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.