Negotiating an RV purchase

[The_Rhino]

We live in Ohio so I printed a couple of the Ohio wholesaler's quotes in hopes to get the local CW & General RV to make better offers. What I found is that from January-March they will typically honor their January RV Show prices. Then, in April, General RV had a sale that was better than their RV Show price on the TTs we were looking at.

I preferred buying off-the-lot, choosing the pick-of-the litter of 8-10 same brand/model units already on the lot vs. whatever unit the RV wholesalers assign to me...

RVs are NOT made on an assembly line, like autos, where everything in put-together exactly the same way by robots, etc... Rather, the fit & finish totally depends on what kind of day the builders were having on the days they built your specific unit. I did NOT like the fit & finish of new units because IMO they were being built during the current RV boom where there is a LOT of pressure for the assemblers to produce quantity, not quality.

I purposefully looked at new & used units just after heavy rains & while carefully inspecting new units, I found several new ones that leaked water badly even though every hatch, etc. was sealed...

So rather than choosing a new unit in 2014 with sub-quality fit & finish, we purchased a slightly used unit which IMO had superior build quality. Our used unit was bone-dry after heavy rains & the dealer provided a 2.5 hour PDI to ensure everything was like-new working order.

Since new units were on sale that weekend, we got our used unit for less than what private sellers were asking on RVTrader, eBay, etc. We camped for the next 3 seasons without any serious problems. Since then, I've done some repairs on my own, but it's mostly because of me breaking something, not a design or build issue...

[andymil]

I now have a complaint about RVW. This is not that big of a deal, but little things like this drive customers away.

When we purchased our Rockwood from RVW, we bought an extended warranty. There was no mention of a cancellation fee.

We sold the trailer about 6 weeks ago and arranged for a refund. The insurance company told us how much the refund should be, but RVW sent us a check for $150 less. RVW is telling me that this is a cancellation fee and I should have a sheet explaining this fee in with the documents I received at the time of purchase. I still have all of the documents and that sheet is not there.

Save your money. Don’t buy an extended warranty. If you do buy one, ask about a cancellation fee.

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by andymil

I now have a complaint about RVW. This is not that big of a deal, but little things like this drive customers away.

When we purchased our Rockwood from RVW, we bought an extended warranty. There was no mention of a cancellation fee.

We sold the trailer about 6 weeks ago and arranged for a refund. The insurance company told us how much the refund should be, but RVW sent us a check for $150 less. RVW is telling me that this is a cancellation fee and I should have a sheet explaining this fee in with the documents I received at the time of purchase. I still have all of the documents and that sheet is not there.

Save your money. Don’t buy an extended warranty. If you do buy one, ask about a cancellation fee.

I agree you weren't told, but the paper work I signed stated the cancellation fee involved when/if I cancelled...I got Extraride. I did have questions about the warranty to start with and was on the fence about purchasing it... OK I was "encouraged strongly" to buy it.

[67L48]

Don't negotiate. Know your number. Either the dealer agrees to your number or walk. It's really that simple. It's not a haggling exercise.

How do you get your number? Start with RVTrader, RVT, and the other online sources to get an idea of what your trailer of interest is selling for. Augment that with real quotes from RVWholesalers and other similar national distribution houses.

With that, you should know exactly what the rock bottom prices are for your base model trailer and all of the various options. Period. If you don't know that information, you're not ready to go to the dealership.

Knowing those numbers, means you have your own number. That is, you have a finite, discrete value associated with the RV on the dealership lot (or that would be ordered for you). If your valuation matches your dealer's valuation, you have a deal. If not, move on to the next dealer.

There is no negotiation.

Good luck.

[andymil]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

I agree you weren't told, but the paper work I signed stated the cancellation fee involved when/if I cancelled...I got Extraride. I did have questions about the warranty to start with and was on the fence about purchasing it... OK I was "encouraged strongly" to buy it.

I checked the XtraRide contract I signed. No mention of a cancellation fee. The Service Contract book says there is an “Administrative Fee” of $75 for cancellation. Nothing in any of my paperwork about a fee from RVW. Between XtraRide and RVW, I paid $225 in fees for canceling.

[Springerdad]

FWIW, when we purchased our current TT, the finance guy was PISSED that we wouldn't buy an extended warranty or all the other stuff, but we stood our ground. When we did the PDI and signed papers, lo and behold the dealer decided to 'give' us an extended warranty at no cost. Gee, I wonder how and why that happened. Too bad I can't put the extreme sarcasm in a post,,,,,,