The world of depreciation

The RV search continues.

While a house, even in these sub-prime fiasco times, can generally be considered an investment, something that gains value with time, a recreational vehicle is basically a study in depreciation. Most people understand that their shiny new car loses 15 to 20 percent of its value as soon as it leaves the dealer’s lot. And that car loses more and more value over the life of the loan (assuming you financed it and didn’t pay cash), usually four to five years.

But while you may be upside-down on your auto loan in the beginning, things usually straighten out a couple of years in, and you can often break even (or even make a small sum, if you’ve pampered your car) if you sell it or trade it in. And when your loan term is up, your 5-year-old car is still worth a decent amount.

RVs are another beast. Two factors are at work here:

The future…on wheels?

I have known for a while that I need a change. Work, after 6+ years, has become a rut. I have never lived outside of Texas. I’ve visited fewer than 10 of these United States.

The answer may be on the horizon in the form of…an RV.

The problem—or at least, our problem—with trying to buy an RV is too many choices. Do we get a truck and trailer? Or maybe it would be more convenient to get a Class C motorhome? And it’s a lot of work determining which manufacturers are worth a damn and which ones build shoddy, rolling time bombs.

So far, we’re looking at anything and everything and quickly becoming overwhelmed with information. We know we need: a permanent bed (I don’t want to sleep on a fold-out sofa), space for our dogs, a decent shower, and decor that falls into the category of “not-godawful.”

If money was no object, we’d just go buy a diesel pusher and pretend we’re country music stars:

Since money IS an object, we’ll be looking at something much smaller.

—Bellapoison