88' 8v92 NC 50grand

[Ryan Wright]

Don,

> I think it would be
> a terrible mistake for a BB owner to think that they are in strong
> competition with the thousands of SOBs out there in the same price range. We
> own a niche product that is highly desired by a small number of people,
> period.

Exactly. It's a specialty product and it commands a specialty price.
That being said, my coach was 1/3rd the cost of a new SOB and oh so
much better. I've been in enough low six figure new and nearly new
coaches to know exactly what I'm not missing. A fancy looking mobile
home on wheels, no thanks. Give me a half million dollar coach over
that any day - well used so I can afford it, of course. As far as I'm
concerned a good old Wanderlodge is the best value in a motorcoach,
period. Why anyone buys new SOBs, I'll never understand.

J R,

> I asked a question, what will it be worth in 5 -10 years.

Nobody knows, but the truth is, it doesn't matter. An RV is not an
investment. Never has been, never will be, you're going to lose money.
You know this, of course, but my opinion is, it's best to just forget
any idea of "what will it be worth later on?" It doesn't matter. It's
a toy. You buy it under the assumption it will be worth zero when
you're done with it. If you have a real need to get any money out of
something when you're finished, don't buy an RV, or a boat, or any
other high end toy. There are no guarantees, especially in this
economy.

That being said, my personal opinion is that a used Wanderlodge will
hold it's value far and above a used SOB. Let's say you have a hundred
grand to spend. You can get yourself a real nice nineties PT all
loaded up, or a new (or nearly new) class A SOB of equivilant size
with nowhere near the luxury, features or build quality. Thing is,
that SOB hasn't taken it's depreciation hit yet. It's going to drop
like a rock for the first few years of ownership. Your Wanderlodge, on
the other hand, is already well used; the majority of the depreciation
has run it's course. Will it depreciate further? Of course. Like
(almost) anything with wheels, it's got nowhere to go but down. But
I'd put money on the table that says the old Bird will be worth a heck
of a lot more than the new SOB in another 5 to 10. In fact, I did put
money on the table, quite a bit of it, when I bought my Bird over the
SOBs we looked at.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92