Owning an RV is a lot like owning a house. Many times the first house you buy isn’t going to be the house that’s right for you long-term. As life goes on you either outgrow the house you have, need to downsize as the kids move out, or just realize that your needs are different than you anticipated. The same thing happens when you own an RV. There are many reasons why people want to trade in their RV, from needing more room, less room, or just wanting something different. The key to a successful transaction is knowing what to do to get the best RV trade in value. Here are 5 tips to help you do that.
1. Find out the estimate of the value of your RV
Before you head in to start the process of trading in your RV it’s best to get a realistic idea of what your RV is worth. There are many tools online, like the one on our website, that will provide you with an estimate of your trade-in value. Our resource is super easy to use and you’ll be walked through the process step by step.
2. Determine What to Fix Versus What to Leave
When you get ready to sell a house your real estate agent will encourage you to catch up on the maintenance and any home repairs that need to be completed. You want to do the same thing with your RV. The more issues that your RV has the less value you will receive from it during a trade in. However, there are some issues that are either too expensive or too minor to worry about repairing before your trade-in.
3. Gather your records
When you trade in your RV it will hold more value if you can prove that you were completing maintenance over the years that you owned it. If you have been saving your records, gather them together and bring them with you when you trade in your RV. This will show that the RV was well taken care of which is an assurance to the next owner.
4. Make it smell good
Do you know what your house smells like? Probably not. There are plenty of studies that show that we are so familiar with the smell of our own home that we can’t actually tell what it smells like. If you are familiar and used to the smell of your RV it could be the same way. Do a little work or at least get an air freshener to improve the smell of the RV. But, remember, no one likes to be hit with the scent of a strong air freshener. Keep it mild and natural.
5. Avoid Craigslist.
When you are ready to trade-in your RV for a new one you want to get the best value possible for it. Craigslist and similar sites are full of bargain shoppers that are just looking for a deal. You also run the risk of not knowing who you are dealing with, such as shady characters. To get the best value in the safest way possible, talk to an RV dealership about your trade-in.
Remember, that you don’t have to settle for the first offer you get either. The more information you can gather about the value of your RV before you work on trading it in the better you will be able to negotiate a deal. This isn’t something just to do on a whim. Do your research so you will be happy with the end results. If you are interested in trading in or trading up your RV, check out our tool to receive an estimate on your RV’s value.
