Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Difficult decision to make, used diesel class a or new fifth wheel…

We are at a decision point, one that is hard to make… let me back up and explain. Back in 2010 we decided to buy an RV, we called our mortgage company and accepted their terms, not my wife's fault, I take full blame for it. The rate I signed for is 14%, there were at the time what I considered good reasons, many of them we are paying for and will have them cleared in about 2 more years. Had I been smart I would have called my credit union, I found out why we were denied by every bank the RV dealer tried, get this….

THEY THOUGHT WE OWNED 4 CARS!  Now, you would think their banks would ask for clarification but like I said, it’s a sellers market right now and they simply said no. I very much want to get out from under that 14% because at that rate we have gone the last 6 months (example time period) what we owe on the Endeavor hasn’t dropped much. I knew if we could get that Mountain Aire 4095 at 5.47% with a cost of $69,995 we would end up paying more in the end for our cheaper Endeavor.

I had an epiphany yesterday and called my credit union, they called back and explained we are escalating our debt by adding 2 more new cars on top of our old ones. It took about 10 minutes to explain we traded in our cars a few months ago. With that cleared up she gave me an instant approval for $60,000. That doesn’t get everything worked out however, the best rate they will give is 8.47% over 10 years… they will go to 15 years on a new RV but the only new RV’s in our price range are Fifth Wheels and Travel Trailers.

EDIT: I just got off the phone with them, they have now offered 70k over 15 years for the 2001 Mountain Aire!! They will go to 72k if they have to! The reason they are willing to be so flexible is because the Mountain Aire books for almost 100k and we have great credit and maybe because I beg pretty well, not sure.

So here is the difficult decision, buy a new Fifth Wheel or try like hell to buy the used Mountain Aire. The Mountain Aire is in fantastic shape however the dark painted stripe is starting to check, so that will have to be addressed, it also comes with no warranty since we have squeezed the dealer so thin on the price.

We could buy a Fifth Wheel however once it’s delivered to the Blackhawk campground it will be staying there until we pay somebody to move it, we don’t own a truck. This isn’t a problem I suppose if we don’t plan to go to other places. The plus side, it would be new, come with a warranty and would have a lot of space. They don’t come with a generator however. Also, the slides are huge and might get too close to our neighbors tree, if so we’ll have to move our deck, which would be interesting.

The Mountain Aire gives us freedom to go where we please, it has the Hydro Hot system so there is no furnace or hot water tank, the negatives for that one are it’s 40ft and will be a challenge for the length of our driveway at our site. I don’t want to buy an RV to fit a site, I want to buy one that fits our lifestyle. The AS IS and maintenance aspect are negatives as well, the ability to drive away is a big plus… so what to do?

We have submitted our paperwork and have an approval for… another EDIT: the dealer just texted me, they think they might be able to do the deal for 72k out the door. I’m going to have a heart attack over this.

Our next step is to go to the dealer and here is the good thing, if a deal can’t be done with them we can take our approval and go someplace else. We’ll see… I need some coffee…

2001 Mountain Aire 4095 floor plan

4095_Floorplan

2013 Keystone Montana 3900FB

                                           3900FB_Floorplan

28 comments:

Steinar Andersen said...
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Erik's RV Blog said...

Steinar - The Mountain Aire while AWESOME might not be do-able. The payment will be over $750.00 per month while the Fifth Wheel will be $550 to 600 per month.

You know me, I DREAM of a pusher but cost wise it might not work out. I got the dealer to knock almost $18,000 off of the price and trust me on this, it could easily go for $90,000 as it is but I might be able to get it for $72,000 out the door.

HOWEVER, 2001 won't qualify for a warranty... this is an expensive rig with a lot of complicated systems like the Hydro Hot and such. I need to play this smart.

Big Matt said...

Know the pain of decks, I've signed up to move to a new site in the park after the summer is over that has three tiered decks an a very large yard, all fenced in, but the trailer goes in backwards to every other one, so I have to disassemble one of the decks and part of the fence to remove the current park owned trailer out (Part of the deal to get the new site at the same rate I'm paying now) which is a 60s era holiday rambler that's been sitting there since 1998, and is badly rotted and gutted.

Looking at some ten year old 5ers myself 3-4 slides, love the Montanas and Cougars.

Anonymous said...

Val and I read your post including Steinar's comment and then went out to dinner. While at dinner we talked about what we would do in your situation. Well the consensus was to go with the Mountain Aire since you could still move to different locations and have more enjoyment from your RV. The fifth wheel would require a truck someday if you want the freedom to move more often. Every time you would want to move it or need to return for any service issues you would have to pay to have it moved. However, now that we've returned home we see the monthly payment options and it gives us pause. It's never good to be on the wrong side of the interest equation and perhaps it might be worth seeing if your credit union would refinance the Endeavor. Then you still have the flexibility to move around and enjoy other campgrounds and save some money in the process. You are also aware of the condition of the Endeavor and I agree it's a risk when you buy used. Of course we are not aware of all the numbers you are dealing with so we don't have a complete picture to do the math. We wish you guys the best in making this tough decision. We're looking forward to seeing how things unfold.

Bruce and Val

Erik's RV Blog said...

Matt - Good luck bud! I hope you find a good one.

Bruce and Val - THe very first thing we did was try to re-finance the Endeavor, it's too old to get a low rate on otherwise we would have done it.

As it turns out Ronda is really into the Fifth Wheels. The dealer is close enough to visit the campground to handle any warranty repairs, I already checked into that. I agree, the Mountain Aire would be great but the payment is likely going to be too high.

We are going to the dealer this Saturday to go over everything and then hopefully come to a conclusion and decision.

Thanks for the advice, we need it!

Anonymous said...

http://www.couchscampers.com/rv/middletown+oh/keystone+fifthwheel/558/keystone+montana+3900fb

On sale in Ohio (maybe use for negotiations if price is better).

Bruce

Steinar Andersen said...
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Erik's RV Blog said...

Bruce - Thanks, I got a better price already, the first thing I did was hit them with lower prices from a few dealers. Since we got our own financing they know we can walk and go anywhere.

Thanks for the link!

Erik's RV Blog said...

Steinar - Unlike Class A's, Fifth Wheels don't require "moving around".

Hey, if you have about 800 a month I'll gladly go for the Class A, since we are paying 14% for the Endeavor why would I keep it and end up paying more for it than the Mountain Aire after 10 years? Makes no financial sense at all.

The 5th wheel can be moved by the dealer and yes we are planning a multi-year plan at Blackhawk.

The Mountain Aire isn't out of the running, we just have to figure out how to lower the payment since we have no more to put down.

A new rig is happening, 50% less interest rate is worth the effort.

Steinar Andersen said...
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Erik's RV Blog said...

Steinar - Thanks for the links, the ones you posted are the lower end models, less air bags, lower power, no Hydro Hot system etc hence the lower prices.

I'll try to use them but they use the NADA pretty much get these things exact, if I use these as a chip they will show the stark differences between them.

I'll give it a try though.

Steinar Andersen said...
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Erik's RV Blog said...

Steinar - Actually you're sending me links to rigs that are about the same cost as the one I'm looking at, slap yerself. :)

Steinar Andersen said...
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JO said...

5th wheel no engine no tranny no fuel pump no lots of things. Like a few said before if your staying put a 5er is best. I've been in a few long term RV Parks and more and more folks are selling the motor homes for 5ers. They all say the same thing cost. Many do not have trucks. Good luck.

Ronda said...
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Erik's RV Blog said...

Ronda - Actually, the Fifth Wheel's you like will be the same amount per month as the Mountain Aire.... ;)~

We'll see Saturday.

Ronda said...
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Steinar Andersen said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Erik's RV Blog said...

Steinar - I'm not sure why you're calling the new warranty a "basic warranty?" The unit is protected front to back all inclusive for a year, not very basic at all plus I'm going to add an extended warranty to the Fifth Wheel should we go that route.

As for the Mountain Aire being able to sit there at Blackhawk that was a negative for you for the Fifth Wheel but now it's a positive for the pusher? We both know no matter how well I go over the pusher this Saturday that doesn't mean it won't have a problem that doesn't show itself that day.

I am SO on board with the pusher however financially the win goes to the 5th wheel right now unless the pusher really shows itself well on Saturday. I for one love the idea of being able to go where ever we want.

I am working on something that may solve the issue so it won't matter which one we get, I'll post about that after I have more information.

Erik's RV Blog said...

The 2000 Newmar for 39k is DISGUSTING inside, it wasn't cared for very well and no amount of cleaning will remove the smoke smell and all furniture needs to be replaced.

Erik's RV Blog said...

Steinar - Ack, I have to page up and down to read and comment. We are weighing everything, why do you think nothing has been done yet? Because we are weighing all of our options so we hopefully make the right choice.

Steinar Andersen said...
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Anonymous said...


FIFTH-WHEEL IT SHOULD BE!!! ;-)
BUT---the no warranty thing and space are HUGE factors to me. I'm just sayin!! Love you bunches honey! XOXOXO :-D
I think the decision has been made:)
You buy that pusher and the moment something expensive needs repair the "love you bunches honey" will sound totally different:) "I'm just sayin"!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4EDhdAHrOg (sent with Val's permission)

Bruce

Erik's RV Blog said...

Bruce - Tell Val thanks for letting you post it because that NAILED it! Perfect presentation of well... ahhhh thats all I can say because I sleep in the same house, she cooks my food and I'd like to continue living... :)~

Anonymous said...

Thought you guys could use a laugh ;)

Bruce (& yes Val)

Ronda said...
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Teri said...

I'm too cheap/frugal to pay $70k for a part time vacation home. Good luck with whatever you decide.