Good price? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Blythe N Chuck · RV-Dreams Family Member

Good price?

Bill Adams · RV-Dreams Family Member

I know nothing about the trailer or the pricing, but how are you going to make that headboard in the master bedroom work? 30 degree tilt into the the room is going to make watching TV while in bed a real challenge. A big stack of pillows might work but that's some odd configuration that's going to require some pre-planning.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

I've been told that a good guide is 80% of MSRP, and you are slightly below that, so I'd say you have a deal.

Blythe N Chuck · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill, I know, we have talked about that. Luckily the hubby and I are both 5' 8" so we should be able to make it work. We are very limited with weight and they all seem to have that headboard if they fit our weight w/ 2 slides. Compromises I guess.

Thanks David, that's a great guide to know. I felt like it was a good price and we did get them down from when their "sale" price was of $26,5000 to be under $26,000 out the door so that was nice to us. Just didn't want to kick myself so thought I would check here first.

-- Edited by Blythe N Chuck on Wednesday 1st of June 2011 03:59:23 PM

Steve C · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi Blythe,

We are in the RV buying market again and I have found that MSRP means little or nothing as to actual dealer cost on a unit. I recently learned that there is even more markup on units that I ever imagined. When we bought last time dealers were $9,000 to $12,000 apart on an $85,000 (purchase price) 5th wheel. MSRP was close to $130,000. There are dealers that operate on volume and there are those that would just let their units sit there till they get their price. One dealer had "new, untitled" units that were two and three model years old. Still waiting till he get his price.

I use the Internet and phone and then take the time to spend time with a dealer. This time I am shopping in three states. We are going full-time and most likely will have no service done by the local dealer. Last time we had service at the factory or on the road. Never had any work done by the selling dealer after the sale. I believe in buying local if at all possible. Sometimes it is not in my best interest to do so.

Compare "apples to apples" with two or more dealers and negotiate in a nice, but tough, well informed manner. Do your homework. Some buying guides I used last time said a good negotiated price was around 70% of MSRP. After buying season and end of a model year is also a good time to buy. Call the factory and get the contact info for your regional factory reps and ask him or her who is the volume dealer with the best service/customer satisfaction rating in their territory. I did this earlier today and got another dealer's name to talk to. Again, did this last time and paid over $9,000 less.

Did the same yesterday when buying a new car for my father. Got a car like he wanted for $1,000 less with over $500 more in desirable options. Took a little longer and some patience. Told them how I wanted to do it; instead of letting them dictate the process. Had them to send me buyer option sheets with price information by email so what we discussed would be in writing. Had a sales-manager tell me the car I had located through another dealer did not exist. Pulled out my laptop and pulled up the email which showed info on the car my father eventually purchased. When negotiating, I never say anything I cannot backup. The local dealer's sales-manager then came to a price that earlier he had said there was no way he would do. The dealer where we bought did everything with me by phone or email in 1/10th of the time. He sells 5x more cars than the local dealer. It is all about attitude and philosophy.

Dealers need you, the customer that is ready to buy, more than you need them. Good luck.

Steve

Blythe N Chuck · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks all. Sadly, we found out today that we cannot tow this weight. Chrysler Corporate AND the service dept at the Chrysler dealer both told me we could tow up to 8900....our RV dealer was walking me through it and looked it up and found we could actually only tow 5700....sigh :( So, what's a girl to do when she gets bad news? Spend more money! We went looking at Class A's today ;)

Wildrose Acres · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill, that tilt wouldn't be a problem for us since we don't even have a TV in our bedroom and haven't in many years.

K & E · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have purchased 5 campers since 1981. Two pop-ups, 1 TT and 2 5ers. Our rule of thumb is we won't pay more than 30% under list price. In October of 2008, we got our most recent 5er for 37% under list price. No trade-ins, cash deals. We saw a new one in March at Camping World in Albuquerque that we really liked. The salesman tried to tell us the mark-up is only 10%. Hah!!! We walked.

I agree that shopping around is key. We shopped in three states before we found our deal in 2008. The internet is a wonderful thing for RV shopping.

Best of luck!

RVPAINTER · RV-Dreams Family Member

Yes, I agree the internet is good for shopping RV's - I follow PPL in Houston TX, RV Solutions in San Diego CA and Padata in Tucson AZ. I like PPL the best and as soon as our home sells it's off to HOUSTON!! We live in Santa fe NM so the states to our right and left seem logical from a travel concept.

3fortheroad · RV-Dreams Family Member

Steve C wrote:
Hi Blythe,
We are in the RV buying market again and I have found that MSRP means little or nothing as to actual dealer cost on a unit. I recently learned that there is even more markup on units that I ever imagined. When we bought last time dealers were $9,000 to $12,000 apart on an $85,000 (purchase price) 5th wheel. MSRP was close to $130,000. There are dealers that operate on volume and there are those that would just let their units sit there till they get their price. One dealer had "new, untitled" units that were two and three model years old. Still waiting till he get his price.
I use the Internet and phone and then take the time to spend time with a dealer. This time I am shopping in three states. We are going full-time and most likely will have no service done by the local dealer. Last time we had service at the factory or on the road. Never had any work done by the selling dealer after the sale. I believe in buying local if at all possible. Sometimes it is not in my best interest to do so.
Compare "apples to apples" with two or more dealers and negotiate in a nice, but tough, well informed manner. Do your homework. Some buying guides I used last time said a good negotiated price was around 70% of MSRP. After buying season and end of a model year is also a good time to buy. Call the factory and get the contact info for your regional factory reps and ask him or her who is the volume dealer with the best service/customer satisfaction rating in their territory. I did this earlier today and got another dealer's name to talk to. Again, did this last time and paid over $9,000 less.
Did the same yesterday when buying a new car for my father. Got a car like he wanted for $1,000 less with over $500 more in desirable options. Took a little longer and some patience. Told them how I wanted to do it; instead of letting them dictate the process. Had them to send me buyer option sheets with price information by email so what we discussed would be in writing. Had a sales-manager tell me the car I had located through another dealer did not exist. Pulled out my laptop and pulled up the email which showed info on the car my father eventually purchased. When negotiating, I never say anything I cannot backup. The local dealer's sales-manager then came to a price that earlier he had said there was no way he would do. The dealer where we bought did everything with me by phone or email in 1/10th of the time. He sells 5x more cars than the local dealer. It is all about attitude and philosophy.
Dealers need you, the customer that is ready to buy, more than you need them. Good luck.
Steve

Thanks Steve great post, well said and informative. Will be saving it for future reference.

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