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LarryJB · 03-07-2018, 06:40 AM

I have been researching new vs slightly used values. Either I am confused or I am missing something. I am looking at a Newmar Ventana 4037. NADA says the approximate list price of a 2017 is 348,954 with an average retail of 281,400.
My understanding is that it is reasonable to get 30% off list on a new one, so that would be 244,268. That is 37,132 less than the average retail listed. To me this seems to imply that the value of the used 2017 is actually higher than what someone paid for it new.
Their definition of suggested list price is the MSRP, and the average retail price is the average price being paid for the MH.
What am I missing here? This doesn't make sense to me.

okcnewbie · 03-07-2018, 08:09 AM

Based on the same model/year on RVtrader I would guess that some where between the two prices you listed would be right.

LarryJB · 03-07-2018, 08:15 AM

These numbers seem to say I could get a new one for less than a used one. This can't be right. I figure I am misunderstanding something.

paddler1954 · 03-07-2018, 08:30 AM

Larry,
NADA pricing really sucks for the exact reason you mentioned, the new 25%-35% off MSRP. About the closest you will come to a reasonable value is to take the average between trade-in and low retail. But keep in mind, higher quality used coaches do have more demand than a middle of the road coach.

okcnewbie · 03-07-2018, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LarryJB

These numbers seem to say I could get a new one for less than a used one. This can't be right. I figure I am misunderstanding something.

Larry, you ask valid questions and I'll be following this just out of curiosity. (don't think I'll ever buy a 1-2 year old MH)

I bet the numbers you state are close and it would make it very difficult to sell a 1 year old luxury MH. I did only find one 2017 model on RVtrader in the model you listed. I also wonder if the glut of buyers is going to start affecting the number that we've used for years.
Generally speaking I've always heard 25-30% off MSRP. Also, my own research shows about a 5% decrease in price per year.

Don and Kim · 03-07-2018, 08:45 AM

The pricing on 1 or 2 year old coaches is not accurate for the reason you stated, a brand new one can be ordered for much less than a year old one. We just went through this in the process of finding our latest coach. We had our short list of Newmar and Tiffin but so many were priced way out of site but we didn't want to buy new. We finally found ours at a dealer and it priced between low retail and avg retail. btw, we found better pricing from dealers and consignment than private owners in our search.

Don

fpresto · 03-07-2018, 09:27 AM

NADA was never designed for RVs. For a car or truck of a specific model there are many sold every day so a baseline can be built. How many of a specific model used RV is sold daily, weekly, etc. They just use the MSRP as a starting point and deduct a certain percentage every year.

FarmerB4 · 03-07-2018, 09:36 AM

The same thing is true of used cars , trucks , boats etc. That's why so many of us set out to buy ,one of the above , slightly used, say 1 or 2 yrs old ,

and ends up with a new one !

Gary RVRoamer · 03-07-2018, 03:57 PM

It is certainly possible to get 25-30% off on many new models 9if you shop around, but I don't think the average new model sells at 30% off. Most dealers try to sell at about 15% under MSRP, and they get buyers.

That said, there is national reporting system for RV sales so NADA values for RVs are estimated depreciation rather than an average of actual sales prices as they are for cars. The values shown in the free online version are no more than a guestimate. The paid subscription version is probably somewhat more accurate, but there is still a wide variation, both regionally and seasonally. Condition is also a major factor.

vito.a · 03-07-2018, 04:49 PM

I agree with Gary. We subscribed to the NADA RV wholesale values for a year when we were searching. It was the only way to get realistic values.

Winemaker2 · 03-07-2018, 05:08 PM

Just my opinion...and have little data to back it up. However...

I believe the dealers intentionally keep the reported sale price of used units artificially high by reporting their ask price as the selling price and playing games w the trade-in value.

I have only traded once but that was what the dealer did in my case. Cash price if I didn't trade was significantly lower that what was shown with a trade.

This also helps appease the buyers mental state as they can brag... "I got more for my trade than it was worth"

Many people involve a trade which complicates any analysis. Higher values are favorable to dealers so it's in their interest to show higher prices.

It would be ontetedting but imposdible to see a comparison of allowed $ on a yrade in vs ACTUAL selling price when that used unit was resold.

tropical36 · 03-08-2018, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

It is certainly possible to get 25-30% off on many new models 9if you shop around, but I don't think the average new model sells at 30% off. Most dealers try to sell at about 15% under MSRP, and they get buyers.

That said, there is national reporting system for RV sales so NADA values for RVs are estimated depreciation rather than an average of actual sales prices as they are for cars. The values shown in the free online version are no more than a guestimate. The paid subscription version is probably somewhat more accurate, but there is still a wide variation, both regionally and seasonally. Condition is also a major factor.

Gary...
Any links available to these free sales reporting systems, as I have been unable to locate one?

Gary RVRoamer · 03-08-2018, 03:03 PM

Sorry - there was a word omitted from my previous post.

It should have read "That said, there is NO national reporting system for RV sales..."

If sales transactions were regularly reported (accurately or not), the NADA RV guide would have much better information.

As Winemaker says, even with sales reports the data can be skewed because trade-in transactions often have an artificially high price. A lot of car price data comes from the used car auctions, so that helps regularize the price data, but RVs don't have an extensive auction sale network either. You simply cannot set a lot of value by NADA numbers for RVs - the market has too many pricing variables.

tropical36 · 03-08-2018, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

Sorry - there was a word omitted from my previous post.

It should have read "That said, there is NO national reporting system for RV sales..."

If sales transactions were regularly reported (accurately or not), the NADA RV guide would have much better information.

As Winemaker says, even with sales reports the data can be skewed because trade-in transactions often have an artificially high price. A lot of car price data comes from the used car auctions, so that helps regularize the price data, but RVs don't have an extensive auction sale network either. You simply cannot set a lot of value by NADA numbers for RVs - the market has too many pricing variables.

Probably why I couldn't find anything...lol.
Anyway, with what I'm seeing here and there, the NADA isn't such a bad reference, once you know it's limitations and it seems that most private sales fall close or under low retail. In fact that was my personal experience in 2016. I bought from a consignment Dealer and thought I did pretty well. Naturally for them, it was all profit with no investment, so the seller took a pretty good hit.
As for regular Dealers and buying straight out, it usually falls somewhere in between low and high on the NADA. Once a trade is involved, it's more like wholesaling yours and buying theirs for high retail. In fact, it has to be that way for them to stay in business.