When Is The Best Time Of Year To Buy RV Trailer? Top 7 Times
RVs and trailers are expensive. Yet their price varies seasonally based on supply and demand. This means you can save hundreds or thousands of dollars by buying it at the right time. When is the best time of year to buy RV or trailer?
We’ll answer this question as well as discuss the trends in RV/trailer pricing and provide tips on how to save money on your next RV or travel trailer.
Get a good preparation before all
Do your research before you go RV shopping. Furthermore, you should do this research months before you intend to use the RV. If you have time constraints like wanting to buy the RV the week before you leave, you don’t have time to shop around. And the dealer will push you toward the more expensive models, because you tend to have “trip fever”.
Make an enough financial planning
Have an idea of what you can afford to pay for the vehicle or pay in monthly payments before you go shopping for an RV. Then you won’t buy a vehicle you can’t afford.
Research the standard prices of the size of vehicle you want. If you can’t afford the new version of the vehicle you want, you’ll know you need to search for a used model or shopping at some of the best times to buy an RV.
Learn about financing options if you’ll be taking out a loan. Don’t get stuck paying the high interest rate that comes with dealer financing.
01. During A Big RV Show
You may be able to get a discount on an RV at a trade show. This is especially true if the dealer has traveled a long way to bring the RV to the show. They’ll sell it at a modest discount to avoid having to haul it home.
Discounts at the dealer are hit and miss. Special pricing and “clear out the show room” sales only apply to last year’s models. If they have a sale on last year’s RV models, there isn’t going to be a discount on the new model year RVs though it may be sitting in the same showroom.
Conversely, “sales” in August and September catering to people who want to buy an RV for a short holiday trip offer vehicle prices only slightly below peak rates.
Show up in October, and you might get a deal on the barely used RV someone bought for a Labor Day trip and decided to return.
02. Purchase During Winter
The best time of year to buy an RV or trailer is in the fall or early winter. Everyone is back from their summer trips. Some have decided they don’t want to hit the road again, and they’ll sell a used trailer for a fraction of the cost they’d have charged in July.
Others took the new RV on the road or lived in it over the summer and decided they don’t want to keep it. This is why you can find somewhat new or barely used trailers at a discount in October and November.
03. When the Sales Season is ending
You may also pick up barely used repossessed travel trailers, too, at the end of the summer travel season. You can pick these up a month or two after the local tourists have left. These vehicles may have been purchased over the summer, but someone failed to make their payments, so it was repossessed.
After all, most people will prioritize car payments and house payments over the payments on a travel trailer they only use over the summer. You could even pick these vehicles up at small banks and credit unions that held the loan for the vehicle.
04. When Oil/Gas Prices Rise
Another opportunity to buy RVs at a discount is when gas prices rise. Every time gas prices spike, demand for RVs goes down. After all, they’re known to be gas guzzlers.
The economic pain of owning one rises. It can force people who were debating holding onto the RV or travel trailer into selling it, because they can’t afford to travel in it, even in the spring or summer.
Furthermore, dealerships lower their prices, too, when gas prices spike. This is because people who were considering RV purchases delay them or come up with other travel plans.
This means you might get a deal on RVs and travel trailers in the spring though prices are normally at their highest at that time of year.
05. Before releasing a New Model
Prices slowly start to rise once the New Year arrives. The new models arrive, and those command a premium. The only exception to this rule is if there is an RV left over from last year.
You could get a discount on a 2019 travel trailer in the spring of 2020 because it is equivalent to a used car, though it may never have been driven.
06. When the Weather Warms Up
In general, the prices for RV rise along with interest in them, and that’s when the weather is warm enough for people to consider going camping. This is why Spring Break and a few weeks before school lets out is the worst time to buy a travel trailer.
On the other hand, you could still get a deal in February or a few weeks before the local winter thaw.
07. When the Fall Comes
Before we tell you when the best time to buy RV or trailer is, let’s tell you when the worst time is: right before everyone hits the road in a new RV or trailer.
This means that the worst time to buy an RV is right before you go on a road trip, and that’s typically in the late spring or early summer. That means you don’t want to buy an RV right before you go on a Labor Day trip.
After that final summer holiday, though, prices for RVs and trailers start to fall. And they continue going down through the end of the year.
End of the year close out sales are always going to come with discounts. Salespeople want to make their quota. The business wants to move inventory to make room for new stock and minimize taxes due at the end of the year.
Note that prices are about as low in January, since demand for RVs remains low at that point.
Summary
RV and travel trailer prices follow a seasonal pattern. However, there are opportunities to get even greater discounts, whether it is when prices are at their peak or hitting an annual low. To get more update day by day, Continue your visiting RVSide.com.