RV Depreciation Rate: How Much an RV Loses Per Year, by Age and Class
Depreciation is the biggest cost of owning an RV, bigger than fuel, insurance or campground fees. Here is what the market is actually asking for RVs of each age and type right now — and why the curve looks the way it does.
By Joey Bouza, Founder, US RV Connection · Updated August 29, 2026
Ask three RV salespeople how fast an RV depreciates and you'll get three percentages, all quoted with confidence and none of them measured. The honest answer is that the rate depends on the class, the brand, the condition and the year you bought, and that averages hide most of what matters. So instead of a rule of thumb, this page shows the live asking prices on this site by model-year bracket and by type — numbers recalculated every hour from the RVs currently listed — and explains how to read them.
Asking prices by age, measured today
The table below groups every priced RV currently listed on this site by model year. Read down the median column and you are looking at the depreciation curve as buyers are actually seeing it this week — not as a chart from a textbook.
| Model years | Median asking | Lowest | Highest | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 and newer | $38,777 | $8,795 | $339,995 | 1363 |
| 2020–2023 | $28,995 | $4,999 | $219,995 | 363 |
| 2015–2019 | $27,995 | $6,495 | $259,850 | 284 |
| 2010–2014 | $20,995 | $5,988 | $129,860 | 95 |
| 2000–2009 | $25,991 | $4,999 | $194,899 | 24 |
Two things to keep in mind when reading it. First, these are asking prices, and dealer asking prices run above private-sale results; the gap between brackets is what matters more than any single number. Second, the mix inside each bracket is different — a bracket dominated by diesel motorhomes will show a higher median than one full of entry-level travel trailers — so compare the age table with the type table below before drawing a conclusion about any one rig.
Depreciation by class of RV
| Type | Median asking | Lowest | Highest | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class A motorhome | $88,888 | $14,888 | $259,850 | 84 |
| Class B camper van | $97,352 | $39,750 | $166,985 | 21 |
| Class C motorhome | $80,985 | $23,777 | $339,995 | 93 |
| Travel trailer | $27,995 | $4,999 | $114,887 | 1346 |
| Fifth wheel | $59,995 | $8,477 | $176,794 | 303 |
| Toy hauler | $43,995 | $10,998 | $244,632 | 111 |
| Other (pop-ups, truck campers, park models) | $59,982 | $4,999 | $147,500 | 174 |
The pattern behind the class table is consistent from year to year. Motorized RVs start from a much higher price and lose more dollars in absolute terms, because the buyer is depreciating a chassis, an engine and a house at once. Towables start lower and shed a larger share of their value early, because the cheapest new travel trailers are built to a price and the market knows it. Fifth wheels sit between the two: more expensive than travel trailers, better built on average, and bought by owners who tend to keep them longer.
The rules of thumb — and why we don't lead with them
You will see industry rules of thumb repeated everywhere: that an RV loses a large slice of its value the moment it leaves the lot, that the steepest drop is in the first two or three years, that the curve flattens after a decade. As descriptions of the shape of the curve they are fair. As numbers they are unverifiable, because no one publishing them shows the transactions behind them. We label them here as what they are — folklore with a grain of truth — and prefer the measured tables above.
A rule of thumb is a starting point for a conversation with a buyer. A live median for RVs of your type and age is an answer. Bring the answer.
What slows depreciation
- Brand: Airstream is the clearest example — the aluminum shell doesn't rot, and clean examples hold value for decades. Tiffin, Newmar and Grand Design also sit high in the brand table for their categories. See our brand ranking for the live medians.
- A dry roof and dry walls: water intrusion is the single biggest destroyer of RV value. A unit with documented annual roof inspections and reseals will out-ask an identical unit without them, every time.
- Mileage on motorhomes: a 15-year-old diesel pusher with 40,000 miles is mid-life mechanically; the same coach with 150,000 miles is priced like a truck of that age.
- Service records: a folder of receipts — generator hours and service, tire dates, bearing packs, appliance repairs — is worth real money because it removes the buyer's uncertainty.
- Storage: covered or indoor storage keeps the roof, sealant, decals and tires out of the sun. Buyers can tell.
- Season: asking prices firm in late winter and spring and soften in autumn. If you can choose when to sell, sell before the camping season, not after it.
Using this to price your own RV
- Find your RV's bracket in the age table and your type in the class table. Where the two medians disagree, the truth for your rig is usually between them.
- Check the brand table on the value guide. If your brand's median sits above the type median, price toward the top of your bracket; if below, toward the bottom.
- Adjust for the things buyers pay for: dry roof, service records, low mileage, sought-after floorplan. Subtract for anything a buyer will need to fix in the first month.
- Run the free appraisal for a written estimate, then browse listings of your type and age to see what your competition is asking this week.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does an RV depreciate per year?
- It depends on the class, the brand and the age, which is why we publish live asking prices by model-year bracket rather than one percentage. The gap between adjacent brackets in the table on this page is the measured answer for RVs listed right now.
- Do motorhomes or travel trailers depreciate faster?
- Travel trailers usually lose a larger share of their value in the early years because they start cheaper and are built to a price; motorhomes lose more dollars because they start much higher and carry an engine and chassis. The class table on this page shows the live medians for each.
- Which RV brands hold their value best?
- Airstream leads by a wide margin on towables; Tiffin, Newmar and Grand Design are consistently strong in their categories. Our brand ranking page shows live medians for every brand with enough listings to measure.
- Does mileage matter as much as age on a motorhome?
- Both matter, and they interact. Low miles on an old coach is a selling point only if the coach has been exercised and serviced — a diesel that sat for years can cost more to wake up than one that was driven.
- Is a fifth wheel a better investment than a travel trailer?
- Neither is an investment, but fifth wheels tend to be better built and bought by longer-term owners, so their asking prices hold up better in the middle years. Compare the two rows in the class table.
- When does an RV stop depreciating?
- It doesn't quite, but the curve flattens once the unit is priced mostly on condition rather than age — typically in the older brackets of the age table, where a dry, well-kept rig and a neglected one of the same year can be listed thousands of dollars apart.
- Why are the asking prices on this page higher than what I was offered on trade-in?
- Dealers buy at wholesale and sell at retail; the tables show retail asking prices. Selling privately captures more of the gap, which is what our selling guide walks you through.
- Where do these numbers come from?
- From the RVs currently listed on this site with a price, grouped by model year and by type and recalculated hourly. We don't publish figures we haven't measured, and we label industry rules of thumb as such.
About the author
Joey Bouza — Founder, US RV Connection
Working musician and founder of Prospects International, a marketing firm that runs lead and appointment campaigns for dealers across the country.
Prices and counts in our guides come from live listings on this site and are recalculated hourly. Where we quote industry-typical figures (transport, inspection, roof reseal, tire and appliance quotes) we say so, and we never publish a number we haven't measured or sourced.