Purchasing RV from Craigslist

[Jim Stewart]

Yes you did say that, it is intersting that as we age we think we are thinking something and actually are saying something instead.

A good rule of thumb, if it sounds too good to be true it is.

For kicks, I followed a too good to be price on a unit listed on RV Trader. I offered cash when delivered to my home. He insisted on keeping it honest and using his E-Bay account. I answered the ad using one e-mail address and answered again a few days later using another. Interesting that he changed stories as to the reason for the sale and where the Coach was located, but not the payment arrangements.

He gave me his name and phone number and I called him, he answered. I took his number and information and turned it into RV Trader and because he was commiting fraud on the internet, the FBI. Funny thing, I have not heard back from the guy.

[Dmiles]

Originally Posted by lostone65

craigs list is as good as a place to buy as ebay. the difference is you don't have to pay till you actually see the item, but fleabay you will hae to pay a fee ranging around 500.00 then go see what you bought. just my 2 cents, lostone65

If by "fee" you mean "down payment" that is only required if it is stated in the ad. On eBay sellers pay all fees. Any downpayment you do make is applied to the purchase price, so it is not a fee per se. Maybe a minor point, but I didn't want folks thinking they had to pay a $500 fee to buy on eBay. I got a good deal there. When the auction was over, the seller decided he wanted a $2500 down payment. (I'm in VA, he is in Florida). After I stopped laughing I was able to verify...no down payment stated in the ad...no down payment required. I wished him well on selling his class A motor home while gas was $4 a gallon, and he backed down on the down payment.

While we were doing the deal he did say he felt taken advantage of because it was the first time he had sold on eBay, and he didn't know he had to specify a down payment. But the MH was worth the price and then some, so I had no intention of backing out. I left him positive feedback and he refused to do the same for me. No big deal, so I have 104 positives instead of 105. I will try to carry on without it.

[CoCoDave]

Faye,

The EFT transfer will usually work as Jeff mentioned. What we did was write a personal check to the lender for the entire sales price amount. They gave us a bill of sale and stipulated that a release of title would follow upon our check clearing. The lender deposited the excess in the seller's account. We drove away that day in the new-to-us coach.

I learned that, at least in Washington State, motor homes that are financed don't necessarily get a paper title. That was the case in our deal. So the lender (Boeing Credit Union) supplied paperwork that would enable the state to issue a paper title to us for the unit since we were not financing the purchase. Had we financed the purchase, our lien holder would have gotten an electronic version of the title like the one Boeing CU was holding.

When I got the forms from Boeing CU, I went to the county courthouse, paid the sales tax, and got a brand new paper title. The state allows an up-to-date registration to be transferred for a $4.00 filing fee. So I got almost 11 months of paid registration in the process.

Not a big deal because in Washington the motor home license is something like $111 and I still had to pay the sales tax.

Speaking of titles, licenses, taxes and Craigslist - One Craigslist seller suggested that they would understate the amount paid on a bill of sale so that we would not have to pay so much in sales tax. Just remember - it may be OK for the politicians to lie, cheat, and steal but if you try to get out of paying a penny in taxes of any kind they will hunt you down and hurt you.

In Washington they have a matrix with the original MSRP on one axis and the age on the other axis. Go to the age and follow that row to the MSRP column and the cell will contain the percentage of remaining value. The state then charges the sales tax based on the resulting amount. For example, if the original MSRP for your coach was $200,000 and it's ten years old, the remaining value (in the state's eyes) might be 50%. They would then want to charge you sales tax based on $100,000. There is a little wiggle room in those percentages but they wont let you get away with claiming that you paid $50K for that $100K used coach.

FWIW

[LVJ58]

I have a good friend back in St. Joseph MO who just listed his 2002 Safari DP LTD edition with mid entry on Craigs List for $89K. It's one nice clean coach and he's always had it serviced regularly.