Re: Financing -- Buzzy's Question and Answer Forum

05 / 4/ 24, 8:15am [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ]

Subject: Re: Financing

Author:
Shane
[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
Date Posted: 11/ 7/ 11, 4:31am
In reply to: Rick 's message, "Financing" on 10/ 26/ 11, 3:34pm

Rick- after owning a Wanderlodge for 6 years, one thing has become clear- you need at least 10K per year set aside for maintenance and upkeep. Tires, A/C's, Generators and other unplanned maintenance items can eat up a ton of $$ in a short amount of time. Quite frankly, if you need to borrow a substantial sum and/or don't have enough equity available in a home or other real property, you might not want to consider buying a coach. It'll eat up all of your available reserves in a hurry.
That being said, failure to maintain the coach will lead to more headaches that would quickly outweigh the residual asset value of the coach to the point where an owner who has financed the deal wouldn't have anything of value left should the purchaser decide to stop making payments.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> [> Subject: Re: Financing

Author:
Rick
[ Edit | View ]
Date Posted: 11/ 12/ 11, 11:04am

I was thinking about those unexpected maintenance issues and thought that maybe if someone is motivated to sell their rig that they have not been able to sell, would consider financing 50% . That would allow me to maintain a reserve. As I still work and travel across the country seasonally for my work, I am exploring the Idea of living full time on the road so to speak. I am a bit concerned about a 20 year old rig holding up another 10 or 15 years of full time use and the cost associated. My goal is to minimize living expenses in order to maximize retirement savings. Residual value aside, if you can't sell it, does it have any value?

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Financing

Author:
Shane Fedeli
[ Edit | View ]
Date Posted: 11/ 12/ 11, 2:44pm

I found a 1967 coach that was practically free. The guy wanted $850 for the coach and it was drivable! When I added up the cost of restoration and updating, I figured around $24000 is what it would take to get it road-ready. If I were to offer it for sale, I'd be lucky to get $10K for the restored coach. For the most part, owning these older coaches is a "labor of love" and you're in negative territory once the maintenance items fall by the wayside. If you are able to do most of the maintenance and heavy chassis work on your own, then the costs of ownership are reduced substantially. If you can swing it, pay cash. Don't finance the purchase of one unless you already have the cash value of the coach in the bank and are just choosing to use OPM as a matter of convenience.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]