Buying at an RV show - RV-Dreams Community Forum

DazedNConfused · RV-Dreams Community Member

Buying at an RV show

MarkS · RV-Dreams Family Member

I saved $20k buying mine on the web vs buying at the RIAA show in Los Angeles. They had a "factory rep" at the show but wouldn't come off a ridiculously high price. I bought mine out of Ohio and had it delivered in California. Always check the internet prices before signing on the dotted line.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sometimes they do have good pricing at shows, but MarkS is right, know your internet prices beforehand.

Thor has not had that great of a reputation. But there are also happy fulltimers with them, so maybe they are better than I know. There are users groups for Thor, including on RVillage.com .

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Chris and Jo-Ann,

I'd hold off. My experience has been that most dealers will deal on their lots for about the same price as one would get at an RV show. By dealing at the lots, one also has the option of ordering additional options or leaving off options that aren't needed. I think it is also a good idea to shop around for a price by asking at least three different dealers for a price on an RV with the identical options that one wants.

With our brand of RV, people from all over the U.S. have been doing that and one couple drove all the way from California to Oklahoma to buy their RV. Also, by shopping around, you might be visiting with a dealer that may recommend an additional option that wasn't considered in the beginning. When we were looking at buying ours, our dealer commented that one of his other customers had bought an inverter and two additional batteries for their rig. We did the same when we ordered because we thought we would spend at least some time off the grid. However, when our RV refrigerator went out and we decided to replace it with a residential refrigerator, we already had an inverter, so that wasn't an additional expense when we bought the residential.

Terry

Selah · RV-Dreams Family Member

My opinion. Shows are not much different than shopping around at dealers. Sometime you get great deals and other times it's just so so. We purchased our first MH at a show and got a really good price. We tried to buy our second MH at a show and couldn't come to terms. We got a much better deal at a dealer that was not at the show.
The "show price" is not the bottom line. As stated before do your research and then negotiate whether at a show or dealer. The good thing about shows is that you get to do side by side comparisons of units of which you are interested. If you have time time I would suggest you attend a relatively big show.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

We used the price the two dealers at an RV show offered to go back to a dealer we had visited a couple of weeks earlier nearer to home to get money knocked off. We were able to save an extra $2000 off of the show price and $4000 off of the original quote from the nearby dealer.

Same model equipped the same at each of the 3 dealers.

-- Edited by The Bear II on Friday 18th of September 2015 08:47:29 AM

DazedNConfused · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks for all of your responses. We left the Thor at the show where we looked at a bazillion RVs. We have made some decisions, and have a tentative plan. We are going to Florida in January, staying with my son, and will look for, and hopefully buy our (used) rig there. We have so many questions, I really feel totally unprepared for daily life on the road. Off to scour the boards for some answers.

SuzieQ · RV-Dreams Family Member

There's a huge show at Tampa fairgrounds January 13-17, 2016. We're planning on going.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

SuzieQ wrote:
There's a huge show at Tampa fairgrounds January 13-17, 2016. We're planning on going.

I have not seen many true deals at that show. It is a good show for looking, being one of the largest in the USA.

-- Edited by bjoyce on Thursday 1st of October 2015 07:40:19 PM

DazedNConfused · RV-Dreams Community Member

We may or may not go to the Tampa show. We did a lot of research in Hershey. Our thought was to stay with my son and his family and try to find a used RV nearby. We would buy the rig, and travel around Florida. Unfortunately, we are not the only people that have the idea of RVing in Florida in the winter, so not sure if we'll be able to find a place to stay. I'd like to go to the Tampa show just to learn things. I feel like I have so much more to learn.

SuzieQ · RV-Dreams Family Member

We're going to the Tampa show for looking/learning. We're still about 1-1/2 yrs out. Hubby is 6'7" which is a challenge and significantly limits options.

dhshaw · RV-Dreams Community Member

We recently attended the RV show in Maryland. Saw a Solitude 379FL that we absolutely fell in love with and will be ordering one next week. The dealer had a show price of about $73K on the sticker and called it rock bottom. Over the last couple of weeks I have been dealing with 2 dealers, one a couple of hours away and the dealer that was showing this model. I got a final price from the dealer a couple hours away of about $65K and gave the local dealer that was saying at the show the $73K was rock bottom a chance to come down to the lower price. He has come down and has earned the sale.
Both deals included my current TT in a trade and the final out of pocket for both is going to be about $53K.
So as you can see the show price was not even close to being the rock bottom price they were quoting as I got about $8K more off by shopping.

Jcently · RV-Dreams Community Member

Although, I have been working with a couple of dealers for the last couple of months I am waiting for the Tampa RV show this weekend coming up to see what they have to offer. I will then buy the fifth (hopefully) next week.