NADA Price Question

[Joesplace]

When researching a TM's NADA price, does the base price include all standard options or do you add everything to the base price?

[Redtail Cruiser]

Joe, The NADA base price is without options, then you add the options.

[Joesplace]

Thanks Tim . . .

[Padgett]

OTOH many NADA options are standard equipment. Personally when shopping I started with low retail and worked fron there.

[rvcycleguy]

Originally Posted by Padgett

OTOH many NADA options are standard equipment. Personally when shopping I started with low retail and worked fron there.

I agree. The options would be standard items in most cases like AC, awning, sink cabinet, wardrobe and unfortunately, used TM buyers won't pay extra for them. The swingaway hitch, IMHO, is one of the only options that is worth paying extra for. Everything else is used components and subject to depreciation. For me it's all about condition, condition and location.

I will relate it to another passion I have for motorcycles. Buy a bike from the dealer with accessories or aftermarket, ride it for a few good years and try to sell it by adding in the cost of accessories and you rarely get it sold. Remove the accessories and sell individually for 1/2 price and then sell the bike for stock retail. Nobody pays for the accessories.

[Padgett]

Of course most of my cars were "optioned out" as standard equipment & many have three or four digit production numbers. Even my TV only had two real options, "Uconnect" (hands free phone) and the towing package. Everything else from power windows to AC were standard.

Does seem like some things that were standard on my '06 are now options.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Joesplace

When researching a TM's NADA price, does the base price include all standard options or do you add everything to the base price?

Joe -

You must be sure you know what you mean by "standard options". That's kind of an oxymoron.

TM had lots of standard features, and very few options. Most of the things you find in NADA's Option Checkoff List are actually standard features, and so you must not check the option box for each one, or you will double-count them. For example, the furnace is not an option, the DSI water heater is not an option, the scissor jacks are not an option, the refrig is not an option - they are all standard.

Among the very few true TM options, an even smaller number have any real affect on the NADA bottom line. I think of the air conditioner and the swing hitch as examples of true options that affect the bottom line. Others, like the TV antenna, are true options, but make virtually no difference in the bottom line.

So use the guide carefully.

Bill

[Joesplace]

Bill - I guess I should have used the correct terminology. "Standard features" is what I should have said

More importantly it seems nada under values what most sellers get for their TM's. Geographic location, condition of TM and how badly one wants to part with a particular TM can have a significant impact on price.

[Padgett]

The key is in the name, National Automobile Dealers Association. These are prices a dealer might expect to use. Low retail is the price a dealer might use for an "As is, where is" coach. This is not what a dealer would pay for one or offer for a trade in.

"High Retail" is for a very nice example that has been detailed and comes with a warrenty or service contract.

In my case I am fortunate to live in a "target rich" environment and found one that while not exactly what I wanted (would have preferred a KS) was a perfect "discovery" unit. One that had been taken in on a trade for a behemouth by a dealer who does not ususally handle TMs and had had for a while (was in a "clearance section") and had a few minor (to me) issues.

Was able to buy right even with needing about $1500 in new "stuff" (didn't expect replacing the awning). Process took several months.

Frankly I was not expecting it to need as much as it did in just fiddling stiff and fixing repairs that had not been done properly. IOTOH all of the structure and coachwork is sound and everything works.

If I decide to replace the axle that looks like another $500-$700. Major issue is that the Dexter #11 axle appears to use a different spindle than the #10 which will require new hubs, brakes, and wheels. All bolt in stuff but the $$$ add up.

Is more than I expected to spend but is just part of the learning experience and acts as a stress reliever for me. I usually deal in 20-50 year old vehicles in my hobby and didn't expect an 8 year old to need quite so much fiddling.

That said, people on forums generally want top dollar for their things and often they are worth it but sometimes the asking price is more sentimental value. In my short time here I have seen some bargains (one 3326 I was very temped by even though I had mine) but also in one case saw a three year with an asking price higher than a new one advertised by a dealer.

Bottom line: the best price will be from someone, can be a dealer, who acquired it for next to nothing, knows little about it, and doesn't want it. That is also a quick way to a money pit if you also know little about it. The best coach in a pre-2012 will be from an individual who has garaged it and is fanatical about maintenance. It will not be cheap but think of it as trading money for time.

This forum is an enormous resource for the uninitiated to learn. It is also enormous so it help to read very fast and have a big monitor or three. The forum is part of the reason I chose the TM. It certainly has more room inside and is more versitile than my Vixen. It is also providing diversion from my day job.

The internet is also a marketeer's dream, it is possible to create a market that did not exist for very little investment. It is also a nightmare for those who do not understand it, why Apple is coining money. Few understand it.