Replacement Trailer Options in the Future....

[Capt J-rod]

Ok, so it seems pretty much confirmed that Camplite is no longer... I don't believe in huge insurance policies and all, but in the event that our trailers were in an accident or storm, they will obviously not be able to replace them. Now you get a check for the book value and go on your way. The new trailers such as ATC will be much more expensive, and the book value may go way down due to no new models to compare. I know this is all hypothetical but we did spend a buttload of money on our trailers compared to the other brands. Just food for thought and conversation. How do the airstream guys handle this with their restored trailers?

[Merlin]

Interesting question (you seem to come up with some good ones). With cars as a reference, insurance has pretty much always paid only the book value in a claim. If it's a total loss, then it's always been simply a check. If it's a repair, then they pay based on your coverage and deductible, regardless of whether or not the car model is still be made. So, processing an insurance claim probably won't be much different with the ending of LL. Determining the value may be another story. Again, with cars, used values have usually dropped once a model is no longer in production. As we've seen with the ending of entire car lines like Oldsmobile and Saturn and Pontiac, etc. those vehicles are hard to sell and lower in value. There are some specialty vehicles that are an exception and actually have gone up in value with scarcity, but who knows what will happen with Camplite and Quicksilver. To be honest, I consider the RV market to be really screwed up, with widespread ignorance on the part of buyers and sellers with regard to value and very little care about quality. After all, when you can buy new for way less than $1K per foot, who would pay the same for used, unless you've taken the time to get to know the details. Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now since I've run out of commas. Maybe call your insurance company and ask what their "book" value would be in a loss?

[Capt J-rod]

FYI @Merlin I priced a few aluminum enclosed trailers and about passed out with the numbers. Aluminum prices have exploded and the prices are showing it.

[Merlin]

FYI @Merlin I priced a few aluminum enclosed trailers and about passed out with the numbers. Aluminum prices have exploded and the prices are showing it.

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I think I'll check tomorrow on whether I can afford a new aluminum utility trailer!

[Steve Sanders]

Book value is nothing more than market value, which is simply the price buyers and sellers are agreeing is acceptable.

If current owners demand higher prices when trying to sell the limited units, we can help influence the market value. As owners, we are half of the market transaction!

Insurance companies will pay according to the policy contract that you accepted when you bought the policy. This is normally the lesser of repair costs or book value.

There are companies that offer "agreed value" policies for collector cars. You set the value and they set the policy price accordingly. You can probably find a company that will sell an agreed value RV policy, but it will cost more.

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[Steve Sanders]

One detail about market value vs book value is the data available to NADA for their book. Dealers report sales data to them, but individual sales are almost certainly not part of the data that goes into the book. If the dealers price them like any other (wood) RV, then that's going to direct the future value.

What can we do to help make the market aware of the value of these products?

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[GoElectric]

Market value and book value have been two different things in recent years with high increases in used car prices.  When I was helping my daughter find a use car a couple years ago, and after finding the best bargain we could, the bank lended more that book and she put about 20% down.  Well a few months later she had a modest, mostly cosmetic accident with it and insurance was going to total it because repair cost exceeded, i'm guessing 2/3's (whatever their formula is) of its values and the totaled value was book.  I got involved to help her out and said replace it with equivalent instead and they did a market analysis and quickly repaired the car instead when they found out they were going for $2500-$3500 higher with twice the miles.  The insurance company was very reasonable and easy to work with in this case.  Hopefully, they will be reasonable and Camplite stands on its on merit if this is the case with our trailers.

I thinking that as few as there are, that there will still be more Livin' Lites for sale (this will probably decrease with time over a decade or more) due to change of interest, needs, health, etc. to find a replacement, than get totaled in accidents or comprehensive damage.

[Steve Sanders]

The market value guide books (NADA, Black Book, Kelley Blue Book, etc...) are the default/easy source for market value, but they are not perfect. Users of those guides should be willing to accept other evidence of value that may be more accurate.

My point is that if we sell our campers cheap, the market value will decline. If we demand a higher price, we might be able to maintain a higher market value.

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