What to do with my Cyclone for the next 2 years?

I am trying to decide what to do with my Cyclone 3100. We love it and have tried getting out at least once a month. In actuality, it turns into about 10 trips a year. I will be going back to school this fall for a MBA! Unfortunately that means I will be very busy for the next 2 years. My classes will be on Thursdays and Saturdays, so my weekends will be gone. That is pretty much when we used the trailer.

So, I need to decide if I keep the Cyclone and store it for 2 years, or think about selling it? I have heard that storing a trailer and not using it will cause it to fall apart. I have seen this several times with homes, so I do believe it to be true. I could try selling it, then in 2 years look at a new one. My original plan was to keep the trailer for 5-7 years then upgrade. We are on our 4th year already, so the timing is not too far off.

I guess my biggest concern is depreciation on the trailer. I know I took the biggest depreciation at time of delivery, but will I lose much more between years 4 and 6? If the value remains about the same, then there is no reason to sell it now. If there is a larger market for < 5 year old rigs, then maybe selling now and buying when we can use it makes more sense.

I would love to hear feedback from others who had to take time away from their RV. Just some background info, the trailer is paid off and is stored on-site. The only real expense in keeping it is registration and insurance.

Thanks,

Jeff

Me I would non-op the trailer and being it is stored on sight go out and fire up everything off and on for the next two years. Ours has set for 10 months one time as I went back to work to pay it off, nothing fell apart. I would not cover it just the tires. The economy is not all that good for selling toys right now. JMHO

Sundance_kid said:

Me I would non-op the trailer and being it is stored on sight go out and fire up everything off and on for the next two years. Ours has set for 10 months one time as I went back to work to pay it off, nothing fell apart. I would not cover it just the tires. The economy is not all that good for selling toys right now. JMHO

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I agree.
Isn't there anyplace close to take your rig once in awhile and commute to school/work from there.
We did that occasionally until we were both retired. As a kid my parents would take the pop-up to the local SP for the weekend and we'd still go home on Saturday to tend our cattle, make hay, etc only to be back at the CG for supper.


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I never thought about non-op. I guess it works like a car and I could do that. Too bad registration was this month. Already paid for the year.

As for local places, yes. There are some places we can go and camp locally. I could probably take a train into school on Saturdays, since the school is right next to a station. I just need to check schedules. Unfortunately, for me, to drive out and set up on Friday night, go to school on Saturday then break down and come home on Sunday is lots of time and work that may be better spent studying. I suppose I could take a vacation day on Monday and that would give us that weekend.

I have been out of a classroom of over 16 years, so the thought of going back now is very scary.

I left my 2011 Grand Canyon behind for 2 1/2 years in outside storage (1200 miles away). When we picked it up in April it just needed a good cleaning and some minor maintenance but everything worked just fine. The biggest expenditure I had was replacing the battery. From my experience I wouldn't be too concerned about non-use since you will be close enough to your's to "fire things up" every now and then.

Ladiver said:

So, I need to decide if I keep the Cyclone and store it for 2 years, or think about selling it? I have heard that storing a trailer and not using it will cause it to fall apart. I have seen this several times with homes, so I do believe it to be true. I could try selling it, then in 2 years look at a new one. My original plan was to keep the trailer for 5-7 years then upgrade. We are on our 4th year already, so the timing is not too far off.

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I have not experienced long term storage yet however I have successfully flipped my first two 5er's and purchase our Sundance without suffering a major loss. Since you are already considering upgrading at the 5-7 year mark and you'll be at 6 years when education is done I recommend you list it now for sale. It has 4 year old value now that is a selling plus, you won't need maintenance or financial stress for storing, it may take you up to 9 months to sell (i.e. Craig's list), and there won't be any distraction of the trailer being the back yard when you're trying to do homework.

For what it's worth "Start fresh with a degree and purchase a new camper as a reward for all the hard work."

Jeff,
I agree with the others. I would just non-op it. Your trailer is not going to fall apart in two years of So Cal weather. You are not going to get fair market value for it and may just be over thinking it at this point because of other priorities. Wait awhile until you have settled in to your new routine, then you can re-visit the topic. Congrats on your educational endeavor. Trace

I would try and sell it. My experience has been that these aren't the easiest things to get rid of. It might sell, it might not...You have two years to find that out..Don

List it. Don't take a low ball offer. But see if someone is interested. Every time I let something sit for a while in the open bad things happen and I wish I would have sold it. So either find a nice old farmer with plenty of storage at a cheap price or sell it. Heck. Buying a new / used rig is half the fun anway. Plus if your like me you will stare at it and wish you could be using it.
Just my 2 cents.

TandT said:

Jeff,
I agree with the others. I would just non-op it. Your trailer is not going to fall apart in two years of So Cal weather. You are not going to get fair market value for it and may just be over thinking it at this point because of other priorities. Wait awhile until you have settled in to your new routine, then you can re-visit the topic. Congrats on your educational endeavor. Trace

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Trace, I think you are right. I am overthinking this whole thing. Even if we don't get out and use it, at least we still have it. Sonja and I still look at RV's and nothing has what we want. We are happy with our current rig. I guess I may just have to take vacation time mid week to get out and use it as a study break.

And you can always camp out in it in your side yard, too!

Don't have to haul it anywhere to stay in it.

JohnD, you are right. We were talking about that anyway since we are just starting a home remodel. We figured that we while the kitchen was being gutted, the trailer would be our temporary home.

Ladiver said:

JohnD, you are right. We were talking about that anyway since we are just starting a home remodel. We figured that we while the kitchen was being gutted, the trailer would be our temporary home.

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Cool!

Maybe you can work in a 50 amp electrical and sewer hookups so you can be full function in the yard!