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Old 02-27-2017, 11:43 PM   #1
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Location: The Mitten
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Buying our 274DBH - purchase price and observations

Hello all,

After some prolific posting in the FR forums, and a good bit of obsessive Googling, we pulled the trigger on a Cherokee 274DBH Limited and brought it home last week. We're excited to put it to use, but will need to be patient a couple more months. In the mean time, we've been cleaning and doing some easy mods (love me some Command hooks). We like the layout of this camper so much, and hope that it holds up and gives us some great memories with our kids.

Following is some info. that I hope might be helpful to prospective buyers of a 274DBH, or it's sibling model, the Grey Wolf 26DBH. It should be noted that we live in Michigan, and made our purchase shortly after an RV show.

Purchase Price: We paid $17,350 + tax. No fees. This price included an Equalizer 4 pt. 1,000/10,000, a slide topper, and installation of both. This was a good $2,000 under the RV show price. The camper has all the extra packages, a mini-camp kitchen, and came with a spare tire, two full tanks of propane and a battery.

Negotiation: I visited our local dealer to look at a 274DBH in person. I asked the salesperson if they price matched. He replied "No one beats our prices." Game on. I then searched online at Ohio wholesalers. Good prices for sure. But then I started Googling, and found a large dealer in Michigan with Ebay listings for a 274DBH. On a whim, I called them directly to get a price and was quoted even less than the Ohio wholesalers. I then followed up with our local dealer via email - telling them we preferred to do business locally if possible, if they could meet the price and also throw in an Equalizer and a slide topper. The owner was on the fence a bit, but finally agreed to everything except the slide topper, for which he would charge at his cost of $350. Sold.

Financing: Yes, we financed, at 3.89% for 15 years. Yes, 15 years is ridiculous - it's what the dealership offered, so we took it (they said it was part of the RV show promo). And yes, anyone would be upside down if they take that long to pay off an RV, because they depreciate quickly. But, we always pay off our loans well before they are due and there is no pre-payment penalty. No budget police please. We're financially stable, have savings and investments, and will not lose our home to an RV purchase. And it was a great financing deal! It padded their pockets I'm sure, but was a win-win.

PDI: I posted at length about this in another thread, but suffice to say, use the PDI checklist on this forum. Chances are you'll be an exception to the many people these dealers see (who know nothing of PDIs). But, it's worth it. Just be courteous and appreciative.

Watch Out For: As has been mentioned elsewhere, dealer techs are likely not going to fine-tune your WDH installation. Our tech did okay, but it definitely needs some adjusting, despite his assurances otherwise. Do your homework.

Specific to our 274 DBH - watch out for the junky self-tapping metal screws that FR uses. After pulling the trailer home, we discovered that a support brace running across the frame under the storage tank area (in line with the bathroom entrance) had come off one side of the frame and was just hanging. The one screw on that side had sheared off (it appeared to have been inserted at an angle). Since then, DH has purchased new SS screws and nuts with nylon inserts. He fixed the hanging brace and is going to replace some of the other self-tapping screws as well.

Second Year Warranty - Like others, our dealer conveniently left out the FR extended warranty card but did try to sell us their extended version. We smiled and said "no thank you" then submitted our FR warranty application a couple days later.

Tires - Yes, our new TT has "China bombs" on it - Castle Rock. But, they are 15" China bombs. Nothing against 14" tires, but we wanted 15". Some dealerships will order their trailers with smaller tires as a cost-saving measure. This was the case with the RV dealer in MI that gave us the initial low price. You may not care, but just be aware.
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Old 02-27-2017, 11:57 PM   #2
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Great write up! & Congrats on the new camper. I'm sure it'll seem like forever till that first trip, but sounds like your doing well with some mods in the meantime.
Happy Campin
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Old 03-04-2017, 10:31 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MILover View Post
Hello all,

After some prolific posting in the FR forums, and a good bit of obsessive Googling, we pulled the trigger on a Cherokee 274DBH Limited and brought it home last week. We're excited to put it to use, but will need to be patient a couple more months. In the mean time, we've been cleaning and doing some easy mods (love me some Command hooks). We like the layout of this camper so much, and hope that it holds up and gives us some great memories with our kids.

Following is some info. that I hope might be helpful to prospective buyers of a 274DBH, or it's sibling model, the Grey Wolf 26DBH. It should be noted that we live in Michigan, and made our purchase shortly after an RV show.

Purchase Price: We paid $17,350 + tax. No fees. This price included an Equalizer 4 pt. 1,000/10,000, a slide topper, and installation of both. This was a good $2,000 under the RV show price. The camper has all the extra packages, a mini-camp kitchen, and came with a spare tire, two full tanks of propane and a battery.

Negotiation: I visited our local dealer to look at a 274DBH in person. I asked the salesperson if they price matched. He replied "No one beats our prices." Game on. I then searched online at Ohio wholesalers. Good prices for sure. But then I started Googling, and found a large dealer in Michigan with Ebay listings for a 274DBH. On a whim, I called them directly to get a price and was quoted even less than the Ohio wholesalers. I then followed up with our local dealer via email - telling them we preferred to do business locally if possible, if they could meet the price and also throw in an Equalizer and a slide topper. The owner was on the fence a bit, but finally agreed to everything except the slide topper, for which he would charge at his cost of $350. Sold.

Financing: Yes, we financed, at 3.89% for 15 years. Yes, 15 years is ridiculous - it's what the dealership offered, so we took it (they said it was part of the RV show promo). And yes, anyone would be upside down if they take that long to pay off an RV, because they depreciate quickly. But, we always pay off our loans well before they are due and there is no pre-payment penalty. No budget police please. We're financially stable, have savings and investments, and will not lose our home to an RV purchase. And it was a great financing deal! It padded their pockets I'm sure, but was a win-win.

PDI: I posted at length about this in another thread, but suffice to say, use the PDI checklist on this forum. Chances are you'll be an exception to the many people these dealers see (who know nothing of PDIs). But, it's worth it. Just be courteous and appreciative.

Watch Out For: As has been mentioned elsewhere, dealer techs are likely not going to fine-tune your WDH installation. Our tech did okay, but it definitely needs some adjusting, despite his assurances otherwise. Do your homework.

Specific to our 274 DBH - watch out for the junky self-tapping metal screws that FR uses. After pulling the trailer home, we discovered that a support brace running across the frame under the storage tank area (in line with the bathroom entrance) had come off one side of the frame and was just hanging. The one screw on that side had sheared off (it appeared to have been inserted at an angle). Since then, DH has purchased new SS screws and nuts with nylon inserts. He fixed the hanging brace and is going to replace some of the other self-tapping screws as well.

Second Year Warranty - Like others, our dealer conveniently left out the FR extended warranty card but did try to sell us their extended version. We smiled and said "no thank you" then submitted our FR warranty application a couple days later.

Tires - Yes, our new TT has "China bombs" on it - Castle Rock. But, they are 15" China bombs. Nothing against 14" tires, but we wanted 15". Some dealerships will order their trailers with smaller tires as a cost-saving measure. This was the case with the RV dealer in MI that gave us the initial low price. You may not care, but just be aware.


Looking good. No problems with the tundra towing her huh? Told u it would be fine. Lol. So is that a 2018 model? I have 17 but notice a couple minor changes
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Old 03-05-2017, 02:57 PM   #4
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Congrats and very nice write up, should help some people.
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Old 03-06-2017, 12:04 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by kfcflores View Post
Looking good. No problems with the tundra towing her huh? Told u it would be fine. Lol. So is that a 2018 model? I have 17 but notice a couple minor changes
It's a 2017 model - built back in August. What changes do you notice?

The Tundra towed it fine, but it was shifting a lot, since DH didn't use tow/haul mode (he was thinking it might only be necessary when driving in hills, but said he'll likely want to use it all the time). That said, the Equalizer also is not yet set up as well as it could be, so we need to adjust it. We know that can make a huge difference.

We'll be able to re-assess and give a more definitive answer once the trailer is loaded for camping and hitched up correctly. Counting the days till spring... If we're lucky with weather, we'll squeeze in a night at the local state park in April.
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Old 03-06-2017, 12:07 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MILover View Post
The Tundra towed it fine, but it was shifting a lot, since DH didn't use tow/haul mode (he was thinking it might only be necessary when driving in hills, but said he'll likely want to use it all the time). That said, the Equalizer also is not yet set up as well as it could be, so we need to adjust it. We know that can make a huge difference.



We'll be able to re-assess and give a more definitive answer once the trailer is loaded for camping and hitched up correctly. Counting the days till spring... If we're lucky with weather, we'll squeeze in a night at the local state park in April.


Yeah. I find I tow best with tow haul on and in sport mode gear 4 or lower. Happy camping. Also air up your tires good and get that hitch dialed in
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Old 03-06-2017, 12:10 PM   #7
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We love are 26dbh. Towed with a Chevy 1500for a while. Defiantly want to haul mode. I also added some air bags. Truck drove fine but I think it helped with some the bounce from concrete joints on the highway and such. Made the ride smoother.
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