The Native pod model assumes you buy the pod once ($45k) and finance a used chassis (~$35k with 20-30k miles) that cycles every 2 years as it approaches 100k miles. Native sources the chassis for you ($500 acquisition fee) and handles the wholesale sale when it's retired (8% of the ~$15k sale price). At the end of your comparison window, we help facilitate the retail sale of the complete pod+chassis unit for roughly $30,000 (10% retail exit fee). These Native service fees are built into the pod economics shown above — your savings number already accounts for them.

The standard operator model applies a realistic rental-fleet depreciation curve to whole-camper purchases: year 1 loses 25%, years 2-5 lose 10% per year, with an additional 15% penalty reflecting high rental miles and commercial wear. Loan balances are paid off from resale proceeds at each sale event. Operators who exit mid-cycle receive a pro-rated value based on time held.

Acquisition & sale costs (toggleable above) reflect the real-world friction of buying and selling whole campervans: national search and logistics (~4% of purchase price), plus listing/prep/carrying costs while units sit for sale (~6% of sale price). Under the Native pod model, these are replaced by the transparent service fees described above — and our fees are lower than doing it yourself because we've already built the supply chain and sales channels for our own fleet.

This calculator is for illustration. Your actual returns will vary based on your market, rental rates, operating efficiency, financing terms, and resale execution. Insurance, registration, and tax treatment are not modeled individually — they should be included in your total operating cost figure.