"Mostly we are looking for the one who will give us best deal and trade-in plus be honest and good to work with." You may have a bit of a contradiction in your expectations, or maybe the terms need more careful definitions. Suppose that you are looking at a 2014 Whiz Bang Special with a list price of $150,000. Your trade-in is a 1993 Super Duper Deluxe that has old, bald tires, a ratty interior, and few working appliances. Dealer A says he will sell you the new coach for $140,000 and give you $5,000 for your old rig. Dealer B says he will give you $15,000 for your old rig, but won't budge on the price. Dealer C will sell you the new rig for $120,000 and won't touch your old rig. One guide I've heard several times is that a new coach will sell outright for 75-80% of MSRP. That would say that Dealer C is probably giving you the most honest appraisal, given that your old rig is pretty much junk.

In reality, though, few people would be in that hypothetical situation. If you're looking at a new, high-end coach you probably have either an older high-end coach or a fairly new lower-end rig. Either way you are looking to upgrade. A dealer makes money on three areas: new sales, used sales, and service. The more they discount the new coach the less they can give you for your old one. The more they give you for your old coach the less they can discount the new one.

You may be able to make more money selling your old coach yourself, but it might take some time. You can consign the old one somewhere, but again, it may take some time to sell. The advantage is that you don't have to do anything. You may get more or less than what you could get on your own. Trading in your old rig is the easiest for many people, but the dealer is then on the hook for getting it sold at a profit.

To me, an honest dealer is one who will tell me truthfully what my trade-in is really worth. Lacking that, I'm more interested in the size of the check I'll write rather than how much they are giving me for a trade-in or how much they are taking off of the asking price. Around here a lot of car dealers are trying to charge a "document fee" on top of whatever the price difference is. I just tell them that that is part of their cost of doing business, and if they want to separate it out on the paperwork, fine, but I'm only interested in the numbers on the check.

When we were getting serious about buying the full-time coach we put our little mpg travel trailer up for sale as a consignment at the dealership where we bought it new. They handled the sale and got us more than what I was going to ask on my own. We didn't buy the full-time coach from them, but I have taken it to them for some service. I'm comfortable with how we were treated there (small dealership).

If I were in your shoes, I'd plan on doing some driving. Look at each dealership's offerings and select a couple of coaches that look like they would fit you. Drive to the dealership unannounced and describe what you are looking for, but don't be too specific. The salesman should spend a few minutes interviewing you about what you want, need, and can afford. He or she should then take you to at least one of the coaches on your list. Remember, DO NOT tell the salesman what coaches you want to see. Ask some detailed questions about whatever you are shown and note the answers. Afterwards you can check out those answers with that brand's owners forum. This exercise will tell you a LOT about the dealership.

Terry's point is a good one. If you are buying new, and know exactly what you want you might be able to find it a bit farther away. On the other hand, those savings can be eaten up fairly quickly if you then have to bring the new rig halfway across the country.

If you don't know yet what you want/need you might share your needs/wants and we can at least tell you our thoughts. That will, in turn, give you more to think about and discuss at home, leading to even more questions on your part. Every coach is a compromise, and only you can decide what you must have and what you are willing to give up. Someone once told me that the ideal coach is 6' x 6' x 8' and weighs less than 2,000 pounds in travel mode. Once landed it opens up to 24' x 60' with 8.5' ceilings, has perfect insulation, has a lifetime warranty on everything with all service techs to the coach in less than 2 minutes, and costs no more than $1,000. So far no one has made such a coach.

We bought ours from Discount RV in Longmont, CO. We ordered also so we could get what we wanted. We bought the Arctic Fox 32-5M. Freight is pricey, but we negotiated a good price on the rig, and we had a great experience with the folks at Discount RV. They have been great to work with and seemed honest and fair. Which Northwood are you considering? Have you looked at the units in person?

I travelled over 2,800 miles all the way down to Flo-rida to get mine. Flew down and drove back in 5 days. Didn't have time to lounge, the wife had to be back at work.
A bit off the topic but there sure was a lot of things to see that we never have before.......Like Interstates six-lanes wide. Sure like to go and tour around some time.
But yeah that's definitely nothing like buying local. Sure was fun though.