Is this fair? Dealer offer on our trade

[pdqparalegal1]

Originally Posted by W5CI

MSRP is a VooDoo number. Don't worry about the numbers except for the difference. that is all that counts. If you aren't happy walk away there will be another deal waiting for you down the road

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Difference is the only number that counts. All other nimbers are made up. Retail to retail or wholesale to wholesale. What matters most is the difference you pay 👍

[Reverse_snowbird]

Use the suggested www.rvtrader.com and do a 'nationwide' search for specific models. They give both new and used prices.

About 25 to 30% off MSRP is normal in our area.

If you don't want to sell online, which I understand
Consider storing it on an rv campsite for a month. You'd be surprised how many deals are initiated there.
We stored our unit in a rv campgrounds storage area and when we were there working on it, people in the campground drove by asking if we wanted to sell.

Shine up the outside and inside if you want to sell privately. People do judge a book by its cover. If you're going to trade it in, don't bother. Most of them will only give you the wholesale price or less because they may not resell it.

my 2 cents

[Wildhog3213]

It's never fair!!! It always goes in favor of the dealer no matter how they slice it. It just depends on if your comfortable with it or how much you really want the new Unit. They've got you either way. If not sure, just walk away and a better one will come along to your liking. Maybe sell your unit as someone mentioned and not worry about trade in, but you will have to pay for more of a sales tax. Good Luck!!!

[flattyattack]

Let me throw this in, MSRP don't mean squat when buying. The last two we bought, I searched the unit on line for a price, printed it out and asked the local dealer to match, which they did. But they also informed me if I had purchased from said dealer 2K miles away they would not have to service it if they did not want to. Worth checking this out if you do not have certified repair centers in small town areas.

Now if you live in a crummy money hungry state like OKLAHOMA, MSRP means a lot. The manufacturing companies provide the Tax Commission with the MSRP and you will pay tax on 70% of the MSRP no matter what you actually paid for it. No matter if you had a trade in and paid the difference or not, big big rip off!!

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

And we have had the opposite experience. Used RVs are selling for more now because of the overall demand for RVs. Lately we have had three friends sell their RVs within days of posting them. And for bluebook or better. Of course they were in good shape and well taken care of.

And for your other points; if you owe more than it's worth, then you can't really sell or trade. If you are upside down in your trade, then you will be even more upside down on your new RV. And I don't know of anybody who buys a new RV before selling the old one. Just doesn't make sense.

If someone has a new RV on order and still have their old one, than everything I said above is valid.

You may not have been in that situation, but I'll bet most here have!

When I traded in my previous 2 year old TT for my 5'ver in the north Denver, CO metro area, I decided to trade it in because within two miles of my house there were over 40 RV's in front yards for sale.

And most of them had been sitting there for at least a year...and some much longer than that!

Just depends on the market where you live.

Down here in Yuma, AZ, there are hundreds of used RV's along 32nd. Street within a two mile stretch.

I bought here back in April, and most of the used RV's that were here then are still sitting there right now.

Granted, this is the off season...

[Ejs4029]

Following the thread and was wondering does MSRP include getting the RV to the dealer ?

I remember seeing on one of the window stickers in a new trailer we were looking at while living in CA that it had transportation costs from Indiana including tolls and permits added to the price to get to CA if I remember correctly around 4K or so...Makes you wonder how realistic those transportation costs the dealer was claiming really were and if it's just another number they use in their sales tactics.

[hillsdaletc]

The MSRP prices are for financing purposes only. They skyrocketed back when interest rates hit the 21% mark and banks would not finance any sales. Problem was it inflated prices too far . That is why all of a sudden the Dealers started discounting their units by 24-30% and you didn’t even ask for a discount. What most people do not realize is the trade in MSRP is based of the inflated new price. Realistically the actuall trade in value is 25-30% lower than trade in guide values. Like said earlier, when buying anything the only thing that means anything is the difference price. Are you ok with the price of the item you are purchasing giving your trade in and cash.

[Tiggerdad]

Sell it yourself if it makes financial sense to you. Be aware that buying without a trade in requiring paying sales tax on selling price. A trade in price is deducted from selling price which equals lower taxes.

[robsshots]

Ok, so the "norm" for a good dealer discount on a new unit is 20 - 25% of MRSP. At that rate, they make a very nice profit. Can you go lower? Yup, if you are a strong negotiator and willing to say "no" several times to counter offers.

Regarding your trade-in, dealers have to be super cautious with trade ins. When they take your trade in, they are essentially assuming liability for it selling within a reasonable amount of time. If it does not they are seriously stuck. Carrying financing on dead merchandise. You see an RV dealer close up, it most likely is a result of them being too generous with trade-ins. They have to carry the cost of the rig, and the cost of real estate, until that sucker sells. I used to work for a dealer, and we had used units that had aged six months. Kills a dealership, and they will do ANYTHING to unload such dead weight. Rightfully so.

Like most things we own, we always assume they are worth more than they are. The worth of what you own is what someone is willing to pay you for it right now. Selling privately can be "fun" but be prepared for lots of hassles and headaches along the way.

All part of what makes RVing such great fun!!!

[twoclaws]

Originally Posted by Scotrv

Not sure why you think the MSRP is a "VooDoo number. We will show our customers the MSRP sheet that came from the manufacturer on any new unit.

I do agree with you on the difference is the only number that matters. Simple fact is the more a dealer discounts the unit they are selling the fewer dollars there are to put on the trade.

Yrs ago purchased a new conversion van from a college teammate who was mgr at a large, well known dealership. Took me away from salesman and took me into his office, pulled the the folder for the vehicle from his file and showed me the numbers then gave me a price. Bought it. My buddy.
Weeks later going through the vehicle I found an invoice someone failed to remove. Price of van to dealership and cost of conversion were significantly lower than what was in his “official” folder shown to me. Some buddy-teamate eh? Would this be a voo-doo situation? He showed me the official folder as to what they had invested in the vehicle.

[Splashes3]

When we were going through the purchasing process for our 2019 the two dealers we had narrowed the competition to BOTH provided us their buy sheets. Both had listed the MSRPs along with the MSRP for each option available to add on....funny, for BOTH dealers the trailer's MSRP was the basic trailer price PLUS ALL the options.....this was the MSRP listed on both dealers' websites.....the sum of ALL options....made me laugh once I did the math.

Agree, the net is what really counts.

OBTW - the one dealer was banking on the additional profit from the sales tax differences between by trade-in and the new rig's price.....He was surprised when I sent him a copy of the MD law stating how much less tax I would owe. That really Peed me off considering he was in neighboring VA.....I wonder how many folks he fools??

[Jim in Halifax]

I have not read all of the comments........But my way of a trade is......"what am I willing to pay to drive the unit off the lot????"

[rmac04401]

I just traded my 2015 Cherokee Grey Wolf for a 2019 Puma XLE. I did nationwide search for the trailer, pricing with the options I wanted.

Gave locals chance to earn my business and told them that up front.

Told my wife that the only way the deal would work for me would be I would get what I owed on the 2015, and 30% off MSRP. For MSRP I took the lowest value listed out on the internet for MSRP,and also looked at what dealers were selling my 2015 for.

The dealer in Ohio came in with price at around 33% off the lowest MSRP from my internet research, and I got $1,000.00 more for my trade in than I paid for it.

Financially was a great deal. But I also did not overpay for my last new trailer. I found out after talking to some people that I paid $4,000- 8,000 less on my 2015 than they did on theirs, so that also factors in on the deal as to whether you over paid for the one your trading in.

Just talked to a guy in campground last week that had a 2018 Puma and he said what a great deal he got on his, and told me the price. I did not have the heart to tell him he paid $5,000 more than I did and mine had an up charge for a generator option.

[TheHog]

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[larry2c]

I'm not really adding anything new to the comments made so far but here's how our purchase/trade in went. We found a dealer that had the model we wanted and through the wonders of the internet found it at a price about $2000 cheaper than any other southern CA dealer for that model. The final price we got down to was a discount to the MSRP of 38% but the trailer was a 2017, it was October and the 2018's were coming onto the lot so they wanted to move it.

We had a 2010 Jayco 19H we were trading in that we owned free & clear. I looked into selling it before we bought the new trailer but there seemed to be a glut of used TT's on the market and not much interest. That resulted in us taking a LOT less for the trailer as a trade in than we thought we could get for it by selling it outright - probably close to half as much. However, getting it sold in time to buy the last one of the model we wanted that was on the lot seemed like a crap shoot so we said OK.

As others have said, it's the balance of the cost of the new RV and what you get for yours. For us, we know there was still some money on the table but it wasn't worth the hassle/risk of walking away and hoping the trailer we wanted would still be there.

[hankpac]

After owning and buying 7 different RV's over the last few decades, I found a couple of things consistently. Salesmen lie, and don't know anything. Period.
Let the buyer beware means the BUYER has a responsibility to know what he is buying.
Next, I have always been able to get more for my old unit, selling it myself, than I was EVER offered by the dealer. It has ALWAYs been worth the hassle for me. YMMV.
Finally, I have always been able to find a far better price than what a dealer has to offer on a given rig. Not worth it to drive there, BUT, I take that price, plus the documentation (an ad, or a quote) and ask for a match.
Things like a hitch installed (for 5th wheel) and or a generator, or tank flush, all those things that they add onto the price, I use as finagles.
If I can find it (and I usually can) with those options for LESS than they want, I print it out and take it with me.
Basic rules apply: Never fall in love with anything.
Be able to walk away from anything. It might not make the guy reconsider, but it will sure save you a ton of money, until you can find another deal elsewhere.
Finally: If you are asking "Does this seem fair?", then it probably isn't.
It doesn't cost a thing to think things over, look again online, and scour the internet for a better deal.

[Keithfirefighter]

Going threw the same thing !! We have a 2015 Work n Play 38FK payed almost $50000 for we were looking at a Vengeance 388V16 priced at 56000 ! Went in talked to our local dealership that this would be the 3rd camper we bought off of them since 2014 so we thought they would treat us fair ! Boy we couldnt be more wrong they came back on an offer of 17000 for our trade in !! Needless to say we said a few choice words while laughing at there offer and walked out !! They didnt even want to give use 50% of what we payed for it and its only 3 years old !!!

[B and B]

Originally Posted by poriggity

We just bought our 2019 no boundaries 19.5 a couple of weeks ago. I searched high and low locally for the unit we wanted. The only local dealer that had one was not willing to budge off of the 27k msrp. We ended up buying one in Missouri from a dealership there for $20k out the door. Of course we were also fortunate that we were flying out there to visit family, so we got to personally inspect the unit before purchasing, and my parents are currently on the way to us to deliver our trailer. We live in Reno, Nv. I would have driven to missouri to pick up my trailer if I needed too, since I saved $7000 off of what my local dealers wanted to charge.

Attachment 183306

Good Deal, hope no service is required a mobile RV guy can not handle.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by B and B

Good Deal, hope no service is required a mobile RV guy can not handle.

You would be surprised at how many good independent service only shops are out there. Don't have to go mobile in most places, and definitely don't have to go back to a dealer.

[OldSoldier]

The best way to shop is not to be desperate. Be prepared to walk away, AND demonstrate your commitment to walk away. I rejected my dealers “last and final” offer which was 2000 more than my offer. I got up and walked away. They sent the salesman after us in a golf cart to accept my “last and final” offer.