How many upgrades are too much?

I was sitting here thinking what project I would like to do next on our trailer.
Then it hit me...How much is too much?

We love our trailer. We looked into buying another one and did quite a bit of research.
We decided to keep what we have but now I wonder if there is a point at which you have to stop putting "upgrades" in the trailer.

For those of you who do your own mods and maintenance, do you ever feel like enough is enough??
Do you think there is a point in which the time and money you spend in doing mods would be better of going towards a completely different trailer?

I guess looking at it from a purely financial perspective, a person would buy a trailer, keep it for quite a few years, never change a thing and then sell it. But what fun is that?

I know lots of y'all enjoy working on your trailers and making them "yours".

I guess what started me thinking about about this is the cost of changing out my windows to dual pane.

I had a similar thought when I was at the RV show last month and was talking to the Mor/Ryde guy. 30 minutes later I was ready to drop $4k on the IS system, new pinbox, and disc brakes. And those are all great upgrades, but really 99% of the public won't give a rip when I go to sell it and that money will just be gone. So I had the same question, is it worth SPENDING that money on this rig or should I just use it a few years and upgrade to a new one, which is a likely scenario since Heartland has this bad habit of including cool new features every year.

We have had some of the same thoughts. Let me try to explain my thinking this way. Some time ago I was contemplating concreting our driveway, when I got quotes from several contractors it was anywhere from 6 to 10 K. is it worth while when the gravel we have works well. So I asked an appraiser friend will it add to the resale value of the house, he said not that much, but go ahead and do it that way you get to enjoy it while you are living here. Now all I have to do is find some way to pay for the concrete installation.

So in my opinion make what ever upgrades you want to anything you own and enjoy them as long as you own it.

Dave

I understand how you feel...we've incorporated quite a few, fairly expensive upgrades. We removed the carpet and replaced it with resilient flooring, we installed the Level-Up system, installed Trailair Center point, a solar system with 4 6-volt batteries, electric cord reel and satellite dome on the roof...just to mention the BIG upgrades.

For us it's always been why go alot deeper in debt for basically the same exact floorplan we already have...this rear living room with the Suite bathroom is the only layout we truly like...anything else would be making sacrificies we're not prepared to make...SOOOO...I think we'll keep it for a few more years. Would we like to have some of the new Heartland features?? Sure, but we just can't justify doubling our monthly RV payment...at least right now.

We'll keep watching Heartland closely, when they make a new floorplan that will actually suit us better than what we have, then we will make the leap (the San Antonio is getting REAL close), but until then, when they make an upgrade we think we want, and can retrofit we will....slam baggage doors are next on the list...maybe at this year's Goshen rally...see ya'll there!!

We feel like Kakampers. We will upgrade our current unit as long as it is not 'falling apart'. If it ain't broke why fix it? But some of the upgrades are not necessary in our book but are great for others. Also the more technical things get the greater chances of a malfunction. Now if we wanted something that it not a generic build we would have to go to a custom builder such as a New Horizons where they build it to your specs. But it is a lot more economical to upgrade your own.

We made several changes to our last trailer. I did the work myself and just enjoy doing it. The end result was more comfort and convenience. I already have a collection of stuff to put on this one over the Winter when I'm down South and looking for things to do. Any of the major items I add I plan to take off and sell or use on the next trailer when it's trading time, so it's no big deal...Don

Larry, every time we walk into a new Bighorn or Landmark I begin to drool. The new trailers are so nice and they smell new and I have to really slap myself back into reality. Our rig is paid for, I can't afford to pay cash for a new one so for us it's a no brainer. Upgrades are something we all do to to RVs, homes, cars, trucks and more. We will never get a return on our investment. Even if we bought a new rig we would start almost immediately to make it "ours" by starting the upgrade process all over again. All this said, we'll be keeping our rig for quite a while.

Excuse me while we go shopping for new carpet.

We contemplated a lot of upgrades, then decided it was just easier to upgrade the whole thing at one time. :angel:

boatto5er said:

We contemplated a lot of upgrades, then decided it was just easier to upgrade the whole thing at one time. :angel:

Click to expand...

Yep, I like the way you think Gus. In addition, a new one comes with a nice shine that I didn't have to work hard to get. I think it will be a treat to remove all our mods from the 3055 and prepare them for installation on the 3185. That kind of work I don't mind at all!

Alot of interesting thoughts.
Dave, at least with a house while you may not get your money back out of the driveway, it will help sell your house. So I agree with your friend.
With trailers it might be the opposite. I dont know-I have never checked, but I bet their are some people who might not like the interior of a trailer painted. I am afraid I would have to almost give the thing away. But that wouldnt stop us if we did see a floor plan we like.

As Ray, pointed out the new ones look and smell nice. But like Ray ours is paid for. I dont want any more debt and we would have to go into debt to buy a new one. AND THEN do the mods all over again. There always seem to be something else, whether it is big or small and no matter what you ordered on a new one.

As a matter of fact, when we were looking to "upgrade", I started feeling guilty about what we had spent on this both in time and money and now possibly getting rid of it.

Going into Gus's new Landmark, I have to admit I had the WOW factor. Beautiful trailer. I am almost afraid to go into any more new ones!

So, do you continue to put money into something that you know you wil not get back??? Is that one of the unspoken costs of this lifestyle???

Thanks for letting me ramble. It just helps to think (or write) outloud sometimes.

On an edit, the very next thread to read after writing this post was Heartlands new FT Landmark.

What kind of cruel joke is that???
Some one has a warped sense of humor. I know "they" did it on purpose!!!

Guess I've never worried about not getting my investment back on something I've upgraded. I do it because I want the upgrade for my own enjoyment, convenience, or peace of mind. And there will always be somebody ready to give you the old "You spent how much for that??" routine (like they're the ones paying for it). And I'm gathering information and costs on doing some expensive upgrades to our 3670 in the not too distant future. Nothing wrong with the basic rig and we love the floorplan, so why not?