dwood,
I was short on time when I wrote that. Let me try to be a bit more helpful
This is longwinded and I hope I'm not saying somethings you don't already know.
We've owned several used trailers and the one time I bought new taught me the following.
Region matters tremendously. Hybrids on the West Coast are priced higher than the Midwest and they do not seem as willing to deal, although that is a generality. That's why I mentioned regions (since I don't know where you are located).
Options will effect the price just like a car. Different options will effect the price and I don't know what options you want in your trailer. Note: Some options are much less expensive from the factory. Slide-out awnings are an example.
Margins are thin at a dealership for the wise buyer. Most dealers seem to mark up more than 30% from "list". RV Direct and RVW are really big dealers that seem to provide better prices. Often, these prices can be used to compare the cost at a local dealer and usually drive down the price at the local place. Often, RV Direct and RVW and other large volume dealers can save you thousands of dollars and there are many here who are happy with the deals they get even if they need to then search for a local service shop willing to do warranty work for them.
A local dealer offers the advantage of a convenient repair shop when you need the inevitable repair you cannot do yourself. This can be invaluable BUT depends completely on how good your local dealer is with their service. Buying from "out of state" MIGHT become a real problem IF you do not find a local repair shop who can help you with the trailer that you did not buy from them.
This varies and its important to understand that some dealers may not do warranty work for you if you didn't buy from them while others place you at the end of the line. The more enlightened dealers will do the work hoping to build a relationship so you buy from them the next time.
So, what does this mean to you as you look to buy? Gather quotes from your local dealers and compare to RV Direct and RVW and a few others. Use these quotes to work the local dealer down (assuming they started higher). If the price is much less from the non-local dealer, than decide how important it is to you to buy locally (and possibly build a better relationship for your servicing needs). I'm in the Midwest and my local dealer eventually came to within a few hundred dollars of the biggies so this worked well for me.
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