Question Does an online RV forum cause you to buy more often?

[deaton]

We just replaced my DW’s 2013 Chevy Avalanche with a 2020 Jeep Gladiator (so happy she wanted something that could be flat towed easily.

@Akdare

Off topic, but once you have some experience with the Gladiator, I’d appreciate some feedback on the pros and cons. We will likely be replacing our toad next year and that one is on our list.

 

[Akdare]

I‘ll write up something when we’re back from Nappanee...only have towed it once with the current motorhome, did great. I did get to drive it for an extended period when we went to New Braunfels (small world) to pick up a large piece of equipment my wife bought. Drove & handled great; love the size. Small enough to handle well & park easily, yet this woodworker can haul a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood when I need to.

 

[Joe Hogan]

There is a case to be made regarding trading a RV on a more frequent 2 or 3 year schedule. Once a RV reaches 5 years old the deprecation curve flattens. The difference in price between an 8 year old and a 10 year old RV is condition not age.

If you flip a RV every two or three years, not necessarily every two or three model years, and buy 'Right' you can spend less than you might think. Once you hit 5 years, you might as well hold on to it until it no longer fits your use.

The other determining factor is transaction cost. If you live in a 10+% sales tax area or high initial registration tax state, the math changes for the worse. If you are registered in Montana, it is easier to flip than if you register in Florida. The drag of transaction cost makes flipping very expensive. If you can trade in to offset the sales tax, the math improves some.

My practise over the years is to hold on to a vehicle until it no longer fits my needs. Rarely do we change vehicles before 100K miles. We have held several vehicles to 200K. Currently my wife drives a 2005 VW Passat with 130k. This vehicle was purchased new in 2005. We are only now considering selling it. VWs are notorious maintenance hogs, but if you keep them maintained they will run reliably for a very long time. Good old German engineering.

The RV is the same. Until it no longer fits our purpose, we will continue to use it. Over our last cross country trip we found the CanyonStar to be a very good fit for our purposes. From 9000' to -261', 97F to 10F, over 6,000 miles, the RV operated well.
Not sure a DP would fit as well. Would a DP be more comfortable, undoubtedly. Would I learn to squeeze a DP in the spots I can get the CS, clearly. Would 450-500-600 HP be welcome, yes.

 

[Neal]

If I could bring myself to by used it would make a big difference. The deals are amazing if you can stand to not buy new and I am admittedly one that typically buys new.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

My practise over the years is to hold on to a vehicle until it no longer fits my needs. <snip> The RV is the same. Until it no longer fits our purpose, we will continue to use it.

We're with Joe!

TJ

 

[deaton]

I think many of you may have heard that old saw about how an RV’er gets a new rig on average every four years or so.

Well the DW and I have a good friend who is partly responsible for getting us into RV’ing. A few years ago, I made that claim and he vehemently denied it. “That can’t be true!” he claimed. So I preceded to remind him of the five coaches he had acquired and disposed of in the past fifteen years, after which, he sheepishly acknowledged the average may be correct.

We bought our first coach in 2007. Number four is on order.

(2020 - 2007) = 13 / 4 = 3.25

I guess we’re beating the average.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk