Buying off the lot vs ordering from factory

[Judge]

We are looking at getting back into a CC after being in a Open Range for the past 4 years.

The floorplans to our liking are centered around the 37flk plan and its ilk in the Silverback version.

My last 2 5v'ers I've bought have been off of existing inventory on the dealer's lot.

I've never bought one via sitting down and 'building' my own from scratch to be built at the CC factory.

My questions to those that have done both are:
1) is there a big difference in price paid by special ordering one vs getting one off the lot (assuming all options being equal on a unit for the sake of the discussion)

2) how long is the turn around generally between ordering and delivery?

3) with the stupid unregulated MSRP's most dealers show on units how the heck do you know if you are getting a fair price via special ordering?

4) any other information you think I may need to know that I haven't asked?

on a related note:

5) anyone have a 37flk specifically and would care to comment on your feelings/opinion of it so far?

Thank you all in advance.

[NMWildcat]

We have always found buying off the lot to be the best bet for a great price. More room to negotiate.

We did order one, it was about eight weeks wait time. We got a good deal, but not a great deal. But we figured getting exactly what we wanted was worth the difference.

We have bought the last several off the lot, long distance. By shopping nationwide you can get pretty close to the options you want.

As far as what is a good price, lots of research on what is out there and what similar units have sold for is about all you can do. You can also use the percentage off of MSRP. 25% to 30% is usually a fairly good deal.

Good luck!!!

[BandJCarm]

I bought mine by ordering. Got exactly what we wanted, which is seldom available anywhere. We bought from Couch's, so there's not going to be a better price anywhere. Best of both worlds.

[Judge]

Thanks for the input Wildcat...

Might I ask if there is a good source for what is a good price for a unit other than my current method of using RVtrader website and others and just getting a feel for the range of prices for a unit?

edit: thanks to you too Band - we crossed posted these 2

[BandJCarm]

IF you find what you want already built, that's cool too!

[Judge]

Band, just checked out the Couch's website - didn't even know that existed - thanks for tipping me off to that

I'm outside of Dallas so from what I can tell funtown rv is the only Cedar Creek dealer around - and I am less than impressed by them based on online reviews and my first CC purchase.

maybe traveling somewhere a bit further out may be the way to go especially since I have no intention of using the dealers service department.

How did couch's handle a trade in for you if you did a trade in?

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by Judge

Thanks for the input Wildcat...

Might I ask if there is a good source for what is a good price for a unit other than my current method of using RVtrader website and others and just getting a feel for the range of prices for a unit?

edit: thanks to you too Band - we crossed posted these 2

Rvtrader is a great start. NADA RV is also good. My wife had a website for towables and actual selling prices. Similar to PPL for motorhomes. Of course, we can't find it now. Sorry.

We find a particular model we want, as you have, and then find the best price anywhere in the nation and then negotiate. Has worked very well for us.

[BandJCarm]

Originally Posted by Judge

Band, just checked out the Couch's website - didn't even know that existed - thanks for tipping me off to that

I'm outside of Dallas so from what I can tell funtown rv is the only Cedar Creek dealer around - and I am less than impressed by them based on online reviews and my first CC purchase.

maybe traveling somewhere a bit further out may be the way to go especially since I have no intention of using the dealers service department.

How did couch's handle a trade in for you if you did a trade in?

I sold outright first. They were like any dealer, they offered wholesale price for tradein. I think they offered 10K and I sold for 14K.

Couch's treated us great. And no one will beat their price.

[divepdic]

Originally Posted by Judge

We are looking at getting back into a CC after being in a Open Range for the past 4 years.

The floorplans to our liking are centered around the 37flk plan and its ilk in the Silverback version.

My last 2 5v'ers I've bought have been off of existing inventory on the dealer's lot.

I've never bought one via sitting down and 'building' my own from scratch to be built at the CC factory.

My questions to those that have done both are:
1) is there a big difference in price paid by special ordering one vs getting one off the lot (assuming all options being equal on a unit for the sake of the discussion)

2) how long is the turn around generally between ordering and delivery?

3) with the stupid unregulated MSRP's most dealers show on units how the heck do you know if you are getting a fair price via special ordering?

4) any other information you think I may need to know that I haven't asked?

on a related note:

5) anyone have a 37flk specifically and would care to comment on your feelings/opinion of it so far?

Thank you all in advance.

I could write a book on this subject, but I will try to keep it to the short, short, in the nutshell version. In my adult life I have purchased 3 FW's and one TT (see my albums) 1 fiver off the lot, 1 fiver privately, Ordered the TT which turned out to be a disaster, after waiting 9 weeks, so many things were wrong, not only were they 3 weeks late my wife and I wondered if they even looked at the build sheet when assembling it, not to mention the construction was very sloppy on this unit, it was a total disappointment. We had to refuse the trailer and played hell getting our deposit back with numerous phone calls and disputing our CC. I swore I would never order a trailer again. We ended up buying the same model TT 900 miles away that was almost identical to what we had ordered the first time. I did eat my words on ordering, I did it on my current 5th wheel and I will say it was a better experience, but not perfect, as far as price I really haven't noticed a major difference between what I have ordered and an equivalent trailer on the lot. Now in my opinion I would say because of the speed that these trailers are turned out that the biggest negative to ordering is not being able to see and touch the unit before you put money down on it, after waiting 6 to 10 weeks and you get your anticipation up of how this trailer you ordered is going to be, only to be disappointed when you first lay eyes on it. Not to say that this is always the case, but like it or not it's your trailer because dealers generally don't like to let loose of your deposit even if you are not satisfied, they want to fix it, so just walking away is a lot more difficult. Even though I did order my current 5th wheel trailer I still recommend buying off the lot.

[ADOR]

We purchased ours of the dealer lot, about 320 miles from home (Vegas to Mesa, AZ). Dealership in AZ have the floor plan we want. None in Vegas. Drove turn around 1 day to check the condition (new unit). AC switch was missing. I was told they pulled it to fix a unit that was sold earlier. After negotiating on the price, we put a deposit and came back the following week for PDI with credit union check on hand.

[httntheroad]

I am with bandjcarm.on line ordered our 2016 35ik from couch's, drove from Washington state. Saved huge. Everything perfect when left ohio.3 years full timing no real problems yet.

[bikendan]

From what I've read from others and my own experience, dealer's lot will generally be cheaper, than ordering from the factory.
We've bought year old new trailers that were significantly cheaper than ordering.

[lcv800]

Just my experience. You get a better deal off the lot, especially if you time your purchase right. A savvy buy should get you close to 33% give or take depending on the model, off of MSRP. My personal experience in buying my current Riverstone Legacy this year was signed contract lat week of May, went into production last week of July, had to go to paint for three weeks, finally getting delivered lasts week. I order as opposed to off the lot because I get it exactly the way I want. Can't speak to other lines, but Riverstone will do a lot of customization for you. For the money you drop, why not exactly what you want.
Rusty

[DRogers]

If you decide to special order try and time your order with another order the dealership is placing, that way you get it on the bulk discount the dealer gets, if the dealer has to order just yours the price will go up.

[Ejs4029]

Originally Posted by lcv800

Just my experience. You get a better deal off the lot, especially if you time your purchase right. A savvy buy should get you close to 33% give or take depending on the model, off of MSRP. My personal experience in buying my current Riverstone Legacy this year was signed contract lat week of May, went into production last week of July, had to go to paint for three weeks, finally getting delivered lasts week. I order as opposed to off the lot because I get it exactly the way I want. Can't speak to other lines, but Riverstone will do a lot of customization for you. For the money you drop, why not exactly what you want.
Rusty

I got 32% off when we ordered our Rockwood 2703....They even had FR add an additional electrical outlet inside for no charge I tried pushing for more but that's the best we could do The dealer was 200 miles away....The local dealer was 2K + more then their price not mention their Service Dept. was lousy.

They threw in $150 for three nights camping at a local Campground to make sure everything was working ok....A battery and $100 at their store for any supplies...So all in all I was happy.

[spock123]

If I trade for a new Cedar Creek I’ll have to order it as the things I want have to be option in. I have brought off the lot before and I have ordered, the Wildcat that I ordered turned into a POLECAT. The worst camper we ever owned, the prettiest camper but built on a Monday by a bunch of drunks

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by Judge

Band, just checked out the Couch's website - didn't even know that existed - thanks for tipping me off to that

I'm outside of Dallas so from what I can tell funtown rv is the only Cedar Creek dealer around - and I am less than impressed by them based on online reviews and my first CC purchase.

maybe traveling somewhere a bit further out may be the way to go especially since I have no intention of using the dealers service department.

How did couch's handle a trade in for you if you did a trade in?

FunTown is the only CC dealer around because they have a HUGE franchise area (likely 100+ mile radius from any of their stores) that keeps any competition from coming in. They know you're either going to buy from them or someone a good distance away. Most likely they'll threaten to not offer you warranty service if you buy from someone else, too. I've tried dealing with all of the local dealers (I'm in NE Texas) and found that they tend to be very unwilling to negotiate on price and don't seem too concerned with their reputation of treating customers poorly because they think they've got the market cornered. With that being said, I've bought all of my rigs from RVWholesalers in Lakeview, OH. Much better prices and much better customer service than our dealers around here. Not sure if they carry CC, but, if not, I bet they have a line that is almost identical. To answer your original question, I've bought from the RVW inventory and special ordered. Only issue I've had with ordering is that changes are constantly being made, so your ordered rig might have some differences from what you're seeing on the lots. It's usually something small, like the cabinet doors will have glass panels as opposed to solid wood, or interior colors might be changed so you have to look at images to decide as opposed to actually seeing it, etc.

[B and B]

Originally Posted by spock123

If I trade for a new Cedar Creek I’ll have to order it as the things I want have to be option in. I have brought off the lot before and I have ordered, the Wildcat that I ordered turned into a POLECAT. The worst camper we ever owned, the prettiest camper but built on a Monday by a bunch of drunks

Are you sure it wasn't Platz they were using?

[Finster]

I would contact RVwholesalers or RVdirect (RV1) and get quotes on ordering before you do anything. Its free, and your not obligated for anything. When we started RV shopping, we had floorplan in mind. My wife also had a list of options she wanted included. I got quotes from those two places, along with about a half dozen others for our floor plan and every option that we might want. RV1 and RVwholesalers were both by far the best price, and they were within $11 of each other. Everyone else was several thousand higher.

After that we began shopping. I started looking at dealer inventory online. We found a few with our floor plan that met my wifes "must have" list, but they were few and far between. None were local. Most were a few hundered miles away. So we began looking at units without the options we wanted included, and a few similar floor plans. We drove to a handfull of dealers to see some in person. We did talk price on a couple we were willing to "settle" on but no one seemed to want to come real close to the quotes we already had. In the end, it made more sense for us to order. We ordered from RV1, in Des Moines. They have a hand full of locations, this one was 90 minutes from home. In the end, for us, it came down to either buying not quite what we wanted or ordering exactly what we wanted for less. We did have to wait about 10 weeks for delivery, but we ordered in January of 2016, so it wasn't that big of a deal for us. We took delivery in late march thinking we were getting a 2016 model year. We ended up getting an early 2017. After searching threads, talking to others with the same unit and comparing prices I think I did alright. My deal was as good, or better than a lot of folks ive talked to. MSRP on what I ordered was $32,500. I paid $19,900. After tax title and license it was $21000 out the door. But exactly what your getting and location play a roll in the price you get too. But just for a baseline, id get some quotes on ordering before you shop. If nothing else, you can use the quotes to negotiate.

[formerFR]

really, it's not a 'special order', but more of just you giving a dealer what you want HIM to order, versus what they might order on their own. The factory itself does not know or care about whether he is 'ordering' it for his own stock, or for a customer who has put a downpayment on it.

for the cost, it certainly leaves you less 'leverage' in the deal of purchasing your ordered coach, but if you price this same 'special order' to two or three other dealers, whether near you or not, you'll quickly find the 'best price' for your new order. Since MSRP is a price structure from the factory, not from the dealer, the dealer can only 'discount' that price for what makes 'profitable' sense to them. Some dealers will discount it more heavily than others, for many different reasons. Some will have less 'transportation' cost, which could make their price lower to you, so having a dealer closer to the factory can net you less out of pocket if you are willing to drive to pick it up.

For coaches already sitting on dealer's lots, yes, it would seem that they would want to move these first, especially the closer you get to a new 'model year'... but every dealer is different and some won't budge, while others will.

Like insurance, checking around to different 'dealers' will warrant your best price, no matter what the 'book value' or other systems give you, information wise. No dealer has to go by any 'set' instructions on how they price, or ultimately sell, their units.