Finding Car Dealerships That Take RV Trade-Ins Near Me
There is a possibility. Whenever you want a change in lifestyle, it is a smart idea to consider trading in your RV for a nice vehicle. The problem is not every car dealership will be thinking along the same lines as you. Finding one near you can be a tedious task.
Due to licensing or the purpose of the dealership, you may not find that many car dealers are willing to take an RV in on trade. CarMax may be one of the few who will do this type of trade but you may not get a great deal when you try it.
To learn more about this topic, just continue to read our article. It explores the topic so you have the best information possible and a place to get started on this task. Take a few minutes to see what can be done near you.
Can You Trade in an RV For a Car?
Just about anything is possible when you want to do a trade. Trades are done all the time but usually, they are done outside of dealerships and companies specializing in those items to be traded.
However, it is possible to trade in an RV for a car. The only difficulty you may have is that not all car dealerships are open to this type of trade. It is not a universal attitude and you may be hard-pressed to find one near you that is willing to do this deal.
One of the issues you have to consider before you approach a car dealer with this idea is the value you will get in return. Not every car dealer will give you what you think your RV is worth.
That is because they work on a dealer wholesale value that excludes sentimental and other personal value you place on your RV. Even though you can find out what your RV is worth on JD Power’s website, that does not mean the dealership will give you that amount.
They have other expenses and regulations to consider that lower the RV's value to them. We will get into this topic in the next section.
Trade in RV At a Car Dealership
Before you do this, there are things you need to know. Car dealerships will only do the deal when it is advantageous to them. That means you will not get the value you think you have coming.
Dealerships, if they can accept your RV in trade, have to follow licensing regulations, they may have to do safety work to your RV, detail it, repair any broken items, and have it sit on their lot taking up space that a more popular vehicle could use.
All those factors and more mean that you will lose out on value when you present the deal to the sales manager. Then, there is your part. If you have an outstanding loan on your RV, you either need to pay off the balance or roll it over onto the car you want in trade.
You should make sure the RV is in good shape as well. Condition means everything and if your RV is in rough condition, you are going to get a very low trade-in value.
Finally, the year, make, brand, and model of your RV, not to mention size, and features will also affect your trade-in value. If the RV is too old, then you may not get anything for it on a trade-in basis.
It would be better to sell it privately and get cash for the RV than trade it in. You would get more value for your RV this way and the extra cash would help pay off the car you want to buy.
Finding Car Dealerships That Take RV Trade-ins Near Me
This is going to be more difficult to do than you may think. In your mind, it seems like a logical and reasonable business move to make but that is not so. Car dealerships are governed by licensing regulations and they cannot violate those regulations if they want to stay in business.
Not all car dealerships want the hassles that come with dealing with RVs. There are safety regulations they must meet before selling the RV and like CarMax, if their license allows them to take the RV in on trade, they have to find an RV dealer who will buy the RV from them.
It can be a very sticky and complicated situation for car dealers and they would rather avoid those problems. What you are left with are two ways to do a local search to find a car dealership near you that will take your RV in trade.
The first option is to use your Yellow Pages or classified ads newspapers and make a list of all dealers in your area. You can expand the definition for the term local and broaden your search circle to include nearby cities not further away than 200 miles approx.
Then send an email or call them and ask them if they will take an RV in trade. If they say yes, then you can ask to talk to a salesman or sales manager. If they say no, then move on to the next dealership on your list.
The second option is to do a local search using the internet. Then if some pop-up that says they will do this type of trade, send them an email with your questions and RV information.
What may limit you from using some of these positive results will be if they have the car in stock that you want to own. If they don’t you either need to have a second or third choice for a car or move on to the next dealership that will make this trade.
It is not going to be something that is done in an hour unless you are a very extremely lucky person.
Reasons Why RV Owners Trade in Their RVs
Some owners may question why anyone would give up the RV life and trade their nice RV in for a vehicle. Yet, there are some very legitimate reasons why a few owners do this trade.
1. The RV life is just not for them. They tried it and thought it would be good but there are just too many hassles, bad RV owners & campgrounds to deal with, and so on.
Plus living in a small space all the time is just not comfortable for them
2. The expense can hurt them financially. This is a major problem with RVs. With yearly registration, insurance, fuel costs, campground, and other fees, it can get very expensive to own an RV. Not everyone has the financial resources to absorb those fees.
3. RV repairs are not cheap. There are many mechanics and repair shops that inflate the cost of those repairs just because they feel an RV owner can afford it. Even if you find and go to an honest repair shop, the cost of repairs can be quite high.
4. RVs lose their value fairly quickly. Depreciation is a going concern for most RV owners. While you may have paid top dollar for your RV, no one else will once you drive it off the lot.
The moment you leave the lot the RV is considered a used vehicle and people will only pay you a used value for your RV even if you only drove 1000 miles and need to sell it.
5. Emergency expenses are another good and legitimate reason why people trade in their RVs. Something unrelated happens in their lives, usually medical issues, that make it necessary to get rid of the RV and spend their money covering those expenses.
6. It is hard or impossible for owners to do maintenance work on their RV. Not everyone can climb on the roof or crawl underneath to see what is wrong and what needs to be done. Or they just can’t do the work anymore.
Age and health often influence RV owners to downgrade to a vehicle and that is not wrong. It is something everyone has to face at some point.
7. Finding the money to buy a new car without trading in their RV can be hard. Cars, even used cars, have gotten very expensive recently, and having the extra money for a down payment or a complete cash purchase is hard to do.
Trading in their RV is the only option they have if they want that new car.
Some Additional Words
Due to licensing and other car dealership issues, finding one that will take an RV in trade for a car can be very difficult. It will take some time to go through the dealerships in your area to find one, two, or a few that will do this trade.
Once you do, you need to check their inventory to see if they have the car you want to buy. The trick is to not be surprised when you are offered far less than what you think your RV is worth.
