Race to the bottom (RV pricing)

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

You mean to tell us that the delivery driver takes the battery with him after delivery.

Yep.
The only RVs that come with factory installed batteries, are motorhomes.
Batteries on towables, are always a dealer installed item.

[calebj06]

Originally Posted by rsdata

did your quote include a mounted spare tire? Propane tanks filled? 12 V battery? How about an electric tongue jack?

those are ALL add-ons at the dealer...

I don't think you have beaten the dealer YET...

All these things are covered and included.

Actually I'm back to buying from the semi local guy now. Down another $500 today.

[rsdata]

Down another $500 today

You need to publish a book on how to negotiate and have dealers fighting over who can sell cheaper...

good luck with the purchase

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by Cowracer

That works too. But how about the "just fix the damn thing yourself" theory?

Case in point: My new 8329SS Rockwood's Dometic Fridge stops working on first trip out. I could have (rightly) drug it back to the dealer, at a cost of 30-40 of my bucks in diesel fuel, waited God knows how long. And then wasted another Saturday going back to fetch it and bring it back home.

or!

I could figure out the bad component (thermal safety cutout), bought 3 new ones of Amazon for $6 and got my fridge operational in about 15 minutes. And I am relatively sure that the dealer would have just changed the whole fridge out, and maybe put the new one back in in a shoddy way.

There very little on my camper that can break that's cheaper for me to take to the dealer for warranty work, than to just fix it myself.

Tim

Amen Tim. That's what I finally had to do to get a correct fix, but Damn, I hate letting them out of having to make things right.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

You mean to tell us that the delivery driver takes the battery with him after delivery, or is towing from manufacturer to dealer without an operating break-a-way switch?

Only PUP's and smaller TT's are delivered by flatbed trailer.

Yup. With my factory returns, I dealt with 6 different drivers (3 trips back to the factory). All carried batteries for exactly that purpose. One towed my 12k fifth wheel without a battery because I inadvertently took the keys when I inspected the camper at the factory. He said he didn't like doing it, but had to do it. I guess those slam latches really are keyed independently!

[spock123]

The dealer I brought my Cedar Creek from brought the cheapest four six volt batteries he could find plus they wired them up wrong

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by calebj06

All these things are covered and included.

Actually I'm back to buying from the semi local guy now. Down another $500 today.

I'm gonna need to see the deal sheet to believe it after all this is over!!!! You sure you aren't looking at a 2017 that they HAVE to get gone????

[rsdata]

Amen Tim. That's what I finally had to do to get a correct fix, but Damn, I hate letting them out of having to make things right.

As a retired high school vocational teacher I can say... as recently as 2005, 1/3 of the vocational programs in the local high school were shut down, (HVAC, WELDING, MASONRY, WOOD WORKING and AUTO MECHANICS) with only CISCO NETWORKING, TV/RADIO BROADCASTING, CARPENTRY, CAD, AUTO BODY, CHILD CARE, and NURSING were left open... but as of 2017 school year only NURSING and CHILD CARE are still operational.

It used to be our high schools could turn out some fairly qualified young people to do some semi-skilled labor and make pretty good money doing it... NOT NOW! If contractors or industry needs semi-skilled labor they need to do in-house training or OUTSOURCE. And we all know that in-house training means they "practice" on YOUR Stuff... especially at some of these dealerships.

[Lundy]

X2 RSDATA.

27 years ago I started out in our local High School as our Vocational Department Chair. I had over fifty classes under my supervision, we now are down to ten. Everyone is going to strait to College right? Wrong, we still only send 38% of our graduates to higher education. The other killing factor is state mandated tests, if your class isn’t represented on a state test your done. It is a shame what we have done to our work force in this country. Why are we surprised that so many companies go over seas to find skilled workers. We are producing a bunch of test takers and college students who can’t find a job with enough salary to pay off their $100,000 student loan debit. I only have 4 more years to retirement, I hope I can make it. I love the teaching profession, but sure hate what we have done to it. Enough ranting for now.

My take on the warranty issue, fix what you can and use an independent guy for the rest. My local dealers are a joke, but I have some great independent shops close for the bigger stuff. The warranty only lasts for a year and then you are paying anyway.

[SuicideSaints]

I always love to see threads like this, a fellow camper happy to be getting a new rig.

But what I always chuckle at is not one person ever says the dealer that's giving them the deal, everyone asks (numerous times) but no one ever says the dealers name...

I know Im always curious

[Underthedog]

While I fix what I can, I'm quite happy with our dealer's work on warranty repairs. The place look like a dump though.

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by SuicideSaints

I always love to see threads like this, a fellow camper happy to be getting a new rig.

But what I always chuckle at is not one person ever says the dealer that's giving them the deal, everyone asks (numerous times) but no one ever says the dealers name...

I know Im always curious

I just asked what part of the country the OP was in because what he's relaying is VERY different from NE Texas dealers- and I don't think I even got that info! Possible I missed it, but haven't seen it if it's there.

Oh- and I don't mind telling my dealers name that has given me good deals- it's RVWholesalers in Lakeview, OH. As a matter of fact, back in 2011 when I was first getting back into RVing I tried a dozen or so local dealers and told everyone of them that I know a lot of people and I praise dealers that treat me right. They couldn't have cared less. They were gonna make the 8K off that one as opposed to say 3K multiple times- very shortsighted. Since all of those dealers let me walk, I've bought 3 more rigs and sent somewhere around 12-15 people to RVWholesalers. That idiotic business practice almost 7 years ago has probably cost those dealers over $50K in just those sales, not to mention cost them having 12-15 satisfied, happy campers out there telling everyone at the campgrounds how great that dealer is.

[SuicideSaints]

Originally Posted by dustman_stx

I just asked what part of the country the OP was in because what he's relaying is VERY different from NE Texas dealers- and I don't think I even got that info! Possible I missed it, but haven't seen it if it's there.

Oh- and I don't mind telling my dealers name that has given me good deals- it's RVWholesalers in Lakeview, OH. As a matter of fact, back in 2011 when I was first getting back into RVing I tried a dozen or so local dealers and told everyone of them that I know a lot of people and I praise dealers that treat me right. They couldn't have cared less. They were gonna make the 8K off that one as opposed to say 3K multiple times- very shortsighted. Since all of those dealers let me walk, I've bought 3 more rigs and sent somewhere around 12-15 people to RVWholesalers. That idiotic business practice almost 7 years ago has probably cost those dealers over $50K in just those sales, not to mention cost them having 12-15 satisfied, happy campers out there telling everyone at the campgrounds how great that dealer is.

I think RVW is the one business where people always call it out by name, I just never hear it from individuals and local dealers where the person is saying they got a crazy deal from. I only see it from people (like you) and RVW.

I got an OK deal on mine (Im happy) but service is why I picked me dealer and Im glad I did because I had some problems (major problems) that were fixed in less then a week during peak season. To each their own I guess.

[calebj06]

Originally Posted by dustman_stx

I'm gonna need to see the deal sheet to believe it after all this is over!!!! You sure you aren't looking at a 2017 that they HAVE to get gone????

For sure. Full custom order.


Edit: wow that pic is hard to read. MSRP sis 37796. Bottom of the sheet says battery and full tanks included.

[calebj06]

Originally Posted by SuicideSaints

I think RVW is the one business where people always call it out by name, I just never hear it from individuals and local dealers where the person is saying they got a crazy deal from. I only see it from people (like you) and RVW.

I got an OK deal on mine (Im happy) but service is why I picked me dealer and Im glad I did because I had some problems (major problems) that were fixed in less then a week during peak season. To each their own I guess.

I will gladly call this dealer out by name just as soon as I close the deal and all goes as planned. Until then I don't feel right praising someone for work unfinished.

So far they are beating RV wholesalers on price which I am shocked about.

RVW had my business until I talked to the finance dept. they tried to screw me to the wall and play all kinds of shady tactics. What they didn't know is i have a finance degree and fully understand how these things work!!! That's when I got upset and when looking elsewhere. And my salesman at RVW admitted that it has been a problem before for him causing lost deals.


Ok sorry rant over.


I'm located not far from St. Louis BTW

[rsdata]

I guess it pays to not be hasty when making this type of purchase... time is usually on the buyer's side...

congrats! on 35% off deal...

I only got 30% off my deal...

[Svtyone]

I was offered over 15k off a toy hauler I was looking at it was 56000 msrp and he was gonna set me a price at about 38500. But we then discovered my truck wasn't rated for the weight so we ended up doing a factory order of another model and msrpat52000. We ended up paying 45,000. Including all taxes fees and 14"weight distribution drop hitch. And a 6 year hitch to bumper warrenty. You can find the right price if you find the right dealer. If you look at a 2017 model that's been sitting on the lot for a while you can get up to 50% off. They want them to move cause they already paid for that trailer. And they paid way less then msrp. So they still make money.

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by calebj06

I will gladly call this dealer out by name just as soon as I close the deal and all goes as planned. Until then I don't feel right praising someone for work unfinished.

So far they are beating RV wholesalers on price which I am shocked about.

RVW had my business until I talked to the finance dept. they tried to screw me to the wall and play all kinds of shady tactics. What they didn't know is i have a finance degree and fully understand how these things work!!! That's when I got upset and when looking elsewhere. And my salesman at RVW admitted that it has been a problem before for him causing lost deals.


Ok sorry rant over.


I'm located not far from St. Louis BTW

Looks good on the build sheet- but still proceed with caution. That's not where the dealer fees and so forth are added. I don't see anything showing a complete price OTD, so they might still try to pull an exorbitant PDI fee, add inflated delivery charges, charge more than typical on doc fees, etc. Did they require a deposit? If so, I hope you have the full workup with final OTD price and didn't pay a deposit based upon just that build sheet.

[SuicideSaints]

Originally Posted by calebj06

I will gladly call this dealer out by name just as soon as I close the deal and all goes as planned. Until then I don't feel right praising someone for work unfinished.

So far they are beating RV wholesalers on price which I am shocked about.

RVW had my business until I talked to the finance dept. they tried to screw me to the wall and play all kinds of shady tactics. What they didn't know is i have a finance degree and fully understand how these things work!!! That's when I got upset and when looking elsewhere. And my salesman at RVW admitted that it has been a problem before for him causing lost deals.


Ok sorry rant over.


I'm located not far from St. Louis BTW

Just out of curiosity what was the problem with RVW finance? I’ve never heard anything but good things.

[andymil]

We bought from RVW in April 2016. They took $2000 off for using their financing (through Bank of America). I had to borrow 25k and keep the loan for a year. I paid back 22k the first month and made the regular payment for the next 11 months. Total finance charges for the the year were about $175 so we saved over $1800. I don't remember the exact interest rate, but I think it was around 4 or 5%.