What's a good price? - Page 2

D_B Travelers · 10-12-2016, 03:24 PM

RV Business magazine just came out with their list of Top 50 Dealers in N. America. Do consider that the RV dealer had to apply and be selected, and that it is NOT something determined by RV owner's input. However, it is something to consider when shopping.

Nightride, do read through these forums for all kinds of information, tips, tricks, and things that will making your camping life easier and smoother. There are literally thousands of posts here that guide you through things such as setting up the camper at the campground, weighting your rig, towing safely, replacing AC units, proper way to maintain your holding tanks, to tire maintenance. My personal favorite links that I would suggest you check out has to do with the cheap tires that come on almost all new RV units. Replace them with better tires ASAP to avoid a blowout, and buy a tire pressure monitor for peace of mind.

LOTS of posts on tires!

D_B Travelers · 10-12-2016, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightride

About to buy my first travel trailer a 2017 forest river salem 28'. Msrp sticker with options is 32k, what's a good price including fitting my truck with the no sway tow hitch and brake controller?

What floor plan for the Salem are you wanting? I see your in Lordsburg, NM. so that probably does limit your available local options, but Phoenix is one of the hottest RV sales markets in the USA, and should be very competitive. I would think you should be able to get a $32K MSRP for about $23K if you shop around. I get it that some folks don't accept shopping for a new RV or car as a personal challenge or sport, but money saved is money you can spend on camping supplies! If you find the same trailer in Phoenix or Tucson for less money and come back to your dealer with a written deal in hand, he may change his tune about budging; and save you thousands of dollars.

Nightride · 10-12-2016, 04:10 PM

The one dealer that has these is in tucson the specific model we like is the 282QBXL.

NorSnrub · 10-12-2016, 04:20 PM

We found a Dealer near the factory and saved 4k on delivery. Then the mark up from Dealer is 40% so anything in between is good.

D_B Travelers · 10-12-2016, 05:11 PM

Nightride, you might check with other dealers in the area and see if any of them would order the unit for you. You can sometimes get excellent pricing on a unit because it isn't going to sit on their lot waiting for a owner. I did an internet search and they are rather scarce, good luck.

Nightride · 10-12-2016, 05:28 PM

DB, yeah doesn't seem to be many around. Ordering is an idea but can't imagine getting a better deal that way when they have 100s on their lot. Plus i would like to have it soon not several months out.

**Terier** · 10-12-2016, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightride

About to buy my first travel trailer a 2017 forest river salem 28'. Msrp sticker with options is 32k, what's a good price including fitting my truck with the no sway tow hitch and brake controller?

Find out the regular price and then work on a disconnected price in the deal. Maybe the labor cost can be cut out. However, I would recommend keeping track of the price of the trailer to make sure that price isn't increased to offset other costs.

fanrgs · 10-12-2016, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightride

Even if the service department isn't good can't i take it to another dealer to be serviced under the factory warranty?

The biggest Rockwood dealer in Colorado DOES NOT service any unit they did not sell. For warranty service on our 5th wheel, we go to a tiny, family-owned Flagstaff dealer with one service bay recommended to us by FR.

The reason--we bought it in Chicago for a considerably lower price than that Rockwood dealer would sell it. And, after we picked the trailer up in Chicago, we started a 2-week trip to Mammoth Cave, the Natchez Trace Parkway, Shiloh National Battlefield, Hot Springs NP, and the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas. So, we combined buying the trailer with a spring trip through the flowering dogwoods and redbuds of the middle South and saved $5,000 in the process. It's tough to beat a deal like that!

As others have mentioned, the farther from Indiana you are, the higher the transportation cost. A trailer that costs $20,000 in Phoenix might cost $1,000 less in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area strictly due to the lower transportation cost from the factory. RV Wholesalers in Ohio is very close to the Indiana RV factories, so they can offer trailers far cheaper than dealers in southern California. It's very different from auto industry where dealers quote basically the same transportation cost whether you buy your Ford in Detroit or Seattle. Of course, that Ford may have been shipped from Mexico, not Dearborn.

justpassinthru · 10-12-2016, 07:23 PM

Mine was a 2015 ForestRiver Wildwood 28rlds. Which is the same as the Salem. Only difference is each dealer list under Salem and list as wildwood. I bought mine Nov 15th 2015. So make it only one year old next month and I paid $23,995 plus tax and wd hitch was 1000.00 installed. Check out Three way campers. Marietta Ga. or Campers Inn Stone Mountain Ga. these models are sold through them here in Georgia. Hope this helps.

tbln930 · 10-13-2016, 05:37 AM

A lot of new RVs need a lot of dealer debugging and many dealers give last priority to RVs not purchased there. You can wsit months for major warranty work or have to haul it to the manuf. A remote buy can be a real challenge.

NorSnrub · 10-13-2016, 11:27 AM

My dealer installed a new equlizer type hitch loose. It cut my ambical cord and it had to be replaced on the road. We went back to our original dealer for reimbursement. After much yelling and bickering he gave me the cost of the repair, but the owner said "don't come back". We haven't had problems with other dealers and since we are all over the country. We can't come back easily anyway.

Nightride · 10-14-2016, 02:27 PM

Well we're picking it up Wednesday I'll let everyone know how it goes, thanks.

Nightride · 10-20-2016, 05:48 PM

Well brought her home last night and taking it camping this weekend. Everything went well at the dealer other than only getting a 90 day registration and now having to pay to get our own because we bought in another state. Not a big deal but it wasn't mentioned to us before. Doing 65 on the highway in my f150 pulling a 6500 pound trailor was interesting. Semis passing would suck us towards the trailor a bit. Now wondering if i should look at an f250, haha.

tbln930 · 10-20-2016, 05:57 PM

If you upgrade skip the F250 and head right to the F350. If it is an Eco and max tow your F150 is fine.

4Daughters · 10-20-2016, 05:58 PM

I know how you feel. I have a Silverado 1500 pulling a 7800lb Flagstaff Classic Super Lite. It is under weight but I can feel it back there. I just take it slow and use the TT electric brakes if I start feeling too much movement. Bought her on 10/8 and have been out the last two weekends. I am starting to get the feel of pulling her on the highway now. I had a 25ft boat but the TT is 10ft longer and you can tell!

tbln930 · 10-20-2016, 06:03 PM

I pull 9080 lbs. loaded and weighed and have about 3000 great towing miles on it with an F150 with max tow and the Ecoboost. The real trick is setting the WDH up properly. It is night and day if it is not. Pleasantville or white knuckle.

Nightride · 10-20-2016, 06:07 PM

It's the 5.0 tow package with a max gvwr i think it's called of 13500 with the truck. The rv guy said i could pull even a bigger trailor but i think it's about the max. Haven't pulled a big trailor in a few years so just need some getting used to again. Any water in it and luggage would be over 7k easy. I think I'll tow it empty and fill with water when i get close. We will be doing mostly dry camping.

Nightride · 10-20-2016, 06:08 PM

Mpg went from 20 down to 10 as well.

tbln930 · 10-20-2016, 06:14 PM

I gave my old F150 with the 5.4L to my son. It was doggy compared to the Ecoboost. The limit you hit is normally always the payload and rear axle limit and not the towing capacity. You can use the yellow sticker on the drivers door to get those numbers. Overloading the truck with the TT tongue weight plus gear and passengers is where it will run out of capacity.

I get about 11 mpg at 65 mph towing on mainly level roads. I think that is pretty good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightride

It's the 5.0 tow package with a max gvwr i think it's called of 13500 with the truck. The rv guy said i could pull even a bigger trailor but i think it's about the max. Haven't pulled a big trailor in a few years so just need some getting used to again. Any water in it and luggage would be over 7k easy. I think I'll tow it empty and fill with water when i get close. We will be doing mostly dry camping.

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