RVs for sale by owner often seem like a fantastic deal. They might be priced much lower than any of the others you’ve seen around the neighborhood. It might be the only RV you’ve seen for sale for miles around. Or it might appear to be the only RV in your town if you live in one of the smaller towns in which RVing isn’t as popular.

But RVs for sale by owner are often misleading. The pricing may seem right, but you may not have seen many comparable options. It may seem that you’ve been lucky to find one so close to you and that you should pay a bit more for the convenience of picking it up right down the street, but you’ll find that pricing is much more negotiable when you don’t limit your pickup location to within a few blocks. And many dealers and dealerships offer cash discounts to cover the cost of travel to pickup your recreational vehicle.

Before you purchase any of the RVs for sale by owner that you run across you must first access the widely varied inventories of reputable online dealers or at least travel to a nearby dealership where you can wander through comparable RVs and see the price tags. You need to have an idea what to look for before you can decide whether or not you’ve found a good deal or not.

In addition to the lack of variety and the pricing issues of RVs for sale by owner, there are also potential problems related to mechanical issues. Are you a mechanic with specific knowledge of RVs and RV parts? Then you might want to take a step back from any RVs for sale by owner. There are instances in which the RV at hand is in good shape and has been maintained well, but there are also instances in which the RV is only for sale because there is a major problem that will need to be taken care of soon and they don’t want to worry about it. And you’ll have no idea because you simply aren’t an expert. And no one expects you to be; in fact they’re depending on your lack of knowledge so they can get the problem vehicle off their hands!

Instead of dealing with the “hit or miss” scenario that can’t be avoided with RVs for sale by owner, access reputable dealers who have the knowledge, service departments, and experience to ensure that their vehicle are road worthy and toting a fair price tag.