One of the hard financial facts about buying a new RV is that it loses a lot of value as soon as you drive it off the lot. I bought a big 5th Wheel to live in while I was working away from home, but when I was laid off, I had no way to move it (need a new truck) and I'm underwater on the loan because I haven't been able to sell it for what I owe.

I learned a lot from this experience. If I could do it over, I would use the advice below to not lose so much on an investment in an RV.

  • Do your research and make sure you're buying the right RV for your needs. If you buy a fifth wheel and later decide you need a motorhome, you're going to take it in the shorts for the mistake.
  • When buying new, don't buy a top-of-the-line rig. That $130,000 Crossroads Redwood, discounted to $108K, most likely won't sell for $60K once it leaves the lot.
  • Find a new model from last year that is being sold at a steeper discount.
  • Buy used to save big bucks. There are often good deals on low-mileage lightly used RV's. For instance, my neighbors sold their like-new, 10-year old 27-foot Class C motorhome with only 9,000 miles on it for $12,000.
  • Find a new or used discontinued model. For instance, Carriage was a top-of-the-line fifth-wheel manufacturer that went out of business in 2012. Carriage Cameos have a lot of luxury features that other expensive RV's don't have or charge extra for. The components in a Carriage Cameo can be found at any RV supplier, so if something breaks it doesn't matter that the RV manufacturer is out of business. So if you can find a used one, you'll pay tens of thousands of dollars less than you would for a less-well equipped Crossroads Redwood. There may even be some new ones left gathering dust on some dealer's lot.
  • Buy used to save on registration fees - tags in many states are based on the purchase price and age of the trailer. New rigs can cost thousands to register each year. Finding a used rig in like-new condition will save hundreds or thousands in fees.
  • Buy used to save on sales tax - when sales tax is a percentage of the sale price, you can save thousands by getting the sale price lower at the dealer. If you buy used from a private party, you may not have to pay any sales tax.

If anybody is interested in my 2012 37 foot Fifth Wheel Travel Trailer, which I'm selling for about $40K less than it was new, check it out at Camping World - the Stock ID is AVO538288

January, 2015 - Finally gave in and sold the RV to Camping World. After having the RV on consignment for over a year at Camping World, we had only received two lowball offers. (Let me tell you that we were not very happy with Camping World - they didn't try very hard to sell our unit.) Had to take $8K less than we owed on it, so we're still paying for the mistake, but at least the ordeal is over.

jun 3 2014 ∞
mar 11 2015 +