Are you the kind of person who feels like the more you pay, the more you get? Lots of people are. I'll give you one example.

A few years ago we were getting ready to sell our house. We needed some nice chairs to, you know, stage the house and make it look inviting. After all, a lived-in home doesn't always look like you could make it your home. Anyway, Julie found some living room chairs on Craigslist for free, and they looked pretty good in the photo so she drove across town and picked them up. They had been left on the curb, but no one had taken them. Upon close inspection, they looked even better and they made our house living room complete.

After we sold the house, it was time to sell the furniture. We put the chairs back on Craigslist, for free, and waited. Crickets. Then we put in on for $20, thinking, maybe people don't want to risk taking something nobody wants. Still nothing. Finally, out of desperation Julie listed the chairs for $50.

The phone starting ringing right away. Before the day was over a lady had driven up in a late model BMW and driven away, smiling. Almost as broadly as we were. Because she got her money's worth, and we just made $50 off chairs no one wanted.

My question is, who do you relate to most? If it's the lady, then you're probably wasting your time here because I'm about to tell you why I think buying a used motorhome is a good idea. But if you, like me, like to save money more than to spend it, you probably already know most of what I'm about to write. If you're like me you'll buy a used car instead of a new one because the person who owned it for the first few years paid for half of it (thanks!), probably dealt with problems that were covered under warranty but were still problems, and they got rid of the "new car smell" that might have made them happy, but they probably never googled "is new car smell bad for you?"

The first reason buying a used RV is a good idea is because not every RV is made equal. Like cars, some of them roll off the assembly line on good days and others don't. If your potential next RV is a few years old it will be easier to tell if it was well-made or not.

If you're looking at used campers that have been well maintained, are in good repair, and free of water damage, you often get added value from the previous owner’s customizations and fixes.

I've already talked enough, but there are many more reasons why buying an older RV is a smart move. I'll let these quotes from other people do the rest of the talking:

A new RV hasn’t been broken in yet. Your first year may feel more like a rotating door into the dealership than a carefree highway. (source)

It seemed like the more we looked at the relatively new used "high-end" models that were available, the more we were disappointed. The lack of craftsmanship, little care in assembly, and fit and finish were very poor. We DID notice that the interiors of the older units in the back of the lot seemed to be better built.  (source)

Walked into a Newmar and was talking to the sales guy. He asked what we were in. I said, 2002 Eagle. His reply, "that's when they built them well."  (source)

I like 1990s motorhomes. Simple easy to work on minimal electronic boards. (source)

If these still aren't enough reasons, then this article 5 Reasons Why Buying Pre-1999 Will Improve Your Travel will convince you for sure.