Trade-In/Resale Value??

[reubenray]

When we bought our Cougar HC we figured we would both be working for at least another 5 years. After we retired and we have camped more we would check into something bigger if we felt we enjoyed it a lot. Due to stress related health issues I retired early and my wife will only work about 3 more years. So we have started to look for something bigger earlier. This most likely would not be used fulltime, but could be used 6+ months out of the year.

So my question is at what point (if there is one) would the value of my camper not be devalued so much? For example would the trade-in or resale value be better if I did this before it was 5 years old?

p.s: If this is the wrong location to post this please move it to the correct location.

[chain_dogg]

Try this ........



http://www.nadaguides.com/RVs

[sandy43]

I've sold four RV's since 1990. Here's what I was told and experienced in selling RV's.

Never do a trade-in, they give you little as possible or they jack-up the price on the new one to make the trade-in look better. Your best deal is you selling it, then go make your best deal with cash in hand.

The first year is a disaster on depreciation, 30%+. Years 2- 5 is a slow trend downward. Year 5 and up is fairly stable, depending on condition of RV.

The best deal is buy an RV you really like and keep it for as long as possible. Try not to let emotions get in the way of purchasing and selling.

These opinions are based on what I and several others that I know have experienced. Good luck. Thanks

[Greysquirrel]

I had our small camper up for sale and it was taking awhile to sell so I thought I would check out trading it in and was offered $4000 which is less than NADA which is not much more, I sold it for $9500 so I would suggest trying to sell it first but be prepared for a lot of tire kickers and low ball bidders. Just hold out for your price the right person will come along and see the value it your TT and buy it.

[35mastr]

As mentioned above. Better off trying to sell it on your own. They are only going to pay wholesale on it if you trade it in. An Example, I had a 1988 Southwind RV 33 footer. In excellent condition. The dealer at the time wanted to give me 7900.00. That week I sold it for 17,500.00 on my own.

Its going to take some time to sell it,But you will get alot closer to what you want if you do it on your own.

[campingcpl]

Originally Posted by sandy43

Never do a trade-in, they give you little as possible or they jack-up the price on the new one to make the trade-in look better. Your best deal is you selling it, then go make your best deal with cash in hand.

In most cases I would say this is true but, it's not allways true like in our case. We have been looking at possibly upgrading to a larger trailer and have been going back to the dealer we purchased our last trailer from. We purchased our current trailer at a discounted price (2009 carry over) of more then $10,000.00 off the list price. We picked out a couple of trailers we were interested in and then asked about our trade-in. They offered us a trade-in value of more then what we paid for the trailer and even took the trade value off the negotiated price of the 5th wheel we were interested in bring the price down to a little more then what we paid for the travel trailer. So in our case we would be pushing it to try and get the same amount selling it out right. So it never hurts to at lease check on what you can get for a trade-in specially from the dealer you bought from in the past. Sometimes they are more apt to deal with a return buyer.

[Outbackmel]

Bought our new 2011 Outback Sydney, 36 ft, triple slide at the big show in Louisville 2 years ago. It was the display model. Sight unseen, they quoted our trade in. we had a price in mind, we had previously shopped. Keystone division head of Outback met us and pointed out features. At the end, our sales guy went to Keystone and they gave us a trade price difference $2,000 less than our bottom line. We wrote the check right there. We did not have a truck to pull a 5er. We continued our journey with a week at Pigeon Forge,TN, then south to N Georgia mtn home base. One week later, a transporter brought our 5er to GA and took our trade away. We paid one way from Louisville, dealer paid trade return. We have been pleased and would buy again in the same manner.
Sometimes you can be fortunate to get want you want at a price point you have in mind. Not always. We would still get whacked hard if we tried to sell or trade today unless we stepped way up and profit margin for dealer was worth it. That's exactly why we resisted all temptation at the Daytona rally.