When to trade?

[Mikele]

We bought a new 2016 Sandpiper. We have been in it now 10months give or take. We full-time and travel a lot, as my wife is a travel nurse, so new location every 13weeks. I talked to one guy that says he trades every 2 years so he is able to keep a new trailer and does not loose money this way on the trades. I see some relevance to this. It may be easier to sell a newer camper when we quit this lifestyle as opposed to one we've fulltimed in for say 5 years. So, any thoughts?

[Mountndream]

one could argue very easily that it would be smarter to buy a 2 year old camper every 2 years than a new one every 2years

the highest cost of ownership is usually the person who eats the initial depreciation. Which is usually the person who drives it off the lot

[Terier]

What works for one person may not work for another. I can see where it could work out trading every other year if you have payments to start with. I was looking at trading my unit for a newer larger one but it meant having a payment which I don't have now. The value of my unit wasn't much to start with so it didn't end up being a good move for me. But then I'm on a tight fixed budget. Now if I had a payment I would had been in a better position to switch without needing to pay a lot out-of-pocket.

[Oaklevel]

Money wise there is no good time to trade bottom line is you will probably loose.

[Mikele]

True, but playing with Nada values that are based off of MSRP leaves some room. For instance, Looking at The book value on a 15 , cause 2016 isn't published yet, it comes in at 15k more than I paid. I've never bought new before this one and honestly don't care to do it again. However We are thinking of getting a toy hauler in another year two. But will be looking used for sure.

[Mikele]

Originally Posted by Terier

What works for one person may not work for another. I can see where it could work out trading every other year if you have payments to start with. I was looking at trading my unit for a newer larger one but it meant having a payment which I don't have now. The value of my unit wasn't much to start with so it didn't end up being a good move for me. But then I'm on a tight fixed budget. Now if I had a payment I would had been in a better position to switch without needing to pay a lot out-of-pocket.

True, and that's kinda where we are. We get a housing stipend and doing an rv is cheaper than motels/apts. But when we decide to quit traveling I want to be able to sell and not have a payment sitting in my yard.