How much more would you pay to buy local?

[TeresaInCAL]

If you have a GOOD local repair place, then you don't need dealership help.

[lariat350]

I did not buy local. Prices here in alberta were way out to lunch. For a comparable 5th wheel to the one I bought would have been $13,000.00, that was just for the trailer, then another 1000.00 more for extended warranty. Even with me traveling to the usa boarder and for Couch's Rv to ship it to coutts boarder crossing in alberta. I saved about $11,500.00 I believe. It was $2600.00 for delivery, and I had to pay about $400.00 in fuel.

I tried to stay local too, but with that kind of difference I had to get it elsewhere. Highway robbery here. I looked for a year and a half. Went to every dealer show, with there supposed lowest prices and still not even close. There was even a Forest River rep at one of the RV shows who tried argueing with me that the trailer I buy in the states will not be as good as quality as the one I would get here. I called him out on his BS. He was mad. Same thing, dealer here told me if I can get it for that price to drive and go get. So that is what I did. Drove 2000 and some KM's in a day and a bit. It was worth it.

I was going to downsize cause the trailer doesn't fit in my drive way and the local dealer was going to give me more than what I payed for it. Because even the used ones are going for 40,000.00 plus. Higher then what I payed for mine new.

So all in all it worked for me. And I highly recommend Jeff Couch's RV Nation.

[dustman_stx]

Before buying my first TT from RVWholesalers, I would have paid as much as $1K more to deal locally. Now- I wouldn't pay a dime more(Well, not much more, anyway). There are numerous horror stories about the quality of service you receive from local dealers. Why pay more up front for service that you might not even need to use? We shopped LOTS of dealerships and couldn't get closer than $3-$5K on our trailer and it's not an expensive rig. (less than 20K from RVW.) Any issues we've had have been handled quickly and we've been very pleased with customer service.

[F and E Damp]

We bought local. We found our Georgetown in an ad in our local newspaper. The seller was about 30 miles away. They were the original owners and were having to give up the lifestyle because of medical issues.

We've been very pleased with the rig - no problems except those self-inflicted. Unfortunately, we're finding that the cost of the lifestyle is spiralling out of reach for retirees relying primarily on Soc.Sec., even more so if Washington State sticks an additional 11 cents a gallon on the gas tax.

I think we'll be putting the rig on the market quite soon. I don't think there's another season in our future.

[Ultraboy]

We shopped on-line for what we wanted and found several 5'ers that would fit our needs, but you got to go look, touch and feel. We are not too far from Elkhart, (85 miles) so most looking was around that area, but we just couldn't find one that was the 'right' one. RV Detroit had more to choose from, but that's a haul just to go look-see. As we run our own business, we believe in supporting the community, so we went local to a dealer we had never been to before, and we were pleasantly surprised. Unless the difference is really significant, I am staying local!
The guys and gals at Pete's RV earned my business. The 5'er we bought is our 3rd tou hauler, and the first to be purchased locally.

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by Ultraboy

We shopped on-line for what we wanted and found several 5'ers that would fit our needs, but you got to go look, touch and feel. We are not too far from Elkhart, (85 miles) so most looking was around that area, but we just couldn't find one that was the 'right' one. RV Detroit had more to choose from, but that's a haul just to go look-see. As we run our own business, we believe in supporting the community, so we went local to a dealer we had never been to before, and we were pleasantly surprised. Unless the difference is really significant, I am staying local!
The guys and gals at Pete's RV earned my business. The 5'er we bought is our 3rd tou hauler, and the first to be purchased locally.

Seems the farther you get from the manufacturer the more dealers attempt to inflate prices. You are already in wholesale country- your local dealers ARE the wholesalers!!!

[dcheatwood]

No more than $500.

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[garbosdeer]

Bought a fully loaded Cedar Creek Cottage 40CCK for $10,000 less than what the local dealer wanted. Couldn't get the dealer to lower his price. IMO that was a dumb business decision because the TT was factory ordered (basically a pass-thru for the dealer) and wasn't sitting on his lot collecting dust. Also, I purchased the TT from a dealer that was 6 hours away and the purchase price included delivery, setup, block and level, and replacement of the RV toilet with a residential one. I was shocked that the local dealer would allow a dealer in another State to sell a TT under his nose - especially a new 40CCK which is the only one of its kind in our RV resort of 59 TT's.

[Ultraboy]

Dustman, you are absolutely correct. The dealers around here (near Elkhart) are paying the lowest transportation costs, and prices are very close. They have to win your business with superior customer service. While we always try to support the local economy, when you are buying a high dollar 'second home' price is price. We were actually quoted 4500$ less on our Vengenance 39R12 by a dealer 250 miles west of us, but in the fine print, the 6 point hydraulic auto leveling system was not included.

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by garbosdeer

Bought a fully loaded Cedar Creek Cottage 40CCK for $10,000 less than what the local dealer wanted. Couldn't get the dealer to lower his price. IMO that was a dumb business decision because the TT was factory ordered (basically a pass-thru for the dealer) and wasn't sitting on his lot collecting dust. Also, I purchased the TT from a dealer that was 6 hours away and the purchase price included delivery, setup, block and level, and replacement of the RV toilet with a residential one. I was shocked that the local dealer would allow a dealer in another State to sell a TT under his nose - especially a new 40CCK which is the only one of its kind in our RV resort of 59 TT's.

I've dealt with several dealers around my area- and the level of ignorance (IMHO) displayed by some astonishes me. My car dealer makes almost nothing off of me on the sale of a truck- but I drive around with his emblem on the back and talk about the great service I get. Somebody is going to sell me a truck for my price- and he figures it might as well be him so he can get the sale to boost his numbers and for the advertising. I also buy parts and pay to have my vehicle serviced there. RV dealers in my area seem to not really care if they sell me an RV. If they can't make $6,000-$8,000 on a $25,000 camper they just let you walk. Then they have me camping ~ 120 nights a year telling everyone at campgrounds all around about RVWholesalers and their great prices. VERY stupid move, to me. Even more stupid on a factory order like stated above- he has NOTHING to lose by selling you that camper at pretty much cost if he has to to get the sale. I've been straightforward with them and flat out told them that if they won't get the price right I'll be buying and having it shipped down- so they know I'm NOT that guy that's just blowing smoke to see how low they'll go. I feel like I've gotten better service from RVW anyway, so it's been a win-win for me.

[TheMusikShoppe]

I told my local dealer that I wanted a Vengeance Touring 39R12 and he told me I wouldn't like it and that he had some on his lot that I would like. I was so mad! I know what I want. Forest River shows them as a dealer, but they wouldn't order one. Closest place was about 100 miles away, but they were firm at a little over $18,000 more than the dealer in Utah. I don't understand why they think we won't "travel" to get our travel trailer!

[KDHfan]

I did buy local... Sort of... Dealer was about 200 miles away but wasn't the big wholesaler. They were about $1000 more than RVW but were giving me a really good price on my trade-in. I had no interest in service after the sale, as I have a local RV repair center that does repairs only and have been really good about getting me in and out quickly, as well as agreeing to work with FR on warranty work.


2014 Rockwood 2306 w/Murphy Bed
2014 Toyota Tundra 5.7L CrewMax

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[Coastie]

Paid $250 more than another online dealer's advertised price (which was the lowest price anywhere online). 2 reasons for it. Neither were for the reason the salesman suggested I should pay $1,000 more for "local service". The dealer I bought from was an hour away, the online dealer was 2 1/2 hours away, no big deal either way. I negotiated the difference down to $250 more because the closer dealer's unit had the interior color we wanted. While the other dealer had 3 units none had the interior we wanted. The second reason was because it would have cost me about $120 in fuel to drive my v10 the additional mileage to the other dealer. So I figure we paid $130 more to get the color interior we wanted. Worth it to us.

[richl167]

Paid 2000 more from a local dealer vrs. Rv Wholesalers. Would have cost me a chunk of that to pick up, plus noticed the bottom line price did not include TX sales tax which the local dealer did. After the sale, RV Wholesalers said they would have done better but I had asked for their best price. Looked at a used unit (2 years old) where the owner bought from Rv Wholesalers and he said he was happy with the deal and it was a lot cheaper than the unit From same dealer I used. My local dealer put him in the back of the line for some warrantee work but he did find another shop to do the work. I did not buy this unit because I noticed it was not apples for apples with what the local dealer was ordering/ stocking. Local dealer options out a larger AC which is real nice down here in TX. RV Wholesaler offered this guy free delivery on a unit they had in stock, but didn't offer me this deal, maybe because I told them I had a list of must haves including the larger AC and they needed to special order. I would also be looking at up to a 3 month wait through them vrs a unit the local dealer had just received for stock. So bottom line is check things out carefully and try to get the best deal you can. I am happy with local, but the guy with the used unit said he was happy with RV Wholesalers as well. If I had picked up in Ohio, I planned to camp there at least 3 days so they could address any issues. Turns out the unit I bought local had a bad vent fan. Not a big issue. I just told them to keep it and picked it up the following week. Hope this helps.


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