Local or Out of State Purchase

[RayW]

What is the best way to go for Price? I have noticed some out of state dealers a lot cheaper. If true, are they going to stick additional fees on to jack the price? What would those fees Be?

Does anyone have any Help. We have appx 5-6 dealers within 30 miles hear in Missouri, However again have found cheaper out of state.

I did post something similar in the Rockwood sections.

Any help greatly appreciated, Thanks

[bikendan]

many people buy from out of state dealers. we did and drove 4000 miles RT but we saved over $4000 and made a camping trip out of the drive back.

it all depends on whether local dealers will get close enough to the other dealers, to make it worth you buying from them.
since you live in the Midwest, where prices are the cheapest, you should easily be able to find great prices, compared to those of us farther away.

[RoadTrip]

I'm in Missouri and we just debated this when we bought.

We came down on the side of buying local, which was about $4,000 above the same model one on the east coast.

Yeah, the hassle of out of state transpo and potentially paying two sales taxes played a part in our decision. But the plusses of local buying won us over pretty easily
1) Ability to get service and not having to test the theory of "any dealer will service"
2) Ability to get MH dings and dents fixed (broken mirror/windshield, screen, and a few other things that I saw, negotiated and then waited two weeks - hard to do on the road)
3) Supporting my local economy. I live here, so I try to support my local guys when competitive and pay my tax money to MY city instead of somebody elses.
4) Newbie support. Yeah, I probably got taken on something b/c this was our first purchase, but should I have needed it I felt I had a better chance of walking into our local dealer with a stupid question than getting phone help long distance (this was before I found FRF).

[flyrotor]

Just bought my third trailer locally, never can I regret my decision, price versus service and supporting local economy... no brainer, all three purchases have been financially competitive with any out of state purchase. I guess the local dealers are willing to keep their share of the market...

[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by RoadTrip

I'm in Missouri and we just debated this when we bought.

We came down on the side of buying local, which was about $4,000 above the same model one on the east coast.

Yeah, the hassle of out of state transpo and potentially paying two sales taxes played a part in our decision. But the plusses of local buying won us over pretty easily
1) Ability to get service and not having to test the theory of "any dealer will service"
2) Ability to get MH dings and dents fixed (broken mirror/windshield, screen, and a few other things that I saw, negotiated and then waited two weeks - hard to do on the road)
3) Supporting my local economy. I live here, so I try to support my local guys when competitive and pay my tax money to MY city instead of somebody elses.
4) Newbie support. Yeah, I probably got taken on something b/c this was our first purchase, but should I have needed it I felt I had a better chance of walking into our local dealer with a stupid question than getting phone help long distance (this was before I found FRF).

We bought local for all the same reasons but our local small dealers price was not but a few hundred $ more, so it was a no brainer for us. Plus the dealer through in some extras.

[MillerTime]

We got a pretty good, if not better deal local than we could at some of the "wholesale" places. And I am not even half way to retirement, and just didn't and still don't have the time to go that far to pick a trailer up. Plus my fuel and wages lost plus the added hastle- just sounds like a nightmare to me, even if it was supose to saved me $10k. I know others don't mind all that, but its not for me.

[TURBS]

I bought local and its not because I didn't look elsewhere.
I searched in a 500 mile radius of home and found nothing cheaper.
To me anything further was a waste of my time and money .
I also didn't want my local dealer to shun me or atleast put my needs on the back burner for warranty work.
Could I have gotten a better deal thousands of miles away? SURE!
Could I have negotiated a price for the new unit and my trade over the phone and expect those prices to stay the same after driving thousands of miles and several days across the country? MAYBE!

Drove 20 minutes to make the deal in one day and had my hitch installed got a rose and a bottle of champagne from the dealer and was camping the same night 30 minutes from home!


Turbs

[whj77372]

I was going to go out of state to buy the 5er that I got in February 2012 because the wholesale place in OH was about $7,000 less for the same one at several dealers in Houston, TX. But when I inquired about the same model at the dealer that is only 15 miles from my small ranch in a rural area of East Texas they came down to within $1,000 of the OH dealer, I bought local. Some of the dealers that I spoke to told me that if you bought from some where else they would not do warranty work on your unit. But I wonder if you require warranty work and are far away from your home, will the dealers not work on your unit because you didn't buy from them?

[RayW]

Thanks for the reply, I was search the web trying to figure out the best price before I went to the local dealership. Found one in Ohio, that seem reasonable, Being just outside STL my trip would be appc 8hrs one way.

[4bnabird]

I am in northwest Missouri. We ended up buying out of state from Iowa. Did our research on the Internet and got some quotes from rv direct on a couple different brands and models. We then tried to buy local in our hometown and dealer wouldn't negotiate off her listed price, which was $6000 higher than rv direct. Took a trip 1 1/2 hours south and tried to negotiate and they were $4000 higher than rv direct. Ended up ordering it from rv direct and picked it up in Des Moines Iowa which is only 2 hours north of us. We also saved on sales tax as we don't have a local use tax in our county so our sales tax was cut almost in half. I would say do your research and way your odds. As far as service if we need it we have a local rv repair shop or we can drive 2 hours north to Des Moines rv which is one of rvdirects operations. For us it worked out.

[RoadTrip]

Originally Posted by 4bnabird

I am in northwest Missouri. We ended up buying out of state from Iowa. Did our research on the Internet and got some quotes from rv direct on a couple different brands and models. We then tried to buy local in our hometown and dealer wouldn't negotiate off her listed price, which was $6000 higher than rv direct. Took a trip 1 1/2 hours south and tried to negotiate and they were $4000 higher than rv direct. Ended up ordering it from rv direct and picked it up in Des Moines Iowa which is only 2 hours north of us. We also saved on sales tax as we don't have a local use tax in our county so our sales tax was cut almost in half. I would say do your research and way your odds. As far as service if we need it we have a local rv repair shop or we can drive 2 hours north to Des Moines rv which is one of rvdirects operations. For us it worked out.

it is exactly these type of stories that make this such a hard call. I feel for ya - just do your research and the best option will show itself.

[4bnabird]

Originally Posted by RoadTrip

it is exactly these type of stories that make this such a hard call. I feel for ya - just do your research and the best option will show itself.

Totally agree. Do your homework, ask questions. What works for one will not work for another. We were definately not newbies to this and hubby happens to be handy and mechanically inclined so that helped our decision. Sometimes having a little extra support from a local dealer is worth the weight in gold. As long as you're comfortable with whatever you decide is all that matters. Happy camping!!