RV News - The Backside of the Boom - October 2023

[@timwhittemore1299]

Some of us eagerly await your videos John! We missed your November update. Hope all is well

[@JohnMarucci]

Thanks! Hope to get back to it shortly!

[@JillCee]

I am a new RVer. I am also glad I got a prepandemic model. I am going to be sticking with my R-pod 180.

[@squarewheel142]

I love it! A former employer is an RV service contract company. Service contract sales are now "in the toilet" but they sold a ton of 7 year term service contracts over the the last 2-3 years so contract sales revenue will be almost non existent going forward but they will be paying a LOT on claims for the next 5 yrs on all of the poorly built RV's that came out the last few years.

[@JohnMarucci]

Makes sense that this would happen. A dealer I spoke with said sales are down but service department revenue was up.

[@robertthompson6958]

Let’s hope the service contract company doesn’t go bankrupt. This would leave a lot of rv owners holding the bag.

[@ralphp3057]

Another good report John . Thanks! Someone on KZbin predicted all this happening in the industry in 2020 . It’s just awful with many people losing thousands on junk built RV’s ! Way too many horrible stories on KZbin. Thanks for sharing John !👍

[@mgysgtk8835]

As always, a great presentation. Thanks.

[@JohnMarucci]

Great to hear. Thanks!

[@patrickmckowen2999]

Wow, great info👍 Thank you

[@ralphp3057]

Thanks for another good report John! I think some manufacturers will probably go out of business! Building junk may catch up with them eventually. 😬

[@robertthompson6958]

You’re the man John. Always well researched.

[@georgem2838]

John - Great video, very informative as always.. I've spent the last year unsuccessfully trying to buy a new or lightly used Class A in the up to $150's range. I've literally passed on or failed 4 new units and numerous used units due to the many manufacturer defects and dealer caused damage, lies & further problems (pilfered parts, etc.). We're frankly "Buyer exhausted" from the experience and we're on the sidelines indefinitely until I can find some type of confidence in the industry as a whole in both the manufacturers build quality & dealer network to put my money down..

[@JohnMarucci]

I think your story is pretty common among many of us in terms of being turned off by poor quality. I had upgraded semi-regularly and have no plans to at this point. Thanks for commenting.

[@GK49245]

Rich content Thanks.

[@JohnMarucci]

Great to hear. Thanks!

[@michaelburt1663]

Canablize winabego lines or a pre cursor to discontinue some lines in favor of Grand Design lines? You be the judge.

[@jamesbecker578]

Add to this the fact that Camping World stock has been in freefall since the spring, and they will probably be forced to liquidate their huge inventory in bankruptcy. Others will probably follow.

[@JohnMarucci]

Yet Camping World has bought a bunch of dealers in the past several years. It's a big bet that things will turn around. I'm not as certain. Thanks for commenting.

[@TrailRunning-CampingYeti]

I think we both saw this coming and love over the year+ you have been doing this 4mat and going through the numbers.

[@gregscharf6384]

Thanks, John. For some time I was looking for a used Escape 19, a fiberglass twin axle trailer with a queen bed and cold weather usefulness. For many months, these were rare. I finally saw one in person and the wet bath tipped my decision against buying. They were also brutally expensive. More recently, the link to used Escapes is comparatively flush with units, still very expensive for what one gets. I wonder if this admittedly anecdotal observation tallies with your well-researched data as evidence of an ongoing downturn in the market. Thoughts?

[@JohnMarucci]

I think it does tally with the high-end market just now. There are many units, but pricing is still high. That will likely change via greater discounting at some point. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@RoadrunGTI]

Thanks for this update. We’ve been looking to get into a travel trailer for about a year and finally decided to pick up a 2022 model from from a private seller. We had some negotiation leverage that the market was on the back end of the boom and prices are steadily in decline. Based on the original MSRP of the TT, we paid 55% of that by waiting for the right conditions.

[@JohnMarucci]

Glad you took advantage of the current environment and were able to negotiate effectively. Congrats on the new (to you) trailer!

[@georgegrierson]

Hi John... what you are describing has been written about in a book called "The Fifth Discipline." I highly recommend it. Author is Peter Senge

[@JohnMarucci]

Thanks for the recommendation!

[@bw6078]

I don't see how the RV dealers can sustain such high inventory and not have lower prices to dump what is in the yard. So far in my neck of the woods the Jayco dealer's yard is 3/4 full with new units. I don't have a number for you but between motorized units and towables there are quite a few units in the yard this time of the year that pre pandemic was almost empty.

[@JohnMarucci]

I’m seeing the exact same thing. I think most of these excess units will sit until Spring. Wouldn’t surprise me if we hear of dealers consolidating and/or going belly up. I think next year we may see some manufacturers sell out or shut.

[@kenj.8897]

👍

[@Jeffrey7348]

Stick with my pre pandemic 2018 camper. Built much better . Even if they reduce prices, the RV product prouduced is still garbage! Same thing is happening in auto market, dealerships are busting at the seams with inventory, but they are still to crooked and greedy to reduce prices to a reasonable price. They got used to making record profits during pandemic and now are to greedy to sell what a depreciating item is worth!!! Even if they reduce autos 40 percent, they are still higher than prepandemic prices and they can still make money on the sale and in finance and other inflated ridiculous crap they sell to uneducated consumers! But they are and have always been crooked, lieing unethical profession!!!