Did you finance or pay cash for your Class B?

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

WOW....the sales folks make this sound so easy... just finance it over 20 years.... trouble is..I realized that it would cost another $60,000 in interest charges just for that!

So, after 7 months I found a way to "retire" the loan...

Still, I could not do that again..one time thing..

Is it worth financing an RV for 20 years..? Just because you can doesn't mean you should?

And, these things are really toys... depreciating assets like cars...

Unless something changes.. I'll probably keep my used RV until I decide not to have one!
These things are so insanely expensive to purchase and maintain...

I'm lucky that I like my RV... turning it around for another one is not a good idea.. especially if you just acquired it...

[avanti]

The only financial advice you ever need:
"Never borrow money to buy a depreciating asset."

[jon]

Originally Posted by avanti

The only financial advice you ever need:
"Never borrow money to buy a depreciating asset."

That's un-American!!!

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by jon

That's un-American!!!

YES... people do that every day on cars......in fact. Leasing is a prime example of this.... you're paying for the first three years of deprecation when you take possession and you don't even own the car!

On the other hand...you can't take it with you...so, why not drive the nicest vehicle you can afford to make payments on......A LOT of people definitely feel that way....

[BBQ]

.

The smartest person is the one who died with the most debt

Enjoy now... pay later.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by avanti

The only financial advice you ever need:
"Never borrow money to buy a depreciating asset."

Personally, my m/o truncates this advice to: never borrow money, period, but that said:

Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on the cost of borrowing and what you do with the resources conserved by borrowing plus the potential tax deduction advantage of an RV qualifying for a second home. The inputs to the equation and the resultant financial bottom line will be different for everybody.

[Davydd]

Has anyone kept a Class B for 20 years?

I've paid cash for my three Class Bs and traded them in at 65,000 and 61,000 miles and already have 63,000 miles on my current one in 3-1/2 years. At my rate I would put well over 400,000 miles on one in 20 years and I doubt it would last that long. And I certainly wouldn't want to own something that was stored in a garage unused for several years. But I may not live another 20 years and it is a depreciating asset unlike a house.

[InterBlog]

Cash, but we bought it when it was 7 years old. (But then put a great deal of additional money into it.)

The median home price in my area is $250,000. House plus Class B combined is still dramatically cheaper than the median home price in many other areas of the country.

I don't believe in debt. I'm an immigrant who came here and had no credit rating and no citizenship, so I wasn't able to borrow for many years regardless of whether I wanted to or needed to. I learned to live in perpetuity without borrowing.

[warpig]

It's a question that I've been asking myself. I'm not fortunate enough to throw down 80k cash. The lure of 20 years and low payment is tempting, but I just can't let myself do it. I will need to finance but am aiming toward 10 years. I have excellent credit and no other debt, so I should be able to score a decent percentage rate. We'll see...

[Oliver2017]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

These things are so insanely expensive to purchase and maintain...

This one line is is not what my brain needs to read until after I finally purchase one.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Has anyone kept a Class B for 20 years?

I've paid cash for my three Class Bs and traded them in at 65,000 and 61,000 miles and already have 63,000 miles on my current one in 3-1/2 years. At my rate I would put well over 400,000 miles on one in 20 years and I doubt it would last that long. And I certainly wouldn't want to own something that was stored in a garage unused for several years. But I may not live another 20 years and it is a depreciating asset unlike a house.

I understand... in 20 years... I'll be in my mid 80s.. no one knows.?

When someone says "lifetime guarantee" my answer is "whose lifetime are we talking about"... couple of cases.. the company went out of business!
You just never know..

Not an RV... but, I kept a car for 19 years …kept up on all the maintenance and it ran fine... sold the car for top dollar. I saved a lot of money driving that for 14 years with no car payments.. that pays for a lot of repairs and maintenance.


So, as long as I'm enjoying my Roadtrek... I'll keep it, maintaining the thing is the least expensive route to go, I think, as opposed to replacing it for a new model. The rapid depreciation, sales tax and other stuff is very costly.

You're absolutely correct... it's quite different from a house that appreciates in value over time. Some areas more than others of course... but, I'm very lucky that our house has appreciated greatly.

Good luck with your next model. I'm sure that you'll go back to Advanced RV if you have had a good experience with them... I believe in customer loyalty. So far, I've had a good experience with my Roadtrek … once I got all the initial things settled... I purchased my rig used a year ago and there were some things I had to do... to customize it for me.

[wincrasher]

I don't finance toys.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Roadtrek Adventuous RS1

So, as long as I'm enjoying my Roadtrek... I'll keep it, maintaining the thing is the least expensive route to go, I think, as opposed to replacing it for a new model. The rapid depreciation, sales tax and other stuff is very costly.

I used to worry about asset depreciation until mother nature made it clear to me that I'm depreciating a hell of a lot faster than anything I own.

[kite_rider]

I always pay cash and have a history of buying other peoples used (often abused) hand me downs and fixing them. I got to be a pretty good VW mechanic that way.

My wife bought our current rig since she figured I'd never give up our beloved Eurovan. Even though we could afford a six figure rig like many on this forum have; I cringe at the thought of bashing it down some never ending washboard road in Baja or Eastern Oregon...

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by kite_rider

I always pay cash and have a history of buying other peoples used (often abused) hand me downs and fixing them. I got to be a pretty good VW mechanic that way.

My wife bought our current rig since she figured I'd never give up our beloved Eurovan. Even though we could afford a six figure rig like many on this forum have; I cringe at the thought of bashing it down some never ending washboard road in Baja or Eastern Oregon...

We were recently in Cabo San Lucas.. NO, we didn't drive the RS there.... we flew... very pleasant ..

We did however see a man with an RV from the USA.... I asked him... how was it driving down to Cabo.... well... he said.. don't do it... He's basically living down there which is why he drove the rig all that distance.

He told me it was the roughest road ever and nearly destroyed his RV.. enough said.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

I used to worry about asset depreciation until mother nature made it clear to me that I'm depreciating a hell of a lot faster than anything I own.

A friend of mine once told me.... "aging is a cruel trick"... for us and the vehicles.

Just keep enjoying what you have...

[Cliffhanger]

I don't think I've ever gotten rid of a vehicle of mine that had less than 200k miles on it. I'm hoping I can do the same with my first and, perhaps, my only ClassB. Their value seems to depreciate more based upon age as opposed to miles, especially for diesel. Am I right?

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Cliffhanger

I don't think I've ever gotten rid of a vehicle of mine that had less than 200k miles on it. I'm hoping I can do the same with my first and, perhaps, my only ClassB. Their value seems to depreciate more based upon age as opposed to miles, especially for diesel. Am I right?

On all cars.. mileage is MUCH less important than age and condition... AND... with diesel engines miles are NOT considered for value... look at the NADA, the National Automobile Dealers Association...it clearly states mileage is not a factor... just condition, age and equipment...

Keep driving your vehicle for as long as you can.... nothing is more expensive than replacement... think of just the sales tax alone...in California.. our sales tax is almost 10 percent...

[ponti33602]

Originally Posted by avanti

The only financial advice you ever need:
"Never borrow money to buy a depreciating asset."

+1

What we have always lived by. We paid cash for our depreciating asset. We did also get rid of our car to help it "feel better" in my mind.

[Leland]

It's hard to enjoy yourself when you're saddled up with payment(s). It takes the fun out of it