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  1. #1
    Left The Driveway
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    Upgrade RV or keep current

    I have had my non GD TT for 6 years. It’s still the perfect set up for my family of 5 (and fully paid off). No major issues (but did just get front and rear sides replaced from delamination).

    Need recommendations on when to trade up?

    Did you trade up for new design? Trade up because RV longevity starts really going downhill after so many years? Long term ownership of RV is not like ownership of automobile? Or just kept RV until it was ready for scrap yard?

    For cars/trucks, I usually buy new or newer used and drive them for 200,000-300,000 miles. Is this philosophy bad when talking about RV’s?

    Also not current GD owner, but want to be. Joined this forum to decide on which one to get and which dealer seems to be the best. Trying not to purchase one now during pandemic and when RV’s sales are up 300% and Unwillingness by dealers to come down on price because RV’s are selling so fast.

    Thanks for any input, this is my first RV and I love it and the part time life style.
    Last edited by Milo1906; 08-06-2020 at 04:03 AM.

  2. #2
    Seasoned Camper mageorge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Milo1906 View Post
    I have had my non GD TT for 6 years. It’s still the perfect set up for my family of 5 (and fully paid off). No major issues (but did just get front and rear sides replaced from delamination).

    Need recommendations on when to trade up?

    Did you trade up for new design? Trade up because RV longevity starts really going downhill after so many years? Long term ownership of RV is not like ownership of automobile? Or just kept RV until it was ready for scrap yard?

    For cars/trucks, I usually buy new or newer used and drive them for 200,000-300,000 miles. Is this philosophy bad when talking about RV’s?

    Also not current GD owner, but want to be. Joined this forum to decide on which one to get and which dealer seems to be the best. Trying not to purchase one now during pandemic and when RV’s sales are up 300% and Unwillingness by dealers to come down on price because RV’s are selling so fast.

    Thanks for any input, this is my first RV and I love it and the part time life style.
    Well, you bring up a good question. We are in the same position with our 2014 GD 303. We love it, it’s paid for, we’ve made many updates, but my wife would like auto leveling, which wasn’t available in 2014. I’ve a mind to sell now, and buy next year used when all these newbies decide RVing is not for them. Good luck on the thought process.


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    Mike & Debbie
    Hot Springs, Ar
    2014 Ram 2500 4x4 Short Bed Diesel
    B&W Companion 5th Wheel Hitch
    2014 Reflection 303 (#405)

  3. #3
    Paid my dues 😁 FT4NOW's Avatar
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    @Milo1906 I think in your case you should just wait until next year and there will most likely be a lot of slightly used RVs available from all the people that recently bought one for the first time not knowing what they were getting into. Since yours is paid off you can either trade it with the newer one or try to sell it yourself.

    I dont think there's anything wrong with wanting to upgrade as long as it's what you and your family want, no other justification is needed.

    You'll just need to weigh if the upgrade is worth having to pay for something again as yours is currently paid off.

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
    2023 Momentum 398M-R
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    SOLD - 2021 Reflection 311BHS
    SOLD - 2017 Momentum 399TH

  4. #4
    Left The Driveway
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    Thanks for the input. I didn’t even think about all the people that are buying now only to realize it’s not for for them. I may do the same thing, sell now, buy next year before our Myrtle Beach trip.

  5. #5
    Site Team traveldawg's Avatar
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    I think the advice above about selling now is pretty spot-on. If what I read about people being 'rabid' about buying RVs then now seems like a great time to sell if you are even remotely contemplating changing out campers or trading up. Hopefully with school re-starting (or not?) RV sales remain hot.

    And I think the idea of buying used next year or maybe even this winter after folks figure out they can fly or stay at resorts again might be a good idea. I was already thinking that next year there should be a lot of RVs for sale. I'm just not sure if folks are mostly buying class A's or towables and what might be for sale next year - probably some of each. And then there will be the folks who think that RVing isn't or wasn't all what they thought would be; you know with all the things we like about it ---> maintenance, campground reservations and site selection, operation of unknown devices like water pump, leveling systems, water heaters, HVAC, dump stations - yep - things that we not advertised in those alluring campground and RV sales ads.

    One more note - we had a 10 year plan for out last RV until someone told us that after 10 years people have a hard time getting financing for a used RV. So we sold after only 7 years into our 10 year plan changing back from a class-A to another 'fiver'. We already knew what we wanted before selling the class-A ourselves so that helped.
    Larry KE4DMG
    2022 F-350 KRU SRW LB - Airlift 5000+, ForScan, 37 RDS Aux Tank,
    2019 310GK-R - Sailuns; MorRyde IS; Disc Brakes; 20K Reese Goosebox
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  6. #6
    Site Team Second Chance's Avatar
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    This may seem bizarre, but bear with me... decades ago my late wife (she and I were both part-time musicians) wanted a new professional grade synthesizer. A relative by marriage was a music professor, producer and director and had a lot of knowledge on the subject, so I called him for advice. He asked two basic questions. He said this would work for almost anything you are thinking about replacing, but to think of the synthesizer as a car and asked these two questions:

    1) Is it doing things you don't want it to do? I.e., is it backfiring, smoking, lurching, making knocking noises, etc.?

    2) Is it not doing things you do want it to do? For example, will it not start in the morning? Does it not reliably get you to work? Do the brakes or steering not respond properly to control input?

    He said if we couldn't answer "Yes" to one of those questions, we probably couldn't justify the expense of replacing the keyboard. Ever since, I have called this the "Jesse Peterson theory of equipment obsolescence." Properly maintained and by replacing the expected items (such as tires, batteries, perhaps springs), your current six-year-old RV should have years of service left in it... if you didn't answer "Yes" to one of the questions above.

    That said, we replaced/upgraded our RV earlier this year. There was nothing wrong with our previous RV (a 2016 Reflection 337RLS fifth wheel), but as full-timers and not getting any younger, there were features I knew I was going to need in the coming years that our Reflection didn't have: auto-leveling, dual pane windows, a residential refrigerator, and a dedicated washer/dryer closet being some of the big ones. So, to Jesse's criteria above, I would add "required features." Interestingly, the Solitude 310GK-R we bought is very similar in size and general floor plan to the Reflecton 337. We had learned what worked for us and replicated it with the features we needed.

    Finally, the fact that your current RV is paid for is a huge plus - especially in today's uncertain employment and financial environment. Only you can make the call on that one.

    Rob
    U.S. Army Retired
    2012 F350 DRW CC LB Lariat PS 6.7
    2020 Solitude 310GK-R, MORryde IS, disc brakes,
    Sailun LRG tires, solar, DP windows, W/D
    (Previously in a Reflection 337RLS)
    Full time since 08/2015

  7. #7
    Long Hauler D2Reid's Avatar
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    When we were shopping for RVs a factory rep at a show gave me some good advice. He told me that the average RV owner keeps their RV for about 5 years. At that time they either trade up, trade down, or get rid of them. We thought we were going to buy a 5th wheel and then keep using it when we retired 4 years later. He advised that we get a little TT for our weekend warrior days then sell it and buy a new 5th wheel when we hit the road. That worked great for us.

    So we hit the road with a 1 year old 5th wheel. It took us about 6 months to get it dialed in. We were very happy with it until about year 7. Water heater failed. Furnace failed. Slide ram failed. Seals on the slide outs needed replacement. Decals cracked. And the straw; the refrigerator failed. Then my wife spotted a full body painted Momentum 376 with the little garage and better living configuration. That was that.

    A couple of other factors to consider. Paid for is always a good thing. You can never really get ahead until you are debt free. Some RV parks have initiated a "No RV older than 10 years" policy. I have had to email a picture of my rig recently to a park we were considering even though it's only 2 years old. It's a new thing we have seen since the RV parks are getting saturated.
    Dallas
    2017 Momentum 376TH, 2019 Ford F450, Dual Rear Wheel, 4x4, diesel.
    2015 Harley-Davidson Street, XG750

  8. #8
    Site Team WhittleBurner's Avatar
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    We have been thinking of upgrading for awhile now and with the way sales are going right now it will be another year anyways. Ours is 6 ,years old now and i don't think we should wait too much longer. I would think from now to 10, years old the value of it will probably start dropping pretty good.
    Marcy & Gary
    2014 Grand Design - Reflection 303RLS
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    2015 GMC Denali 3500 - Retired
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  9. #9
    Site Team Second Chance's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WhittleBurner View Post
    We have been thinking of upgrading for awhile now and with the way sales are going right now it will be another year anyways. Ours is 6 ,years old now and i don't think we should wait too much longer. I would think from now to 10, years old the value of it will probably start dropping pretty good.
    Actually, Gary, research shows that five years is the point where depreciation starts leveling off and continues at a much slower rate than during the first five years. You took the biggest hit - about 23% - when you drove your new RV off the lot. Keeping it from five years on is where you take a much smaller ding in the value. There seems to be very little difference in the depreciation of a fifth wheel and a travel trailer (same is true for class As vs. class Cs, too), and very-high-end fifth wheels (think Luxe, DRV, etc.) tend to depreciate a little more quickly.

    Rob
    U.S. Army Retired
    2012 F350 DRW CC LB Lariat PS 6.7
    2020 Solitude 310GK-R, MORryde IS, disc brakes,
    Sailun LRG tires, solar, DP windows, W/D
    (Previously in a Reflection 337RLS)
    Full time since 08/2015

  10. #10
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    We are in a similar boat and looking for opinions. We have been looking at upgrading to a Solitude. Right now seems to be the time to sell but not buy. So does a person sell their current unit and wait until next year in hopes something comes up for sale or that sales calm down and discounts come back? On the other hand how many of these people jumped into RV'ing with a Solitude or really any higher end unit. Do you feel the market will be saturated with $10-35k units and not the higher end rigs? How much of an increase have the extended living units seen during the RV boom this year?
    2021 RAM 3500 DRW 6.7 HO Cummins
    2021 Solitude 3550BH-R w/factory solar

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