Motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth wheels, and toy haulers — protection for the long-haul lifestyle and the long-haul loan.
RV loans often run 10 to 20 years against units that depreciate quickly in the first three. GAP exposure is significant.
Slide-outs, leveling jacks, generators, residential appliances, and chassis components add up. A single repair can run five figures.
Months of storage create battery, tire, and seal failures that fall outside standard warranties.
RV customers come back for service for years. F&I products that follow them keep them coming back to you.
RV retail is the longest term lending vertical outside of real estate. A Class A motorhome loan can run 20 years. A travel trailer loan can run 15. That term length, paired with rapid first three year depreciation on most chassis, creates a GAP exposure window that does not close for years.
Beyond GAP, the RV F&I conversation is about complexity. A modern Class A has a residential refrigerator, a generator, multiple slide outs, leveling jacks, two air conditioners, an inverter, and a chassis system that is essentially a heavy duty truck powertrain. Each of those is its own potential failure mode. A single hydraulic slide repair on an out of warranty motorhome runs $4,500 to $9,000. A generator replacement runs $7,000 to $11,000.
The customer who buys an RV without an extended service contract is buying a $200,000 unit with the same warranty coverage as a $35,000 truck.
The RV F&I program has four cornerstones. ESC scoped to chassis plus coach systems. GAP at maximum LTV cap. Appearance protection because RVs sit outside under UV and seasonal weather. Tire and wheel because RV tires are expensive consumables that fail more often than auto tires.
Start with the ESC. Verify three things in the contract. Chassis coverage (engine, transmission, drive). Coach coverage (slide outs, leveling jacks, generators, residential appliances, HVAC). Seal coverage (water intrusion is the number one long term RV problem and most ESCs exclude it unless explicitly added).
GAP is non optional on any financed deal over 120 months. The depreciation versus loan curve is the steepest in any vertical we serve.
Tire and wheel pays for itself within the first 18 months on most Class A units because chassis tires are $400 to $700 each and they fail from sidewall age, not from mileage. The customer who buys tire and wheel and uses it twice has recovered the premium.
Appearance protection should focus on fabric and gelcoat, not paint. Most RV exterior damage is fabric (awnings) and gelcoat (sidewall scratching during storage), not paint.
Composite scenarios drawn from dealer claim experience. Dollar figures are representative for the vertical.
ESC covered $5,800 in slide out cylinder and seal replacement. Customer paid the deductible.
ESC paid out approximately $8,200 in parts and labor for an Onan 4.0 replacement.
Insurance settled at $42,000 ACV. Loan balance was $58,000. GAP covered the $16,000 deficiency.
RV dealers know the long-tail revenue is in F&I and service. Our RV-specific products help your customers protect a major investment while building sustainable, multi-year service revenue for your dealership.
The product mix that works for rv dealers, with the reasoning behind each call.
Generic powertrain only contracts miss most RV claims. Slide outs and appliances are the volume.
Water intrusion is the number one long term failure mode. Most ESCs exclude it unless explicitly added.
Always, on any financed deal over 120 months. The depreciation curve demands it.
Skip for travel trailers and fifth wheels with single axle inventory. Chassis tires fail from age, not mileage.
Not paint. Most RV exterior damage is awnings and sidewall scratching during storage.
Vertical-specific questions dealers and customers ask before signing.
A complete RV dealership F&I program is built on four products: an extended service contract scoped to both chassis and coach systems (slide-outs, leveling jacks, generator, appliances, HVAC, and seal/water-intrusion coverage), GAP at the maximum LTV cap to offset the steep first-three-year depreciation against 15-to-20-year RV loans, appearance protection focused on fabric and gelcoat, and tire and wheel for the expensive RV tire consumables. WeCoverUSA builds each RV dealership F&I menu around the unit mix you actually sell.
Slide out systems, by a significant margin. Hydraulic and electric slide failures account for 25 to 30 percent of RV ESC claims by dollar volume. Generator and residential appliance failures are next.
Standard ESCs cover mechanical and electrical failure. Seal coverage adds protection for water intrusion through roof, window, and slide out seals, which is the leading cause of long term RV value loss but is excluded from most chassis and coach ESCs.
Lender competition and customer payment comfort. A 240 month loan on a $200,000 motorhome creates a payment around $1,500 per month at current rates. Shorter terms double or triple the payment and price most retail buyers out.
Up to the contract's stated cap, typically 125 to 150 percent of MSRP at signing. Verify the specific cap before assuming full coverage. Some contracts also have a maximum payout dollar amount on top of the LTV cap.
Most ESC providers cover pre owned RVs within an age and mileage band, typically up to 8 to 10 years old with under 100,000 chassis miles for motorized units. Travel trailers and fifth wheels are usually eligible up to 12 to 15 years old.
Let us build a custom F&I package designed specifically for your rv dealership.
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