Travel Trailer Purchase

[gelo]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to decide between two travel trailers and thought I'd reach out here since I have very little experience (my first purchase).
The choice is between a 2021 Aspen Trail 26BH and for $26,800 and a 2021 Shadow Cruiser 240BHS for $29,000. They are both base models in good shape no work needed. I kind of like the Aspen but NADA says the low Retail is 19,900 vs the Shadow at $28,000 which makes the shadow a better value. They both are very similar, it seems strange that one books for so much more, is the Shadow that much better?

[Gdetrailer]

lane hog wrote:
Don't dismiss stick & tin construction... All laminated trailers will eventually have some degree of water damage and delamination. They also cost considerably more to repair if there's damage.

Stick and tin requires some basic carpentry skills and won't delaminate.

Nothing wrong with stick and tin other than it isn't "in vogue" now days and doesn't look as modern and sleek like keeping up with the next door neighbors RV..

But, because it isn't as popular with the modern looks crowd, they tend to sell at a lower price point used. Downside is if you wanted to resale one, you might not get all of your money back out of it either but at a lower purchase price, you have less to lose.

Stick and tin does lend it's self as easier to repair water damage, you can remove the siding in the affected area and when you have fixed the rotted area, rehang the siding and no evidence of damage or repair is going to show.

If resale is the driving factor, buying an much older unit is a way to reduce your losses.. Right now on Craigslist I am seeing 2004-2006 travel trailers being offered for $4K-$6K.. Although this is twice the price they used to be offered at that age for it is pretty much in reach of most folks budgets even if they had to buy on a personal loan at a higher interest rate. Just have to be careful that you don't get one that has a lot of severe water damage (unless you don't mind the work to repair it) so inspect carefully.

[lane_hog]

Don't dismiss stick & tin construction... All laminated trailers will eventually have some degree of water damage and delamination. They also cost considerably more to repair if there's damage.

Stick and tin requires some basic carpentry skills and won't delaminate.

[BarabooBob]

If time is not a problem, I would wait about 3 months to purchase a TT. People do not want to pay for winter storage and want their month back before Christmas.

[Gdetrailer]

gelo wrote:
They are both used. The Shadow is a personal sale from a couple who got divorced and just wants to get rid of it. The Aspen is at a dealer and was traded in.

If the decision was purely about functionality I think I'd take the Aspen but I worry that I may not like camping or may just be too busy to use it and want to be sure if that happens I will get most of my money back when/if I sell.

If the part I put into bold is a critical part of your decision. then stop right now. Do not buy a RV, they depreciate in value the second you put your name on the title.

RV buyers tend to fixate on the age, brand, layout, color and condition of the unit, what you pay this yr in one or two years, you could easily lose 20%-%25 of the value or more.

While it is a bit expensive to rent a RV, renting once is a good option for a first time new camper try without buying, especially when there is a concern of losing a lot of money if you end up not liking it.. Camping in a RV is not for everyone, some folks are not able to adjust to it and some do fine.

Finding a much older used unit can also be helpful, much of the value has been lost already but the catch there is it may need a bunch of work to fix things like water damage or replacing a $2,000 RV fridge.

The sad thing is, right now is a horrible time to buy, even 15 yr old RVs they are asking double of what you used to be able to buy them..

[valhalla360]

PButler96 wrote:

gelo wrote:


Anyone have clever ideas on how I can make this thing a business expense? 🙂

Well.......you could always take the liberty of bullshitting the IRS, but with what appears to be 87000 new overpaid auditors coming online soon whose job has made their head swell before they applied for it, that may not be the wisest of choices lol.

Probably more of a question for you tax guy. There is BS'ing the IRS and legitimate writeoffs.

If you are really, chasing the Joneses and are up to your eyeballs in debt, it may qualify as a 2nd home and can write off the interest if you otherwise meet the rules. It certainly wouldn't make sense to take out a loan just to get the interest deduction.

Really need to know what your work is and how you can legitimately tie it into that. Do you have a lot of clients that you need to travel to visit or otherwise need to travel & need housing while there? If yes, there may be potential.

[valhalla360]

propchef wrote:

Forget NADA, prices are all over the map presently. There are a TON of used units on the market, and pricing right now is a black art.

Between these two, I would go with the Azdel tt.

Not just currently, NADA means next to nothing.

This isn't like looking at an F150 where there are a million units a year sold, so the market is big enough that used prices can be dialed in accurately.

For a particular model RV, if they sell 5,000 per year, that's a lot, so the market isn't as well defined.

I would go with the unit that has the better layout. Construction and appliances, etc..., aren't greatly different. RV values are all about maintenance.

Personally, I'm disillusioned with fiberglass siding. It looks pretty but go walk around an RV park. It will be rare to find a 5yr or older unit that doesn't has some delamination. Not saying I would refuse to buy one if the right deal came along but it's not a selling point for me.

[PButler96]

gelo wrote:


Anyone have clever ideas on how I can make this thing a business expense? 🙂

Well.......you could always take the liberty of bullshitting the IRS, but with what appears to be 87000 new overpaid auditors coming online soon whose job has made their head swell before they applied for it, that may not be the wisest of choices lol.

[gelo]

Thank you all, I appreciate all the info. I think Thermoguy has the right idea and did check out RV rentals. But my wife has a bit of a keeping up with the Joneses mentality and honestly I don't mind in this case. Having a TT will be a good excuse to get out and see the world (or at least my state). I have a Starlink and can work remotely from wherever, could be a bit of an adventure.

I was hoping to pick the best option as far as resale knowing that either way I'm probably going to be under water. Financially I may regret it but I think we're going to go with the Aspen. I like the extra place to sit and the larger slide out.

Anyone have clever ideas on how I can make this thing a business expense? 🙂

[afidel]

Yeah, if you're worried about resale in say 1 year, right now is very much not the time to buy. There's a glut of capacity on the manufacturing side and at some point they're going to start offering volume discounts to the big dealers. As soon as that happens new retail will go down, and once that happens by definition the value of used units will go down because who is going to buy a used unit for anything near what they can get a new unit for.

[kellem]

Thermoguy wrote:

gelo wrote:
They are both used. The Shadow is a personal sale from a couple who got divorced and just wants to get rid of it. The Aspen is at a dealer and was traded in.

If the decision was purely about functionality I think I'd take the Aspen but I worry that I may not like camping or may just be too busy to use it and want to be sure if that happens I will get most of my money back when/if I sell.

I'm not in the market for anything right now because prices for any luxury item, vehicle, etc are outrageous. We are in the process of a correction right now with high interest rates and high costs of goods. If you want to insure you can get your money back, save your money now and wait unit the bottom falls out then pick something up that someone bought and can't afford the payments, storage cost, doesn't like camping 3' from their neighbor, etc. If your not sure you will like using a camper, try renting first to see if you like it. Spending almost $30K on a trial, you are sure to lose money in the end.

Good advice ^

[Thermoguy]

gelo wrote:
They are both used. The Shadow is a personal sale from a couple who got divorced and just wants to get rid of it. The Aspen is at a dealer and was traded in.

If the decision was purely about functionality I think I'd take the Aspen but I worry that I may not like camping or may just be too busy to use it and want to be sure if that happens I will get most of my money back when/if I sell.

I'm not in the market for anything right now because prices for any luxury item, vehicle, etc are outrageous. We are in the process of a correction right now with high interest rates and high costs of goods. If you want to insure you can get your money back, save your money now and wait unit the bottom falls out then pick something up that someone bought and can't afford the payments, storage cost, doesn't like camping 3' from their neighbor, etc. If your not sure you will like using a camper, try renting first to see if you like it. Spending almost $30K on a trial, you are sure to lose money in the end.

[propchef]

gelo wrote:
Hi everyone, I'm trying to decide between two travel trailers and thought I'd reach out here since I have very little experience (my first purchase).
The choice is between a 2021 Aspen Trail 26BH and for $26,800 and a 2021 Shadow Cruiser 240BHS for $29,000. They are both base models in good shape no work needed. I kind of like the Aspen but NADA says the low Retail is 19,900 vs the Shadow at $28,000 which makes the shadow a better value. They both are very similar, it seems strange that one books for so much more, is the Shadow that much better?

Forget NADA, prices are all over the map presently. There are a TON of used units on the market, and pricing right now is a black art.

Between these two, I would go with the Azdel tt.

[gelo]

They are both used. The Shadow is a personal sale from a couple who got divorced and just wants to get rid of it. The Aspen is at a dealer and was traded in.

If the decision was purely about functionality I think I'd take the Aspen but I worry that I may not like camping or may just be too busy to use it and want to be sure if that happens I will get most of my money back when/if I sell.

[theoldwizard1]

RV sales are falling off a cliff at the moment. Wait another month !