RV Covers

What You Should Know About RV Covers and Resale Value

Do you own a motorhome or camping trailer? If so, how would you determine the price if you decided to put it up for sale? A lot of people use something like the Kelly Blue Book or NADA Guide, but is that the best way to go? Maybe not. To understand why, we will talk about RV covers and how they affect resale value.

Official guides can give you a baseline to start with. But the people who write those guides have never seen your RV. They haven’t seen the RVs of any owners who might use their guides to determine price. So how do they come up with their numbers? The estimate value based on best case scenarios.

The problem is that there are a lot of different things that can affect resale value. In the end, the true value of a used RV is what someone else is willing to pay for it. If the market will only support a price of $20,000 for unit, you are wasting your time listing it for $35,000. What the market is willing to pay is the actual value.

Value and Overall Condition

With that understood, let us get to RV covers and how they affect resale value. After mileage, the second most important thing buyers tend to look at is the overall condition of an RV. And when you are talking overall condition, understand that the first thing any buyer is going to see is the exterior. It is no different than buying and selling houses.

If the exterior of your RV is in pretty poor condition, it will create a perception in the buyer’s mind that suggests the rest of the RV is in poor condition – even if it’s not. The interior could be pristine; the mechanics could be sound; the engine could be meticulously maintained. But if a buyer sees a faded finish and dried out seals around the windows, the value of your unit could fall by thousands in his mind.

What the Buyer Cannot See

The other thing to consider is that there are things a buyer cannot see without a detailed inspection, things that could be influenced by how you store the unit when it isn’t being used. For example, consider the air-conditioning unit on the roof.

Assuming your RV is stored with a cover, you are keeping the sun and other elements at bay while your unit is in storage. If it’s left uncovered, the air-conditioner spends every off-season exposed to sun, wind, precipitation, and perhaps even the winter freeze-thaw cycle. The inside of the air-conditioner could be prematurely worn due to this exposure.

The fact remains that RV covers protect the units underneath from the elements. They also protect against dirt, airborne debris, animals, and other not so kind forces. Covering your RV protects it against things that could harm it both aesthetically and mechanically.

Maintain Your RV’s Resale Value

When it all comes down to it, the reality is that RV covers help to maintain the value of motorhomes and camping trailers. It’s a lot like storing a classic car in the garage and keeping it covered when not in use. The more you can do to keep the car from exposure to things that can harm it, the more valuable that car will be on the open market. The same is true for your motorhome or trailer.

It is worth the investment in a good RV cover if you intend to sell your RV someday. It will more than pay for itself when it comes time to negotiate price.