New Rig Warranty v New Rig Depreciation

[Zigzag03]

I think the bottom lines are:

If you can afford to buy new and can afford to eat the time spent with repairs and the price hit if you hate it in 2 years, then buy new.

If you have to finance heavily to get new, or you're not sure if you can hack the lifestyle, or if you don't know what you don't know about what you want in a rig, then buy used.

Thanks for the many well thought out responses.

[Bob Hyatt]

Originally Posted by Winemaker2

Bob Hyatt wrote...
You only lose if you sell...

I disagree... you are out the purchase price when you buy and even if you keep it till you are cold you or your heirs only get part of it back when they sell... otherwise you are out the total purchase price.
You just don't know how much it was per year or per mile until you sell.
That concept is the same new or used the outlay is different... that's the point.
If money is no object new will always be better... but not always trouble free or zero cost to get it fixed if you value lost use time or travel back to dealers / factory.

We will have to agree to disagree. One example. Alabama started a PACT program quite a few years ago (Prepaid Affordable College Tuition). Idea was you would buy in when kids are young, and when they were ready to go to a university, you would have a "pass" on the tuition in-state. Really reasonable deal. Unfortunately, the person responsible starred in a movie "clueless in Seattle" (Kay Ivey, our current governor). When the stock market had the big drop, she promptly SOLD the stock the PACT program was using as a growth means. Lost about 50%. I sold NOTHING. I retired in 2016 and the stocks I had invested in had recovered and then some, averaging beyond 10% per year. Buy high, sell low is a known losing strategy. In that downturn, I lost zero, because I didn't sell. That was my point above. I am personally not going to lose a penny on our new RV because my wife and I have no plans to sell it, ever. What happens beyond our death is beyond my pay grade and I don't really care.

As far as the purchase price goes, and being out that amount of money, if we couldn't afford it, we wouldn't have plunked down that much cash and walked out new Tiffin owners. So the selling price was never an issue. We went in knowing what we wanted, how much we wanted to spend, with the intent of NOT putting ourselves into some sort of financial bind since we are retired. If the RV totally disappeared from the planet, we'd miss the trips we have planned, but it would absolutely no impact on our finances...

These things were never investments. Just like boats. If you want one, and can afford it, no reason not to get it. If you want it, and can't afford it, that is a different problem. If the goal is to "RV on a budget" there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. If the goal is to "RV with minimal problems" that is also perfectly reasonable so long as you can really afford to buy new. This old vs new is not about appreciation/depreciation. That's just a justification. It is really about what one can afford without creating a financial problem. I know people that only buy used cars. And have pretty good luck overall, with the occasional disaster. But they are not able to spend north of $30K to buy new. You do what you can do that will work to your satisfaction.

[Ludmilla]

If I had the money to purchase the RV I want new, I would have done so. Since I did not have that much money, I purchased a used one. Even the used RV loses money every year, although not as much as a new one does in the first year. But we love the RV.

As far as the warranty, I do not think the new warranty time are long enough to use the warranty time as a reason to purchase either new or used. Many other factors are much more important. What do you need/want and can you afford it and leave you money to pay for trips and maintenance? Can you find what you want used? If you want used, how old do you want to or need to go? You are better buying quality and going old than new and getting a lower quality unit.

[Winemaker2]

Bob H
I think we are much closer to agreeing w your clarification.
If budget is not a concern and you never worry about recovering any of your purchase cost... I agree completely.

Even those w that attitude have limits... otherwise EVERYONE buying new would own a Prevost because it doesn't cost anything if you don't resell it????
Buy it for keeps it doesn't lose depreciation. .. always worth what you paid for it... I don't think so!!!

Buy stock and the Co declares bankruptcy... you don't sell... no loss I don't think so you are still out purchase$ whether you sell the stock burn it or paper your office... if it has no value it has no value. Doesn'tean you can't savor the memories, use it or pass it on to heirs... value is what it is... you LOCK IT IN when you sell... but can't slter it by not selling.

[Diesel-Lover]

The more I look at the RV arena and yep been in it since the 80s as an owner and as a guest user/renter in the 70s, it seems the with the Total cost of ownership and the pain and headaches not to mention the operating costs as in fuel and site rents its getting economical to fly and rent a place well it was till rental cars kinda evaporated! But if staying put in one location to RnR a VRBO or some such and a flight may be lot less stressful. What say you all? BTW I still have a Rig its microsized to a B and been through all the types to get here through the years and lifecycle stages!

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by Diesel-Lover

The more I look at the RV arena and yep been in it since the 80s as an owner and as a guest user/renter in the 70s, it seems the with the Total cost of ownership and the pain and headaches not to mention the operating costs as in fuel and site rents its getting economical to fly and rent a place well it was till rental cars kinda evaporated! But if staying put in one location to RnR a VRBO or some such and a flight may be lot less stressful. What say you all? BTW I still have a Rig its microsized to a B and been through all the types to get here through the years and lifecycle stages!

Agree but only to a point...
We looked at that option several years back when deciding upgrade MH vs just rent for V snowbirding in FL. Problem for us was a pet and # of rentals went from pages to count on one hand and when contacted half of those were uncooperative / cold. Rentals w pets is possible but very , very, difficult in many locations.

[Diesel-Lover]

Originally Posted by Winemaker2

Agree but only to a point...
We looked at that option several years back when deciding upgrade MH vs just rent for V snowbirding in FL. Problem for us was a pet and # of rentals went from pages to count on one hand and when contacted half of those were uncooperative / cold. Rentals w pets is possible but very , very, difficult in many locations.

Yes landlords and pets are a tough scene though its seems to be getting easier if the hefty cleanup fee can be dealt with over a longer term rental! One VRBO charged a friend to have all the carpets and floors detailed after a winter rental in FL, clearwater area. The next time onward they have been doing a non-carpeted gulf front condo near Clearwater from an owner who goes to Europe every winter! They now have a great relationship and its a win win. As to RVing, the need for reservations ahead of time for the larger rigs was killing me as our needs are dynamic and things always seemed to change at the last minute. The downsizing was driven by that as well as the fact that kids are now grown and on their own, while our vacationing is basically a max of a week in one place if that! Not being a fan of the RV resort style process and more into County/State/Fed style "camping in RV", vacations the micro size works well. We even use tent sites if available... in some places they make ya pitch a tent as a requirement!

In the end its whatever works for each and the variables they want to deal with, mostly had new units and some major warranty headaches. Though one of my units suffered a major deamination issue, the manufacturer stripped off the whole side and redid it, was gruesome to watch but the end result was fantastic. They also went over the whole coach with a fine tooth comb and fixed anything and every thing even doing some customizing and upgrades for free!
Enjoy the travels and stay safe out there, the states are a changing and fast.

[Dutch Star Don]

Hotels, airfare and car rentals are going up in price as fast as RVing.

[NC25T]

So many people say don’t buy new because of depreciation & new RV issues

The problem I usually see is people talk about depreciation and seem to compare to MSRP of the coach, not what it actually sold for. Seems like more often then not, you can find a 1 or two year old coach being sold for more then you can get a new one, that is after the haggling is done.

Which makes the discussion a bit more complicated when depreciation is the concern/issue.

[daveh5525]

Originally Posted by NC25T

So many people say don’t buy new because of depreciation & new RV issues

The problem I usually see is people talk about depreciation and seem to compare to MSRP of the coach, not what it actually sold for. Seems like more often then not, you can find a 1 or two year old coach being sold for more then you can get a new one, that is after the haggling is done.

Which makes the discussion a bit more complicated when depreciation is the concern/issue.

I agree. We bought a 2018 used unit in April of 2021 and the price difference between original MSRP and our purchase price was about 32% off. That is close to an average off MSRP in a normal market. I am interested in tracking this as the RV market stabilizes as we plan to buy more of what fits us better in a year or so.