Class C cost in the Covid-Era

[SJ-Chris]

Class C RV cost in the Covid era...

Here is a good data point for USED RVs for anyone interested...
(I haven't shopped for NEW RVs so I don't know about that market...perhaps someone else here can comment on that.)


In Feb 2019 (pre-Covid), I bought two 2015 Class C Thor Majestic 28a renovated units from Cruise America. Each had ~115,000 miles. One I paid $26,750 and the other one I paid $25,000 (from someone who purchased it from Cruise America 2 months prior but decided it wasn't for them).

Assumption: Cruise America, the largest renter/seller of RVs in the world, knows what the current market for RVs is...

Today, Cruise America sells their used 2017 Thor Majestic 28a renovated units with ~125,000 miles for $44,300. Newer RVs (2017 vs 2015) but more slightly miles.

The interior/etc of these units is just about identical.

$44,300 vs $26,750. Today's price is 66% higher!

I would NOT be in a hurry to buy an RV in this market. In the USA, we are almost done with Covid (...anyone who wants to get vaccinated can now be vaccinated). Everything is opening up. Hotels/airlines/resorts. I have to imagine prices will drop significantly. Maybe not all the way down to pre-Covid levels, but hopefully just 10-15% higher than pre-Covid levels. That means they are probably due for a 30-40% price drop over the next 3 months to 3 years (....who knows?...)

Seems like a great time to just RENT an RV for your vacations over the next year. That's what I would do (...unless you plan on camping more than 50-100 days during the next year or two which most people won't).

Side note: Beware used RV sale scams....they seem to be on the rise!

Good luck!
Chris

[Oblina]

Boy, you are on the money! I’ve been pursuing the market for about 3yrs. Wrong time unless I’m willing to pay 5-6x’s Nada resale values in today’s market. No problem buying something older and used to start. But I am well aware of what environment and use, despite low mileage, does to vehicles. Covid appears to be an excuse for excessive prices. Gonna wait

[youracman]

Originally Posted by SJ-Chris

Class C RV cost in the Covid era...

Here is a good data point for USED RVs for anyone interested...
(I haven't shopped for NEW RVs so I don't know about that market...perhaps someone else here can comment on that.)


In Feb 2019 (pre-Covid), I bought two 2015 Class C Thor Majestic 28a renovated units from Cruise America. Each had ~115,000 miles. One I paid $26,750 and the other one I paid $25,000 (from someone who purchased it from Cruise America 2 months prior but decided it wasn't for them).

Assumption: Cruise America, the largest renter/seller of RVs in the world, knows what the current market for RVs is...

Today, Cruise America sells their used 2017 Thor Majestic 28a renovated units with ~125,000 miles for $44,300. Newer RVs (2017 vs 2015) but more slightly miles.

The interior/etc of these units is just about identical.

$44,300 vs $26,750. Today's price is 66% higher!

I would NOT be in a hurry to buy an RV in this market. In the USA, we are almost done with Covid (...anyone who wants to get vaccinated can now be vaccinated). Everything is opening up. Hotels/airlines/resorts. I have to imagine prices will drop significantly. Maybe not all the way down to pre-Covid levels, but hopefully just 10-15% higher than pre-Covid levels. That means they are probably due for a 30-40% price drop over the next 3 months to 3 years (....who knows?...)

Seems like a great time to just RENT an RV for your vacations over the next year. That's what I would do (...unless you plan on camping more than 50-100 days during the next year or two which most people won't).

Side note: Beware used RV sale scams....they seem to be on the rise!

Good luck!
Chris

Great post, Chris. Real-world data don't lie. Thanks for taking the time to post.

[Unclepaul]

In addition to supply/demand driving up the prices of RV's, the cost of producing them is going up as well. Labor, wood, metal, rent etc are all causing prices to go up. Lack of computer chips is also working to reduce supplies of new rigs.

Believe the new pricing is also going to become the new normal. Not sure pricing will ever go back to those 35% off deals everyone got when making them was cheap and lots of competition brought huge discounts.

Now, so many of the smaller companies (where some of the greatest deals were) have been gobbled up by giants like Thor and Winnebago. These corportations know how to optimize profits and build rigs that bring top dollar.

Everybody seems to think that rigs will drop in price once Covid is over. I am not all that sure that things will ever get back to the value pricing we saw a couple years back.

[Spidergawd]

I'm of the opinion that there were lots of folks desperate for some kind of family getaway last year, who purchased RVs without being fully aware of all the time and financial consequences.

Let's face it, this can be a rather expensive pastime, and I'm betting that many didn't take into account the full impact of storage, fuel, maintenance, supplies/accessories and the like, on top of the payments and (often) long terms of the loans.

Now, let's add that most working people will greatly overestimate the time they have to spend on RV trips, and recently they've surely found it tough to find decent campsites without knowing the ropes and planning WAY ahead.

IMO, all this together equals an upcoming oversupply of used units. I'm thinking maybe 2-3 years from now. Shorter term, I think there will be plenty of buyers for these newly used units, but that's only going to go so far as life returns to "normal" and people come to terms with the actual implications of their purchases. Whenever we cross that threshold, prices will begin to drop quickly, at least in the used market. New, I'd expect may take a bit longer.

YMMV. Apologies for the wall of text. I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

[DoC808]

Spot on. Last year (May 2020) I was in the market for a New Dynamax 28ss Explorer. I called several dealers and the going price was between $129 to $140. Today looking at RV trader, dealers want $208 to $225. I may put my 2007 Dynamax on the market
and sit for a year. I just hate not traveling...

Originally Posted by SJ-Chris

Class C RV cost in the Covid era...

Here is a good data point for USED RVs for anyone interested...
(I haven't shopped for NEW RVs so I don't know about that market...perhaps someone else here can comment on that.)


In Feb 2019 (pre-Covid), I bought two 2015 Class C Thor Majestic 28a renovated units from Cruise America. Each had ~115,000 miles. One I paid $26,750 and the other one I paid $25,000 (from someone who purchased it from Cruise America 2 months prior but decided it wasn't for them).

Assumption: Cruise America, the largest renter/seller of RVs in the world, knows what the current market for RVs is...

Today, Cruise America sells their used 2017 Thor Majestic 28a renovated units with ~125,000 miles for $44,300. Newer RVs (2017 vs 2015) but more slightly miles.

The interior/etc of these units is just about identical.

$44,300 vs $26,750. Today's price is 66% higher!

I would NOT be in a hurry to buy an RV in this market. In the USA, we are almost done with Covid (...anyone who wants to get vaccinated can now be vaccinated). Everything is opening up. Hotels/airlines/resorts. I have to imagine prices will drop significantly. Maybe not all the way down to pre-Covid levels, but hopefully just 10-15% higher than pre-Covid levels. That means they are probably due for a 30-40% price drop over the next 3 months to 3 years (....who knows?...)

Seems like a great time to just RENT an RV for your vacations over the next year. That's what I would do (...unless you plan on camping more than 50-100 days during the next year or two which most people won't).

Side note: Beware used RV sale scams....they seem to be on the rise!

Good luck!
Chris

[frank1018]

A lot of people bought. The class c demand in my area has been high. I think a lot of these people will want to sell and sooner rather than later. But wonder how upside down they will be in the market. I dont think prices will come falling down anytime soon due to what they paid. I would like to move up a couple years from my 2015 model, however I am not going to pay the current prices. Depreciation still matters to me also. From reading here, there seems also there were a couple bad production years no matter who the manufacturer was. Seems they threw them together to meet demand.