How to buy a Class B or B+ at the best price?


DigitalVagabond

New Member
Since I plan on traveling the US alone and will need to drive and park in city traffic, I've been leaning towards the B or B+ campers that are under 22 feet. I've been online until all hours of the night lately comparing prices, features, milage etc to find a vehicle that is large enough to live in but small enough to go any where in.

Today I actually put a refundable deposit on a 2001 Chinook Concourse to hold it on the lot at LazyDays in Tampa, Florida for a couple more days. They lowered the price from $49,000 down to $38,000 after one phone conversation, which makes me wonder just what this Chinook is actually really worth. It appears to be in excellent condition inside and out with 37,000 miles. I'm considering making the four hour drive to check it out.

I like the idea of buying used to save on depreciation. But yet $38,000 does seem like alot for a 6 year old class B with almost 40,000 miles. But I really like this vehicle.
Any suggestions on what this Chinook is really worth and how I can negogiate a good buy?

I've been on various websites including RVTrader. But I haven't seen many class B's in my Miami area for sale. Any suggestions on how I should go about buying a motorhome?

Thanks for helping this newbie wantabie vagabond out.
 

Texas_Camper

New Member
Re: How to buy a Class B or B+ at the best price?

First thing I'd suggest to a newbie is stop posting the same message in multiple places.
Then, this vehicle should have lots of useage remaining. At six years old, get new tires. Even with half the original tread left, UV damage has and is occuring to the sidewalls. If they are the origianl tires, they wont last long on the highway.
Your first impression when you see it is usually valid. Does it set level on the lot? Does it lean to the left or right? Does it look tail heavy? Any thing leaking out the bottom? What is your first impression of the sales lot and the service area? These are clues toward the dealer and how he handles used RV's. He took this one as a trade-in so he's not fully responsible for its condition. But he is responsible for clean up and pre-sale prep.
Go the the dealer and get a good demonstration. Be sure all appliances work. Fill the water heater before testing it or you'll burn out the element. Check with a Chinook dealer for the price of a new one, then proceed from there....
 

DigitalVagabond

New Member
Re: How to buy a Class B or B+ at the best price?

Texas Camper,

Thanks for your suggestions. The salesman did say exactly what you said regarding the tires (i.e. that despite having tread they needed to be replaced and they would do this at their expense). The salesman has actually been a pleasure to deal with and has spend plenty of time on the phone with me.

Apparently Chinook is no longer in business so it's hard to get a feel for the original price. Does $39,000 sound like a reasonable price for this vehicle?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Pat
 

DigitalVagabond

New Member
Re: How to buy a Class B or B+ at the best price?

Texas Camper,

Thanks for your suggestions. The salesman did say exactly what you said regarding the tires (i.e. that despite having tread they needed to be replaced and they would do this at their expense). The salesman has actually been a pleasure to deal with and has spend plenty of time on the phone with me.

Apparently Chinook is no longer in business so it's hard to get a feel for the original price. Does $39,000 sound like a reasonable price for this vehicle?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Pat
 

hertig

Senior Member
Re: How to buy a Class B or B+ at the best price?

See other post for NADA values for this RV. Chinook did make a 2006 model and its USED value is about 100,000.
 

DigitalVagabond

New Member
Re: How to buy a Class B or B+ at the best price?

Thanks for everyones input. I have a happy ending to report.

I ended up corresponding with a man in Houston named Howard who was trading in his 2002 Chinook Destiny for a new giant rig. After numerous conversations I flew into Houston and bought his RV.

Howard seemed like a real straight shooter and has helped answer all my questions. He also took good care of this unit and it only had 12,000 miles on it. I think I got a very good buy for $38,000 (new it went for over $100,000).

Jim at Lazy Days was a pleasure to work with. But Howard's Destiny was bigger and had considerably less miles on it.

I look forward to being a member of this forum community.

Pat the happy camper (now in New Orleans on my way back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida from Texas).
 

TexasClodhopper

Senior Member
Re: How to buy a Class B or B+ at the best price?

Pat, you mean you came to Texas and didn't wave to Texas_Camper in the Dairy Queen out on the Loop? :eek:
 
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