Buying Father-in-Law's RV - Good Deal? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Tracyl-5 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Buying Father-in-Law's RV - Good Deal?

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

What will it cost you to license it in CA?

If it was a year out, then I'd be willing to go; but in 5 yrs, all of you will be looking at a 16 yr old Class C -- not what I would full time in. In fact, for fulltiming, I wouldn't recommend a Class C for 2 people, just not enough room.

Barb

carolinakids · RV-Dreams Family Member

Isn't that a bit high on the price. Go check on RV Blue Book.

igotjam · RV-Dreams Family Member

Rules to live by...."Never buy or sell to a relative."

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

price is better than good ,seeing most are listed in the 40k area........bad thing is its family and things are gonna go south quick ......nothing worse than a Mother inlaws scorn!!!!...........

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

I would also add that motorhomes need to be used more than trailer type RV's. It is generally recommended that they get "exercised" at least every couple of months or so to keep the seals "fresh." Sitting longer means that those could dry out over time. Then, you could be faced with an expensive repair just when you wanted to vacation in it.

Terry

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

I second what Terry said. I speak from experience. You would be FAR better off selling the coach and banking the money for when you return to the mainland and can buy what suits you. In the meantime you can do a lot of research. I assume you'll be flying over several times during the nest five years. Each time you come, rent something and see what life in that is like if you want. Otherwise, each time you come over spend some time at various dealers and RV shows, asking lots of questions and save your money.

Tracyl-5 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you all for the advice!

I think my husband is thinking with his heart, while I'm the numbers gal... On the other hand though, I think it would make his dad very happy to see his son enjoying his motor home, and make the son happy to have his dad's RV after he's gone. So that's something to think about too...

I did do some research on what RVs are listed for and it looks like the average 10-12 year old RV runs about $37K. And the average 14-16 year old RV runs about $23K. So both more than what we'd pay for it and more than what it should be worth in 5 years. So that's a good thing!

The friend who will let us keep it on his land also has an RV, so he could take it out for us once a month and drive it around for a bit.

We have heard a Class C is too small to full time in, but we're willing to give it a try. We like the idea of an RV vs. a trailer, and I think starting out in a Class A would be overwhelming!

I think I'm trying to talk myself into it, because at this point I'm afraid of the scorn of both my husband and my father-in-law if we don't take it! Hahaha... But I am trying to be careful with the decision and appreciate your input! I think I'll caution against it, but it will probably be okay if my husband goes ahead with it. Maybe I can talk him into moving up the retirement timeline!

PrairieRV · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sounds like you have a handle on the financial and familial realities of the situation. I hope you'll let us know what you end up doing. And as you use it over the next five years (assuming you'll be taking the RV), I'd like to hear your experiences.

Good luck!

Tracyl-5 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Well, it's been a year, and YES, we did it! My husband's father actually dropped the price to $14K, and at that price we both felt a lot more comfortable taking it. I was a little off on the details, it's actually a 2004 Minnie, but it's still in really good shape.

So far, it's been a great thing! We stay in it when we go to visit family in CA, which is cheaper than the hotel stays that we used to have. Registration and insurance in CA haven't been too bad, but we did hear that registration will be going up next year. (Maybe could register it in TN through my mom's house and still keep it in CA?) We've stayed in it four times in the last year, once for 10 days, but the other times for a week or less. There's been a few rocky moments when dad & the step-mom have come to visit us in it and asked where did such-in-such go, and then why... (because we don't have the same tastes, dad!) But we've gotten through them okay. Little by little, we're making it our own.

Now we are just trying to get out to CA more frequently and REALLY want to take a longer trip with it. Hoping to be able to do that in either October or December. Do you think it's possible, weather wise, to drive from CA to TN in December? Would like to spend Christmas with my family in Memphis...

On a side note... We saw a RV in HAWAII this past weekend!! We totally did a double take! Lived here 11 years now, and have never seen a RV here. It was a smaller one, looked to be 15-20 feet, I missed the make/model. Next time we see them, I'll have to stop and see what their story is!

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

Licensing a vehicle in one State and keeping it permanently in another is usually asking for trouble, especially if the State where you are keeping it is a higher tax State. That can look a lot like tax evasion.

Many full-timers are domiciled in Florida, South Dakota, or Texas because those three States have no State income tax and allow us to use our mail-forwarding address as our official address for voting, drivers license, etc. We're SD residents, but if we were to park our coach in California for several months, then use it mainly in California, California would likely want it registered there. On the other hand, if we were to store it in California while we flew to Hawaii for a month, then took the coach out of California there most likely wouldn't be any issue.

Another question that may come up is why you license the MH in California but your drivers license is from another State. Might only be raised at registration time or if you ever are stopped, but something that you ought to be prepared to answer.

BTW, when you are looking at what an RV is worth you need to compare apples to apples. A Foretravel or Newell is going to be worth a lot more than a Winnebago of the same vintage if all are in the same condition.

hostage · RV-Dreams Family Member

Tracyl-5 wrote:
Hi all, brand new to this forum, but I joined to ask this specific question...
My husband's father has gotten too old for RV-ing and wants to sell his RV to us, which is currently located in California. We currently live in Hawaii, but could take it for short vacations on the mainland for the next 4-5 years; we hope to go full time after that. We have only spent time staying in friends' RVs, but love it and want to do it for retirement. I'm nervous about the large chunk of money, especially since we won't be able to use it full time for a few years. But I'm willing if this would be a good investment in the long run. Let me know what you think!
Here's the deal, do you think it's a good deal?
$22,000
He says he inquired and since it's passing from father to son, no taxes
2005 Minnie Winnie 30'
Dual pop-outs
Engine was replaced under warranty less than 2 years ago
Around 30K miles on coach, about 5K on engine
Comes with towing kit
Comes with everything except personal effects (two flat screen TVs, satellite dish, all kitchen items, propane tanks, fabric cover)
Friend has land in California where we could store it for free when not using it

price is very very good BUT if you think 22K is a lot of money and makes u nervous I would wait till your retired and better afford it because 22K is not much money when it comes to a decent RV

also should be stored inside to keep it out of the California summers a there brutal heat wise and in reality A 30 ft Class C is not really the unit to go full timing in

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hostage (Paul),

If you look at the original poster's comment on the 19th, you would see they have already bought it.

Terry

Tracyl-5 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks for the input! Yeah, I guess we probably shouldn't register it in TN if we're going to keep it in storage in CA still. It's much easier for us to fly there to use it. So I guess we'll just have to live with the increased registration fees for now. It's not that we can't afford it, I've just got a very frugal mindset! biggrin

As to the why we have Hawaii drivers licenses, but the MH is registered in CA... In order to register it in Hawaii, we'd have to bring it there to get the safety inspection done, so THAT'S not going to happen! Lol...

Tracyl-5 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks, Hostage. I'm glad you thought $22K was a very very good deal, makes me feel even better about getting it for $14K!

We have a good cover on it for now, but yeah, that CA sun is bad. We're trying to figure out what we can do to make the situation better now...

I know, I know... We've heard lots how a Class C isn't something to full time in. But we both like the idea of a RV versus a trailer better, and we're willing to try it because of the deal we got getting this one. We're not too fussy, are used to small spaces, and like to spend most of our time outdoors, so we'll give it a shot!