Trade in Value & the Nada guide

[BoxCar1]

Hi folks,


I looked through the search feature and I'm still not confident that I've come up with a clear answer for my question.



I understand that the selling price in the Nadaguide is only a baseline. The condition that the Motor Home is in and the average national selling price is the TRUE price.


I'm curious about the trade-in price. When a dealer accepts a motorhome that you're trading in for a different motorhome, do they use nadaguide to give you a price? Or do they use the national price that the make/model is selling for?


I'm looking to buy my first RV and I don't want to be taken advantage of due to my ignorance. I spoke with a dealer yesterday and was rather surprised at his reaction when I mentioned nadaguide. We hadn't even talked price yet, I just brought it up.



If you trade in your RV do you get a low ball value on it or do you get the same value that you'd get if you sold it privately?


Thanks in advance!

[Jim_HiTek]

Depends on dealer but most will give you a low ball trade in value right off the bat, especially if you say you've never owned one. Try going to a different dealer and tell them you've bought 3 other RVs. Then, better to keep your mouth shut and have them think you're a fool, then open it and remove all doubt.

NADA=National Automotive DEALERS Assoc. So that book has inflated prices just like the dealers want in their direction. And deflated valves as a trade in.

Try PPL for real world values of used rigs, they are a consignment dealer...they sell far more than any other dealer in the US I believe so they'd have the best idea of what one is worth. Also, just enter your, or any other RV into google, and you'll find used ones for sale all over the country. You can make your own judgement as to any used RVs worth that way. Of course a dealer would have to get it for much less then street value because of the things they'd have to do to get it ready to sell to it's next owner.

For new, you can almost always negotiate at least 25% off the dealers price. Especially now since sales have dropped off a cliff because of the horrendously bad quality the manufacturers are shipping.

[Hikerdogs]

It has been my experience that most dealers don't use NADA, Kelley, Edmunds, Carfax or any other pricing guide for anything other than determining what options were available for a particular make, model, and year. They use this information to determine how much to add or deduct when either buying or selling a vehicle.

Most everyone uses the local banking system's loan value as a guideline as to what the vehicle is worth as a trade. Unless the vehicle is in like new condition with exceptionally low mileage and needs nothing more than a wash and wax they offer a percentage of the loan value.

Dealers do what's referred to as "Floor Planning". What it means is that they borrow money from a local lending institution to finance the purchase (whether it be new from the factory, or a customer trade in). The amount they can finance is a percentage of the loan value, or in the case of a new vehicle a percentage of the "invoice price".

Each month the vehicle sets on the lot the dealer pays interest on the loan. When the vehicle is sold they pay off the principal. The longer the vehicle sets on the lot the more money the dealer has invested, and the less they are willing to reduce the price.

At some point the cost of the loan may be enough to wipe out any potential profit. At that point they either wholesale it, send it at an auction, or sell it retail at a loss.

[Isaac-1]

NADA is generally useless on older motorhomes, at best it provides a ballpark figure, make that a very big ballpark figure. PPL is a good tool, though I hate to think the units they have for sale are in average condition, if so based on a half day I spent wondering their lot when I needed to kill time in that part of Houston last year average is far worse shape than I would have thought. Out of dozens of motorhomes I looked at, none were in what I would even call very good condition, and very few would be in what I would call good condition.

[Teamfoxy]

I don't know what guide Lazydays used when we traided in our Itasca, but I believe that is was higher than I would have gotten in any private sale. These guys all know what the trade will sell for and what they will have to put into the trade in order to sell it.
The selling price of the coach I was buying had already been settled before we talked trade as I was planning to sell the old one privately. We had already signed the purchase agreement on the "new to us" one and placed our deposit on it.

[winniman]

Originally Posted by Teamfoxy

I don't know what guide Lazydays used when we traided in our Itasca, but I believe that is was higher than I would have gotten in any private sale. These guys all know what the trade will sell for and what they will have to put into the trade in order to sell it.
The selling price of the coach I was buying had already been settled before we talked trade as I was planning to sell the old one privately. We had already signed the purchase agreement on the "new to us" one and placed our deposit on it.

Dealers would be out of business if they gave more than wholesale for a trade in. This is generally about 60% of what a private sale would bring. They have to fix it, clean it, and sit on it until it sells. They have buildings and overhead to pay. They can’t give you retail price for a trade in.

[Waiter21]

I'm looking to buy my first RV and I don't want to be taken advantage of due to my ignorance.

I got some bad news for you.....

What the dealer gives you will probably depend on what the margin is on what your buying. i.e. he''ll give you twice what you could get for it if you sold it privately, but what do you think the cost will be of the MH your buying..

The dealer is either going to keep the trade in on their lot and make money off of it, or, they'll send it to the broker / auctioneer where it may go out on consignment or sale on someones else's lot.

If you really want to see what the dealer will give you for it, do this.. Negotiate your absolute best deal on the unit your buying and don't mention you want to trade something in. When you are almost ready to close the deal, mention you want to trade in your old MH.. You better be sitting down when you get the answer.

The more knowledgeable you are as to the worth and market vale, the better condition you will be to negotiate a price that you believe is fair.


..

[Teamfoxy]

Originally Posted by Waiter21

I got some bad news for you.....

What the dealer gives you will probably depend on what the margin is on what your buying. i.e. he''ll give you twice what you could get for it if you sold it privately, but what do you think the cost will be of the MH your buying..

The dealer is either going to keep the trade in on their lot and make money off of it, or, they'll send it to the broker / auctioneer where it may go out on consignment or sale on someones else's lot.

If you really want to see what the dealer will give you for it, do this.. Negotiate your absolute best deal on the unit your buying and don't mention you want to trade something in. When you are almost ready to close the deal, mention you want to trade in your old MH.. You better be sitting down when you get the answer.

The more knowledgeable you are as to the worth and market vale, the better condition you will be to negotiate a price that you believe is fair.
..

My Itasca was 15 years old, but everything worked well on it so it didn't need too much fixing. I have been the private sale route before on several RV's and the Itasca was in fact being advertised for sale privately. As a private seller with an RV that age, you are pretty much looking for a cash buyer or someone with an equity credit line because most lenders do not want to touch it.
As noted, we had negotiated the deal, the dealer did know about the old RV, but I had already told them I planned to sell it privately. I had done the homework and knew pretty much what I could expect to get for it, but did not relay that to the salesman. The salesman took the information on the trade, went away to run the numbers and came back with an offer that was a lot higher than I expected it to be. Knowing that I would get a break on sales tax and not wanting to own two RV's, I traded.
While I have seen negative comments about LazyDays on the Forum, my experience with them was great. They did everything they said they would do. I have two friends that purchased from LazyDays, one twice, and their experiences were positive as well.

[funmoneypit]

Originally Posted by BoxCar1

Hi folks,


I looked through the search feature and I'm still not confident that I've come up with a clear answer for my question.



I understand that the selling price in the Nadaguide is only a baseline. The condition that the Motor Home is in and the average national selling price is the TRUE price.


I'm curious about the trade-in price. When a dealer accepts a motorhome that you're trading in for a different motorhome, do they use nadaguide to give you a price? Or do they use the national price that the make/model is selling for?


I'm looking to buy my first RV and I don't want to be taken advantage of due to my ignorance. I spoke with a dealer yesterday and was rather surprised at his reaction when I mentioned nadaguide. We hadn't even talked price yet, I just brought it up.



If you trade in your RV do you get a low ball value on it or do you get the same value that you'd get if you sold it privately?


Thanks in advance!

I am confused. You say you are buying your first RV but you are interested in what a dealer will give for a trade-in. Are you trying to figure out what to offer for a MH based on what they may have paid for it? What they may have paid for any MH really doesn't matter, there are a lot of other costs too. Any guide we can reference has no bearing on the value a dealer will give a unit.

As has been stated, they will give you less than what they can sell it for so they can make money. No different than car dealers. Anyone that says they got more from a dealer than they could sell it for themselves didn't understand what their unit was really worth as the dealer is going to sell it for even more. The dealer knows the true value. Some people trade for the convenience. They don't want the hassle of selling.

It is best to know the value of units around you. In the north prices will be a little higher in spring and in the middle of prime camping time and lower in late fall and winter. In the south (Florida, Texas, Arizona), prices can be a little lower in the summer but can go higher in the winter with snowbirds.

The biggest thing is what is a unit worth to you? Also don't fall in love with a unit, there are more out there.

Good luck with your search.

[deandec]

"the average national selling price is the TRUE price."

I have been unable to find this price information.

[Jim_HiTek]

Depends on the model of course, but sometimes it's difficult to find an average national price for a used unit. Just googleing the year, brand and model will likely bring you many threads of used units so try that.

Note that because the newer RVs are being shipping with such horrendous quality issues and have been for 4-5 years now that the values of used units, especially those that used to have a good name, have started to skyrocket.

It's tough to find something good. Back in '16, after 2 years of trying to find something I wanted, at a price I could bring myself to pay, I finally found the type I wanted with all the features I was looking for...at a consignment dealer. And yes, i paid $10K more then I could have found it on the street somewhere in the US but I was mentally exhausted trying to find something that fit. So I jumped on it. Have not regretted it.

Happy hunting, hope you find what is best for you!

[Ray,IN]

Many replies have already said my opinions. A used car/MH salesman might offer you $20K more than your trade-in is actually worth on the open market. Then the price of what you are interested in goes $20K higher also.
The ONLY way to beat a sales-person at their game is to crunch the numbers, make a decision what difference you are willing to give- then stick with your decision, no more discussions.
This method removes a sales-persons tactics from the negotiations and put the process in your hands.

[awol50]

Three years ago I traded in my 15 year old fleetwood class a for a new Winnie class a.
Dealer offered $18k for old unit and $173k for new unit. Net of $155k plus tax and tags.
Turned down the offer. Dealer would not budge.
Bought identical unit for $165k plus tax and tags outright. Sold old unit privately for $24.5k in less 3 days. Advertised on Craigslist only.
So saved about $15k after accounting for sales tax. Actually paid lower sales tax total since sales tax rate was over 1% lower since bought out of state and when registering in Washington on out of state purchase you pay rate where you live.
$15k savings for about 10 hours work including drive time. Not to bad.

[Gary RVRoamer]

There is no such thing as a "national average selling price" for an RV because nobody collects that information. Unlike car sales, dealers don't report every RV sale to some central agency. Nor is there a nationwide system of dealer auctions to report wholesale prices.


Trade-in value is a fictitious number anyway, since it is a combination of the wholesale value of the vehicle plus whatever discounts the dealer may be willing to give on what you are buying. That's why the books have separate values for wholesale and trade. Again, there is no reporting of trade-in values for RVs, so NADA or Black Book or any other is just an estimate. Black Book says they have some auction data, so maybe they are closer.


Somebody mentioned floor plans and loan value and that is correct, but where do they get the loan value? It's derived from sources like NADA (KBB no longer does RVs).