What's out there besides NADA Price Book????

[bamaboy473]

I know that the car market has a number of resources that give actual selling prices of cars...these being available to dealers, not the public.

KBB, NADA, etc. have public books whose pricing isn't the same...or accurate.


Is there anything in the motor home industry that gives actual selling prices for MHs? What we see in NADA Regular and Low Retail prices is so far off the mark as to be worthless.

There's nothing useful about motorhomes being priced around the country at $115,000 (+/- $10,000) and the NADA shows Retail pricing from $60-80,000.

Where does NADA get their info, and is there a more accurate resource?

[BFlinn181]

I think the issues in any pricing guide are related to the fact the number of units for sale is much less than autos or trucks. The level of equipment, maintenance, condition, etc. are going to dramatically influence value. In addition, the price listed and the actual sale price is often different by as much as 20-30% or more. We might not like NADA, but it is used by lending institutions to determine if they're going to loan money on the unit.

If selling, decide what you can afford to take for the vehicle then set your advertised price higher, allowing the buyer to feel they are getting a deal. If you get no lookers, your price is too high.

If buying, carefully calculate what you can afford and then exaggerate the predicted operation and maintenance costs. Much like the definition of a boat, "a hole in the water that you throw money at" an RV is a luxury item.

[isellem]

NADA is the only option and yes the wholesale side of the book is what a dealer uses to appraise your trade. NADA bases the value in the book on 18 months worth of data. Most dealers will not add to wholesale for FB paint or other options. NADA was also designed to help banks with loans and determining loan to value.

[bamaboy473]

I understand all of that. However, there's no way that motorhomes or cars or boats are priced at $110,000 pretty much across the board....and then somebody accepts an offer that's $50,000 less. No way that most sellers would do that.

Last week I contacted a guy with a Mandalay 40 whose price was in the mid $90K price range. He had already sold it for $92K. NADA had it in the high $60s, meaning that they were way off the mark (because it sold quickly in the 90s)

Having bad information is something to be concerned about if banks use NADA in order to make loans. It depresses the used MH market if somebody has to come up with 35% of the purchase price for used, but 10% for new...


Are there any real world information resources that dealers have access to..or that we could buy on a monthly basis?

[bamaboy473]

Originally Posted by isellem

NADA is the only option and yes the wholesale side of the book is what a dealer uses to appraise your trade. NADA bases the value in the book on 18 months worth of data. Most dealers will not add to wholesale for FB paint or other options. NADA was also designed to help banks with loans and determining loan to value.

...so there's a wholesale part that we don't get to see on the internet? OK, that's fine, but where do the Retail numbers come from? If, as you say, it's from 18 month's of data...and 18 months ago a coach might have been worth $6000 More, then I would expect to see prices higher than today's not lower.

Is NADA owned by the banking industry? That would explain things

[isellem]

They take 18 months worth of values and average them 4 times a year and print a book. NADA is it's own company. What I mean to say is the values are an average over 18 months of dealers trade ins. So if in the last 18 months 2 come on trade one for 100k and another for 120k NADA prints the book with 110k. Hope this helps

[isellem]

Not aware of a monthly just NADA quarterly. If the guy with the Mandalay got 92 he did well especially if NADA was 60

[BFlinn181]

Growing up around a marina on the Chesapeake, many boats that were a known piece of junk sold to a 'newbie' far above what it was actually worth. Often these boats soon proved to be in need of expensive repairs or dangerous and were sold at a loss or abandoned in the storage lot. The buyer needs to hire an inspector or learn to evaluate the unit on their own. Don't let emotion enter into the transaction.

[jlandon13399]

It is amazing how dealers work. They use NADA and auctions to determine what they will give you on a trade. Of course they always use the lowest price and it usually is the auction because there is no way for consumers to verify.

[Bigd9]

When we were in the market for a diesel pusher, we used a combination of NADA low retail, RV Trader, and most importantly we used PLL listing of units sold for the past year.

Used Diesel Motor Homes Sold - PPL Motor Homes (this is for diesel pushers buy they have other listings)

Those 3 gave us a good idea of what was worth. I showed all three to the PO, and he came down and accepted our offer.

[isellem]

I agree but this is how they protect themselves from being stuck with it if they can't sell it.

[bamaboy473]

Originally Posted by isellem

Not aware of a monthly just NADA quarterly. If the guy with the Mandalay got 92 he did well especially if NADA was 60

Not really, if you ask the rest of the people selling that same make/model. What you said makes sense in understanding NADA (kind of). IF they average dealer Trade-In prices, then it's got to be much lower than market price. IF there are only a couple of that brand/model and even one is high miles or POS, then it lowers the average even more.

That explanation doesn't help me understand why there's a Regular and a Low for Retail, if the number is an average of trade-in values.

More to the point, it doesn't ever address private sale prices, or retail sales prices. Now I see where that last 25% went to. Thanks for the info.

[bamaboy473]

Originally Posted by isellem

I agree but this is how they protect themselves from being stuck with it if they can't sell it.

If a bank wants more collateral, why not just adjust the amount they'll loan, rather than rely on information that's known to be out of touch with market values?

That still doesn't address the low number of coaches for each make/model, nor can it possibly capture private sale numbers.

OK, now I understand.

[isellem]

The bank takes the wholesale number and anything higher than that the buyer needs as cash down