Community Forums

ukester · 06-10-2017, 06:28 AM

Wow is the only word I can say when I walk into a new DutchStar-My question is do you take depreciation on your coach every year and if you do who determines what that amount is? I really love this motorcoach and my wife retiring soon would be great to see our great country but after the use I really do not want to take a bath when selling or if something would happen to me I do not want her to be stuck either. The reason I am asking here is there has to be so many that have pondered these same things before buying-just want to have more opinions before buying one. Working hard all our lives I guess owing one of these would be the american dream...

Thanks
Mark

tom chelbana · 06-10-2017, 08:59 AM

Your depreciation changes each year. Is highest the 1st couple years. Maybe if you enjoy Newmar RVing you don't want to know. Would this be just to know what it's costing you?

ptw · 06-10-2017, 09:58 AM

We retired earlier then originally planned, so we are careful to follow a budget. For budgeting purposes we first subtracted the sales tax and are using these numbers for years 1 through 10.

18, 10, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3

I came up with these numbers somehow from reading old posts and looking at current prices for older Dutch Stars. Of course, if the economy tanked or fuel prices went up, this would be accelerated.

If you are looking at depreciation for business purposes several people said it was best to use mileage.

Paul
2017 Dutch Star 4018

HavingABlast · 06-10-2017, 11:06 AM

Mark,

Depreciation is just a way of "expensing" and adjusting the book value of an asset based upon some metric, be it age, hours of use-sometimes called shop hours, mileage, widgets produced, or something else. It is a practice most commonly used if the asset is used for business purposes. If you are using the coach for business purposes, I understand the concern.

If your new DSDP is not used for business, you will realize the diminished selling point (loss) of the coach only when it is sold or traded in. Up until the sales it is only a "paper loss". Meaning not a tangible loss, like money out of your pocket. And yeah, these things depreciate at a faster rate the first few years.

Congratulations on your new rig. Plenty of happy memories, yet to be made, are in your future.

Mr_D · 06-10-2017, 11:22 AM

Can't claim depreciation on a MH unless it's used for business. Is that your usage?

ukester · 06-10-2017, 11:51 AM

6 months and a day-home

ghaynes754 · 06-10-2017, 12:10 PM

If you are asking in the sense of a tax deduction, then it's probably best to consult a CPA or tax lawyer to make sure of your specific situation. If you are asking does the value go down or depreciate that answer is yes. Really no different than any auto ro truck, just different size of the numbers.

Couple of ways not to leave a burden to a surviving spouse in the event of something catastrophic. Larger downpayment so that you are never 'upside down' on a loan if you doing one for the purchase. A life insurance policy for 15-20% of the purchase amount. A way to have the equivalent of GAP insurance on a loan. There might be other ways but these are the two that I have considered after the wife asked exactly the same type of question.