Value of a Sportsmobile

[BennyD]

Hey everyone,

I’m new to Sportsmobiles and looking to buy one this week. Is it crazy to pay $18-20k for a 20 year old Sportsmobile with 100k miles? It’s 2WD.

I’m just wondering how good the builds usually are. Everything else around $20k is not great. I’m not really This is a very clean looking vehicle with all service records.

[SMB123]

Originally Posted by BennyD

Hey everyone,

I’m new to Sportsmobiles and looking to buy one this week. Is it crazy to pay $18-20k for a 20 year old Sportsmobile with 100k miles? It’s 2WD.

I’m just wondering how good the builds usually are. Everything else around $20k is not great. I’m not really This is a very clean looking vehicle with all service records.

Look at all the self built Home Depot special campers online then you'll realize just how much goes into an SMB.

When I first got into RVs - the general pecking order of price was trailers < pickup campers < class c motorhomes < class b motorhomes < class a motorhomes. Why Class B motorhomes so costly? The facilities cost a lot and cost more when made smaller. Guess which a Sportsmobile is closest to.

I looked for my first SMB for about 8 years. Many letdowns, many rug pulls.

You gonna wait 8 years for that spectacular deal?

[BennyD]

Originally Posted by SMB123

Look at all the self built Home Depot special campers online then you'll realize just how much goes into an SMB.

When I first got into RVs - the general pecking order of price was trailers < pickup campers < class c motorhomes < class b motorhomes < class a motorhomes. Why Class B motorhomes so costly? The facilities cost a lot and cost more when made smaller. Guess which a Sportsmobile is closest to.

I looked for my first SMB for about 8 years. Many letdowns, many rug pulls.

You gonna wait 8 years for that spectacular deal?

Fair points. We just want a van that we can use right away and don’t want to spend $50k. They seem to be quality builds but I had never heard of SportsMobile before this month.

[1der]

BennyD - please post up some info regarding the rig you are looking at. Do not need to know where.

Engine
Pop Top or ??
what accessories and build details
How many owners?

$18 to $20k can be a great deal or bad deal depending on what the spec sheet looks like.

You are new to this type of rig. Many of of us have decades around these and have owned multiple rigs (sometimes at the same time, lol!!)

I cannot count the number of people who have jumped into a bad rig situation with both feet and could have had so many headaches mitigated by utilizing the resources of this community/ forum.

[BennyD]

I sent you a pm.

[BrianW]

I had a 98 SMB 2WD with 120k on it that I sold for $20k right when the pandemic started (bad timing, I could have made a lot more if I had waited six months!). Anyways, it was 22 years old and had 120k miles on it when I sold it and was still in great shape. The new buyer drove it from PA to CA, drove it around a few years more with very few problems (so I heard), and then sold it. So, if the van is well maintained, the seller has receipts (I had all receipts from day one, including from the first owner), etc., then it's likely fine. All depends on how the previous owner(s) treated it.