Mike Lutz asks is there a market for selling a diesel pusher ? What is the best way

Mike Lutz · 04-12-2005, 04:13 PM

I have a great 39QD Itasca. Is there a tested and proven way to sell it. Low mileage. I tried a few internet sources, spent a lot of money and the only calls I received came from other internet marketers. email @[email protected] with your suggestions.

Mike Lutz · 04-12-2005, 04:13 PM

I have a great 39QD Itasca. Is there a tested and proven way to sell it. Low mileage. I tried a few internet sources, spent a lot of money and the only calls I received came from other internet marketers. email @[email protected] with your suggestions.

04-12-2005, 05:34 PM

There is a market, but it just got real soft. Don't let anyone tell you any different, these high fuel prices are slowing the sales of fuel guzzling vehicles. The news media reports travelers will go no matter what. Well, what is here and when the funds aren't there, they're not there.

I recently made a post in the "Just for Conversation" Forum, stating that I posted our coach and toad in the classified section. Hitchhiker sensored it and locked me down. He called it advertising. I certainly didn't intend it in that fashion, not when I already posted in the Classiefieds. All I did was make a statement of what I did and then asked the members what they thought and if they had any suggestions.

Yours topic is not any differnt then mine, just worded differently. You've still put yourself on notice, that your selling your vehicle. Be careful, you could censored also.

Tomcat F15

N8XV · 04-13-2005, 02:41 PM

Having always sold our own RV's I would say there is always a market. The lower your asking price the better the market. If you price the RV about 8% or more under dealer used retail for the unit you stand the best chance of finding a buyer. The more you discount it below dealer used retail price the quicker it will sell. The game to sell it is get it out where people can see it. High traffic areas and the same with advertising it online or in newspapers. Get the ones that cover the most people. The faster you want to sell it the lower the price needs to be. Don't be surprised if trying to sell it for a fair price takes 3 or 6 months. If you feel it's in excellent condition and feel it's worth top dollar, then be willing to take up to 8 months or more to sell. You have to be willing to deal with a the public and lots of questions. Just remember it only takes one person to look at it and buy it. Keep it clean and ready to be viewed 24/7. Make sure you list a phone number where you can be reached, not just a number with a voice mail on it. Have all the papers, maintenance and manuals in the unit for people to see. One last thing, be honest with people if you have had any problems with the unit. If they have been fixed tell them, if not fixed tell them. Good luck you may be in for a slow sell.

palmetto · 04-14-2005, 04:10 AM

If you're going to buy another RV...I have had pretty good success trading with the dealer. If the trade is exceptionally clean, low miles, etc., is a popular unit in the used market, and the dealer really wants to move the new unit, you can do pretty good on the trade.

Cruzer · 04-14-2005, 05:13 AM

The biggest thing that determines trade-in values is going to be how the dealer preceives your trade. If it is a popular coach that holds it's value and the dealer has enough traffic that he can move it quickly, and it's the right time of the year, etc - all these things can work out very favorably. However, if you have an oddball clunker that isn't that popular, the dealer doesn't move many units, and it's the off-season - it won't work out very favorably for you. In that case you may want to reschedule your purchase for a more favorable time, find a different dealer, or sell it yourself.

I did very well on my trade. Everything clicked and it was a simple transaction and I didn't have to go through the private sale hassle. Also, by trading you only pay sales tax on the trade difference rather than the full value of the new RV.

I receieved a trade-in quote for my 2003 Suncruiser on a 2003 Dutch Star that was so-so. The following year I received an even better offer on my 2004 Bus. But, this was 6 months later (better time of the year), the dealer needed late model inventory because they were flying off the lot, and he was Wisconsin's #1 class A dealer so he knew how to move inventory. My trade was gone off his lot within 3 months. The Newmar dealer didn't move as many used RVs, tended to hold them longer, and it was going into winter so these 3 factors made the difference.

DonavonP · 04-14-2005, 10:00 AM

Mike, There's an Itasca dealer about 100 miles northwest of you in Shakopee that will sell your MH. They're a good outfit but, of course, you'll get a little commission shaved off that you might not want to forfeit.

I don't want to sound like a commercial for them so you'll have to look up the name on the Winnebago web site.

Duner · 04-14-2005, 07:21 PM

Mike,
I sold my '99 Chieftain w/2 slides in 5 days by parking it next to the freeway with a big sign in the windshield & sign on back ladder with the price. Got many calls from folks with cell phones standing next to it with questions. I always had it garaged so it looked like new when it was all polished up. Had it listed for 2 months with the 3 big rv websites and got no offers, just got many requests for more pictures & mileage, etc. Dealer on my new rig would only give me $47K trade-in, I was able to sell for $60K while my new Chieftain was being built. If your rig is really clean, get it to a high traffic area get some "big" 4 sale signs with the price. Anybody looking at new rigs knows how high the list prices are on the dealer lots, so your price on one that looks like new WILL SELL.

Good Luck!
Bill

04-15-2005, 04:48 AM

Duner,

I like how you handled your situation, that makes a lot of sense. How long of a time did you leave your coach sitting there, at a time. Didn't you worry about someone steeling it or breaking into it? Thats the only thing that concerns me about parking my coach in high traffic areas.

Tomcat F15

Duner · 04-15-2005, 08:59 PM

Tomcat,

I drove the coach home at dusk, and then back out the next morning. I would not leave my coach out over night, besides there's usually laws about overnight parking, or 4-sale on public streets, etc. I found a spot about 4 miles from my house on a open stretch along Hwy 101 where it was only 40 feet from the slow lane. I noticed that the dealers would put the "Sale! price" in the windshield using 8" high numbers in flouresent green ...so thats what I did. I think you tend to get the spontaneuos buyer that wants to move up in size or the buyer that hasn't spent time looking at 100's of rigs for sale. One piece of luck, it was Thanksgiving week and the out-of-towners from/to LA traffic was heavy all week. Seemed like all the calls I got were serious buyers by folks that took the time to get off the freeway and drive back 2 miles. Whereas calls from RVsearch, RV Trader, and RVregistry seemed typically too far away to come look at it in person. I think the web buyer is looking for the outstanding deal (ie, very low price to offset the time & travel cost/risk) and the pictures don't really show the real value. I did start out with higher price on the web: $75K the 1st month, the $69K the second month, then $60K. I was happy to get 60K after 10 weeks, but if I sold it for 60K the 1st week I would have never known the actual value & been kicking myself for not asking more.

In the end, with just one week driving it out every day, I had 3 people that wanted to give me a check for $60K.

Happy Trails,
Bill