There's no honest single figure for how much an RV depreciates per year. Many of the yearly percentages passed around online are years old, and few say how they were worked out. What a particular RV loses depends on its type and condition, how many miles or seasons it has seen, the model and the market it sells into. Published values also rise and fall with the calendar, sometimes by several percent in a couple of months.

What you can get is a real number for one RV. A current valuation guide shows where similar units sit on average, and a dealer appraisal tells you what yours is worth today. Depreciation is also only one line in the budget. The true cost of RV ownership guide and the RV costs hub cover the rest.

Why There's No Honest Yearly Depreciation Rate

J.D. Power, whose consumer RV value pages still carry the NADA RV Values name, also publishes market reports through J.D. Power Valuation Services. In both of its last two year-end reports, average values fell from September–October to November–December in each of the four segments below.

J.D. Power said the late-2024 decline followed the same seasonal pattern as the year before. Its 2025 year-end RV report, published March 16, 2026, called depreciation in the second half of 2025 more pronounced than in 2024. These are two-month moves in market averages. They aren't yearly rates, and they don't tell you what any single RV lost.

Spring 2024 brought the opposite move. From March–April to May–June, travel trailers rose 6.1%, fifth wheels 4.1%, Class C motorhomes 3.6% and Class A motorhomes 3.2%, which J.D. Power put down to customers buying ahead of peak travel season.

Two years is a short record, so treat the seasonal pattern as a tendency. What it does show is that the market moves on top of age, and the same RV can lose more in one year than in another for reasons unrelated to how it was treated. Valuation and insurance sources describe the first year of ownership as the steepest part of the decline, but the ones that say so don't publish a current, method-backed percentage for it.

Which RVs Hold Their Value Best?

The published data doesn't support a stable answer by RV type. At the end of 2025, J.D. Power had fifth wheel values down 4.7% from a year earlier. Class C motorhome values were up 21.7%, and Class A motorhomes were down 3.5%.

By mid-2026 the picture had changed. J.D. Power's second-quarter 2026 RV report, published July 30, 2026, found travel trailer values relatively steady compared with 2025, while fifth wheel values slipped 2% after a 3% decline in the first quarter. Class C values were down 10% year over year but still above 2024 levels. Class A values were down just over 4% year over year. Dealers described demand for new and used RVs as flat, and the report named inflationary pressure, high fuel prices and overall market uncertainty among the issues affecting sales.

So Class C went from the biggest year-over-year gain at the end of 2025 to a 10% year-over-year drop by mid-2026. If someone tells you one type or size of RV always holds its value best, ask what data that's based on. What you can influence is the condition of your own unit and the records behind it.

What a Valuation Guide Number Actually Means

A J.D. Power lookup starts with model year, make and model and returns three figures. Each one measures something different, and mixing them up is an easy way to walk into a trade-in with the wrong expectation.

Suggested List Price (MSRP) is the manufacturer's or distributor's highest suggested retail price when the RV was new, before destination, dealer set-up, taxes, tags and insurance. If you paid less than that, a "percent lost since new" figure calculated from MSRP overstates your loss.

Low Retail describes a unit in safe, running order that needs cosmetic or mechanical work. J.D. Power notes these units aren't usually found at dealers, and it says plainly that "low retail value is not trade-in value."

Average Retail describes a clean unit without obvious defects: good tires and glass, a good paint finish, interior wear in line with its age, working power options and mileage near the average range. Exceptional units can be worth significantly more, and J.D. Power notes that a dealer may include a limited warranty and current safety and emission inspections.

Two details are easy to miss. The guide's mileage adjustment is for gas engines only, and its own note says not to use it for diesel engines. And J.D. Power says the specialty-vehicle values in its online business products, RVs included, are updated six times a year, so a figure you looked up in summer may be stale by December.

What Pulls an RV's Value Down

Age sets the starting point. These are the things that move a specific RV up or down from it.

Water Intrusion and Delamination

Water can cost you warranty coverage as well as resale value. The 2027 towable warranty guides from Jayco, Open Range and Heartland RV exclude from structural coverage "delamination caused by water intrusion from lack of required exterior seal maintenance or other maintenance." Each also says that failing to maintain the RV as its manuals specify voids the limited warranty. The matching 2027 owner's manuals warn that if a leak isn't corrected, the damage "may not be warrantable."

Missing Maintenance and Missing Records

Because those guides tie coverage to the maintenance in the manual, that schedule doubles as a checklist for your records. Used-RV buyers tend to ask for service receipts, and without them a well-kept RV is hard to tell apart from a neglected one.

Condition and Working Equipment

Go back to the average-retail description. Worn tires, cracked glass, tired paint or a power option that doesn't work each give an appraiser a reason to move the number down.

Storage Exposure

The storage checklist in those 2027 towable manuals says to store the RV indoors, under a roof or under a breathable cover. It also says to cover tires exposed to sunlight to prevent weather checking and UV damage.

The Model-Year Changeover

J.D. Power's guide looks up an RV by model year, so the arrival of a new one matters. The RV Industry Association's voluntary best practice asks manufacturers to make annual model-year and major product design changes between June 1 and June 30, a window it reaffirmed for the 2027 model year. RVIA says the practice has helped in determining the value of used RVs when owners trade in for a new unit.

Once a brand's new model year arrives, unsold current-year units become prior-year inventory, and every older RV sits one more model year behind the newest. Adoption is voluntary, so ask the dealer when the brand you own or want actually changes over.

How Owners Protect Value

Most of what protects resale value is routine care the owner's manual already spells out.

• Follow the sealant schedule. The 2027 towable owner's manuals from Jayco, Open Range and Heartland RV tell owners or their dealer to inspect all sealants (roof, all four sides, moldings, doors, vents and exterior attachments) at least every six months and to reseal at least once a year. For a motorhome or another model year, use your own manual's interval.
• Get leaks found right away. If water appears inside, those manuals say to have the dealer locate the leak immediately.
• Keep a receipt file. Dated invoices for sealant inspections and service visits are your evidence of condition at appraisal time.
• Store it the way the manual says, with tires shaded from the sun. For winterizing and the rest of the storage prep, follow your owner's manual or have a qualified technician do the work. The year-end RV maintenance checklist and the RV winterization guide cover the season in more detail.
• Fix small problems as they come up. An appliance that doesn't work is something an appraiser will price in.

More care guides are collected in the RV maintenance section.

Trading In at a Dealer

Look up your RV's guide values before you go. Both retail figures describe what a unit might sell for at retail, and neither is an offer to buy yours. Bring the paperwork that backs up its condition: service records, sealant receipts, owner's manuals and warranty documents.

Ask for a written appraisal of your specific unit and what drove any deductions. If the appraiser found a soft floor or a failed appliance, it's better to hear it plainly than to guess.

Ask for the trade-in value stated on its own, apart from the price of the RV you're buying, so each number can be judged by itself. The guide to the best time to buy an RV covers comparing dealer quotes.

Timing plays a part, too. In both 2024 and 2025, J.D. Power's figures showed values softening late in the year. That won't predict what your RV is worth on a given date, but it's a good reason to ask whether an appraisal from a few months ago still holds.

Questions about financing the next RV, or about a loan on the one you're trading in, belong with the dealer's finance office.

Using Depreciation When You Buy

The forces that cost an owner money can work in a buyer's favor.

A lightly used RV has already been through some of the early decline those valuation and insurance sources describe. Buying it from a dealer can bring more than a lower price, since a dealer may include a limited warranty and current inspections, as the average-retail definition above notes. After a changeover, prior-model-year units are worth a look too. Before deciding which is the better value, find out from the dealer what actually changed between the two model years.

Don't assume the original manufacturer's warranty carries over. The 2027 towable warranty guides from Jayco, Open Range and Heartland RV each say the limited warranty "applies to the first consumer purchaser of a new RV only." On a used unit, read the warranty documents that came with it and ask the dealer what coverage comes with the sale. On a new one, buy from an authorized dealer. The same guides exclude any RV bought through auction or wholesale and any RV bought from a dealer that isn't authorized for that brand.

Water damage and deferred maintenance are far easier to catch before you sign. The RV inspection checklist walks through what to look at.

Check the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup and ask the dealer about open recalls too. NHTSA notes that its VIN search covers certain manufacturers only and generally won't show recalls more than 15 years old.

After buying a used RV, register yourself as the new owner. Jayco, Entegra Coach, Open Range and Heartland RV each link a Change of Ownership Form from their websites, and the 2027 towable manuals mentioned earlier note that federal record-keeping laws require the manufacturer to keep a file of owners. NHTSA says manufacturers notify registered owners of a safety recall by first-class mail, so being on file helps that notice reach you.

If you're still weighing new against used, the new vs. used RV buying guide works through that decision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do upgrades raise an RV's resale value? Don't count on it. J.D. Power's value tool only adds options from its own list of equipment offered beyond the standard features, so an aftermarket add-on may not show up in a guide value at all. Ask the appraiser how they treat added equipment, and keep the receipts either way.

Does depreciation affect what insurance pays? It can. Actual cash value reflects depreciation, and some insurers offer replacement coverage on newer RVs. Ask your insurer how a total loss on your RV would be valued.

The depreciation number that counts is the one an appraiser puts on your RV, in writing, on the day you trade it in. Find your local dealer and ask for one. If you're shopping for what comes next, seeing brands like Jayco, Entegra Coach, Open Range and Heartland RV in person will tell you more than any chart.