Did You Purchase A Late Model Instead Of New Motorhome?

[mweiner]

Did you purchase late model motor home to save money on depreciation? 

The first few years.. maybe three to five are the steepest loss of value once you drive the vehicle off the lot just like buying a new car. 

Many of these vehicles don't get a lots of miles on them and in my particular case, I purchased the 2012 Roadtrek RS Adventurous with 26,000 miles for a 6 years old Mercedes Benz Sprinter with a five years old conversion.   We saved almost 50 percent off the manufacturers suggested list price on a 2017 model with the 2016 vehicle.... pretty much the same features. 

Depreciation is a huge factor in the purchase price and since many of these vehicles are converted in Canada, like the Roadtrek and others, a brand new 2017 coach we saw at the local dealership had 2,000 miles on it already. 

SO, what was the average age of the particular model motor home that you purchased and how long have you had it.?

[limestonecowhands]

Last week we purchased a new 2018 Winnebago Sunstar 31BE. My wife and I were aware of the depreciation but found very little selection for motor coaches with bunk floorpans. She'll often be driving with our 3 boys but without me. Considering the risk of mechanical, vermin, or other issues we decided we'd rather purchase new.

[mweiner]

Understood, we looked at many vehicles over several years... yes, hard to find exactly what we wanted... UNTIL we found the 2012 Roadtrek RS Adventurous..got very lucky.. 

We didn't want a Class A... but, we don't have kids...

I've been told that even "new coaches" have issues, I'm sure that your warranty will help you...be sure and get all of those things worked out as soon as possible.. 

AND, we purchased an extended warranty..I recommend that.

Good luck....

[wayne77590]

Theluffs, After you have had it awhile let us know what needed fixing.  It is typical that new models have to go back to the shop several time to get little items repaired.  Buying used, the previous owner went though the first year little bugs and got them repaired.  I think I would prefer to go used now. I purchased mine new and me oh my did it go back to the shop a lot.

[wildebill308]

2 hours ago, theluffs said:

Last week we purchased a new 2018 Winnebago Sunstar 31BE. My wife and I were aware of the depreciation but found very little selection for motor coaches with bunk floorpans. She'll often be driving with our 3 boys but without me. Considering the risk of mechanical, vermin, or other issues we decided we'd rather purchase new.

Welcome to the forum. That is a nice coach. I like the full wall slide. I can understand your desire to buy new. The best advise I can offer is to use it and enjoy it. Yes you may find some things that need to be fixed. The key is to use it now so you can get them fixed under warranty and so you won't have to rush because the warranty period is running out.

I don't recommend the aftermarket warranties.

Bill

 

[mweiner]

Wild Bill-  I've heard that aftermarket warranties differ greatly... have you heard anything good or bad about Good Sam.. I went with them for $78 per month.. can cancel anytime..

Dealership offered me another option which was much more expensive.. 4 years, fixed cost, translation to $120 per month. 

[limestonecowhands]

Yeah, I definitely expect issues that'll need to be fixed. Before we've driven it off the lot the engine A/C system needed to be repaired.

We did opt for an extended warranty. Not for everyone but it makes sense to us.

[michaelhillhouse]

In 2013 we purchased a 2003 Dutch Star 4005 and that was the best purchase we've ever made . After suffering thru 4 Years of a Safari Zanzabar we finally bought the right coach and wouldn't change it for anything . The ride quality and workmanship of the coach is far superior than anything we've owned in the past including an American Eagle we bought in 2001 .  

[mweiner]

michaelhillhouse- Well, the American Eagle RV is certainly beautiful... And so is the Dutch Star..  don't know anything about the Safari Zanzabar... what was wrong with that?? Those were all Diesels, correct? 

Why did you sell the American Eagle... I looked up the coach..it was a beautiful machine. 

[BillAdams]

I bought a '88 Prevost in '99 because I could not have afforded a '99 in '99 as they were priced in the $1,000,000 range.

[mweiner]

Bill, sounds good... YES, I agree buying a nice used vehicle will definitely save money.  I imagine that you paid quite a substantial amount even in 1999... 

How has it been with the maintenance and up keep? 

[wayne77590]

Regarding after market warranties, I went with the Good Sam ESP including seals. It has saved me $thousands over the past 9 years.  I was just lucky that I needed it and had it. Others may not have fared so well.

[mweiner]

Wayne, thanks, good to know...of course, no one wants to have problem! 

Insurance is all about shifting the risk to someone else....

Now, I really think that the Roadtrek products are pretty good.... but, things happen...

At $78 per month for the first 3 years...then it goes up a little....has a cap of 150,000 miles or 18 years...

The dealership referred me to a company, I think it was Premiere RV .... They wanted me to sign up for a program for 48 months, unlimited mileage, which sounded good... BUT, the cost for 48 months was $5,520 or $115 per month.. Now, even though it was "unlimited mileage" for as long as you have the policy.... I didn't think that it would be possible for me to realistically go more than 150,000 miles in four years....SO, the Good Sam plan at the lower price seemed like a better fit for me...

Have you had a pretty good experience with the Winnebago Diesel overall? What were some of your issues?  I see that you purchased it new .... would you do that again? What's your annual mileage? 

---MARK

 

[abyrd]

Purchased a 2004 HR 40' Endeavor in 2011, had 29,000 miles it.  Purchase price was less 1/3  of original purchase prices as listed on original bill of sale.

Absolutely have had no repair expense other than routine maintenance.  Have replaced tires, coach and chassis batteries.

I have performed all of my own maintenance except flushing cooling system and replacement of antifreeze.

Just rolled over 55,000 miles and couldn't be happier.

 

Jim

[mweiner]

abyrd-

I understand... In our case, we purchased the 2012 Roadtrek RS Adventurous this past May 2017..  

As you know Roadtrek conversions take last year's Mercedes Benz Sprinter (2011) model and sell their products as the 2012 Roadtrek... 

We actually went down to the local dealership that sells the 2017 Roadtrek..a 2016 Sprinter... 

Even the new ones have 2,000 miles on them, driven from Canada to LA... 

The same model as ours with solar panels.. I plan on outfitting mine with solar panels soon... They're asking $152,000 ... 

We purchased our 2012 RS Adventurous with 26,000 miles for $79,000..  I get it... 

Tell me, does anyone think that the 5 years newer version is worth an additional $73,000 ...

That first 5 years of depreciation is really tough to justify.... 

I think, no .. I know that the continued depreciation will be slower.... 

I really don't think it will give me a lot of trouble for at least five years or so..?  I hope. 

I did have to put new tires, batteries, a few other convenience things.. vehicle drives like new. 

Just like you... routine maintenance..all vehicles need routine maintenance.. professionals know how to keep it running perfect...

Unlike you though, I contract out work on my vehicles... Not my forte.. 

Yes, I agree... I think you and I made the "smart money" decision. 

BUT, just to hedge my bet, I took an extended warranty. 

Hey, I figured if I kept this 5 years.. and sold it, the difference between what I paid and recoup.the cost factor would be as if I rented the vehicle.. 

I looked into renting one and discovered that they rent for $3,000 per week.. I decided to purchase it.  Loved the way it drove. 

---MARK

 

[jleamont]

Bought a used DP for several reasons, 1st being new quality is terrible, materials are terrible and from overseas, too many corners have been cut over the years i.e. cable controlled slides flimsy fake wood inside etc.... We looked at a New Tiffin, it had decals inside warning you not to spend too much time inside as there are products inside that are made with chemicals that are harmful to your health (formaldehyde being one of them) . 2nd I spent the majority of my career as a Diesel technician, I didn't want any part of a newer engine with emissions on it. 4th chassis ride and handling, the only coaches that handle like ours now a days are very expensive, I drove several new DP's, none performed as well as ours, they leaned in turns, got pushed around on the highway and flex and twisted down the road by chassis design. 5th depreciation, this will not be our last purchase at 45 years old. 

[five]

We bought the coach in the signature in May 2015.  Original owner took the huge initial depreciation hit and fixed the bugs...most of them anyway.

[spuds]

We purchased our first and second motorhomes when each was 1 year old.  The third we purchased new.  None are the major RV brands you see on most dealers lots.

First was a Lazy Daze class C.  6 month or longer wait to buy new (factory direct only) back then, closer to a year now.  Very low volume so we were lucky to find what we wanted in a gently used unit.  Owner didn't experience too much depreciation as a result compared to other brands of class C.  We wouldn't hesitate to order new if we could wait.  We had no build quality issues.

Second was a Foretravel diesel pusher.  We bought used when it looked like the factory was going to go belly up in 2004 (it did not, was bought by a group of investors in 2005).  First owner took a significant depreciation hit.  New ones have even a steeper drop than 10 years ago.  Not a brand we could justify buying new.

Third is a Leisure Travel class C.  We specifically wanted a 2016 or 2017 chassis for the collision mitigation.  We also wanted a particular floorplan that wasn't the very popular MB.  There aren't a lot of them used out there, and the wait time on a new order is 10 months.  We happened to find an unclaimed new one that a highly-regarded dealer had on order, so the wait was much less and we were still able to make some adjustments to the options.  These don't depreciate much in the first year and our dealer offered a great price.  They are also delivered via flatbed, so ours had just over 30 miles on the odometer.  We fully understand there may be a few things to shake out, but so far, so good :-)

[wayne77590]

Mark,

We have 68,000 miles on it right now so that averages to 8,500 miles a year which is about right.  This is the first year we have stayed home to take care of some items around the house, like putting in a new driveway, etc.

For my experience only I don't believe I would purchase a Winnebago again. I'm probably the exception but I have had to many problems that should not have happened, but they did.  The windshield leaked which has been a long time problem with the Winnebago line.  It was fixed and the contractor for the dealer I purchased it from guaranteed it for life...but then he left the area.  The big slideout, about 23 feet long, pulled the pedestal off the floor on one of the trips.  The design was that the track the slide came in on was to narrow and the bed or something caught on the pedestal an pulled it out of the floor.  Attached to the pedestal was the drain hose for the kitchen sink that is routed by about 12 feet from the sink to the galley holding tank under the floor in the bed. It was pulled out and water soaked under the bed area.  Poor design.  Slide motors have failed. Jack system has failed and continues to fail even after 3 jacks replaced.  Jacks leaked.  Jack foot pad has fallen off going down the road, twice, causing damage to coach and toad.....I'd have to look up all my records but you get the idea.

Hey, at least the next person that gets it will not have those same problems. 

[mweiner]

jleamont-. I understand that a high end DP used probably is better than a lower end MH.... I get that... 

Are you saying that there's a lot of "overseas" as in China....MH's that are cheaply made..? I wasn't aware of Chinese MH's? 

Yeah, I don't like "fake wood", tacky looking....wears off and looks awful. 

They put this in MH's to cut corners.. 

I see that you are a Diesel technician....I have a newer technology Diesel with the Mercedes Benz Sprinter... only have 27,000 miles on it.... hopefully it will be good for another 75,000 with little problems.  Mercedes Benz is known for building great Diesel engines...they have been doing it probably longer than anyone else on the market?  

Yes, it uses the Bluetec technology, DEF, runs great. I'll just keep it maintained by a Mercedes technician. Fingers crossed on this one. 

 

[mweiner]

spuds- I've heard great things about Leisure Travel... good luck with that. 

You should be fine.. never heard of Foretravel.. I stay away from off brands that are orphaned off.   

[mweiner]

wayne77590- WOW, I'm glad I decided to skip Winnebago... almost got a Navion..

After reading your last post on quality control, glad I dodged a bullet, that's terrible.

[BSMEATON]

We didn't even consider new.  We bought a 2013 Itasca Meridian 42E with 19,000 miles.  We paid less than half the original MSRP and it has proven to be a great RV for us.  I do have DEF, noisy mach 8 ACs, and I do have Schwintek slides on one side which haunted many manufacturers back then, but all seems to be working fine and I respect the slides with can of CRC handy  

There were two GS warranties, Dealer sold with cash up front bumper to bumper for 4 years (~$125/month at $50 deductible), or the month to month direct warranty from GS that was around $150/month at $1,000 deductible.  We opted for the Dealer warranty, but after bad dealings with them we dropped it and got a refund.  We just run naked.  Realistically in two years all we have had go wrong were 2 relays in the ACs and a fridge solenoid that cracked because the dealer didn't winterize properly.  

I am truly sold on Winnebago - at least for us they put together a great product.

[mweiner]

..2013 Itasca Meridian 42E- VERY NICE.. obviously, Winnebago has a broad product line..the higher end stuff really shows better....

When we were looking,  I test drove three vehicles, a year old Winnebago Navion, a brand new Winnebago Fuse and the Mercedes Benz Sprinter.  No contest, for quality and driving. 

The Fuse had a really great price point...we could have purchased that new for the same price as the 2012 Mercedes Benz Sprinter.   BUT, it had cheap materials inside and it had bad vehicle dynamics, leaning too much around corners, even my wife noticed it...and noisy compared to the Mercedes.  Lots of rattling around on the Fuse, I don't like that. 

Navion was a little better... those window shades up front that are retractable are very cool, but, the track they're on rattles like a snake, dealership said they could put in some insulation... how long would that last??

Finally, the roof seals on the Fuse and the Navion...the roof is supposed to be "guaranteed" for ten years..... but, not the seals or seams... forget it! 

My unit is on the smaller side, has high MPG, and it's quality built inside. 

 

[wildebill308]

I bought a older DP and have had nearly no problems. I might upgrade by buying a older coach. I do know where there is a 2001 Newell that is getting closer to my price point.

Bill