Motorhomes...

Didn't want to steal coshoo's post below.

I'm not a motorhome owner, not in the immediate plans to be, maybe by some far away date.

But just curious. I drive by a motorhome dealer just south of here. It's a HUGE place! Acres and acres of new and used motorhomes. The BIG, EXPENSIVE ones, some I suspect approach $1,000,000!

Can there possibly be such a market for these? What happens to the left over ones that don't sell? I see some of them sit for months, possibly years in the Texas sun. Someone has to be taking a big loss somewhere!

One thing that makes that huge inventory work NOW is cost of money ie interest. If one sits there 2 years and still makes 20,000 on sale it is a lot more than the money would have earned elsewhere. Those things carry a big markup. Once floor plan cost goes up things might change. Second thins is that industry is pretty much driven by cost of fuel and consumers spending extra money . Right now fuel is cheap and some folks are making good money so they are selling.

That's just how it work's in the world of high finances Steve. The same could be said about new commercial buildings sitting vacant while more are being built. The working man can't operate like that. I don't understand it either.

Don't know about a million, but surely many going for half a mill. Still a pretty good market for them, with folks retiring with a bundle in their retirement fund, plus a paid-for house worth a million. Why not sell the house for a million, buy a great motorhome for a half mill, stuff the other half mill in your pocket, and hit the road? Many successful people have successful kids, so not as much incentive to preserve wealth to pass on. Use it to live like you want to.

Cost about 80 acres of good farm ground !!!
Led

Part of the Market is retirees selling their home using that money to buy a motorhome. No more house repairs or property taxes that just Keep Going UP!

We bought used from a private owner - wife wanted to take the family to Yellowstone. Renting one for 3 weeks cost the same as buying the '97 class C. It's gas, V10, gets 6.5 mpg and sleeps all 8 of us (including the dog).

What no one has said yet,these big RVs,if equipped right can be called homes and can be fianced for 20-30 yrs or more and ALL interest taken off your taxes plus a good many are also depreciated off,same as a building-tractor combine.So if done right,A COMPLETE WRITE OFF costing you nothing in the end.It has been these way since mid-late 70s.

Steve, I wonder about all that same as you, but I guess the law of Supply and Demand and the free market seems to work out otherwise there wouldn't be the dealers and all that inventory and customers WOW

Ive owned motorhome like 30 to 40 years and traveled this great country and visit National Parks and kids and grandkids and may live in it 6 or 7 more more months per year BUT NOT IN ANY MILLION DOLLAR UNIT LOL

Take care Steve

John T

They don't have much trouble selling them. The larger dealers are knocking 25-30% off list price, and stretching the payments out 10 years or more.

Plus you can claim the interest on your taxes because the RV is a "second home."

Had 38 ft bumber pull I bought new had less than 400 miles on the trailer look brand new wend I sold gave 23000 for it
I could not get 4000 out of it it was 4years old they loose value quick

I'll take exception on that statement that it costs nothing in the end.

Tax wise, perhaps. BUT, the money comes from somewhere. You can't just pull $100,000 or more out of thin air, make payments for X number of years, and then try to tell me it cost NOTHING.

Write-offs are for tax purposes for money already spent. The operative word here is ALREADY SPENT. And, a write-off is a business tool that simply amounts to taking money out of one pocket and putting it into another. The money is still spent, and it had to come from somewhere. Write-offs are not even a good business tool. They amount to throwing away money for tax savings. Money is thrown away by overpaying for goods or services and then declared as a business expense to lower tax liability.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Period.

Maybe my choice of words wasn't the best,but like you said yourself"TAX WISE MAYBE" is the answer.Yes you are putting money out,but that investment is coming back as less or no taxes being paid out with nothing to show for it(taxes),where your investment is still there.No it is not free but depends on who gets or keeps the money.

Well, if there was a way to get a free motor home, you can bet there would be a long line waiting for one.

I know lots of folks really enjoy RVs but I'd never have one based my in-laws experience. They had a 28' fifth wheel trailer and now a 30' motor home. Both were money pits, always something going wrong with them. Luckily the MIL paid for an extended warranty but as we know they don't cover everything and it's pretty much expired now. My FIL was like a big kid and had to have his toys, she wasn't strong enough to say no to him. She's managed to get out from under most of his stupid purchases (a soft top Jeep as a primary vehicle, MG B that needed restored and he was too big to even fit in it, a Honda Odessey to tow behind the motor home were the three recent big ones) but this motor home takes the cake.

The FIL passed away last December and she's not interested in using the motor home any more, still owe in excess of $45K on it. There is one consequence of those long term loans, the payments go on forever. He didn't have enough life insurance to pay it off (second mistake, I'll let you guess what the first was, in my mind). With the loss of most of his pension, she really can't afford to keep it. She is trying to sell it but even though it's low mileage, runs good, clean, nearly new tires, and everything is working she won't be able to sell it for pay-off amount. I've looked at the for sale ads in our area and you can get a better and newer motor home for the same or less money. The alternative is to take what she can get and take cash from her savings but that would drain a lot of her remaining savings, not doable or smart either (she's 82 yrs. old). I advised her to keep paying for it for now and try hard to find a buyer for an amount close to the pay-off. I kiddingly say to her to get it payed off so we don't have to deal with after she passes, but I'm not really kidding.

I think if I was in that situation I'd let the finance co. take it back!