New or stick with the rebuild

[TasJK]

Hi all
Have a bit of an issue that I would appreciate the advice of all you good people!
Am starting on the rebuild of an old Jayco Dove. Have started a few things however with life, work and kids (not to mention a house renovation ongoing) I am finding that I am lacking the time and the inclination to really get stuck into the Dove.
I was down at the local Jayco retailer talking to the fella when we were talking of cost of ownership of a new Jayco Dove outback. Seems they could be had for $26,000 on road. Finance was only $430 a month over 5 years. That's with a $9,000 balloon payment.
It got me thinking, if I sold the old Dove, say, for what I bought it for. I could pay off a small loan (something else) and a brand new one would cost me only $230 a month over and above what I'm paying now which us easily doable.
The way I see it, there are positives and negatives.
Positives
- no hastle camping
- no rebuild required
- modern, reliable and ready for big mainland trips that we are planning
- comfortable

Negatives
- more debt (that's just a mental hurdle but it's a big one)
- going from owning something outright to owing money on it
- balloon at the end (although a 5 year old Dove OB would easily sell for more than $9k if it came to that)

Would appreciate some views to help make up my mind!

[Mace]

Factor in your hypothetical residual value and its looking an even better deal!

And, how much are you gonna save on accomodation costs?

Get that old Dove in the trader section soon.

 

[Ynot]

We get the bug for all the bells and whistles sometimes (our case a full is the bells and whistle) my wife says she will be more comfortable and sleep better. I say i will sleep better knowing i don't have thirty grand sitting in the driveway...

It comes down to how much you use it to make it a good investment.

I once priced a boat i had at about $540 per hour over the residual value plus costs including interest rego insurance plus plus divided by engine hours.


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[jnik]

I know this isn't going to be a popular suggestion, but try to avoid borrowing money for items that decrease in value.

What I'd do is:

• Sell the existing Dove
• Pay off the other loan
• Buy a tent to use for a year
• Save the $430 per month plus other expenses (such as insurance)
• When you've got enough saved, buy a used camper that meets your needs
• Enjoy debt-free, work-free camping

[sako]

If you can afford the finance I'd do it now while the kids are young and interested.

[TasJK]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.
I work in Finance, have for over 10 years. There's good debt and bad debt, both of our cars are Leased through my salary package (tax effective debt) and then we have the house (of course) so this would be the only 'bad' debt. However it's amazing the depreciation curve of these Jayco OB's! It's amazing!

[jnik]

Firstly, yeah, as mentioned, I didn't think my suggestion would prove popular!

[...] However it's amazing the depreciation curve of these Jayco OB's! [...]

I'm also quite amazed from what I've seen in this regard (we're considering buying an Outback Swan around 2008 - 2010) ...

While, when they're new, there's a reasonable gap between the bigger Jayco campers and their smaller brethren, by the time they're a few years old the gap between the models seems smaller than the gap between individual units of the same year/model!

Also, while there's considerable depreciation over the first two years, it really seems to slow down after that ...

[TasJK]

Ha ha I reckon. Those who invested in shares over the last 5 years would have got better returns from some Jayco OB's!
No, was a good suggestion. I'm very hesitant to go into more debt. Over the years I have seen people get in too deep, it's not a nice thing to deal with. I'm leaning more towards keeping the old one and doing it up gradually (next step is chassis straighten and a set of Alko Outback springs, $680 all up). But it's nice to get other points of view!