Community Forums

Davdeb1 · 09-29-2012, 11:41 AM

Just got done reading a thread where a poster thought it would be a good idea to buy a 1-2 year old motorhome. I know this is good advice for automobiles, but I'm not sure about an RV. I am relatively new to this and have only had one MH, but I would be scared the reason it is for sale is because the previous owner had lots of problems or defects.

My way of thinking, is before I bought a new MH or TT OR 5ver, I would do a lot of research and find the type, make, model that would be right for me. This is for many just as big a purchase as a home. I would think that there would not be many people buying such a unit that would just say, "I'm tired of this, or I like something else better. Tis is a big depreciation hit to take on just a whim.

Who out there, would gladly buy a 1-2 year old used unit, and why? I know it's a lot cheaper.

vsheetz · 09-29-2012, 11:54 AM

Buy used to save taking that big depreciation hit. A MH is a high dollar depreciating asset anyway, buying new just makes that problem even worse. Why limit to just a couple years old?

Drafter · 09-29-2012, 12:09 PM

Do your homework and know what you can afford. It is smart to buy used if you are careful. I have ouwned around 12 or 13 RVs over the last 35 years and never purchased a new one and never regretted the purchase. Always came out ahead by knowing what I was buying. Like my present MH. Got all the service records even what the first guy paid for it. Knew the NADA/KBB value, knew I was not buying something I couldn't afford to work on.
KNOW THE RV before you buy!

Davdeb1 · 09-29-2012, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vsheetz

Buy used to save taking that big depreciation hit. A MH is a high dollar depreciating asset anyway, buying new just makes that problem even worse. Why limit to just a couple years old?

The only reason is said -1-2 years old, is I feel the best buys are over 7 years old. I bought a one owner unit 11 years old. It had all the manuals, service records, etc.
As far as I am concerned, used is the best way.

To me, 1-2 year old MH or RV is a warning sign of a defective unit. I would rather buy a new one or go with a 10 year old one.

dennis45 · 09-29-2012, 12:17 PM

I'll give you my logic and I'm sure there will be a whole range of other logic to follow, but here is mine:

When we decided to buy a MH we were not sure if we would like it or not but the only way to answer the question was to give it a whirl. Buying a new MH did not seem like a smart move at the time because if we did not like the lifestyle, we would be in for a big hit to get rid of it. So, we began looking at used that fit in our buget.
My only criteria was that it would be a DP as I had owned a gasser many years ago and that was not in the cards for us.
So, not knowing which or what to buy in the way of DP's, I purchased a data base from RV.net and began to weed out what appeared to be of lesser quality, poor handling etc. etc.
I zeroed in on the Newmar product and began searching for a Newmar that fit our budget.
Found one that we liked, made a deal and have been tickled pink ever since. I think the trick is to do your due diligence up front to be fairly confident that the rig you are buying is not a piece of junk that has been rode hard & put away wet. The investment in the RV.net data base for me was the best thing I could have done and opened my eyes to a host of issues with RV's that I would never have thought of otherwise.
Bottom line, we are more than happy with our purchase and in fact are having a major renovation being done right now and plan to have it for as long as we are able to head down the road.

Midniteoyl · 09-29-2012, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davdeb1

The only reason is said -1-2 years old, is I feel the best buys are over 7 years old. I bought a one owner unit 11 years old. It had all the manuals, service records, etc.
As far as I am concerned, used is the best way.

To me, 1-2 year old MH or RV is a warning sign of a defective unit. I would rather buy a new one or go with a 10 year old one.

I can see where that might be the case and agree: you just might be getting a lemon. But, that is the case with any used purchase, and you can find plenty that are 1-3 years old simply because someone lost it to the bank. Or didnt actually like RV'ing. Or the actual coach and traded up. Or maybe it was a rental (ugh). Doesnt have to be a lemon..

But, the only reason I said 1-2 years (actually 1-3 model years) was because the OP seemed interested in buying a 'new' coach.

dennis45 · 09-29-2012, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dennis45

I'll give you my logic and I'm sure there will be a whole range of other logic to follow, but here is mine:

When we decided to buy a MH we were not sure if we would like it or not but the only way to answer the question was to give it a whirl. Buying a new MH did not seem like a smart move at the time because if we did not like the lifestyle, we would be in for a big hit to get rid of it. So, we began looking at used that fit in our buget.
My only criteria was that it would be a DP as I had owned a gasser many years ago and that was not in the cards for us.
So, not knowing which or what to buy in the way of DP's, I purchased a data base from RV.net and began to weed out what appeared to be of lesser quality, poor handling etc. etc.
I zeroed in on the Newmar product and began searching for a Newmar that fit our budget.
Found one that we liked, made a deal and have been tickled pink ever since. I think the trick is to do your due diligence up front to be fairly confident that the rig you are buying is not a piece of junk that has been rode hard & put away wet. The investment in the RV.net data base for me was the best thing I could have done and opened my eyes to a host of issues with RV's that I would never have thought of otherwise.
Bottom line, we are more than happy with our purchase and in fact are having a major renovation being done right now and plan to have it for as long as we are able to head down the road.

If you are interested, here is the website I spoke of. If you are looking at used or new it is worthwhile in my opinion. Not that my opinion is worth a lot!!!

RV Consumer Group - RV Links

RickO · 09-29-2012, 01:08 PM

We bought our 40DP new and it was our first ever RV. If I had it to do over again, I would do exactly what you're asking about.

I believe that regardless of make/model, today's coaches have a lot of things to "fix" in the first year... and a DP isn't even approaching break in at a year or two so the first owner has (hopefully) gotten these things taken care of but has also taken the biggest depreciation hit.

I'm sure there are many reasons one would want to sell after only a short time but I'm not sure I subscribe to the "lemon" theory so don't think it would be a concern for me. I might consider a good extended warranty.

Rick

monkey · 09-29-2012, 02:40 PM

As posted before, I also agree hopefully the original owner has gotten the factory bugs taken care of. Also, in this economy , people who have a Big payment may have lost their job, or other reasons cannot justify the extra payments sitting in the driveway for a few uses a year on average. I can see us 'moving up' in a few years, and it will not be new, but a lot newer than we have now. (and bigger) Our "older" motor home came with all original manuals/service records, which is a BIG plus !! For now we are happy,,, campers.
Monkey

Oscar Mike · 09-29-2012, 03:43 PM

We're looking to buy our first MH, and my wife and I are on separate pages. I want to buy new, even with the depreciation hit, I would rather know everything about the coach instead of taking on a used headache. We've been shopping for about two months now, and it is apparent that larger coaches are more readily available on the used market, and we are looking for something in the 32' range. My wife on the other hand wants to buy "new/used".

I believe all of us would like to find that perfect new/used deal, the one where the owner bought it and is just upside down enough to have to get rid of the thing. The problem is, that those deals are far and few between.

Midniteoyl · 09-29-2012, 04:40 PM

I think you will find that getting a new coach is just a big, if not bigger, headache as the used one..

Cajims · 09-29-2012, 04:46 PM

We bought used both times (5-6 years old). dont regret it one bit. i asked a lot of questions and looked at several, both private and at dealers. Both that I ended up with were private owners and both had all of their books and paperwork on what had been done to them.

Theluckys · 09-29-2012, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnmbeard

We're looking to buy our first MH, and my wife and I are on separate pages. I want to buy new, even with the depreciation hit, I would rather know everything about the coach instead of taking on a used headache. We've been shopping for about two months now, and it is apparent that larger coaches are more readily available on the used market, and we are looking for something in the 32' range. My wife on the other hand wants to buy "new/used".

I believe all of us would like to find that perfect new/used deal, the one where the owner bought it and is just upside down enough to have to get rid of the thing. The problem is, that those deals are far and few between.

Who says a used MH is a used headache? Many, many people purchase these and find very quickly that they don't like it or really love it and so they want to upgrade.

While I would LOVE to consider a new RV given my budget we were able to get an older model and pay in full - no monthly payments. We found we really, really liked the MH and within a short period of time we found ourselves looking to turn in the MH for a new one. Problem is that most of the newer models that we could afford didn't have the quality as our existing older MH.

In the long run we just decided to upgrade what we have, to keep it for another 2-3 years and save for our next 'new/used' RV.

From what I've read on these boards many people have lots of 'bugs' in their new MH's and with the huge depreciation I'll stick to the older used/not abused coaches.

jollyjim · 09-29-2012, 05:16 PM

We bought a new gasses MH in 2003. It stayed in the shop for most of the first year, and lost value. In 2007 we bought a used Beaver DP. We love it and would not buy new again. We did however, get a bumper to bumper extended warranty that did take care of the few problems we had. You can always consider an extended warranty if you buy used. It's good piece of mind.