Buying New - Prices

[freestoneangler]

We hadn't planned on doing so, but are considering buying a TT new. In our area, there are a few dealers who carry the manufacturer/model we're looking at. I have asked and they have sent their dealer invoice sheets which show the options for that unit. This did help explain most of the $6,000 price difference I was seeing between what otherwise looked like the same trailer.

 

That said, I've read other threads about what one should expect to get in discounted price, though I recall that being for motorcoach's. On some lots we've visited, there is a pretty significant difference in what they show as MSRP and what they are offering the trailer for. How much price negotiation should one expect on TT's? Is it common to wheel and deal from the already lowered price?

 

Thanks

[richfaa]

This may help some http://www.seedealercost.com/

[Yarome]

DON'T buy into it. For the most part you can ignore the so called "MSRP". It's an industry wide practice and nothing more than smoke and mirrors, IMHO. About all the "invoice MSRP" is go for is in calculating a general value estimate. It depends somewhat on the class and price range of rig you're looking at, but 25%-35% below MSRP is generally where I like to be for a good-excellent deal. If you visit many RV shows you'll often see 20% below "show specials", but if you shop around even a little you'll find dealers standard asking prices more in the 25% below range.

 

It's all about "feeding" your excitement with a perceived value that is "just to good to pass up".

 

One other trick when negotiating. If they won't seem to budge any lower.. ask for added equipment as part of the deal. Like vent covers, hoses, upgraded batteries, etc.

[TXiceman]

What always helps is to get you check book out and start writing a check for what you want to pay...tax, title and license...out the door. Tell them this is you firm final offer. Should be 25 to 30% below the "MSRP".

 

Ken

[Kirk W]

This may help some http://www.seedealercost.com/

Rich, that site looks to be fairly accurate. I walked through the figures for an RV which I recently say the paperwork on at a dealership where I know the owner and it comes surprisingly close to what he showed. Finding the true MSRP and dealer cost of most RVs has always been a little bit sketchy, since the law does not require the dealers to show you the true MSRP as supplied by the factory.

DON'T buy into it. For the most part you can ignore the so called "MSRP". It's an industry wide practice and nothing more than smoke and mirrors, IMHO. About all the "invoice MSRP" is go for is in calculating a general value estimate. It depends somewhat on the class and price range of rig you're looking at, but 25%-35% below MSRP is generally where I like to be for a good-excellent deal. If you visit many RV shows you'll often see 20% below "show specials", but if you shop around even a little you'll find dealers standard asking prices more in the 25% below range.

The problem with that issue is that since dealers are not legally required to show buyers the factory supplied MSRP, many of them do not and more common is for dealers to make up their own price sheet which may have very little relationship to the valid numbers, while some dealers are more honest. Complicating things further is the fact that when you look at the same model at different dealerships, they are almost never equipped exactly the same so real cost and pricing will be different. There are a few manufacturers who post the MSRP for the brands and models that they build and those are valid MSRP figures, but just as with a car, that is appreciably above dealer cost since it allows for a very handsome profit.

 

If you plan to buy new, the best way to compare RVs of the same model is to work up a special order sheet at one dealer, then make copies of it that have the numbers all covered and contact all other dealers within a reasonable travel distance and offer them the opportunity to bid on the sale of that exact RV to you, via a special order. Do not buy into the claim that some dealers make that special orders cost more since reality is that the dealer has almost no internal expenses in such a vehicle that spends so little time on their lot. The best dealer pricing that I have ever found was one (now retired and sold to others) who stocked very little but preferred to special order everything because it kept his expenses so very low. When we got our motorhome that we lived in, by bidding ours we drove about 120 miles to buy it for nearly 12% less than our local dealer, who was 3rd from highest of 9 different bids that we got.

 

When we bought our present travel trailer we did similar, but the low bid came from a dealer who had one nearly exactly like we wanted, already on order and who was only 35 miles from us! The difficulty in stating what discount a customer should get on a new RV is in the fact that no two dealers will ever have the exact same price on the RV as another and you typically don't know what MSRP or the dealer cost is. Ultimately, claimed discounts are more hoax than reality. All that actually matters is the total amount you pay in order to receive a clear title. Shuffling numbers around to confuse the customer and mislead them to believe that they got a better deal than was true is what sales people specialize in. When we bought our last RV, we were buying for cash and the one prior we had a loan approved so we could deal in cash. Doing this, and not trading in anything make for a much easier way to tie down what you actually are paying. Unless you know the manufacturer's prices discounts are meaningless.

[oscarvan]

Search the unit you are interested in, nationwide, on rvtrader.com

 

This should give you an approximate range of MSRP's (real or made up) and the range of their "call NOW" prices.

 

And a wild range it is.... one Class A I am lusting after shows MSRP's from 225 ish to 275 ish (and no you can't get that much difference with a few TV's and AC's) and the "final offer prices" range from 160 to 225........

 

Od course depending on whether you finance (they make money on that) and how much useless extra coverage you buy (yes, they make money on that) and how much they can squeeze your trade if you have one (yes, they make money on that) the final FINAL offer may be well below their "call NOW" number.....

 

It's a moving target.