Advice on selling a motorhome

[marstrings]

Hi folks

Well sadly, we've ended our travels. We've had a great time and seen a lot of the western US (as you can see by the avatar). The time has come to sell the RV. So a little more advice is needed!

This site provides an advertising service (currently $49.50 for 180 days). It seems cheap, but does anybody know if it works?

Are there any other places that are good ideas to advertise, free or otherwise? So far we've only put it in Craigslist.

The motorhome is in Colorado Springs, CO.

Any thoughts are welcome.

 

[The Englishman]

RE: Advice on selling a motorhome

Put it on E-Bay and fix a minimum price and it will either sell for that (or a greater) price else you lose nothing

Its an easy peasy thing to do and 90% of the time it will shift

If you want the buyer to collect then make it perfectly clear in the ad else state you will deliver to a defined range from home.

DO NOT attempt to dupe buyers because the gates of hell will open up on you - If you're not sure of the operation or condition of ... say appliances then state that you will not assure ... say the cooker or fridge - Whatever may be a little bit 'iffy'

Very strongly suggest you pay the few extra bucks for the maximum number of pictures and make sure they are as clear as day cos dark or shakey pictures indicate a dark and shakey seller - Where necessary put in exact physical dimensions and its always a plus to have pics of tyre treads and the engine bay


Good Luck

 

[JW07]

RE: Advice on selling a motorhome

Folks;

Sorry to hear that you're parking your rig and hanging up the keys! But, we all have to do what we must do to survive.

Selling your coach in today's market may be a challenge because in many areas of the country, the RV industry is on it's butt. I don't know what the market might be like in Colorado but here in the Chicago area it is very slow. I have had my coach on the market now for over five months and have had very few legit inquiries. From my experience, one must consider several factors such as: coach size, NADA pricing verus asking price, local market conditions ie number of RV dealers with large inventories, website selected, picture spread, and timing.

Many of the websites sponser short term programs 12 or 14 weeks and allow you up to 6 or 8 pictures with a short verbage! Their typical fee might run between $25.00 and $100 bucks to get you on the internet. This sorta reminds me of the MLS service that realtors use to sell your house! They put it on the market and you wait, you wait, and you wait for that interested party to call! Cost wise, this type of advertising is cheaper than the local newspaper and it gets your message out to the public! I have also found several free websites where you can advertise. Be careful of those who say they can sell your coach and have clients standing in line! They are the ones who want you to carry the paper and then give them a fee for selling your rig!

Another way to get your message across is to place your unit on display in a high traffic area such as a mall or major highway. Print up some flyers and have them available for people to take with them when that stop. When ever you're on the road with the coach, have a sign in the window! It may look a little cheap but it works!

I hope you have better luck than I have experienced but I'm sure that when spring rolls around the corner, people will again get the travel bug! If I can be of further help you can contact me at; aeronfour@aol.com

:shy:
Good Luck

 

[rjf7g]

Re: Advice on selling a motorhome

I would do Craigslist and eBay as well as possibly putting it on a local dealer's lot on consignment. Glad you had a blast while you were here!

 

[marstrings]

Re: Advice on selling a motorhome

Thanks for the replies. I can always rely on this forum

We tried the consignment route but found the local dealers a little bit slippery. One told us that they would take it on, but not to expect to get more than $1,800 for it. (NADA reckons it's worth about ten times that!)

The situation is that we have returned to the UK, but friends of ours are selling it for us. They have taken it to malls on a couple of occasions and they've had it on Craigslist. My friends have taken the motorhome up to a bluegrass festival this weekend, with a big For Sale sign in the window, so hopefully there'll be a response from that; but I'll see if we can get some leaflets prepared too - that seems like a good idea.

One thing. Ever sice we got the motorhome last Spring, we've had the 'service engine soon' light come on. It's been in the garage three times now (three different garages) and each time they've diagnosed a slightly weak mixture. Each time they've proposed a different possible cause, done the work, and 60 miles down the road the light has come back on.

We've had a hole in a vacuum servo line fixed. A new fuel pump (that cost a LOT!). And lastly, new spark plugs and flushed out fuel lines. I'm pretty sure the last lot said that there wasn't anything else it could be, but evidently they were wrong. The thing is, as far as we could tell in fifteen thousand miles of driving, there were no other symptoms than the damn light. The motorhome drove fine.

I'd love to get that fixed before we sell it, but considering the huge amount of money we've thrown at the problem so far, am disinclined to take it to a garage again, have more work done, spend more money, only to have the light come on yet again. But the alternative is to explain that to any potential buyer and take a hit for it.

Thanks again for all your advice. Happy travels.

Martin.

 

[ironart]

Re: Advice on selling a motorhome

Martin, Glad you had a great time while you were here....I bought my coach from a couple traveling from New Zeland......I just love it and got a great price.

You might want to check the Catalytic converter. A back pressure will cause poor gas millage and the engine light o come on.....It did on my 99 Ford Expedition and the change made all the difference.....They have an inexpensive check process that will let you know if that's the problem..

Just a thought.

Paul

 

[marstrings]

Re: Advice on selling a motorhome

Thanks for the advice Paul. Worth checking for sure.

I'm not sure what mileage we should have been getting, what we got was 10 to 11 miles per gallon. Born Free weren't giving out much advice on that - too many variables with the weight, I think. It was quite consistant though, no matter what terrain we were driving through.

Martin.