Motorhome lenders and a coach review

[JamisonJ]

Hello all, long time lurker. Been doing a lot of research here and reading.

I probably missed this one topic along the way so I thought I would just ask it here, I apologize if it’s the wrong place.

Wife and I are getting close to pulling the trigger on our first coach and was wondering who people recommend for good motorhome lenders. Who would you recommend and who would you tell me to stay away from.

On my review question, for those of you familiar with holiday rambler, do you have any pros and cons you could tell me about your experience with? We are looking at potentially purchasing a 2005 Holiday Rambler 40PLQ, very clean 70,000 mile unit.

Looking forward to any help on these two topics and again, sorry if this was posted in the wrong place.

[deprived]

First off, Holiday Rambler is generally speaking a great coach. Google (and this forum) are your friend, so look up as much as you can so you won't be blindsided by a common or predictable problem. All coaches and manufacturers have their quirks or in some cases, catastrophes.

As far as lenders go, I like USAA or Wells Fargo.

Bear in mind that lenders will only loan you book value (or less) on an older coach.

Years ago we bought a super-restored 1986 Sunrader that was worth about 15 grand but the blue book was something like 8k because at that point most 1986 campers are pretty much ready for the scrap-yard.

One thing I've seen a lot is new coach owners sometimes do not set aside enough money for the inevitable first-round maintenance all new owners must face. RVs ARE nothing but maintenance, replacing and fixing. That's the truth, but if you're cool with it, then owning an RV is great. But even your super-great-shape used RV is going to need a round of fixes and replacements that eluded the inspector.

Good luck and be careful!

[dizcom]

Bank of the West, USBank, Bank of America are common. We've used all three of them and they all work about the same. Good idea to shop a bit. Some only work through dealers.



Holiday Rambler is a great coach. They've been an innovator in the industry for years and are often copied by others. Great bang for the buck, they typically have more features for the money than any other brand. The 40PLQ was an interesting design. Left some room for customization without a bunch of hassle. I'd bet you could configure it to your liking easier than a lot of newer coaches. Good luck!

[puttin]

Some good news is you won't need to do financing from a dealer! Bank of the West has changed to something else as of last year but in name only. I'd check with your bank first. Congrats on the new rig!

[vito.a]

Monaco Coach Corp purchased Holiday Rambler in 1996. At the time, Monaco was the largest RV manufacturer in the world. The entire RV industry crashed in 2008-2009 and Monaco Coach Corp was Sold to Navistar. Navistar later sold Monaco Coach to Allied Specialty in 2013 which later morphed into REV Group. Current model year Holiday Rambler coaches are actually rebadged Fleetwood coaches.

So, a 2005 model was build by Monaco and should be very good quality.
However, your description is missing the model name within the Holiday Rambler lineup: " Endeavor, Imperial, or Navigator.

I would start talking with lenders early as many will not finance an RV older than 10 years.
Best of luck!

[Isaac-1]

Be aware that most of the major lenders will not do RV loans on coaches over about 12 years of age. Having said that many people have found success getting loans on RV's older than this through local financing options, most commonly through local credit unions, though we did finance our coach when it was 14 years old through a local bank, though our story on this may be more of an exception than the rule as I have a substantial past relationship with the bank, and we only financed over a 3-4 year period in order to avoid taking a tax hit on liquidating stocks to get cash on hand to make the purchase.

[Flyer15015]

Why not try a home equity loan and bring the purchase cost down with a cash offer?
You might get a much lower interest rate on a home loan too.

Mike in Colorado

[Timaz]

I would say go to a credit union or see if the dealer uses a credit union. You will find better rates with them.
Tim

[JamisonJ]

Thank you all very much for your replies. after much deliberation, I think I’m going to pass on this one for now. After a couple of long closer look meetings there are Too many little things that need to be fixed, Adding up to more than I care to put into her just starting out

[arcaguy]

There is some good information here regarding financing. The cheapest method would be to use your home as collateral and get some sort of a home equity loan possibly a cash-out refi. With rates finally actually starting to rise I might avoid an equity loan as they are generally variable rate. I would also go with an institution you are familiar with if you go with an older coach as they will be more familiar with you. I would also stick with a fairly short amortization period but this likely won't be possible if you go the cash-out refi route. Whatever you do find a good coach and good luck.

[Flyer15015]

Yup, a refi is most likely better than a home equity, and the interest is tax deductible.
Well, at least for now..........

[Diesel-Lover]

A NOTE on the NOTE you are about to undertake... The depreciation of the Rig is fast and furious specially when its new and new ish and does slow down after a bit and then speeds up like lightening after that... find a sweet spot if buying used. Kiss the money goodbye if buying new!


Once you get into this hobby, its all consuming monetarily and time wise as well. Maintenance is a blitch and service levels from the shops, manufacturers etc. pitiful, well self pitiful as they don't give a hoot generally speaking.


Bright side is once you are addicted you will keep on keeping on and always come back to a rolling palace with your own bed parking at places that charge the same as motel rooms to 5 star resort property suites. Paying mega bucks for fuel and spending hours behind the wheel but you do it your way and that is the benefit and at your schedule well sorta c.s you gotta get to the next parking spot and keep the reservation... back in the day reservations were not all that necessary as there were extra spots, now even the least likely place is filled to the gills bum to bum and armpit to armpit.

[Inthe70s]

We recently bought a 2007 Holiday Rambler Navigator 45’ w/ 50k miles and in excellent condition. I consider it to be one of the best quality production coaches built. I put 1/3 cash down and financed the rest through my credit union. I also bought it for about $70K under NADA. Our credit union is one of the few that doesn’t care about the age and it’s based upon nada value and your fico score and overall credit worthiness. I could have did a HELOC or equity loan but I do not like taking money out of our home. I got a 4% interest rate and they gave me $300 bonus. I plan to pay it off over 3-4 years.

[KenZ71]

Jeff.McLeod@newcoast.com got me a great rate a month ago when we bought our 10 year old coach.

Also Sarah.Haroldson@newcoast.com helped us tremendously for insurance

from signing purchase and sale to taking possession was one week.