Trade in value (or lack there of).

Sniper

Well-known member
Just got a trade in offer for our Cyclone. First I laughed, then I got a little angry, then I felt sick, then the reality set in....OOOOUUUUCCCCHHHH! Man is this going to hurt. I picked one heck of a millennium to get sober. :eek:
 
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BouseBill

Guest
Yeah, ain't worth crap when you drive them off the lot LOL
 

mrcomer

Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
Ya Sniper, it really sucks the big one when you find out nobody wants to give you anything close to what you owe on these rv's. Everyone says you'll do better selling it outright but that too is a big pain in the rear plus you lose the sales tax savings towards the new rig while they are lowballing you and will have it sold for much more within a couple of days. I feel for ya. Someday we'll go through the same thing.
Good luck,
Mark
 

Sniper

Well-known member
Yes it was a rude awakening for us not being able to get rid of the trailer without taking a huge kick in the arse
Yes sir and I just don't think I can handle that kind of hit. After thinking about it overnight The Commander says to me this morning: "I almost feel insulted." :cool: LoL

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Ya Sniper, it really sucks the big one when you find out nobody wants to give you anything close to what you owe on these rv's. Everyone says you'll do better selling it outright but that too is a big pain in the rear plus you lose the sales tax savings towards the new rig while they are lowballing you and will have it sold for much more within a couple of days. I feel for ya. Someday we'll go through the same thing.
Good luck,
Mark
Thanks Mark, we are very fortunate in that we don't owe on our Cyclone but still, wow. Don't think we'll be worrying about anymore this year anyway. I just don't think I can take that kind of beating. LoL Maybe We'll put it up for sale after the travel season and see what pans out. Great seeing you at the rally too. :)
 

NYSUPstater

Well-known member
You are absolutely right on the trade value being almost zilch. When we decided to upgrade last year, it was either NADA or KBB I used to get a ballpark price on one we had. Dealer was offering about 7-9 G's less than what the "books" said it was worth. Did sell it outright to a buddy for more than what dealer was offering but less than book as I had to act fast. DID NOT buy from this dealer anyways as their price for new coach was 10 G's higher than where we did get it. One thing you can do to save on sales tax if you sell it outright is to run the selling of your current coach thru your dealer to make it look like you traded it in, providing your dealer will do this and new owner of your coach bought it from them for same amount. HOWEVER, new owner may end up paying sales tax on the trade amount VS if they bought it w/o going thru dealer and you gave them a bill of sale for less that actual selling price.

This is what we did. I felt horrible for my buddy, but he said he didn't care, wasn't that much $$ overall in difference. I was told that the best time to get most $$ out of a trade is within 1st 5 years of ownership (preferably less time). God bless those that seem to buy new RV's every few years. Am looking at retiring in <10 years and providing I don't kick the bucket by then, both the truck and RV will be at the ripe age of 10-11 years old so have no idea what the "H" I'm gonna do at that point. Both may/may not be up to the task and I don't feel like taking HUGE loans out w/o a higher paycheck coming in. Sadly, it may come down to throwing in the towel in the RV dep't.
 
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BouseBill

Guest
No insult intended there Sniper LOL We went through the same thing last spring. Not quite a valuable investment aye?;)
 

Sniper

Well-known member
No insult intended there Sniper LOL We went through the same thing last spring. Not quite a valuable investment aye?;)
Bawahaha! Oh she didn't take as a personal insult or you would be seeing the mushroom cloud over our AO from out there in Arizona. Didn't expect any financial gain on the investment but didn't expect it to make me feel like I was taking gut shots with my hands tied behind my back either. LoL Oh well. :)

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You are absolutely right on the trade value being almost zilch. When we decided to upgrade last year, it was either NADA or KBB I used to get a ballpark price on one we had. Dealer was offering about 7-9 G's less than what the "books" said it was worth. Did sell it outright to a buddy for more than what dealer was offering but less than book as I had to act fast. DID NOT buy from this dealer anyways as their price for new coach was 10 G's higher than where we did get it. One thing you can do to save on sales tax if you sell it outright is to run the selling of your current coach thru your dealer to make it look like you traded it in, providing your dealer will do this and new owner of your coach bought it from them for same amount. HOWEVER, new owner may end up paying sales tax on the trade amount VS if they bought it w/o going thru dealer and you gave them a bill of sale for less that actual selling price.

This is what we did. I felt horrible for my buddy, but he said he didn't care, wasn't that much $$ overall in difference. I was told that the best time to get most $$ out of a trade is within 1st 5 years of ownership (preferably less time). God bless those that seem to buy new RV's every few years. Am looking at retiring in <10 years and providing I don't kick the bucket by then, both the truck and RV will be at the ripe age of 10-11 years old so have no idea what the "H" I'm gonna do at that point. Both may/may not be up to the task and I don't feel like taking HUGE loans out w/o a higher paycheck coming in. Sadly, it may come down to throwing in the towel in the RV dep't.
Lets just say the offer wasn't even close to NADA. Not Even Close! :)
 

mlpeloquin

Well-known member
I was thing hard about a new Landmark until I realized that with what I put down to purchase my current fifth wheel and would be offered less then 50% of the current loan forget it. That is a 47K hit in the backside. We will have to think about it again at the eight year point when well we will take the hit then.
 

travlingman

Well-known member
One word that can't be put in the same sentence as a RV is investment. :D

We have been looking at trading and I have been following the NADA value since taking ownership. I noticed after it was 3 years old, the value dropped big time compared to the earlier years.

One thing we found when trading is the dealers don't count the price of options in their offer. They usually go with the basic value with no add ons.

We are still trying to decide what to do. Wife retired, I have at least 4-5 years to go. Trade in offer makes me upside down on present rig, but could still do it. Already had one heart surgery, so I know that no tomorrow is promised. Figure that I will either give my money to the bank or the hospital eventually.
 

jayc

Legendary Member
It depends on the dealer. We got more for our 2011 Grand Canyon than I expected and more than the dealer that we had bought it (and another Bighorn before that) from. I was really amazed and that is why we don't still have the GC that we both loved.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Just looking at the MSRP’s of new ones relative to ours when it was new is enough to convince me to keep it until the walls fall off. Still have 5 years left on the loan, so for sure we’d be upside down on a trade. Only good thing is we haven’t seen anything new that has a floor plan better than this one (for us), so little temptation to buy another.


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Sniper

Well-known member
They bumped their offer up a little yesterday afternoon. Apparently their "that's the absolute very best we can do" wasn't. Wonder if we'll be left standing when the music stops. :confused: LoL To be continued...
 

NWILSON

Kentucky Chapter Leaders - retired
It can't hurt to post an add with a lot of pictures on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace to see what kind of response you get. If the market for used RV's is as good as some claim, you may be surprised at the response!
 

sengli

Well-known member
Trying to sell your RV on your own isnt a great alternative either. Unless you practically give it away, most people would rather buy from a dealer anyway. We have looked several times, and the dealers for the most part say the same thing. That there are just too many used rigs out there, and they end up offering us basically wholesale auction prices for ours. One place basically said they didnt want any more used rigs, and offered us an amount that could only be categorized as an insult. I respectfully told him so. Luckily we paid ours off pretty early, so its not costing us anything to keep it.
 

travelin2

Pennsylvania Chapter Leaders-retired
Our experience upgrading 2 yrs ago trading our then 3 yr old BH had similarities to others posting here...
One dealer would gladly sell us a new rig but said outright they did not want ours as a trade. Another offered almost as much as we paid for ours as a trade but didn’t discount the new replacement very much. A third dealer discounted the new MSRP significantly but didn’t offer as much for a trade.
Ultimately the dealer who sold us our first one sold us our current BH. After some negotiation we arrived at our desired monthly payment amount. In other words, I didn’t get hung up on the trade in value or the dealer’s selling price as individual amounts. My threshold was out of pocket, in our case, the monthly payment.
BTW, our neighbor had their fifth wheel for private sale nearly 4 yrs before it left earlier this summer. Not sure how actively they marketed it but nonetheless, that can be a tough sell.


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jbeletti

Well-known member
Though the goal of any buyer, be it private or dealer is to get the used unit at the lowest possible cost - overall, auction values for towables are up slightly, year over year - link.
 

Sniper

Well-known member
Our experience upgrading 2 yrs ago trading our then 3 yr old BH had similarities to others posting here...
One dealer would gladly sell us a new rig but said outright they did not want ours as a trade. Another offered almost as much as we paid for ours as a trade but didn’t discount the new replacement very much. A third dealer discounted the new MSRP significantly but didn’t offer as much for a trade.
Ultimately the dealer who sold us our first one sold us our current BH. After some negotiation we arrived at our desired monthly payment amount. In other words, I didn’t get hung up on the trade in value or the dealer’s selling price as individual amounts. My threshold was out of pocket, in our case, the monthly payment.
BTW, our neighbor had their fifth wheel for private sale nearly 4 yrs before it left earlier this summer. Not sure how actively they marketed it but nonetheless, that can be a tough sell.


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Kinda what we are looking at as well, getting the payment where we want it will be the justification for the amount of beating we'll take. Right now selling it outright, unless we already had a buyer, would be of little use for the current deal we're working on. If the magic numbers get hit the Commander will let me know, if they don't, our Cyclone is paid for and we love it and have more adventures already planned for it this year. Regardless, that initial offer was a real shot to the gut. :)
 
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JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
I always crack up when RV suppliers try to sell us stuff to "Protect Your Investment". :p

Anyone buying an RV thinking it is an investment needs to get their head examined... :eek:
 
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