How can we get the best deal on a new TT?

[CliffP]

We're new to this forum and this is my first attempt at posting thread. My wife and I (+2) are ready to replace our starter camper (2001 22cb Taho Lite by Thor) with a Rockwood 8312ss or Flagstaff 831bhds. We're sold on the Diamond Package so know we'll have to order it. Have friends who paid $18K for puma30kfb closeout and friends who paid $18K for North Trail 32BUDS ordered from factory but they drove from WI to IN to pick up ($500 fuel +time). Both have similar floorplans but puma is stick and tin so heavy. Is there a good way to figure what a good deal is? Any advice or tips are appreciated!

[mb2011]

after reading all these forum sites you need a local dealer because things break. i had a dealer tell me they take care of there customers first. i was thinking of getting mine 8 hrs away and save a few grand.but after reading all these ?'s on this website things break. negogiate hard with your local dealer. go to jrconsumer.com and order there book. i did well worth it .$60-70. when you get new tt but it on craigslist.it will tell you ratings ,what you should pay,tell about all the companys. and for $30 more you can get 3 full reports on the ones you might want . no experation date

[BigRed]

We purchased our from RVWholesalers in Ohio. We checked locally and for what we saved....it was worth driving to Ohio. We (under the radar) called our local dealers and ask "we have Forest River product will you do warranty work on it" - Almost every dealer said they would do any warranty work. Even though those same dealers when looking (in-person) The sales people said " we dont do warranty work on Campers not purchased from here!" -- then call the service dept directly, bet they tell you different !

[essness]

The quick answer is, read, read, listen. All the info you need to make an educated decision is contained on the internet. This forum helped me tremendously!
As far as the local dealer, I have a great local dealer who is not franchised for my specific trailer, but is franchised with Forest River for other products. They make the phone call and ALWAYS get the authorization to do the work. I have never had any issues with my priority because I didn't buy from them. If your local dealer has a problem with you purchasing somewhere else, than they obviously are not interested in selling you your next one either!
I drove 400 miles round trip to pick up mine and saved almost 3k on the purchase price. That nets out to about 2700.00 in savings for 7 hours of driving and associated fuel costs. (I dont make that much money in a day, so it was easy math.)

Our search actually started looking for a enclosed trailer to pull our toy around. Then it became, enclosed trailer and class A motor home. After much reading, going to shows, listening, we settled on the toy hauler and a tow vehicle (which I still needed to buy).

Bottom line, read, listen, and decide what best fits your current situation.

Good luck and enjoy the ride

[camper_Lucy]

Originally Posted by CliffP

We're new to this forum and this is my first attempt at posting thread. My wife and I (+2) are ready to replace our starter camper (2001 22cb Taho Lite by Thor) with a Rockwood 8312ss or Flagstaff 831bhds. We're sold on the Diamond Package so know we'll have to order it. Have friends who paid $18K for puma30kfb closeout and friends who paid $18K for North Trail 32BUDS ordered from factory but they drove from WI to IN to pick up ($500 fuel +time). Both have similar floorplans but puma is stick and tin so heavy. Is there a good way to figure what a good deal is? Any advice or tips are appreciated!

Generally the best prices are during the "RV Show" season, whether that timing works for you or not depends on where you live related to the show.
In NE Ohio the show is early Jan every year so there is time to make a deal and then have the unit built prior to the camping season start, some locations that does not work. So now that you know the timing to consider, over the years I have found that by pricing RV's local and on-line ahead of the show I get a good feel for the market price, then during the show I will get the show price, these are generally very good prices, but I will then go back to the on-line sites like RVwholesalers and verify any season pricing changes, then make my decision. On our latest RV we purchased from a local dealer and I was able to use the online quote to get the dealer to drop the show special price to get very close to the on-line price from the local dealer. When ordering an RV this way be sure to understand what options and packages you want on it and their cost up front, if you go back to make changes to the order afterward you will have no leverage and all changes will be basically at list price. Good Luck
Also - Keep your right to sell your trade until delivery as part of the purchase agreement. What I mean is handle this as two separate deals, agree on a trade price and a new RV price independent of each other that way during the six to 8 week time it takes to build your new RV you can list you existing one on Craigslist or somewhere and if you can sell it at a better price you still have a clean deal, Online guys do not like to take trades anyway so if you go that route you may be selling it on your own anyway. This will not affect your purchase price as most show prices are "no trade" prices anyway.

[TURBS]

When we bought our 5th wheel this summer we had no certain floor plan in mind.
with that being said we wanted a fifth wheel.
I am lucky I have 8 or 9 rv dealers within 60 miles of home and we hit them all!
Every dealer had similair brands but mostly every one had something different to offer.
after we saw what we did or didn't want based on price and function we decided on the very first one we liked.

So now I'm at home ready to research pricing.
I priced units as far as 6 hours away to find the best price.
I found no one close enough with the unit we wanted that had a price we were willing to pay.
except our home town dealer.
I literally pulled my hair out for 2 weeks to please my dw that there was no better deal out there worth driving to. So we bought local from a family run rv store and could not be happier with our decision.

One of the things I was worried about was driving 4 5 or 6 ours with a trade in unit that when we got to an rv store that we wouldn't be able to make a deal we liked and having to tow it back home with nothing to show for it.
Btw we got the best over the phone trade in price site unseen from the same dealer we purchased from. And they stuck to that once they did see it.

Just my 2 pennies

[CliffP]

We're newbies to camper forums so just getting to know my way around here. I've learned a lot on this one so far! My wife and I take tours of the campgrounds we stay at. They're great places to shop for campers! We've found most people happy (and proud) to show their campers to you and tell you about good or bad experiences.

[Willis]

I've traded in one PUP and two TTs. All three times they gave me a trade-in price sight unseen. All they wanted to know was the details on the trade-in and they asked me to rate the condition 1-10 and of course I always answered 10! The price they came back with for trade-in was ABOVE what I expected every time. In one case WAY above! (I had estimated appx $3500 and they gave me $6500.)

I also didn't give them the chance to back out by claiming the roof leaked or it was too dirty or something. After they said the new unit was ready and I got the walk-thru and passed everything, I had them deliver the new unit to my property and haul away the old one. On a new unit they didn't even charge for delivery (it was about an hour away). The delivery drivers don't give a care, they just pick it up. What they do (or think) about the old rig is then THEIR problem.

[MilCop4523]

we looked at our home area and ended up with the 2012 salem pricing out at 33.899 Canadian. Ohio and Couchs was 15,899 US.

Made 5% on the exchange when purchased dropping the price costonce, and when we brought it home we made another 2% exchange dropping the valued price off the 15,899 for Canadian taxes.
Couchs prices were less than most other places in the US

[Linnemj]

We do not have a Forest River XLR dealer within a 6 hour drive of Memphis. What we did was spec out the trailer the way we wanted it and then e-mailed 6 different dealers asking for a bid. Our closest dealer was $6,000 higher than our lowest bid. We ended up with RV Wholesaler in Ohio which offered the best price. In your situation, I would comparison shop in the same manner and then take your best price to your local dealer and ask them to match it. Of course, price is not everything, and if you have a good local dealer, it is worth something to buy from them. Best of luck!

[bikendan]

most use prices for the same or similar RV, from places like RVW or RVDirect. they are usually the lowest in the nation on their rigs so you can use their prices as a great price to compare to.
some get their local dealers to match or get close to them.
we couldn't and ended up driving 2000 miles, one way, to get our HTT because the price was so good.

[ng2951]

One of the big ways to save is to buy used. A TT just a couple of years old will depreciate by almost half.

Also something to consider about tin and stick is that it is easy to repair. My former TT, a TrailManor which is vacuum bonded like many lightweight trailers are today took a hit from errant driver and damaged a corner of the trailer. $12K+ to repair. Its not all that easy to rebond aluminum to foam and requires $pecial tools and skill$ to do the work.

Truly minor dings can be easily, almost a breeze, repaired on these structures. The construction has tremendous advantages as far as weight, strength, and insulating properties are concerned.

Remember when you are looking at TT be sure to remember what your TV can handle. It is a total system and be sure both will play nice together.

Also make sure you know what the mission is for TT. Nothing is worse than buying a trailer that does not meet your needs.

For example, we do a lot of dry camping. For whatever reason, Puma doesn't think you want or need 12 volt outlets. So now I am adding 12 volt outlets to my TH.

The other thing is that if you are getting slideouts (we got ours because it did not) are you OK with carpet? Most manufacturers use carpet to make engineering slideouts easier and cheaper.

[CliffP]

Thanks to everyone for the great advice. This forum is awesome!

[biken201]

Try contacting George at House of Camping (Bridgeview, IL.) by e-mail and see what he can do for you. He answered all of our questions (and we had a lot of them - via e-mail) and gave us an out the door price on the camper we wanted without hassle. A lot of the dealers we looked at before House of Camping mostly wanted to move existing campers off of their lots, and weren't very interested in ordering what we wanted.

George gave us no qualms about ordering the camper we wanted, and gave us the best price we found anywhere!

We drove from Phoenix (AZ) to Chicago (Bridgeview, actually) to get our camper and still saved money...

Baraboo (WI) to Bridgeview (IL) is less than 200 miles one way.

I would see what George can offer and compare it to your closer dealers; an e-mail only takes a minute to send...

Happy Hunting and we look forward to hearing about your new camper!

[CliffP]

Thanks Biken! HOC was just inside our circle we wanted to stay within. I just talked to them this morning. They didn't have any North Trail 32BUDS (our final choice) on the lot but had some on order. The owner was out today so we're talking tomorrow to see what's coming in. Couldn't find anyone that stocked one near us. I have had great luck getting prices from dealers around us. Checked with "big" internet wholesalers and local dealers can compete (just a matter of if they want a sale). We shopped campgrounds for 3 months before we actually started shopping dealers. (talk about a wide selection) Most people are happy to show their camper and tell you about buying experieces good or bad. (What a great way for a dealer to advertise, give someone a fair price and take care of them) It is funny, we've been shopping and getting for about three months now. Prices have dropped 3 times since we were told the best time to buy is now (three months ago). These forums are awesome! I have learned so much (some about stuff I never wanted to know lol). Anyway, sounds like we'll get a super deal. Best advice I have for potential buyers: Do your homework. Spend time on the forums, ask a lot of questions even ones that might seem stupid. Call the manufacturer with some questions, it'll give you a feel for their service (if you need it). Don't make a rushed decision, sales people want you to buy today but don't. The price increases aren't really happening till Feb 1st for most mfgs. Let them know you're serious about buying, just not in a rush. Don't be pressured by "can only hold that price for two days". Get prices from everyone but make sure to compare apples with apples, options can turn a good deal bad. Hard to believe but the dealer closest to us didn't return my call. We shopped at another dealer close by. My wife and I left 4 messages and didn't get a call back. Can you believe it? If people aren't gonna call back when you want to buy something from them think gonna call you back when you need service if something breaks? (please don't ask what dealers-only people I wouldn't mind talking about that with is those two dealers) I will post when we pull the trigger on a sale. Thanks again for everyone's help!

[biken201]

Cliff, I hope your experience goes as well as ours has been so far (one month in as of this week...) no matter where you end up buying! Deciding on what type (5er, TT, Hybrid) and then model, and ultimately options was a lot of fun for us, and I expect it has been for you also.

Baraboo is a beautiful place to live (I have a lot of family scattered in that general area of the state), and maybe we'll run across you some day in the future.

[Wumba]

Originally Posted by Willis

I've traded in one PUP and two TTs. All three times they gave me a trade-in price sight unseen. All they wanted to know was the details on the trade-in and they asked me to rate the condition 1-10 and of course I always answered 10! The price they came back with for trade-in was ABOVE what I expected every time. In one case WAY above! (I had estimated appx $3500 and they gave me $6500.)

I also didn't give them the chance to back out by claiming the roof leaked or it was too dirty or something. After they said the new unit was ready and I got the walk-thru and passed everything, I had them deliver the new unit to my property and haul away the old one. On a new unit they didn't even charge for delivery (it was about an hour away). The delivery drivers don't give a care, they just pick it up. What they do (or think) about the old rig is then THEIR problem.

What dealer was this?

[trudinator]

Hi fellow Wisconsinite! We live in Plymouth. When we purchased last year, after tenting for 20+ years, we did very in-depth research on web sites, other campers, RV shows, etc. for at least a year. After we decided on the model we wanted, we then shopped for dealers. We gathered prices from the two big internet dealers and then shopped their price around to four Rockwood/Flagstaff dealers within 200 miles of home. A couple of them were thousands of dollars higher, one wouldn't give us the time of day when we wanted to sit down with him at an RV show (he shoved a piece of paper in front of us with a price, never asking about what options we wanted, etc.); we immediately crossed this one off of our list! The dealer we ultimately went with was actually a bit cheaper than both internet dealers. Other than a slight warranty issue we've been waiting on with the couch, we've been very satisfied. Our unit was built on a Thursday, came out of quality control on Friday, and we were driving it off of our dealers' lot on Saturday morning. Everyone jumped through hoops getting us on the road, from the owner down to the service department setting up our hitch, etc. Through all of this, I felt we were making the right decision because we did our homework and asked a lot of dumb questions on this forum. LOL. I hope you enjoy your camping experience as much as we enjoy ours!

[wneise]

Do research!!!! That is the #1 rule. Get prices that others offer nationwide. Go to the shows and find the lowest advertised price. They will accept offers below those. Finally, treat them like auto dealers and send them back to the managers repeatedly, even prepare to walk on the deal. Lowball them big time. Typically MSRP is 40% over wholesale. We got a $42000 5er for $32000 after hard dealing.

[caper]

Check around to different dealers. I went to a RV sale in Ottawa Ont. Looking at a new TT. Salesperson started off at $38000. I informed him that I do not purchase large items on impulse. He then dropped the price to 34000, I said I would need time to think it over. he left and came back several minutes latter and informed us that he just talked to his boss and if P was to purchase the TT then and there they could offer it to me for $32000. I left and went to another dealer within 60 miles that sold the same TT. Talked to the owner and I could get the same TT for $26000. Just be careful, take your time and purchase the TT that is best suited for you. We waited and found our 3001w at a dealer within 1 1/2 hour drive from our home. We paid $26000 for our unit. The same unit at Camping World was $34000. We had a hitch from a previous TT and the dealer installed it at no cost. We arrived at the dealership at 10 am and did not leave till 4pm. They took their time with the walk through and made sure that we were happy with the quality of the unit. The made sure that everything worked (stove, reefer, HW heater).