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RV Values

F4tinman

Member
How can they justify RV value reduction in blue book, I have a 2022 Alliance 370fb, original msrp was $112000 paid $95000 and in less then four years only books for $45000, a new 2026 same model now has a msrp of over $140000, so how do they justify such a rabbit decline in value. I don’t know why anyone is willing to buy new, buy a used couple year old one and save a ton of money.
 

Flyer32RLS

Well-known member
MSRP is a "suggested" price. You should never pay that price. It's like the stock market. The price of stocks go up and down but the price doesn't affect you until you sell. Same with RV's. The MSRP is just a price. Right now, from what I'm reading, the prices are coming down as they have: 1. overproduced or 2. No one is buying or 3. Both of the above! Buying an RVF is a loss, period. Kinda of like a car, drive it off the lost, you just lost a bunch of money. Book value is speculative. Its a starting point. You have not lost or over spent until the act is done!
That my friend, is my worthless $0.02 worth!!

Happy Glamping!!:cool:
 

Lantley

Prominent Member
MSRP is a "suggested" price. You should never pay that price. It's like the stock market. The price of stocks go up and down but the price doesn't affect you until you sell. Same with RV's. The MSRP is just a price. Right now, from what I'm reading, the prices are coming down as they have: 1. overproduced or 2. No one is buying or 3. Both of the above! Buying an RVF is a loss, period. Kinda of like a car, drive it off the lost, you just lost a bunch of money. Book value is speculative. Its a starting point. You have not lost or over spent until the act is done!
That my friend, is my worthless $0.02 worth!!

Happy Glamping!!:cool:
Well said Flyer. I will add an RV is not an investment. The only way you get value out of an RV is to use it. The more you USE it the more value you get. All other calculations will likely result in a monetary loss! Like a car it is depreciating.
However if you use it frequently you will maintain its value to you and that as good as it gets.
 

F4tinman

Member
Well said Flyer. I will add an RV is not an investment. The only way you get value out of an RV is to use it. The more you USE it the more value you get. All other calculations will likely result in a monetary loss! Like a car it is depreciating.
However if you use it frequently you will maintain its value to you and that as good as it gets.
Just to be clear I never thought of a RV as an investment, no doubt they depreciate, my point is just a warning on fast they depreciate, most people don’t pay cash and finance them, even with a large down payment in a couple of years your rig is worth half of what you owe on it. Things happen in people life’s and you may not be able to use them anymore and your stuck with something you can’t sell or trade in because you owe way more then it’s worth in a short amount of time, even when buying a top quality of a unit like Alliance
 

Lantley

Prominent Member
I would hope most of us playing this game understand RV depreciate quickly.
However you buy an RV to use and enjoy not to be a part of your portfolio. The financials are a complete loss if you put zero value on the memories adventure and enjoyment you get out of an RV.
I will add you must use it to get value. If you let it sit you are getting nothing out of it at all. This theory applies to all RV's regardless of price.
Again there is no other way to get value out of your RV other than using it.
Yes life happens and can be catastrophic, but catastrophe applies to all things not just RV's.
It can apply to a box of steaks in the freezer, a vacation home, a boat , jewelry, super bowl tickets or anything else.
But if you're hesitant to enjoy life in fear that the other shoe may drop, leave all your funds in investments, and stay safely at home, in time someone else will benefit from your efforts.
Or you can buy an RV or anything else you enjoy and live life in the moment.
The only RV trips I did not enjoy are the ones I did not take.
If you RV enough and take enough trips with family and friends you will realize that these adventures can produce memories that are priceless.
You won't get that kind of sound advice from your accountant.
If you're looking for a sound place to put your money and RV is not the place. If you are looking to enjoy the money you have earned consider an RV.
 

RockDr896

Well-known member
2002, I did a spreadsheet comparing Hotel, car/airfare vs Truck & RV...... I was in Virginia at the time. It is old pricing, but I do love to throw my thoughts into a spreadsheet, from time to time........
---Trips over 500 miles, started showing a larger difference in plane & hotel vs RV configuration. So more long trips increased the savings as compared to airplane/hotel costs.
---Operating costs are not considered. It is in the airplane/Hotel pricing, but not in my RV configuration. Looking at new vs Used, I figured I would get the lowest costs (The best years) out of a new rig. I also noticed, that if taken care of, the bottom value after 5 years, is half of what I spent for new (Looking at used 5 year old rigs)
---I paid cash, so I paid what it was worth with no interest to factor in.

Maybe some day, I will re-visit my guess before I owned an RV and see how close I got...I am tracking all my expenses. Notice, that large 5th wheels were only 60K back then...LOL
 

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