NADA values for used Fifth Wheels

[lacofdfireman]

I'm in the market for a Fifth Wheel and from what I'm seeing so far either people are mighty proud of their Fifth Wheels or they seem to hold their value really well. Most that I look at are priced above NADA value. I've inquired on a few and when I tell them they are priced above value they say then move along. That's what I'm asking for it and don't make me these silly offers. So I've always been taught that when you book a vehicle the only extras you can add on when getting a used value are extras. People are adding in there A/C units, furnaces, refrigerators, slides, awnings, gel coat exteriors etc when they are already included in the book price. So basically they are adding them in twice making their values sometimes up to $10k higher than it should be. It even says in the fine print when you book out an RV that you do not include any items that come standard on the RV when purchase. The things I mentioned above are standard items.

Am I wrong for pointing this out to sellers? And why are people paying over book value for these units? Just curious. What are your thoughts on used RV values.

[Jetstreamer]

I had the same issue as you did, when we bought our fiver, with the seller adding on all of the standard equipment when filling out the Nada form. It was really my first dealings with the Nada pricing so it took me a while to make sure I knew what I was talking about before I confronted the seller. In our case it didn't really matter much anyway because the seller was looking to unload the unit, it was the middle of winter, and we got a great price in the end.

[leeper]

Dealers can charge more because of other things they do when selling, such as getting you financing that a private seller can not. That is a biggy for most buyers. NADA is as they say, A GUIDE. Dealers use them to determine how much to offer when one is being traded in. Not used when a dealer is selling. Financing might be based on NADA. Because of NADA, private sellers have hard time selling.

[ChuckV1]

lacofdfireman wrote:

mtofell1 wrote:

lacofdfireman wrote:

I really like the Keystone Hideouts but know they are Keystones bottom of the barrel units.

I ended up buying a new one just over a year ago. And it wasn't even so much cost. It just had the perfect floor plan for my family. I really dragged my feet because of it being the low end of Keystone. In the end, DW and kids loved the features so I own one.

Overall, I'm super happy. I got lucky and haven't had a single problem in my year of ownership. I don't use it much so that's probably part of the reason nothing has gone wrong (yet :)) I think I've spent around 20 nights in it over the last year. The features on these newer trailers are nice compared to what you find used. And I don't know how/why people are so hard on RVs. I can never seem to find a used unit that doesn't smell like a dirty sock and have huge stains on everything.

Glad to hear you like yours. Just found out a co-worker just bought a bunkhouse Hideout also and is very happy with it.

One of the craziest things I've noticed in some ads are that the people selling make zero effort in cleaning the unit before taking photos. Clutter on the floors and counters, clothes laying around and beds not made. That I'll never understand but I'd never even consider buying a trailer that someone wasn't even willing to try and clean up before snapping photos to post for sale.

I have to laugh about cleaning a trailer before selling it, my wife stated that we needed to clean our 5er before we traded it in for our new one. So we washed the inside top to bottom, washed the outside, took the cushion to the cleaner to be dry cleaned and then took it to the dealer .... The gal that looked at it stated "WOW" we don't have to anything to this unit but put it on the lot ! I stated that you can give me an extra few thousand then right, she laughed, but we did get $10K for a 2006 5th wheel on trade ....

[Veebyes]

As a boater I compare RV used market sales with boat used market sales.

One huge difference seems to be that RVs are usually stripped down to as they were from the dealer, new. If it is not bolted on or screwed in it is not there except for the shorepower cord.

Boats, not little trailer boats, are different. It is more likely that the seller has all kinds of extras onboard, right down to silverware, linens, cleaning supplies, tools, spares, about everything except personal items & food. The term "Turn Key" means just that.

When the day comes to sell my truck & trailer that is the way it will go. I will not be selling to get another. I will take the personal stuff out but it will be sold "Turn Key". Put your clothes, your food in it & you will be ready to go stocked right down to spare landing leg parts, spare wet bolts for the springs, light bulbs for inside & all kinds of galley gadgets that the foodie DW has.

[shadows4]

lacofdfireman wrote:


One of the craziest things I've noticed in some ads are that the people selling make zero effort in cleaning the unit before taking photos. Clutter on the floors and counters, clothes laying around and beds not made. That I'll never understand but I'd never even consider buying a trailer that someone wasn't even willing to try and clean up before snapping photos to post for sale.

We sold our last TT 4 years ago through CL. Made sure it was clean and ready for new owners. But the wife always keeps it clean. Anyway we are in KC and the buyer came all the way from Souix Falls, SD. about 600 miles. Said everything he had looked at was over priced junk. Said, as most here have said, most were filthy and unkempt. Never even tried to talk me down.(maybe I sold to cheap) And I think the reason was because I put a reasonable price on it and it was clean. He didn't need to do anything but load and go. I guess my point is, you can tell by looking at a used unit if it has been taken care of by the appearance of it. When we were looking, if it wasn't clean, we looked else where. Good luck in your search OP'er.

[Veebyes]

Just for fun I did the NADA evaluation on mine not long ago. Came out to about what I was thinking before I checked off the boxes.

The thing is, I have put alot of money into upgrades that you can't easily see, don't have a switch on them & are not inside.

Things like an air pinbox, hugely strengthened spring hanger areas, Correct Track system, Center Point Equaflex hangers & the blingy wheels add up to thousands of what really counts upgrades IMO.

[Chuck_thehammer]

for whats it worth..

when I purchased my used trailer...from a New and Used dealership.

large sign on trailer September Sale, reduced from 17,500 to 14,995.

after an hour .. I got it for 10,000 out the door. and NO Trade-in.
with New battery, new inverter/charger and 2 new 30# propane tanks (filled)
60 day warranty on complete unit and appliances
one week later they replaced all 4 brakes.. covered.

Just like used cars.. numbers are everywhere.

[maskins]

When we bought out 5th wheel last year. There were two dealers that had the same unit. Both of them had different Manufacture's pricing. One was 20 grand higher than the other. It was also at the rv show and had lots of people walking through it, didn't have the 2nd ac install, was missing the tank and battery gauges, and was a year older.
Needless to say we got it from the other dealer who was very close to what seedealercost.com had.

[Flapper]

goducks10 wrote:
Jayco offers a build and price option on their web site. You can cross reference every item on the invoice to see the cost of it. No different than buying a Ford or GM truck. Add the options and theres the total price. How much the dealer marks up after that is another story.

You can also go here and figure out if the dealer's jacking you around.
http://www.seedealercost.com/products/model-options/index/id/25348/productCategorySlug/recv

Jayco prices according to their MSRP. Once you get that price, then starts the game of how much the dealer will knock off of that, like the prior sign that was posted. Only the most foolish of dealers would go UP from Jayco's pricing.

And......I found many, many local dealer posted prices that were below those seen in "seedealercost", before any negotiation. I doubt they were advertising them to be given away for less than their cost.....

[goducks10]

Jayco offers a build and price option on their web site. You can cross reference every item on the invoice to see the cost of it. No different than buying a Ford or GM truck. Add the options and theres the total price. How much the dealer marks up after that is another story.

You can also go here and figure out if the dealer's jacking you around.
http://www.seedealercost.com/products/model-options/index/id/25348/productCategorySlug/recv

[valleycat1]

Another reason private sellers price their units so high is that they may be upside down on the loan and want to get at least the full loan payoff amount, not actual value of the unit. Particularly true with newer models, and possibly true if they had purchased even a used one within the past 3 years or less.

[ACZL]

1 dealer I spoke with says that there isn't anything within the RV industry that states 25%-35% off MSRP (new). Most take around 15% off and if buyers don't know better, they think they are getting a good deal. Ironically, same dealer I just mentioned has a unit they are selling (new), has sat on their lot for a year and now that have it for 28% off MSRP. When questioned, reply was" It's a year old".

[Earl_E]

I gave up trying to buy RVs from private individuals years ago. I know people do find great deals but I didn't. They were always way too high. I actually found better deals from dealers even though their list prices are way high. I usually got what I wanted for 30% off to 50%. Every RV I have bought from a dealer was never over NADA and often far less. Never got that from private sellers.

[MN_Ben]

Funny how the dealers can knock nearly 30 G's off their price. Or maybe their just jacking up the list price to make it feel like one is getting a deal. But I guess the time to buy new is at the shows when their running sales.