Give me your opinions on selling a camper

[Jim Oaks]

I close on my house tomorrow. My closing date got changed to the 7th instead of today.

Now I need to get rid of my 2008 Forest River Work & Play toy hauler. I had hoped a local RV dealer that buys and sells used RVs would buy it, but they only offered me $5,000 and said they will likely list it for $9,995. This is after they said the NADA on it is around $5,000 - $5,500. They said they need to make at least $2,000 for it to be worth it for them. I'd have to take it to them, they won't pick it up.

I'm feeling like if I have to move it, I might as well take it to my new house and see if I can sell it myself.

My concern is, and the reason I wanted feedback, is if I listed it for say $7,500, I wonder what the chances are that someone could come up with that kind of cash? It's not like I'm selling a car for $3,500.

What would you guys do, drop it off at the dealer and take the $5,000 or move it to the new house and see if you could get $7,000 or $6,500 for it?

 

[Uncle Gump]

I would haul it to the new place and stay in it for a bit until construction is done on the new place.

I'm also hardly the one to give advice on selling a camper... I nearly gave the last one had away.

 

[Roert42]

If you got a place to put it and you can move it yourself I would take it with you. Could list it for sale online, even offer deliver for a fee. Maybe see if a trailer/ RV shop would put it up for consignment or something.

If you need to pay someone to move it/store it. I would would just get rid of it.

 

[racsan]

You’re almost always better off selling it yourself. List it in a “auto-trader” type publication. Years ago I sold a jeep CJ-7 for more than it was (technically) worth. I needed payoff for the loan and couldnt take less. It sold within a month.

 

[ericbphoto]

Sell it yourself. You know what the numbers are. List it high enough that you can negotiate and still get close to what you want.

 

[Grumpaw]

Jim, I'm gonna play devil's advocate here, and being a looong time RV'er I have a bit of experience...
First your trying to sell in the middle of winter, unless you plan on keeping it till spring and trying to sell. It will depreciate even more by them.
Second, your trying to sell a 13 year old RV, which means that anyone who wants to buy it will have to come up with cash as not too many places will finance a lower modle that is that old.
Third, is the economy. Those that have the bucks are buying newer rigs, and most likely not older ones.
Forth, if you ask your $7500, everyone will try to talk you down which is natural. You might not get too much more than the dealer was offering.
They may "ask" $9995, but I will almost guarantee you they will take $7000 if they get that offer, so they will get their 2 grand profit.
You can check NADA and see if their being honest with you as to it's value...easy to do.
I have found, and know for fact, RV's are the one item that seems to depreciate faster than almost any other type of vehicle or property. Now a days, a new one depreciates 25% tho moment you drive it off a lot.
A brand new RV, no matter the type, can be had for 25-30 % off list price. There are many thousands of used rigs sitting on lots, and private owners home lots, and yours will be one of many many many listed for sale.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I'm not building a place, but I don't have furniture and appliances to go in the new place either, so I could use the camper until stuff gets delivered.

This is Texas. It's going to be in the 50s and 60s next week. Your spring is our summer. I imagine by February people will be camper shopping.

It's a toy hauler, so I think there seems to be more of a demand for them.

The economy is good here. It seems like people around DFW have money to spend.

But I moved here from an area where people didn't have that much disposable cash, so it worries me that someone won't be able to come up with $6k or $7k.

The money is going towards converting the building on my property to a garage. So I want the cash, and don't want it taking up my yard forever.

I plugged the camper in to my truck, used something to hold the brake down, and noticed that the front axle brakes sound like they're energizing, but I don't hear the back brakes energizing. Which is weird because they worked fine when I parked it.

The empty weight is about 7,600 lbs. Ford says my 2016 F150 can tow 10,000, but i was hoping to avoid having to tow it. Looks like there's no way around that. I'm going to have to look in to the brake issue. Hopefully it's something simple so I can get out of here.

I'm still weighing my options. The salesman says he thinks the dealer would go $5,500 if it's in nice condition, but I definitely have to take it to them. I'd do the deal if they'd give me $6k and come pick it up.

Maybe @85_Ranger4x4 needs to upgrade from his slide-in to a toy hauler. LOL.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Delivery available?

After that I don't know, my two trucks combined might have enough rating to tow it...

 

[wildbill23c]

Take it to the dealer that offered you $5k dump it off, grab your check and run like hell...RV's in general are complete money pits, they're ridiculously over-priced for no more than what they are, most times 2x2 framed if you are lucky and a lot of it is only 1x crap and the cheapest the manufacturer could find. If you gotta move it if it were me I'd move it once and that would be to the nearest dealership to sell it to them. RV's depreciate in value faster than a new car off the lot. Most banks won't loan that kind of money on a trailer that old and like you are thinking, who's got that kind of money for something that old.

Most people that can afford an RV are going to buy a new one, unless its someone in an emergency and just needs it to live in for some reason and doesn't have time or money to deal with a dealership.

Toy haulers are heavy, so that limits your buying group too. Dealership dump off sounds like a great way to go, and if that's a $5k don't care what shape its in deal I'd jump on it.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Bad news is its really hard to recover money on stuff like that. At least around here. I see a lot of toy haulers for sale and most of my buddies lose their ass, or break even at best, when it comes time to upgrade or downsize.

Good news is all the covid shut downs has people suddenly eating this stuff up. Bikes, atvs, utvs, campers, even gym equipment is selling like hot cakes.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Imo try to sell it, if you get tired of it and just want money you can always take it to a dealer then.

 

[sgtsandman]

If you sell the trailer, you'll have money for furniture. At least some.

But depending on what kind of work you need to do to the house before moving in, it might be worth holding on to it until you can move in. You have to move the thing in any case it seems.

Alternatively, you could try selling the trailer in place but I don't know how much demand there is for the camp ground it's in or how long you have to wait and if you can wait a long period of time to sell it. This is also assuming the camp ground will let you sell it in place and not make you move it as well.

 

[97RangerXLT]

Try to sell it where it sits right now. New owner comes pick it up. If no takers after a month, haul it up to the dealership.

If you are lucky, someone will drop 7k in your lap and you won't have to even move it

AJ

 

[Rick W]

If you’re worried about moving it, rent a bigger truck or have a mobile home dealer move it for you. I bet it’s cheap. Big truck - brakes not an issue. It’ll buy you time.

The battery on my crystal ball is dead right now, but with Covid vaccine and election over, fear should decline and economy (for stuff like this) should pick up.

It sounds like it might be handy for a little while. I’d use it and try to sell it from home. Ditto above, if it doesn’t work out, then take it to the dealer.

If you have the demeanor and discipline for it, maybe owner finance, like the “buy here pay here” car lots. Raise the price, get a little more than the minimum you need as a down payment (enough that if you never see another dime you’re not hurt), and finance the rest. On something like this, I’d check their credit ($35) and I’d get additional collateral that’s easy to attach: car/truck title, co-sign from mom or dad with money, lien on house or land or??? But you have to have the temperament to chase and collect if necessary.

Once it’s financed, sell the note to a used car dealer for 65-70% and/or every now and then offer the buyer an opportunity to buy the note back at 85-90%.

And/or rent it to folks you trust. Make sure it’s insured!

And/or, rent it as living space in your driveway.

Don’t just list it in Craigslist. Do that, but also run it in the newsletters of potential buyers: motorcycle clubs, etc. Put up an 8-1/2x11 flyer with the tear off phone # tags in every bike & accessory shop, Ca/bass pro shops, bait & tackle, etc.

Put a lawn chair next to it with a cooler of beer and contemplate other options...

I’m not recommending any of these, just options (except the beer cooler and chair)....

oh, and prayers and best wishes for the new shack. May His blessings be upon you and your home and family, I pray it is a place of comfort and joy and growth.

 

[BigClemsonFan]

pplmotorhomes.com is a consignment dealer that sells a lot. Might be able to get a better deal than CL or trading in. I looked there for a while, but decided to buy new.