Sell it or keep it?

[mirobbi]

I purchased this 1975 20' Argosy about six years ago. It's probably a one of a kind Argosy as a previous owner replaced the Chevy 350 with a 12 valve Cummins turbo diesel coupled to an Allison A518 transmission with overdrive. I've done a lot to the Argosy over the years but think it might be time to sell it. My mechanic who has worked on the Argosy was murdered, and the new shop owner doesn't want to work on this older vehicle. I've searched for a reliable shop but haven't found anything. In addition, my wife finds moving about in the unit difficult. My problem is that I probably have around $35K in the Argosy and have no idea what the current market might support for a sale price. I'm hoping the forum can enlighten me so I have the information I need to decide whether or not to put it on the market.

The interior was the first thing I replaced. A local cabinet maker who does motorhome interiors did the cabinet work. A local shop specializing in vintage units went through all the systems and replaced the inverter and all the water lines with PEX.

My mechanic replaced the tach and speedometer with ISSPRO units which have worked great. A local a/c shop totally replaced the engine mounted a/c which has been working well and was recently serviced. In the past couple of years I have replaced the propane tank, roof mounted a/c, stove and fridge. Another mechanic replaced the instrument panel and switches and installed a rear view camera which I use as a rear view mirror. Just last month I replaced all six tires which are mounted on 16" aluminum rims.

The generator is an Onan 2800 running on gasoline which comes from a separate tank and has a capacity of about 10 gallons. The generator is relatively low time and was recently serviced. It will run the roof a/c or the microwave.

Now to the issues. When the a/c was serviced, the mechanic told me that the heat box was leaking. I haven't fixed it, so there's no working heater except for electric heat powered from the generator. I havent finished installing the tank monitoring probes on the fresh water, black water and grey water tanks. The PRNDL doesn't show the gear the transmission is in. I have to count the steps of the gear shift lever. The unit came with TracVision satellite TV system. Initially I could watch DirecTV on this system, but now that DirecTV has changed their transmission format, TracVision tells me my A-3 system is obsolete. The TV with built in DVD player still functions fine.

Please let me know what you think the market might support for a sales price. With your inputs I can then make a decision to keep it or sell it.

I have attached some photos of the unit.

[WHUDS22]

Looks nice

[Rich W]

Have you Googled your unit to see what others are selling for? You could also post in the motorhome section to see if anyone has an idea of its worth. Have you taken it to any RV dealerships and asked them to give you an appraisal? Tell them you aren't interested in a trade or purchase, you just want an appraisal.

[mirobbi]

Rich,

Appreciate your comments. I have been checking all of the sites for prices. They are all over the place. Obviously no one else has a Cummins Diesel powered 20’ Argosy, so it’s almost impossible to make an apples to apples comparison. Local RV dealer wasn’t much help either.

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by mirobbi

Rich,

Appreciate your comments. I have been checking all of the sites for prices. They are all over the place. Obviously no one else has a Cummins Diesel powered 20’ Argosy, so it’s almost impossible to make an apples to apples comparison. Local RV dealer wasn’t much help either.

Sorry to hear, but it is one of a kind. Maybe price it as high as the highest Argosy 20' you have found listed, add a few grand for good measure, then post it and see if you get any inquiries. You know what you want to get out of it, what it's worth to you. You can always come down in price.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by mirobbi

Rich,

Appreciate your comments. I have been checking all of the sites for prices. They are all over the place. Obviously no one else has a Cummins Diesel powered 20’ Argosy, so it’s almost impossible to make an apples to apples comparison. Local RV dealer wasn’t much help either.

Hi

Ok, so pick a price that you think makes sense and list at that price. It certainly should not be below the lowest price you have found. I'd suggest it should not be above the highest.

The simple fact is that when you get to very unusual items, there really *is* no market price. There simply are not enough of them trading hands to establish one. It's always going to be a spot market. This buyer and that seller at the time both thought it made sense.

Does the drive train make it more or less valuable to this or that buyer ... who knows. There aren't thousands of folks shopping for an Argosy, even in this market. Still, there are enough that there is a price at which it will sell. The only way to know if that's "your price" is to try to sell it.

Bob

[ejami5]

Hi mirobbi, last year in Austin (about 30 miles south of Georgetown for the non-Texans) I went to an estate sale. There was a 1975 20' Argosy parked in the driveway like yours. I asked about it to the guy cleaning it. The estate sale was his parents and he was down from Dallas to help out. Both he and his parents bought a new Argosy in'75. He sold his parents' Argosy to one of their neighbors for $15,000. Maintained throughout the years with no engine or interior upgrades to his or his parents' units so it's pretty much stock. Great original condition for the interior and exterior (faded paint and some wear as to be expected). Don't know if this information helps or not. I'd be interested in your Argosy once you arrive at a price. ejami5@yahoo.com

[slofoks]

Price it high and then negotiate. I recently sold my 1966 Overlander and had 8 people waiting for the deal to fall through. Demand is high right now, especially for something ready to go with minor repairs. Good luck!

[kidjedi]

Bad news first... there are no "comps" for your vehicle. The 20 is a rare bird, and the diesel makes it a unicorn (but that's also part of your good news).

The other bad news is it is VERY rare to get out of a vintage RV what you've put into it. That's just how the market on these goes. People drive vintage RV's because they love them (and are slightly imbalanced- LoL), and it is definitely a lifestyle, because it requires commitment.

That said, this is definitely a seller's market for RV's, and you have a VERY special vehicle.

Before covid a "decent" Argosy motorhome was $5-10k. These days it's a crap shoot. A rig that may have gotten $6k can now go for $15k. The interesting thing is how the current situation has mostly affected "projects," but not necessarily "complete" vehicles. The top end for a vintage RV is still about the same (a little more) than pre-covid.

It also depends how quickly you want to sell. Put it up for $15k and it'll be gone in a couple days. If you've got time, list it for $30k (and know you'll need to negotiate the actual sale), but be prepared to deal with a LOT of lookie-loo's and morons.

I got lucky and purchased a great Argosy 24 from my neighbor during Covid. I only paid $7k for a nearly road ready vehicle with a perfect original interior. I think the vehicle could have gone for $10k if we hadn't been neighbors. I got really lucky, so my situation isn't really indicative of "the market," but illustrates how all over the place things are.

If you are patient, it seems like you should be able to get 25 or 30 for your vehicle, but know that that is really high compared to pre-covid, so who knows what you'll experience.

With these older RV's, something that seems perfect and camp ready could easily be a $50k or more money pit in the blink of an eye. That's just how old stuff works! So a savvy buyer will be factoring that fact into what they are willing to spend on a vehicle built 45 years ago (engineered with a life expectancy of 10 years).

Best of luck! You have a REALLY cool coach (I wouldn't sell it if I were you, and I would 100% make you an offer today had I not bought a new GMC Motorhome last month!).

[mirobbi]

Appreciate all that information. Very helpful.

[mirobbi]

Some very good information. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Mike

[skyguyscott]

I do agree that if you are going to sell it, now is the time (or perhaps last spring/early summer was the peak) -- RVs are hard to come by. As we get into fall/winter, the market will cool somewhat, at least historically, but the market now is crazy.

[SouthForkAS]

Shorty class As are hot right now. Throw in the Cummins and thats' extra hot. The interior shows well. Based on my experience, $20-30k sounds reasonable in this unreasonable market.
Good luck.

[DavidsonOverlander]

We sold our '64 Overlander this past summer and I created a very detailed web site with about 90 captioned photos explaining everything I knew about the trailer: what worked, what didn't, what it definitely needed and what it might need. I think that really helped us sell it, because prospective buyers could see that we were being very clear about its condition. It's true that you often don't get a full return on what you put into an RV, but we got much more than we had put into that one.

[mirobbi]

Great idea. Thanks for that info.