Buying a trailer has not been easy.

i have expanded my search to 500 miles from home because I can?t get a dealer to tell me the price of a trailer. Why is this so difficult?  It feels like the they want to get me in a high pressure situation.  There are only so many Grand Design authorized dealers within a reasonable distance from my house.  I visited 3 and only 1 would give me a quote. I called others and they said I needed to come in.  I finally found a dealer in Syracuse, the salesman was honest, upfront, and not full of bologna. I am inclined to make the 5 hour trip just to buy from him because he?s been so easy to deal with.

Can anyone tell me why my local dealers won?t just give a bottom line price? Every car I?ve purchased, I?ve shopped a handful of dealers, all gave me a take it or leave it price on the spot after a test drive.  I?m not a difficult person at all, I just want to do my due dilligance before parting with tens of thousands of dollars.  Is it pride?  Management pressure?

    Getting what you want...comes at a price. We were buying used, knew ( pretty darn close) what we wanted....took a couple of years and over 5000 miles of travel. Some were misrepresented, some had hidden damage ( appeared that the owner didn?t know), some ?just didn?t feel right?! We pretended the trips were mini-vacations. In the end .....we got exactly what we wanted at a ?very? good price!

I suggest looking used for several reasons.  One is it does not have to be from a dealer.  Late model gently used campers are readily available.  The trick is finding one that is right for YOU!  Mem talked about his search.  I bought my perfect camper used from a private individual a few months ago.

Other reasons to buy used include not having to deal with all of the new camper warranty issues.  Let someone else get those fixed!  Get a big price break and let the first owner pay that front end depreciation. You may have a better selection of your desired model buying used.

We live in Delaware and bought our TT in Michigan. The local dealer, about 25 minutes from us, was selling the same unit for about $4,000 more. When I called the local dealer he would not move on his price. when I said I would have to drive the 8-10 hours to Michigan his response was "Good luck getting any work done on your new trailer". I got an out the door price from the dealer in Michigan via email. Now, I will tell you the local dealer was correct when he said good luck getting work done locally.

Part of the issue is the way that they order trailers you can compare dealer a to dealer b because the trailers are so different its not like cars where you get option package a on all or and b
And yes they are all crooks it took me 2 years to find and buy my current coach but we already had one nd i wasnt in a hurry but each one we looked at had this option but not that one ir that one but not that one - hope this makes some sense to you

Oldgator73 said:

We live in Delaware and bought our TT in Michigan. The local dealer, about 25 minutes from us, was selling the same unit for about $4,000 more. When I called the local dealer he would not move on his price. when I said I would have to drive the 8-10 hours to Michigan his response was "Good luck getting any work done on your new trailer". I got an out the door price from the dealer in Michigan via email. Now, I will tell you the local dealer was correct when he said good luck getting work done locally.

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Oldgator you?re the second person to tell me you bought in Michigan to avoid a local dealer.  It?s insane the lengths they will go to turn a massive profit on a single unit. I have decided to buy my unit in Syracuse despite being just outside of Boston.

I appreciate the calls to to buy used. The problem is I was ROYALLY screwed the last time I bought used. I?m intentionally buying below my max budget because I want a new unit. I?ve also been working on travel trailers for going on 10 years now. I?m not worried about anything electrical, basic structural or maintenance.  My worry is a long term price commitment.

Oldgator73 said:

We live in Delaware and bought our TT in Michigan. The local dealer, about 25 minutes from us, was selling the same unit for about $4,000 more. When I called the local dealer he would not move on his price. when I said I would have to drive the 8-10 hours to Michigan his response was "Good luck getting any work done on your new trailer". I got an out the door price from the dealer in Michigan via email. Now, I will tell you the local dealer was correct when he said good luck getting work done locally.

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Gator, speaking of dealers not working on your Drop, was Mark able to get your leak fixed?

kdbgoat said:

Gator, speaking of dealers not working on your Drop, was Mark able to get your leak fixed?

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He first installed a new window that Winnebago sent me. The leak still persisted. I called and Mark said to bring it back in. I left it with him for almost a month while we were in Europe. When I picked it up his brother said Mark did find a spot where he thought water might be getting in and he caulked that area. When he installed the window I also had Mark winterize the the unit. I think he charged me $150 total for both. He did not charge me for the second visit and the leak seems to have been abate. I would recommend Mark and his brother to anybody. Thanks for the referral.

I certainly hope it's fixed. You've really had a fight with it. Never met his brother, but Mark and his wife seem to be good people. I know they're the kind of folks you like to have in the campsite next door.

The_Grey_Wolf said:

Oldgator you?re the second person to tell me you bought in Michigan to avoid a local dealer.  It?s insane the lengths they will go to turn a massive profit on a single unit.

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I'll be the 3rd person. I live just outside of Philadelphia, Home of the Super Bowl Champions, and travelled to Detroit Michigan to save over $4,000.00 on the exact same unit if purchased locally. I have had no problems getting service if not in a hurry. I try to schedule during the slow winter months and do normal upkeep on my own.
Joe

i have expanded my search to 500 miles from home because I can?t get a dealer to tell me the price of a trailer. Why is this so difficult?  It feels like the they want to get me in a high pressure situation.

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That's exactly it.  They want to get you into their office so they can blather & wheedle you into something different than what you may really want. That high-pressure sales technique has been well proven to work on many (most?) buyers, so they do all they can to force it. They may not even have the specific model you are interested in, but they figure they can sell you something if they can just get you onto their lot. They also know that if they quote a price that maybe isn't quite as low of some other dealer, they won't even get a shot at selling you something.  If the dealer doesn't advertise his prices on the internet or other media, odds are he won't quote over the phone or email either.

However, you are trying to shop like it is a car purchase, where essentially identical models are widely available, the pricing is well known and pretty much uniform, and the delivery process is minimal and the same everywhere.  RVs are not like that - it is much more like buying a house. There are often substantial differences in options and equipment, the price is highly negotiable and dealer prep (make-ready) is a major factor in the product delivery.

Exactly what I've been dealing with, I was in a very high pressure situation on Sunday for a camper that I didn't want.  I ended up calling Meyer's RV in Syracuse, 3 phone calls later, my deposit is down.  ) This was the easiest transaction I have ever had.  I do have to make a 10 hour round trip to get it, but that's fine by me.  It'll give me plenty of miles to get used to pulling a larger, heavier unit.

Good to know I'm not alone in the buying experience.  My only piece of advice would be to shop as close to Indiana as you humanly can, and find a high volume preferred dealer from the manufacturer.  They have much less to lose by giving you a quote.

Get MSRP for that unit, offer that minus 35%. If dealer counters at 30% take the deal.

I got them to 29% off MSRP and I?m happy. Great advice!

When I am at the dealer,  I usually I know what I want, otherwise I tell them I am  just looking, if they can help with questions fine. A hard sell usually results in a chuckle, a smile, followed by "your the third salesman to tell me that".

When it comes to price, I tell them the number I leave here with is the price out the door, any taxes, prep charges or miscellaneous fees come out of your pocket not mine. I never buy on the first trip.

I am older, retired and if I have not bought it by now, a few weeks more will not ruin my life. I am sure I have missed a few deals but " Oh well."