How much more would you pay to buy local?

[Ride Everything]

Hi everyone! First post here. Looking to buy a Forrester 3171DS locally. I've been working with RV Direct on the SunSeeker 3170DS (which is pretty much the same thing) and so far have quotes that came in at $63K for the non-body paint, and $68K for the body paint. Both came with all of the options we want. The closest a local dealer got to these prices was about $8K over than RV Direct -too big of a difference so couldn't move forward.

Before pulling the trigger with RV Direct, I'm giving another local dealer a shot at earning by business. I live about 1,600 miles away from the nearest RV Direct facility so not really looking forward to putting down a deposit on something I haven't seen that's so far away; however, $8K is $8K so it's a tough decision.

Question for the folks here: I realize dealers and sellers need to make a living so I don't expect them to match the price, but curious to see at what price would some of the experts on here agree to from a local dealer to avoid driving half way across the country to buy a coach sight unseen.

Thanks for reading and hopefully responding.

[hihocarp]

We live in Calgary and bought our Columbus 365 in Indiana at a savings of $15,000. I wanted to buy local but the Calgary dealer would hardly budge off of their price. I would've paid 5-6000 more just to stay local.

[Witch Doctor]

Figure your cost of gas and stuff and see how much you will really save by not picking it up locally. I'm a firm believer to try and keep my money with the local merchants if I can.

[davel1971]

hard to set a exact figure on it, but worth something to establish a relationship with a dealer that you will rely on for warranty repairs.

[MillerTime]

I have a 5er on order right now. Fortunately our local dealer was within $300 difference of rvwholesalers. But once we added the shipping from them at $1700 for the 1,000 miles away they were. So It was $1,400 cheaper to go with my dealer. And I have an established relationship with a dealer 1 hour away!
That said, I figured my lost wages to take a week off work and the fuel and lodging to travel the 2000 miles round trip would set me back $3-4000 and thats if nothing went wrong.
Kind of a no brainer for me, but others feel different about it.
Good luck with your decision!

MillerTime- Future Sabre Handler!!

[Cajun Po-Boy]

Back in the day, we made a long distance purchase on a travel trailer... $6K less than any local Dealer who did not want to price match or reduce their price enough for me to make a purchase.
Saved a lot of money even after lodging, fuel and meals...can't go wrong with that!

Secured a relationship locally for repair work and additional add ons to the camper...long distance purchase worked out in our favor

[Dave_Monica]

A lot of that depends on your local dealer...the fact that's they're local doesn't help if their servicing is horrible!

Dave

[comfun1]

I bought a toyhauler two years ago and compared the local price to the internet price. Then I figured the price of gas, meals, one nights lodging and $500 for my trouble. Went back to the local dealer and he matched it. The following day the internet dealer called me and I told him I was buying locally. He told me he would take off an addition $1500. It was too late for me, I'd already bought.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Dave_Monica

A lot of that depends on your local dealer...the fact that's they're local doesn't help if their servicing is horrible!

This is the boat that I found myself in. I bought "local" (250 miles was the 2nd closest dealer for my brand). Costs me plenty each way whenever I had to make the run back to the dealer. And to finish it off- they were only one step above incompetent. I'll gladly buy long distance next time.

That said- be aware, the RV industry is nothing like the auto industry. Local RV dealers can (and sometimes will) refuse to service things they didn't sell. Or, they put you at the bottom of the list after their customers which means simple things can take a while.

[indybp57]

Originally Posted by ependydad

Local RV dealers can (and sometimes will) refuse to service things they didn't sell. Or, they put you at the bottom of the list after their customers which means simple things can take a while.

That can be a double-edged sword. If I bought long distance, and my local guy was gracious about it and gave me good service, I would be making my next purchase locally. If he is the type of guy to be an ass about it, then I probably made the right decision the first time.

[tmacneil]

Last year I saved about $10 k ($17 vs $27), my travel costs were actually less than the delivery charge.
If you are willing/capable of doing many of the minor or maderate repair or maintenance items yourself, having a good relationship with the local dealer is less important. I would prefer dealing local, but not at that price differential.

There is some risk in buying from distant "wholesalers", it just comes down to what your risk tolerance is and what the savings are. I personally would pay up to +10% to stay local.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by indybp57

That can be a double-edged sword. If I bought long distance, and my local guy was gracious about it and gave me good service, I would be making my next purchase locally. If he is the type of guy to be an ass about it, then I probably made the right decision the first time.

I completely agree.

[whj77372]

I was very lucky, I got my 2012 V-Cross 275 from a dealer less then 8 miles from my ranch in SE Texas. I was going to get it from a wholesale dealer in OH but someone had ordered one with the 50 AMP and a second AC in the bedroom and the sale fell through. So I got it for the same as I could get it from OH. Good Luck

[Ride Everything]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, it's actually been helpful.

I'm happy to report the local dealer I worked with over the last two days came in about $5K over the price of the long distance dealer. And, will be able to get me a little bit lower of a finance rate, so it should work out pretty well. It's been great actually, since I already had legit quotes and was pre-approved to finance a portion of the rig, they knew I was serious and didn't jerk me around. They asked what I was looking to pay, and they matched it. Tomorrow morning we're off to see the rig and hopefully seal the deal.

More to come.

[dblr]

Congrats and glad it worked out for you, good luck and enjoy

[Ford Idaho]

I may have over paid for my unit but the dealer is 45 min away and has done a very good job of taking care of us.

They are new in the area and working hard to fit in so I would rather give them my money than one who does not support the local economy.

I would rather not have to travel several hours just to get some work done.

[Enconcapt]

My local dealer beat the best online price by $4000. I suggest giving them a chance to compete before traveling far away.

[Night Stone]

We looked at every local dealers lot where we lived, price wise, they were all priced too high and they didn't have what we wanted in a travel trailer that was light enough for us to tow. We ended up traveling 150 miles to find one, mind you we spent 1.5 years looking for a trailer that met our needs.

The local dealers do have smaller trailers, pop ups, single axles etc, but for the same price as the one we bought. It just made sense to buy the bigger one 150 miles away, which has everything we wanted on our wish list and it was a bunkhouse model, my son absolutely loves it.

[bikendan]

we would've paid $1000 extra for a local dealer.
but out of three dealers within a 100 mile radius, the lowest dealer was still $5000 over the Midwest dealer we bought from.
and all 3 refused to budge, even after i showed them the invoice price from that dealer.
they said that if i wanted that price, i should drive there to get it.

SO I DID!

[Night Stone]

Originally Posted by Night Stone

We looked at every local dealers lot where we lived, price wise, they were all priced too high and they didn't have what we wanted in a travel trailer that was light enough for us to tow. We ended up traveling 150 miles to find one, mind you we spent 1.5 years looking for a trailer that met our needs.

The local dealers do have smaller trailers, pop ups, single axles etc, but for the same price as the one we bought. It just made sense to buy the bigger one 150 miles away, which has everything we wanted on our wish list and it was a bunkhouse model, my son absolutely loves it.

I forgot to mentioned, we got ours for $4000 less for one of similar size locally, plus we got to camp one night out there after purchasing it.