BelleClair RV Show

[Oakman]

DW and I just returned from the RV show at the Belle Clair Fairgrounds in Belleville, IL. We go to this show almost every year because that show usually has more trailers and fifth wheels and not many of those incredibly expensive Class A diesel pushers that they have at the St. Louis RV show. Once again I didn’t see anything I liked better than my current Wildcat.

Worst deal at the show (IMHO) was a 20 foot Apex travel trailer with a show price of just over $20,000. Best deal at the show was a Sierra 356RL. The Sierra was washer/dryer prep’d, had a dishwasher, fireplace, kitchen island, big screen TV and a show price of $37,900. That Sierra was nice but with it being over 39 feet long, it was just a bit longer than I want in a fifth wheel. That was a great price though.

[BOBFIDY]

Originally Posted by Oakman

DW and I just returned from the RV show at the Belle Clair Fairgrounds in Belleville, IL. We go to this show almost every year because that show usually has more trailers and fifth wheels and not many of those incredibly expensive Class A diesel pushers that they have at the St. Louis RV show. Once again I didn’t see anything I liked better than my current Wildcat.

Worst deal at the show (IMHO) was a 20 foot Apex travel trailer with a show price of just over $20,000. Best deal at the show was a Sierra 356RL. The Sierra was washer/dryer prep’d, had a dishwasher, fireplace, kitchen island, big screen TV and a show price of $37,900. That Sierra was nice but with it being over 39 feet long, it was just a bit longer than I want in a fifth wheel. That was a great price though.

Small world OAK...I grew up 3 blocks up the street from Bellclair. Know the area well.

[scribe]

Originally Posted by Oakman

DW and I just returned from the RV show at the Belle Clair Fairgrounds in Belleville, IL. We go to this show almost every year because that show usually has more trailers and fifth wheels and not many of those incredibly expensive Class A diesel pushers that they have at the St. Louis RV show. Once again I didn’t see anything I liked better than my current Wildcat.

Worst deal at the show (IMHO) was a 20 foot Apex travel trailer with a show price of just over $20,000. Best deal at the show was a Sierra 356RL. The Sierra was washer/dryer prep’d, had a dishwasher, fireplace, kitchen island, big screen TV and a show price of $37,900. That Sierra was nice but with it being over 39 feet long, it was just a bit longer than I want in a fifth wheel. That was a great price though.

I'm glad that you said "worst deal at the show" and not "worst trailer", because I just bought one. I only paid $14,600 (to a dealer) for it and it is a new 2011, so I think Forest River who own Coachmen/Apex were not doing themselves any favor by putting a $20k tag on it at the show. My dealer gave me a "window sticker" invoice for $21k in case I wanted to try insuring it for the MSRP instead of the purchase price...to my mind all of the options listed had rather overinflated values attributed to them.

It is however a very nice trailer and comparable to an almost exact Jayco Featherweight model although I cannot for the moment remember the model number. Those are also selling new 2011 for between $14-18k depending on what part of the country the dealer is in.

I guess the moral of the story is that "show" prices are highly irrelevant.