Negotiating with Canadian RV Dealers

[itat]

I'm not in the market to buy a brand new camper anytime soon but I saw on another thread about RV buying advice - and on many other similar threads - that in the US you should expect to get a discount of 30-35% off the MSRP.

So, I thought I'd ask my fellow Canadian FRF members what their experience has been. Has anyone been able to get that much of a discount at a Canadian dealer? With our Canadian dollar being so low these days (it costs about CDN$1.31 to buy US$1 today), buying in the US and importing back here is much less attractive so showing them a quote from a US "wholesaler" might not be as much of an advantage in negotiations. Oh, if we were only at par like were were a few years ago!

Anyway, I just thought I'd ask out of curiosity.

[WFD]

Having bought both in the US and in Canada, yes you will get a similar discounted price in Canada, however the sticker price in Canada is higher, and with the weak dollar, the Canadian dealers have increased their prices accordingly since they pay for the units in US Funds. They are probably taking less of a margin to try to keep them affordable... So you are still going to pay more for it in Canada. However with the dollar being what it is, I don't think there is enough savings anymore to justify buying in the US...we just upgraded to a new unit in November 2016 and bought in Canada this time...but when our dollar was close to or at par....oh man, could you save a bundle buying in the US...i did it twice!

[itat]

Thanks, WFD.

I was wondering if it's reasonable to look at a US dealer's advertised MSRP, convert that to CDN$ and take 65% of that number, then add say CDN$1,000 to account for delivery (or fuel/lodging/meal costs if you took delivery in the US), inspection and registration/duty costs. Of course, you'd have to add in PST/GST or HST on top of that depending on your province.

One thing I've noticed is that the advertised MSRP may vary greatly from one website to another - up here at least. Some dealer websites post the dealer's cost sheet supplied by FR but I don't know if that's trustworthy.

[WFD]

Itat...hard to say...prices vary a ton from dealer to dealer on both sides of the border...when we bought in the US, there was huge variances from dealers closer to us and dealers in further away places. Some hold out for big profit on every trailer and others are quite prepared to make less per trailer. There is a dealer in MB that has people come from all over Canada because they can save enough to justify the trip....at current exchange rates, the trailer we just picked up in Nov/16, would have cost us more to buy it in the US, even before considering our cost to either pick it up or have delivered....given the climate of today's dollar value, it would be a hard sell to convince me it's still worthwhile importing.

[B and B]

MacKenzie will match US pricing in US dollars. Don (DDC) bought his Cedar Creek from them in USD.

If a trade is involved they will give you blue book or RVDA book maybe top "clean price"

When we got a price from the Columbus dealer there was no room at all, osted internet was it.

The Grand Design dealer dropped a lot on price and If i had the cash we could have done maybe 10 k better to move the in stock trailer.

We are waiting on the Lotto Max Friday before ordering our new trailer.

We Order that Saturday
Sunday we pack the Rockwood
I Quit on Monday
We head south Tuesday!

Dreaming!!!!

[B and B]

Originally Posted by itat

Thanks, WFD.

I was wondering if it's reasonable to look at a US dealer's advertised MSRP, convert that to CDN$ and take 65% of that number, then add say CDN$1,000 to account for delivery (or fuel/lodging/meal costs if you took delivery in the US), inspection and registration/duty costs. Of course, you'd have to add in PST/GST or HST on top of that depending on your province.

One thing I've noticed is that the advertised MSRP may vary greatly from one website to another - up here at least. Some dealer websites post the dealer's cost sheet supplied by FR but I don't know if that's trustworthy.

I noted a Rockwood dealer has dropped there inflated sell prices to match another Rockwood dealer. Buying Local doesn't equate to 10 grand difference.

[itat]

Originally Posted by B and B

I noted a Rockwood dealer has dropped there inflated sell prices to match another Rockwood dealer. Buying Local doesn't equate to 10 grand difference.

The Canadian dealers would love to make an extra 10 grand, but it's not worth that much. It might be worth an extra $1,500 - $2,000 to offset the cost of having to drive to pick it up and bring it back across the border (or to have it delivered), and maybe getting faster service in the process if you need it, but that'd be about all it's worth. I enjoy driving and have the vacation time to use, so the trip to the US would just become another camping trip.

[B and B]

Originally Posted by itat

The Canadian dealers would love to make an extra 10 grand, but it's not worth that much. It might be worth an extra $1,500 - $2,000 to offset the cost of having to drive to pick it up and bring it back across the border (or to have it delivered), and maybe getting faster service in the process if you need it, but that'd be about all it's worth. I enjoy driving and have the vacation time to use, so the trip to the US would just become another camping trip.

Sorry Itat. I did not state then 10 grand difference was between 2 rockwood dealers in Ontario my apologies.

[brianre]

We have recently purchased a new trailer. After shopping at numerous dealers in Alberta, BC, and Washington state, not once did we see a MSRP sheet either in a trailer, on a Web site or in a dealers showroom. We only saw a dealers price sheet and the prices varied significantly for the same trailer. We did manage to deal as we had a 2007 trailer in great shape and all of the Canadian dealers want good used trailers. The low Canadian dollar makes good used trailers and tv's easy to sell.

[itat]

Originally Posted by B and B

Sorry Itat. I did not state then 10 grand difference was between 2 rockwood dealers in Ontario my apologies.

I wasn't thinking that. I was thinking 10 grand vs. a US wholesaler. With the exchange rate these days it's closer to even to buy up here.

[B and B]

Originally Posted by itat

I wasn't thinking that. I was thinking 10 grand vs. a US wholesaler. With the exchange rate these days it's closer to even to buy up here.

I agree.

[BusyRetirees]

My last 2 5th wheels were purchased in Canada. I had looked at RV Wholesalers and got a price from them, converted it to CAD then went to a local dealer. Price difference on a $40K unit was $1.5K. For that difference, it was not worth driving down to Buffalo, renting a hotel room, going through the paperwork at the border and hauling it back to Ottawa. Do your homework and check around.