Little mad! Almost bought a camper

[vinmaker]

Originally Posted by Arkguy29

Well me and the misses decided on a Cherokee 304bh for our 4 kids. (13,10,7, and July 21s due) got a deal several miles from me shipped but I'm worried about buying unseen. So I checked around and found one that was only 1 1/2 hrs away. Drove over to camper world to look and we love it. Decided to buy today and was doing a purchase agreement to pick up Saturday. They meet the price I received from the dealer several miles away and b4 I gave them deposit, the gm said there is 900$ in fees for dealer prep? What? No, I told him he could keep it and loose the sale. He said he was loosing money at the price on the camper and couldn't get by without the fees. So we are still camper less. I am calling the original dealer tomorrow to see if they have that camper still and if not I will have to order it. I looked for 4 hrs tonight and everyone is 2k to 8k higher on the camper. I can't pass the deal I'm getting on it. And it has all the packages everyone else does!

I agree. It can be a bit unnerving to buy a camper sight unseen. I can assure you it is worse when you send them full price cash before you ever see it. That was hard.

I purchased by pop up without ever seeing one. All I had was a floor plan and internet pictures to go by. I searched everywhere to find one to look at before purchase but could not find one within 1,000 miles.

As I needed a plate to drive it home, I needed to register it. I could not register it until I owned it. I could not own it until I paid for it. So I had to take ownership before I ever saw the thing.

Other than that, I loved the experience. You just call up the wholesaler and tell them what you want. They place the order, you pay for it, and then pick it up. Easy peasy!

It sounds like your in a great place as you were able to view one and walk through it.

Good luck with your purchase.

Vin.

[5 hole]

Bought mine at RVW, $13,000 cheaper ( DELIVERED) than local dealer(s) who were gracious to knock $1500 off asking price. Never looked back, would do again tomorrow ( or when Canadian Dollar improves some).

[SuicideSaints]

I feel compelled to make a comment on the value of a good local dealer, since it seems like others have had bad local experiences. I wish everyone could have the experience I had.

When contemplating a TT purchase I looked online at RVD and RVW and they did not offer the EVO. I looked online (KSL - the equivalent to Craigslist in my area) for an EVO and dealers. I found 2 that had very different prices for the same model. I picked the closest one to look at first.

I knew the floor plan we wanted already.

I went to the dealer, I called before hand and he said he had a few of that model all with different options and he would love for me to come take a look. I got their right at opening and he was outside washing a few units. He got a power pack and showed me to the EVO that I was interested in. He hooked up power and showed me everything that it had to offer. I liked and and asked if I could sit in it for a few hours, he said sure just call me or come get me if you need anything.


My wife, son and I sat in there for about 2 hours just playing inside to make sure it was a good fit for us. After that time I went to get him to talk numbers for the actual unit we wanted (the one we were in did not have the arctic package but he had one with it in the back of the lot). I asked him the price, he quoted a price and I asked what that included. He said that is the out the door price unless you want additional items like a hitch, hoses or anything else. I was pretty impressed that he quoted an out the door price rather then haggling a sale price then adding stuff to it later. The price was really good, it was 1000 less than the other places listed price. I told him we already had financing in place and I asked him if that affected the price, he said no, he said if you give me a chance to match what financing in place I will give you some free upgrades. I said ok lets see. We went inside and he was able to match what we already had in place and I asked what is he going to give us. He said if you want a hitch I’ll give you 50 percent off and free install, I’ll upgrade you to 30lb dual LP bottles full on installation, I”ll give you 2 AGM batteries in parallel installed and a starter kit included with sewer hose, fresh water hose, 30 amp adapter, and a pressure regulator. I said ok, lets do it.


We went back outside to the actual unit we wanted, the one with the artic package, we walked around it and pointed out a few things that needed to be addressed , he said we can do the paperwork today and they will fix it or they can fix the items and we can come back and do the paperwork. Whichever we felt comfortable with. We told them to start work on it and we will be back. The wife and I went back the next day and they had most of the stuff fixed already. We did the paperwork then and said to call when it was done. They called me the next day and said it was ready. I set an appt for the following Saturday to do a final walk through and PDI again. He said great.
I showed up Saturday and they immediately started installing the hitch while I was doing the PDI, it was winterized , so in front of me he de-winterized it and showed me everything twice, once we were done he winterized it. We hooked it up and he showed me everything with the hitch, the hitch didn’t fit right so they gave me a drop shank as well as coiled breakaway cable and trailer locks.


With all this said we are extremely happy with our TT and the service of the dealer so far! When we did the paperwork there was no surprise, everything was as he stated, the price he quoted was the bottom line price, he didn’t try to push a warranty instead he told us about the extra year. He didn’t try to add in prep or pdi, or destination charges. Were they already figured in to his out the door price? Who knows, all I know was he was 1000 cheaper than anyone else’s internet price (who knows if others internet prices would have been out the door) and he was about 4k less than I anticipated to spend once we arrived at an out the door price, he made me feel welcome and valued. He was nice and so far he hasn’t lied to me that I know of. He is about 15 minutes from my house and he gave me his personal cell phone and said if there ever is a problem to call between 6am to 10 pm any day of the week and he would do whatever he could to help me through it.


The day my plates came in I called him and told him to mail them to my house because I could not pick them up he said ok. I get home and my wife says he drove over and dropped them off at the house.
I haven’t had the TT that long (like a month) but based on the experience so far I would assume any warranty work or any other needs would be handled with a pleasurable experience. If it is a bad experience with that then I would change my mind a bit about the overall review but so far I am glad RVW or RVD didn’t have my unit because I am happy so far.

[SuicideSaints]

I just re-read the thread and it seems the problem was the 900 prep fee, right? But the OP said that he looked for 4 hours and that every other dealer was 2k-8k more. If you paid the 900 prep fee that would still make the camper 1k to 7k less than everyone else right?

So if I am understanding it right isn't that still a good deal compared to others? The only negative was the 1.5 hour drive? Was the dealer upfront and friendly about it? Was their any other red flags about the dealer other than this prep fee?

OP, did you end up getting a camper yet or where are you in the process?

[Arkguy29]

Yes you are correct. The 900$ Prep fee which I wasn't told about kept me from purchasing the camper. I could have got the same camper delivered to my house for 22600 not the 23500 that camper world went up on. I did purchase a u it. 1 week into the agreement. I built a Wolfpack 315 toy hauler to my liking for 4k less than anyone would sell there's on there lot and that's delivered to my door. I was torn btw the 2 but feel great. I paid 1k down and haven't even seen one except on YouTube, and websites. I have had 2 other friends purchased campers thru this same dealership with nothing but good things to say. I ordered a ton of stuff off amazon for the necessities.

[SuicideSaints]

Oh ok, glad to see you got one. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the update.

[Backcountry]

That's exactly the fee General RV threatened to charge us for our walkthrough inspection service. We said take it off or we walk and they did, although the deducted the cost from the price of the trailer and still gave us whatever service was promised (which turned out to be a very halfhearted walk through and leaving us with two nearly empty propane tanks).