t give this much credence if it weren’t for the fact that lumber prices really are crazy high, and I know lots of industries are suffering shortages. Any truth to that? Is supply/demand going to look worse in a few months?

(As an aside, I’m in the process of buying a new Nissan NV3500 as a tow vehicle. This model was just discontinued, and I got a lesson on how prices can shoot up with supply problems. We were lucky to find one at MSRP—vehicles several years old around here are going for nearly the price of new, and new ones are nearly impossible to find.)

 

[Oldgator73]

I travel between Delaware and Southern Virginia a few times a month and pass by several RV dealerships. Their lots are full.

 

[scottydl]

sales people are claiming...

This is the part where you can stop listening.

An effective way to get a sale is to convince you of some false sense of urgency. Yes, there has been a high demand for RVs for the past year, and that will probably continue this summer as people are itching for recreational activity again. But even if a local dealer has a supply/stock problem, I'm sure you could travel a short distance to another one and find what you're looking for. Or find a good used unit from someone who was pressured into a purchase and has since realized RVing is not for them.

 

[UTTransplant]

There is a supply issue, mostly due to high demand and supply chain shortages. A person posted on a Tiffin site that there were over 100 rigs waiting for air conditioners before they could be sold. I know there was a serious shortage of foam for seats, and computer chips are hard to come by all over the automotive industry. The local dealers I drive by have rigs, but not nearly as many as they normally do. They have spread them out in the lot to make it look full, but in previous years they have been so tightly packed they sometimes had to move a neighboring rig to out slides out. However, this too shall pass, but it might take a year.

 

[steveblonde]

There are shortages in certain segments ie low cost bunkhouse models. Which are considered entry models. 500k motor homes are also selling. So it depends what your looking for. Good news is in a year when everyone is vaccinated and people can move those market segments will drop like a rock

 

[Isaac-1]

All I can say is that the local (mostly travel trailer) RV dealer had a nearly full lot for the first time since early 2020 when I drove by a few days ago.

 

[phil-t]

We are waiting on final paperwork for a recent purchase of a used class A from a dealer. They don't seem to look too lean in the supply world. New?, maybe because of supply issues. But we don't see it around here. We've been looking for a nice used class A since January (very particular on the floor plan) and a lot of the advertised units that we looked over are still advertised. What we do seem to see is a demand trend towards towables, Class Cs and Bs.

 

[Ex-Calif]

Supply, meet demand - LOL...

The entire US supply chain is under some stress right now. It seems ramping up an economy is almost as tough as shutting one down.

It's a short term problem and in some dimensions a classic supply and demand exercise. The system is going to over-react and there will be a glut of a lot of things by this time next year.

YOLO & FOMO are hard at work too. I am delaying my property builds for at least 6 months due to insane wood prices. Thing is, I don't expect prices to return to pre-covid. They never do. There is an excuse to raise prices, so they do. When the supply returns the prices may come down a bit but there are a lot of folks betting on a healthy round of inflation sticking.

 

[OldMarine]

I have a 2019 RAM 1500 limited...I bought it in Feb of 2020 with 19K miles on it for $45,000...now I have 28K miles on it, and it's 2021. I ran this truck through Vroom online because I know how crazy the used market is right now.....they offered me $51031.00!!! Absolutely nuts.

 

[Bill Nourse]

I had a problem with the purchase of a 2021 XLR Nitro 321 and cancelled the deal. When we started looking to purchase somewhere else we found that there were none available anywhere in the U.S. Could not find a similar size and floor plan in any other brands that wasn't the same. Wait times were quoted as 90 days + and prices were about 3,000 higher than they had been 6 months ago.

 

[X-Roughneck Strike 3]

Expand your search area on RV Trader. It may be worth the drive to get the deal. Look Used, Private Sale. RV Trader has multiple filters you can set and when those hit the market Lot or Private Sale, Depending on how you filter RV trader will send you a email. It's free to make account to browse.

We have a couple RV dealers here with Lots overflowing with 5th Wheels.

Used are where the deals are. Have a Plan A,B,C, and with your tow limitations that might be limited to a plan A and B. Be Ready to buy if you are dealing with the used market. Ask the seller show title, give you certain pics before you go see it. Don't get scammed! I thought RV trader was pretty legit as the sellers were paying for the AD.

I purchased a motor home, Flew from San Antonio to Detroit and drove it back. I saved 10 Grand at that time, as I was watching pricing nation wide.

 

[Bill Nourse]

Expand your search area on RV Trader. It may be worth the drive to get the deal. Look Used, Private Sale. RV Trader has multiple filters you can set and when those hit the market Lot or Private Sale, Depending on how you filter RV trader will send you a email. It's free to make account to browse.

We have a couple RV dealers here with Lots overflowing with 5th Wheels.

Used are where the deals are. Have a Plan A,B,C, and with your tow limitations that might be limited to a plan A and B. Be Ready to buy if you are dealing with the used market. Ask the seller show title, give you certain pics before you go see it. Don't get scammed! I thought RV trader was pretty legit as the sellers were paying for the AD.

I purchased a motor home, Flew from San Antonio to Detroit and drove it back. I saved 10 Grand at that time, as I was watching pricing nation wide.

I used RV Trader and other RV publications and did not limit my search to distance. For the units we were interested in, there were not available. Couch, RV Nation, LazyDayz, etc., etc. had nothing that fit our choices. Right now in the toy hauler world, most manufacturers are unable to supply generators because of a backlog at Onan.

 

[jymbee]

There is a supply issue, mostly due to high demand and supply chain shortages. A person posted on a Tiffin site that there were over 100 rigs waiting for air conditioners before they could be sold. I know there was a serious shortage of foam for seats, and computer chips are hard to come by all over the automotive industry. The local dealers I drive by have rigs, but not nearly as many as they normally do. They have spread them out in the lot to make it look full, but in previous years they have been so tightly packed they sometimes had to move a neighboring rig to out slides out. However, this too shall pass, but it might take a year.

I think it is not inconceivable that once the supply shortages are back under control and a season or two of "camping" from first time buyers desperate to "get away" comes and goes along with the realization that RVing may not be the life for them after all, that there will be a glut of used RVs on the market and prices will plunge!

Savvy buyers able to exercise patience might benefit from such a cycle, but as I have a history of buying high and selling low-- not so much...

 

[scottydl]

I think it is not inconceivable that once the supply shortages are back under control and a season or two of "camping" from first time buyers desperate to "get away" comes and goes along with the realization that RVing may not be the life for them after all, that there will be a glut of used RVs on the market and prices will plunge!

I plan on waiting this out, and hopefully taking advantage of this future pricing trend. We plan to save up cash and look at large fifth wheels within the next couple years... although that style may be one of the least impacted, since it's not the typical starter RV for most people. But we're in no hurry, and perfectly fine with our current TT until the right purchase situation emerges.

 

[Rob&Deryl]

For my TV, I watched Autotrader for 6 months with a 500 mile search centered on Tennessee (I am in MA). Found what wanted In north GA. Drove down, left old truck and drove new (to me) one home.

I used RVtrader to find my 5th wheel. Watched for specific models for many months. I found what I wanted a day and a bit of driving from here. For a savings of $6k, I can pay for a couple of motel nights to check it out.

 

[A Traveler]

How do you know when an RV salesman is lying? His lips are moving. I honestly think there is more integrity in the used car market than there is among RV salesman.

Yes, it’s a seller’s market right now, but it’s not nearly as bad as the OP’s salesman makes it out to be.

 

[SeilerBird]

I just went to PPL's web site to look up class As for another poster and I was shocked. They usually have four full pages of As and today they have only two pages and many are sale pending.

 

[samthetramp]

A buddy heard the resale market is on fire right now same as real property. Said he was offered $70k for his 5ver that's 2 years old. I'd take 70 withot batting an eye but probably couldn't replace what I've got for it. I'm near Elkhart and there do seem to be less rigs coming out of the factories these days.

 

[jymbee]

I'd take 70 withot batting an eye but probably couldn't replace what I've got for it.

Therein lies the rub.

Great environment if you're looking to sell and get out of RVing, but otherwise the fact that one's rig might even be worth considerably more than they paid for it, is of little practical consequence. Other than a satisfying sense of smugness I suppose...

 

[Jeff in Ferndale Wa]

In January, I was shopping for a new TT.I visited around 20 different dealers,and every one of them said the RV market was hot,and the manufacturers were backlogged in building new units. Almost all of them claimed their inventory was down over what they usually do.
To me all of their lots looked pretty full.
I still was able to make a fair deal on a new trailer on February 2.

Went through the same scenario with my son in April when he bought a new trailer.
My son was looking at a specific trailer at a Camping World. All the time were looking at it the salesman kept saying that it was the only one on the lot, and this model was hard to get and didn't know when they could get another.
When we sat down and started the negotiation, the salesman went to the manager with the offer,came back and said that trailer had sold earlier in the day and he did not know about it. He went on to say that they have another enroute that would be there in about 10 days.
Pretty strange that another was on the way after he told us how hard it is to get another.
Son got pretty angry and walked out and made a deal on his second choice at nearby competitor. It was the same trailer and same dealer as the one I bought in February,and he was able to make a fair deal as well.
The Camping World salesman called him about 10 days later and offered him the first trailer. My son got some good satisfaction telling him that he was sitting in he new trailer that he had bought from the competitor.