Expected Discount from MSRP: Class A DP vs 5th Wheel TH

[Chad]

I know that in the Class A DP market, I can expect 25-30% off MSRP.  Obviously a lot of factors, but that's what I found doing some research and gathering my own empirical evidence over the last 8 months.

How about higher end 5th Wheel Toy Haulers, like a 44" Cyclone and the like?  Surely not 30% but surely not 0% either.

Curious about members experience here.

Thanks,
-chad

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

Our recent 5th wheel purchase came in at 31% under the Internet price on the dealer website.  

[Big Greg]

Make sure the MSRP is from the manufacturer and not the dealer.  I have seen dealers set their own MSRP.  We used an Idaho dealers internet non negotiable price to get the Michigan dealer we had been working with go from 6% to 21% off manufacturers MSRP 10+ years ago.  Greg 

[kb0zke]

And sometimes the "discount" is quite a bit more. I just checked one website that has brand-new DP coaches at 28% off of "MSRP." Remember, that's their initial offer. If the dealer is hungry enough, or the coach has been sitting too long, you might be able to snag one for 40% off. Make a low offer and see what the reaction is. That goes for any type of RV. Also, if you are dealing with dealers (as opposed to buying directly from the factory) you can sometimes play one dealer against another.

Really, you are in charge. The dealer can't make you buy something. Just don't fall in love with a particular coach if you want the absolute best deal. Offer what you think is a fair price. If you are willing to haggle some, make your offer somewhat lower than what you expect to settle for. If you don't want to haggle, tell the sales person that you are making a take-it-or-leave-it offer. If they don't accept your offer you will walk out and take your business elsewhere. Sometimes they will accept your offer. Sometimes they will refuse it then, but call you back a couple of days later accepting it. Sometimes they won't accept it and you won't hear anything more from them.

Make an offer and see what happens.

[remoandiris]

The Cyclone is NOT "higher end", IMO.  Had one, hated it.  Piece of jiunk.  IIRC, The 2014 CY4000 I had cost me $55k out the door.  It was a revolving door because that POS spent more time in the shop than it did in use.  

[Kirk W]

11 hours ago, Big Greg said:

Make sure the MSRP is from the manufacturer and not the dealer.  I have seen dealers set their own MSRP.  We used an Idaho dealers internet non negotiable price to get the Michigan dealer we had been working with go from 6% to 21% off manufacturers MSRP 10+ years ago.

This is very important to understand. With automobiles, federal law requires that the manufacturer post a suggested retail price (MSRP) and that the customers be able to see it but that is not true for the RV market and while most manufacturers do make an MSRP available to the dealers, very few dealers show that to their customers but most dealers make something of that sort to post which lists not only often inflated prices but also many dealer add-on items like fabric protectors, paint protectors, and such that have extremely high markup. The reality is that RV dealers are no different than any other business in that they must make a reasonable profit over the cost of the RV and the majority of claimed discounts are more sales BS. Some manufacturers do post some MSRP information on their websites, such as Newmar and Fleetwood, but even that is only a general idea since it is for base prices and can vary by optional equipment. Most RV sales organizations are very good at shuffling numbers about and in hiding the actual cost of the purchase. 

[Ronbo]

When we bought our 2013 5th wheel the 2014s were on the lot. We received 40% below manufacturer msrp 

[bobsallyh]

Kirk, has it right. There is no government regulation  that requires the MSRP sticker be attached to the vehicle. Another thing I'm curious about is the percentage off MSRP, is this on a straight sale or on a trade in?

[Daveh]

I really wish they would stop with the pricing gimmicks. Hard enough just narrowing down selections and you will always find someone that got a better deal.

 

[dzwiss]

2 minutes ago, Daveh said:

" you will always find someone that got a better deal."

 

Yes, and they are usually the same people that went to Vegas and didn't lose any money.

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, Daveh said:

I really wish they would stop with the pricing gimmicks.

Between the sales people and the finance & insurance people and the finance & insurance (F&I) people, I think that they are mostly slight of hand artists as they usually leave the customer convinced that they are paying far less than is actually the case. The number of customers that leave the dealership believing that they got a great deal from the best sales people in town, when if they only knew how well they have been taken care of.

[Pappy Yokum]

Even if the factory does not post MSRP (some do, some don't) - you should have a pretty accurate idea of that by what the many dealers you will be contacting - *claim* it to be.

Decide *exactly* what you want - Brand, floor plan, options.

"Shop" that across the country for the best price. Once you have that - it's now your "benchmark".  Decide how far you will travel to buy the RV - and of course, re-shop your benchmark to/with dealers closer to you.

BTW - the above applies to *ordering* exactly what you want.  If you are buying "off the lot" - hone your negotiating skills.

.

 

 

[Kirk W]

5 hours ago, Pappy Yokum said:

BTW - the above applies to *ordering* exactly what you want.  If you are buying "off the lot" - hone your negotiating skills.

I  have thought similarly to you. When we bought our fulltime RV, we went to a local dealer and went through the spec process, making up an order sheet that listed each option and price, giving the total price, less their discount at the bottom. We then took our copy of that sheet home to think it over before ordering. I made a copy of the spec sheet with all numbers covered and also the dealer name covered. I called the manufacturer and got a list of all of their dealers in 3 states then selected all that we in reasonable travel distance and called the sales managers. I told them that I was about to order a new RV and sent a copy of that spec sheet to each by fax if interested in bidding on that sale. I had 11 positive responses to the call and faxed each one a copy of the list of options. From them, I received 9 bid offers to sell the RV to me. I then took our trade-in to the 4 best offers to get bids for it as a separate transaction, which lost one as he was not willing to do this. The remaining 3 offers were then compared to the local dealer's offer.  The 9 bids (10 if including local) ranged in price by just over 12% of MSRP listed by the manufacturer. Of the best bids, two just used the wholesale price of our trade-in against the bid price and even then those two were the best and second best price bids. We drove about 140 miles to make the purchase and when compared to our local dealer's offer the complete purchase cost was $8000 under the best offer I could get locally. 

One other thing to keep in mind is that if you are financing, you need to price shop the interest rate as well. Dealers usually make additional money from the financing as the lenders pay them for the business and often you can do better taking the loan elsewhere. 

[Chad]

All really good info, everyone!  Very much appreciated!

 

[jpcoll01]

On 9/4/2017 at 5:10 PM, dzwiss said:

Yes, and they are usually the same people that went to Vegas and didn't lose any money.

LOL. I'm sure those same folks "could sell it right now for more than I paid for it three years ago"  :-)

[theeyres]

30% for a fiver is not unreasonable. But know exactly what you want and what you are willing to pay. No matter how well you have honed your negotiating skills, you are not going to beat the dealer at negotiating. They have all the info, you don't. It sounds simple but what you need to do is figure out a reasonable price for what you want that will satisfy you and the dealer and shop for that price. If you can't find it, then it probably isn't reasonable.

[Daveh]

The RV Consumer Group does, or at least used too, provide an estimated street price as part of their reviews. It costs to get access to the reviews. I used them and found them helpful. I remember Kirk Wood on the boards here has mentioned them in the past. Here is a recent blog on pricing from them.  https://rv.org/blogs/news/rv-confidential-4-rv-pricing-how-deals-are-not-always-legit

[Kirk W]

8 minutes ago, Daveh said:

I remember Kirk Wood on the boards here has mentioned them in the past.

You are correct. While it has been a few years since my membership expired, I found them to be very helpful to me with solid information. I'm not sure if they still have pricing information. I did enjoy the article from the link.