If you want a great camper at a bargain price, consider repo campers. With a repo camper, you can often find like-new quality at just a fraction of the new camper price. This is because repo campers have often been repossessed by the bank within just a few months of when they were purchased, and sometimes before they were even used by the original owner. And yet, once banks take repossession, they aren’t out to make a profit – they just want to get rid of the camper as quickly as possible. This means low prices for the buyer.
The easiest way to buy a repossessed camper is from a dealer; however, keep in mind that dealers put a 30-40{919468b76a1b111b1791bdf3e51426d8562c963af300c016649515c15309dd6c} markup on repo campers they purchase at auction. So even though a repo camper from a dealer is cheaper than a new camper, you can get an even better price by going straight to the source – repo auctions. These are auctions held by banks or other lending institutions that allow them to offload lots of repossessed items at one time. Repo auctions are not widely publicized, so the best way to find them is either by signing up for notifications through several websites, or simply calling your local bank or lending institution and asking for the date of their next auction.
When you buy a camper from a dealer, you usually get some kind of guarantee on the purchase, even if it is only for a week or a 100 miles. This is not the case when you buy from an auction – you are purchasing as-is. And, unless the camper still has the original factory warranty, you usually won’t get a warranty either. This makes pre-auction inspection crucial. Failure to do a proper inspection of the camper before you bid could end up costing you twice the purchase price in repairs. When you do an inspection, be thorough. If you don’t have the proper expertise, bring a mechanic with you to check that the camper runs and functions properly. Also check around the baseboards and in cabinets for mold or mildew.
Before you go to the auction, decide which features you want. If you begin your repo camper search well before you actually want to use your camper, then you are more likely to find a camper with all of your desired features.