What if you buy a folding camper and don’t like it, or you want to upgrade to a better one in the future? All folding camper owners need to know how much folding campers depreciate so they don’t sell their camper for too little or expect too much.
How much do folding campers depreciate? Folding campers lose approximately 25 – 30% of their original value within 5 years. Within 10 years, a folding camper will have lost approximately 45 – 60% of its value.
While the approximations above are accurate to the research I’ve done, depreciation will differ depending on where you look and the model of folding camper. For this blog post, I’ve looked at the average depreciation for several models of popular folding camper. Hopefully the information herein will help you make an informed decision when it comes to purchasing and selling your folding camper.
Factors That Impact The Depreciation of A Folding Camper
Working out the depreciation of a folding camper has proven very difficult, as the drops in value depend on several factors. Factors that can impact the depreciation of a folding camper include:
- The condition of the folding camper
- The seller of the folding camper
- Whether or not the folding camper has everything it should
For the sake of this blog post, the depreciation data I present is based on folding campers available directly from the manufacturer or trusted dealers in the UK. When looking at folding campers sold by private sellers, it’s very difficult to get an accurate idea of depreciation. It’s well known that you can get a bargain when purchasing a folding camper from a private seller because private sellers often don’t realise the market value of their unit. Ultimately, this means private sellers end up selling their folding camper for cheaper than they should. As a result, the depreciation data herein is based on the price that dealers would sell the units for.
Second-hand folding campers for sale sometimes don’t come with everything that they should, which might impact the price. For example, some people will sell a folding camper without its matching awning for whatever reason. These folding campers will be much cheaper for the most part as they don’t offer the complete package that most people are looking for. This is another reason that the depreciation data in this blog post is not based on folding campers available from private sellers.
If you are selling a folding camper, consider the factors above when deciding your asking price. If your folding camper is in poor condition, or it’s missing some of the items that usually comes with it, you need to consider this when deciding on a sale price.
Moving on, I’m going to give you accurate depreciation figures for several popular folding campers that make up the Pennine lineup.
Pennine Folding Camper Depreciaton
I’ve taken a look at three popular Pennine models: The Pathfinder, Fiesta and Countryman. The prices I’ve included are the average prices of the model from several trusted dealers so should be relatively accurate at the time of writing if you’re going to be purchasing a folding camper from Pennine or a trusted dealer. This is a guide that we regularly update (every time a new generation of a model comes out) to ensure the accuracy of the data within.
Pennine Folding Camper Depreciation
| Pennine Model | New | After 5 Years | After 10 Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pathfinder | £16,195 | £11,495 (Depreciation = 29.02%) | £7,745 (Depreciation = 52.18%) |
| Fiesta | £12,945 | £9,247 (Depreciation = 28.57%) | £4,986 (Depreciation = 46.08%) |
| Countryman | £13,195 | £9,942 (Depreciation = 24.65%) | £5,416 (Depreciation = 58.95%) |
As you can see, these Pennine folding campers all lost 24 – 30% of their value within 5 years. For context, the average depreciation rate of a car is 15 – 35% within 12 months and the average depreciation of a static caravan is 15 – 20% every year. Pennine folding campers tend to hold their value pretty well. An example of this is the Pennine Fiesta depreciating only 8 – 12% within 12 months.
The good thing to remember is that if you purchase a folding camper and you find that it isn’t for you, you can sell it again without losing thousands of pounds. Even if you sell it privately on a platform such as Preloved or eBay, you can sell your folding camper for a really good price if it’s only a few years old.
So what happens when a folding camper hits 10 years old, or even older? Folding camper don’t tend to depreciate much once they reach the age of 10 and beyond. As part of researching this blog post, I also looked at the prices of older folding campers. One example of a folding camper that held its value really well was a 1996 Pennine Pullman 535. This folding camper was available for just under £2,000 and quickly sold. This folding camper was in good condition, so it’s not as though there were many signs of age. However, if you buy an older folding camper in good condition and maintain it to a high standard, it’s likely that you’ll be able to sell it for the same or less in just a few years.
Based on the information we can see above, it seems it’s always best to purchase a Pennine folding camper that’s a few years old rather than a brand new one if depreciation is a concern. That way, you’ll avoid the worst of the depreciation and get the best value for your money.
Raclet Trailer Tent Depreciation
Raclet units tend to be in between folding campers and trailer tents. While several of its popular models, such as the Solena, have a non-pegging main body, they don’t come with the kitchen and cassette toilet most folding camper owners are accustomed to. Again, the prices I’ve included in this blog post are accurate at the time of writing and this post is regularly updated as the prices of the units change to ensure the relevancy of this content.
Raclet Trailer Tent Depreciation
| Raclet Model | New | After 1 Year | After 5 Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solena | £5,110 | £3,737 (Depreciation = 26.87%) | £2,398 (Depreciation = 53.07%) |
| Quickstop SE | £7,660 | £6,522 (Depreciation = 14.86%) | £3,663 (Depreciation = 52.18%) |
| Safari | £7,450 | £5,466 (Depreciation = 26.63%) | £2,900 (Depreciation = 61.07%) |
In this depreciation table, we’ve looked at the percentage of depreciation after 1 year and 5 years. All three of these Raclet units lost 50 – 65% of their value in 5 years. When compared with the depreciation of the Pennine folding campers as we mentioned above, Raclet units appear to lose their value much quicker. Raclet units for the most part seem to lose their value quickly, although the Raclet Quickstop SE initially depreciated much slower than the other units I’ve looked at.
Going off the figures above, it would suggest that a Raclet drops in value the moment you buy it, as do most things. However, if you’re unsure over whether a Raclet is right for you, it’s probably not worth the risk to buy a brand new one. As we can see, you can get a relatively new Raclet for much cheaper than a brand new one. It might be worth buying a unit second-hand if possible to avoid taking the hit of depreciation.
Raclets tend to depreciate rapidly. That means you can pick up one up at a bargain price second-hand whether you purchase one from a trusted dealer or privately. Trailer tent owners often don’t assess the market before listing their unit, so you might find some owners list their unit for cheaper than it should be. You might get a really good bargain if you look on online marketplaces like eBay or Preloved.
Unless you really must have a brand new Raclet, it’s always best to buy one second-hand – even if it’s only a year old. By purchasing one even a year old, you can avoid the big initial depreciation hit.
Trigano Trailer Tent Depreciation
Although Trigano has dabbled in the manufacturing of folding campers with the Randger 415DL, Randger 575LX and Randger 575TC, Trigano exclusively manufactures trailer tents now. The range of Trigano trailer tents tends to be fairly luxurious when compared with many of the trailer tents on the market. Some of them even include kitchens paralleling those available in a folding camper. As with the other sections of this post, we update the prices below as new models are released and depreciation changes.
Trigano Trailer Tent Depreciation
| Trigano Model | New | After 1 Year | After 5 Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha | £7,280 | £6,422 (Depreciation = 11.79%) | £5,125 (Depreciation = 29.6%) |
| Galleon | £5,747 | £4,250 (Depreciation = 26.05%) | £3,742 (Depreciation = 34.89%) |
| Odyssee | £5,797 | £4,875 (Depreciation = 15.9%) | £3,665 (Depreciation = 36.78%) |
In this depreciation table, we’ve looked at the depreciation of the Trigano models Alpha, Galleon and Odyssee. All three Trigano models had depreciated by 25 – 40% after 5 years. The fall in value of these units is a little more than the fall in value of the Pennine folding campers, but much less than the Raclet trailer tents. The Trigano Alpha in particular seems to hold its value very well, with a depreciation of approximately 30% after 5 years.
With any Trigano model, you will feel the depreciation hit if you purchase one brand new and go to sell it shortly after. However, they do retain their value very well. When compared with the units created by other trailer tent manufacturers, the value of Trigano’s units doesn’t tend to nosedive after a year. Interestingly, the Trigano units also start at a lower price point than the trailer tents created by their competitors. This could be one reason that Trigano units tend to hold their value better.
Unless purchasing a brand new unit is really important to you, I’d recommend purchasing a second-hand Trigano unit – even if you go for one of the newer ones. That way, you avoid the initial depreciation hit and therefore won’t lose as much money if you decide to sell your unit some time down the line.