Best time to buy 1st class A

[OnTheGo]

My wife & I are looking at both new & used gas class A's. Is there a better time of year to buy? Perhaps this has been discussed recently? We are in Fla but could travel around the SE looking.
Regards,
Ron

[gemert]

IMHO the best time in Florida is around March or April. A lot of snowbirds tired of living in an RV or too old to drive anymore sell for pretty good prices before they go home. I'm sure you have heard the new Vs old arguments but...if you buy new your Coach will be worth 20-30% less as soon as you sign the paperwork. New ones usually spend a lot of time in the shop, sometimes months getting the bugs worked out. If you buy an older unit, usually the bugs are gone and you just have to deal with normal wear and tear. Also someone else pays for all that depreciation. Just my opinion. Good luck.

[CranePrairie]

We bought our coach last year, it was 4 years old at that time. We looked at new coaches and fifth wheels but settled on a used coach instead. The price difference between a new truck and fifth wheel and our chosen coach came out to about 80K. So far we have spent about $150 on parts, replaced the lights with LED, a small sheet metal door in the plumbing bay and not much else. We were given the repair invoices from the original owner and their first bill was for over $12,000. What Jerry said is true, they come with bugs and some of them bugs have a huge appetite for cash. Best advice I can give is, shop around and look for a quality coach, have it inspected and make sure everything works as advertised. You can score some unbelievable deals out there. Best of luck to you...

[MisterT]

right now, as the 2016 come onto dealer lots you will find that the 2015 model is quickly discounted, even more the longer it sits and the more 2016 models arrive

[OnTheGo]

Much grass y'all. Glad we can take our time.
Ron

[MandG-Fun]

Originally Posted by OnTheGo

Much grass y'all. Glad we can take our time.
Ron

Ron... Good that you can take your time... you'll save a boat load of cash. Do as much research as you can to find exactly what will make you both happy. There are lots of high quality coaches out there and as long as you aren't hung up on having the latest-and-greatest gadget or paint scheme... my recommendation is to buy a top of the line older coach. There are plenty out there that have been gently used, just work on finding a reputable person now who will do a pre-purchase inspection for you. You can probably buy for cash for what you would have spent on a down payment on a new mid-tier coach and still have plenty cash left to fix or upgrade things as needed, and the icing on the cake... no bank payment.

Just my two cents... but it worked for us.

[Betr2Trvl]

Since we actually have bought a new gasser in the last 6 months, I'll provide my perspective which is going to be a bit different than what you see from others. And this is our very first RV......

First, after getting a general idea of what we liked, we decided that we really were not interested in anything more than a couple years old for a long list of reasons. In addition, I had no desire to have a 40' DP, no matter what it cost new vs. what I could buy it for today.

The entry level market is different than the market for the higher end Gassers. And, if you want a one or two year old higher end gasser you better be ready to jump on it as soon as you see one you think you want.

Once we determined that we really liked the Tiffin 31SA best, we looked for slightly used units that were similar, but In the end, we decided to order exactly what we wanted because the reality was, that the "all in price" difference between ordering exactly what we wanted new was really not that much more vs. compromising on something a couple years old that wasn't exactly what we wanted to save what we felt wasn't all that much money when you total everything up.

The most cost effective way to buy a MH is to get what you want the first time...... And don't fear buying new.... Just have realistic expectations that it won't be perfect, and don't drive yourself, the dealer, or the manufacturer nuts nit picking everything.

We ordered in Dec, and picked it up in March. We have over 4000 miles, 6 trips, and 60 nights out so far, and are having a blast. We'll take it in for a first chassis service when we get home from this 30 day trip, just over 5000 miles at that. Point, and also have a handful of minor warranty issues addressed at that time.

[jondrew55]

We bought a new, 2014 leftover this January at what we think was a rock bottom price. We found the unit at La Mesa RV in Sanford Fl around Christmas and closed the deal a couple of weeks later.

Was that the best time to buy? I don't know, but it was the cheapest of ever seen that model sold for either locally or on the Internet.

[OLYLEN]

The best time is, when you find the one that fits your life style, your budget, and fits the floor plan you want.

LEN

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by OnTheGo

My wife & I are looking at both new & used gas class A's. Is there a better time of year to buy? Perhaps this has been discussed recently? We are in Fla but could travel around the SE looking.
Regards,
Ron

Ron, I'm not speaking from experience, but I would think that the end of the year would be the best time. Dealers will be trying to get rid of inventory before the 1st of the year (assuming their fiscal year ends Dec 31st) so they don't have to pay taxes on it. Also, fewer people are camping that time of year so business will probably be slower. JMHO

[Rockwood27]

If you can wait until mid January, go to the Florida RV supershow in Tampa. It's the largest RV show in the country. You will find everything from $10K popup campers to $2M Prevost conversions. You'll get a chance to explore quality build differences and all the myriad of floorplans in one place. If you're really serious about buying, I would plan on spending 2 days there.

[Elexwiz]

My wife and I just traded our 1999 Winnebago Chieftain for a brand new 2015 Forest River Georgetown. We bought the Winnie at the end of 2012 expecting it would only be for a few years before we decided on a newer coach. We've been to every RV show we could attend and my wife is quite the social butterfly so we've toured a lot of motorhomes in campgrounds.

When we started looking in the Spring for our new one we had a pretty good idea of our desired floorplan and amenities. We love the Georgetown.

We decided to buy brand new vs used because most dealers will not warranty anything on a used coach if it's over 2 years old. The manufacturer powertrain warranty will convey but if the coach is 3 years old then chances are that is already expired. I didn't want to take the chance of sinking 100k into a used coach only to have something die in the first week. You can mitigate that by having a professional inspect your coach for you, but it's still a gamble we didn't feel comfortable with. Besides, I've put a lot of work into our Winnie (fuel pump, dash AC, roof AC, outside trim repair, new awning, water valve replacement, roof leak detection and repair, step foundation repair, fan clutch, and various little things) that I didn't feel like repeating on another coach, especially not a coach that expensive. We understood the drop in value as soon as we drove off the lot.

As gemert said, expect your brand new unit to spend time in the shop. We already knew that there would be small defects in the coach upon delivery. Our dealer actually told us about two of them and showed us that the new parts were already on order when we arrived to pick up the coach; this was even before we signed the papers. After all, that is the state of RV sales today. The customer and dealer EXPECT defects. The customer is told to exercise every component and appliance on the coach during her maiden voyage(s), make a list, and schedule it to come back in for service when it's convenient. Our dealer even gave us a notebook and pen specifically for this list with our new purchase kit. It is what it is. I feel good knowing that if my roof AC dies or my fridge blows up I will be 100% covered.

FWIW, this is what was wrong with our brand new 2015 coach:
- Genny would not run for more than 30 minutes. Needed needed new fuel pump (this was one of the 2 things we were told about. Parts were already on order).
- Roof AC fan would not start spinning on its own. Needed new fan motor, but we had a work around for the weekend (this was the other thing they told us about. Parts were already on order).
- Shower had a small leak where it needed to be caulked.
- One of the couch leg-rests didn't deploy properly.
- Small chips in paint on the rear ladder.
- Adhesive residue on the exterior of the coach. It was under the wax layer.
- The driver's side mirror vibrates/shakes excessively at speeds above 45 mph. The mirror assy was broken inside the housing. They replaced the entire mirror.
- The steering wheel is not centered/straight. The front-end alignment is fine. They took it to Ford to adjust the centering of the wheel.
- The bottom gasket on the bedroom slide was peeling off. They fixed it.

Unfortunately, unless you buy in the upper-class of RV's, your experience may be similar. Every person I know who has bought new has had a similar experience.

IMHO, this is a small potatoes compared to the fun and freedom of an RV!
Best of luck to you!