Ahhh… the search for value. Anyone with sufficient financial resources can go out and buy something brand new, off-the-lot or off-the-shelf; but for those of us that value the freedom that comes with frugality, we prefer another route. We all know that more time is needed to make more money, so if you spend less money, you’ve gained time and the associated freedom you get from that free time. This is the essence of Flaunting Frugality, and brings me to the topic of the day, which consequently, has kept me very busy over the last few weeks.

I retired about a year ago and at that time I made a list of things that I wanted to do. I’ve been able to accomplish each of those goals with varying degrees of success. One of my least successful endeavors has been to buy an RV (Recreational Vehicle, specifically a Class C motorhome) and start traveling the United States. When I left work last year, I had set aside some cash so that I could jump on an offer when it presented itself, but there was one main issue. I couldn’t seem to find a great deal in a marketplace that was formerly loaded with them.

A few years ago, it was very common to find these, just about any day of the week. The back-story to each of these deals was often similar to the last… a recent retiree finds themselves flush with cash and the dream of traveling the country or selling their house and living full-time in an RV. So they go out and buy their new RV, put a few thousand miles on the odometer, but find that it wasn’t quite the experience they had hoped for. Either their rig was too big to navigate comfortably down the road (they are much closer to an 18-wheeler in size than a Honda Accord), or they were too small to live in for any length of time without wanting to murder their spouse in their sleep.

Our early search was centered on just this type of target. A retiree that bought something new in the $100k price range, but now a few years later and with low mileage, was willing to let go for half the original price. And those deals WERE commonly available… before COVID-19.

As an example, just prior to the pandemic in the Fall of 2019, we found a Class C motorhome for sale that checked all of our boxes. It was only 2 years old with about 3,000 miles, and was originally a bunkhouse model (meaning it had bunk beds). The seller had retired and purchased it brand new, but realized soon afterward that A) they were quickly running out of money and needed to return to work, and B) the small space was too small for their liking to live in full-time. The asking price was $50k; about half of what they had just paid two years ago! The only problem we found was that they didn’t really want a bunkhouse model, so they discarded the upper bunk and rigged a curtain rod in its place so it could be used as a closet. In hindsight, I should have begged them to take my money and ran, but I was concerned about the cost to restore it to a proper bunkhouse. After they suggested being amenable to knocking a little off the price to do just that, we checked prices with the local dealer for the parts needed. When I relayed the cost, about $1500, the seller got pretty jerky with us and said they were going to sell it to someone else! Oh well, I’ll grab the next one. Except I couldn’t find a “next one”.

It was Fall of 2019, and most potential sellers had seemingly either sold or winterized for the Spring of 2020. Yup, the same Spring of 2020 when COVID hit. Before COVID, folks could just go to the Bahamas, DisneyWorld, Paris, or any other destination. Once COVID became part of our regular vocabulary, no more airplanes and no more public gatherings meant no more typical vacations. By the time summer rolled around, a ton of people started realizing that vacationing in an RV was the perfect solution to COVID. You could literally drive anywhere and maintain social distancing, either in a campground or any number of beautiful sites across the country. Couple this with super-cheap fuel prices during early-COVID times, and people that had never consider RV-ing before were buying everything and anything they could find.

Quick Economics 101 refresher: if demand is sky-high, higher prices will soon follow. The RV industry had exploded! Customers started flooding showrooms looking for their getaway. As new models were selling out, the used prices started going crazy. A motorhome like the one we had just missed out on for $50k was now fetching $70k! The 30-35% off new prices you could have gotten last year at the dealer… fugetaboutit!

While this trend was obviously frustrating, I’d tell myself it didn’t matter since I was still working full time anyway. As my retirement date approached, I found an RV for sale that was similar to the one we missed out on at the end of 2019. The price was a little higher and the condition was a little rougher, but it was still a good deal relative to the crazy market we were in. My wife and I considered jumping, but it didn’t quite feel right. We were seeing some questionable build quality issues that gave us pause, so I wanted to do some research on the best quality brands and things I should be looking for to make sure we didn’t get a lemon.

I had zeroed in on either a Jayco Greyhawk or Winnebago Class C for a couple of reasons. Since these had solid fiberglass tops rather than rubber roofs, they required less maintenance and were less likely to leak, plus in talking to RV dealers, we had formed a consensus that these two names were considered the highest quality builders for Class C RVs. I liked the Class C since most were built on a Ford F450 chassis, and I knew any Ford dealer or average mechanic could service an emergency issue if needed. Plus, we were looking for a bunkhouse model so the kids would have their own bunks toward the back to sleep if were were traveling at night. In hindsight… not only was I dealing with an inflated market while trying to find a great deal, I had zeroed in on only a couple of options to choose from. As my wife said, I was looking for a unicorn.

As my retirement date came and went in mid-2021, I was getting pretty frustrated. Yup, motorhome prices were still crazy. I casually browsed RV Trader and Facebook Marketplace to no avail. I went to RV shows thinking maybe I’d strike a deal on a new one, and I found that even at the shows, dealers were hesitant to knock more than 5% off the list price. Why should they if they could sell them in their dealership for list price? So I continued working on other things on my retirement list like rebuilding my neglected bicycle, practicing guitar, writing music, and working on this blog. I still kept looking for the next great RV value, but like my other searches since the pandemic began, it was casually when the mood struck and resulted in a lot of disappointment.

As we welcomed 2022, my wife started reminding me of the fact I’d be coming up on a year of retirement in a few months and that we still hadn’t bought a motorhome to travel. On top of that, our kids weren’t getting any younger. I knew she was right, but I couldn’t stomach the thought of paying 1/3 more for a motorhome (we’re talking 10s of thousands of dollars here!), when I felt pretty confident prices would be coming back down to reality in the near future.

My logic? The pandemic had lasted another winter, but this time passed with a relative whimper. Yes, it was still dangerous and people were still dying, but there were fewer casualties. Most people had caught it by now, and those that survived and especially those that had relatively minor symptoms were getting anxious to move on with a more normal life. Mask mandates continued being relaxed and public gatherings had returned.

Despite our desire to move on with normalcy, there was more COVID backlash being felt, but this time it wasn’t directly related to the infection rates. The problem (as it affected RV prices) was inadequate supply of computer chips following reduced manufacturing and raw material shortages, yup, following COVID. Shortages had become a problem throughout the computer chip industry (especially PC graphics cards), which extended to new vehicle manufacturing. Basically, if Ford or Chevy can’t complete a new truck chassis because computer chips aren’t available to control the engine and transmission, a motorhome can’t be built on that chassis. That keeps supply for new units low and prices high. High prices in the new market follows with high prices in the used market. COVID killed my motorhome dream again… you bastard! Although rumors were swirling that computer chip shortages should be rectified by the end of 2022, that didn’t change prices today!

Under pressure from the Mrs (thankfully!), I opened up my search. I stopped focusing on a couple of very specific models and started looking at anything within a 250 mile radius. We’ve renovated houses and I’ve worked on my own vehicles my entire life; if something goes wrong in an RV, I can fix it! Well, most of it! I knew to look for a lightly used drivetrain because I’m not rebuilding an engine or transmission, and I knew to look for a solid structure because water damage can get stupid expensive when you have to tear apart an entire coach.

On a whim and seemingly like I had been doing sporadically over the past couple of years, I grabbed my morning coffee and decided to check Facebook Marketplace for used RVs. It was about 9:30 AM on a Wednesday, when most people are at work. As I entered my new, generic search term “motorhome” one of the first couple of listings caught my eye… a 2014 Thor Hurricane Class A. The photo was not the actual vehicle but a stock photo (scam alert). Mileage was only 17,000 and the price was only $20k (a MAJOR scam alert since trade-in value was more than double that). I checked the seller’s profile, and although the listing was in central PA, the seller was shown as living in Florida (another scam alert). But I had to at least check… The ad did say it needed TLC, so maybe it’s real? I sent a message asking if he had any photos of the actual RV and what kind of TLC it needed. While I awaited a response, I checked the seller’s profile closer… older guy with very few “friends”, and mostly with the same last name. Seems legit; someone that could give two craps about Facebook, but his family probably twisted his arm enough that he signed up. Ding! A message pops up saying call me at 717… A central PA area number, also checks out.

After a cordial greeting and thanking him for responding so quickly, we get into the background of the vehicle and what kind of TLC we’re talking. It was similar to most stories I had heard. After owning a slightly smaller motorhome that he used for vacationing, he bought this larger one 6 years ago with a plan to travel more and live in it full time. After ½ year living in it in Florida, he and his wife decided that RV living didn’t offer enough space, so they bought a regular house and the RV got parked at his son’s house, for a few years. Other than starting and driving it when he came to visit, it had been sitting, unused. He was visiting from Florida and needed it gone within the week because his son was done with this behemoth taking up ½ of his driveway.

The TLC didn’t sound too bad. The worst of it was that the power awning had been ripped off in a wind storm, causing some minor body damage along the bottom of the coach, plus a strut off one of the doors had been ripped off. The generator had worked fine, but wouldn’t start now. A pipe had burst under the outdoor kitchen sink. The original tires had tread, but were 8 years old and should probably be replaced. He mentioned a few other things, but frankly, all I was hearing was Charlie Brown’s teacher from the old Peanuts’ cartoon; “whaa wa whaa wa.” I heard no water issue or leaking and it runs and drives perfectly. And the price was STUPID LOW! He even told me the dealer said trade-in was in the low to mid $40k range, but he was knocking off money for the TLC it needed. The dealer had quoted him $12k to replace the power awning and do the associated body work including repainting that side of the motorhome and replacing the decorative decals. I can only assume he was estimating $10k for the other miscellaneous work it needed and the related headaches that might come with it.

I asked him to please hold for a minute while I checked with my wife. “Honey, please get in the shower quickly. We need to go, NOW!”

I went back to the call: “Hey, I just checked with my wife, and she really wants it. Although we’ve been looking at Class C, she likes the king size bed and bunkhouse. Assuming there’s nothing major you’re not telling me, we’ll come out and buy it.”

He gave me some directions to follow once I got off the highway, told me the closest bank where I could grab a certified check for him, and he told me of an auto tag place near the bank. I let him know where I was coming from, that it would take 2 hours, and asked him to confirm he’d hold it since I was driving a long distance and didn’t want to drive 4 hours round trip to NOT buy it.

We got there as fast as we could; maybe too fast since I later got a warning from PA Department of Transportation about passing an automated speed check a little too quickly. As we walked around the vehicle, everything checked out. He showed us everything he could recall that was wrong. The body damage was pretty minimal; one of the storage compartment doors stuck a little and there were some scratches on the door, but nothing major or easily visible until you got close. As he went over everything with us, he also mentioned he didn’t know how to do any maintenance, so everything it needed he was checking with the dealer for pricing. That helped explain why he was looking to sell it so low. I asked if he would take us for a drive so I could listen for any weird noises. Again, everything checked out. No strange noises, no fluid stains on the driveway, and nothing major wrong with it.

In my brain, I was screaming “PLEASE TAKE MY DAMN MONEY!”

We drove home that night in our new, used, RV. Over the following weeks, we cleaned it up, changed oil and air filters, and performed the 450 hour generator maintenance on the generator, even though it only had 175 hours on it, plus cleaned the carburetor. We also replaced the original batteries that wouldn’t take a charge, replaced the water and sewer hoses, fixed the electric cords and bought appropriate electric adapters, and maintained the tanks (including the black tank that came with it’s very own “poop pyramid”… look it up!). Of course we found a couple more issues that he didn’t remember to tell us about, but they were similarly minor, including that few years old poop pyramid and a few plumbing leaks that indicate they might have forgotten to drain all the water from the systems before the first winter it was left alone. No matter; it’s cheap and easy to fix plumbing and there was no related damage, and a few bottles of enzymes and bacteria ate up the poo and toilet paper! We still need to replace the awning and get the inspection done, but we’re well on our way to traveling soon.

So what did I learn from this? No matter the market, deals are out there. You can’t be too particular if you’re looking for a great deal, especially if supply is low. If you have time and know-how to fix things yourself, great deals are much easier to be had. As an example, the replacement awning and bodywork the former owner was quoted $12k? The replacement awning actually cost us less than $3k in parts and it’ll take a couple hours to install. My wife has a side vinyl business, so she can make the new vinyl that will replace the scratched vinyl on the door with a few hours and about $10 of material. It also helps to have a flexible schedule. There’s no way I would have seen or been able to buy this great RV deal if I was still working full time.

I’m reminded of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad Cashflow 101 board game. In that game, once you retired, your income multiplied despite leaving work with an explanation that after retiring, you’ve got the flexibility and can make the associations needed to get in on great deals. I can kind of see that now! If I was focused on making money, I could certainly make a lot more than I did in my working days, but I don’t care about that as much as I care about time with friends and family.

I’m definitely looking forward to some RV adventures this summer and adding to my Retirement Journal!