Your tips for that dreaded conversation RV dealer "closers"?

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jymbee

jymbee

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Joined
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Fairly or unfairly I have an aversion when it comes to taking to sales people in general-- auto & RV sales people in particular. I remember when we bought our current passenger van we were sitting at the desk of the sales guy while he supposedly took my latest offer to the sales manager. That whole ritual is irritating enough but while sitting there I could clearly hear the conversation another sales guy was having right next to us with an elderly couple about their purchase of basically the same vehicle. Took all I could do to keep from leaping over the partition and telling them what a line of BS they were being fed! Quite likely they were being set up to pay hundreds, even MANY hundreds more for what essentially was the exact SAME VEHICLE.

Obviously many here have gone through this whole "closing" process and I would be very interested to hear of any suggestions as to your general strategy when you got to that point? I'm sure they'll hit you with all kinds of "options" at during the final closing and my thinking is to sit patiently, take it all in, then get it all in writing and walk away telling they we need a day or two to read things over and discuss.

I do respect the fact that they have to make a living but at the same time for the amount of $$ involved I'd like to be as prepared and have as much leverage as possible when we get to that point.
 
When I bought my truck used at a new car dealer, I started with an offer of out the door for $XXXXX, which includes the truck to me, my trade in, and understood I will pay out of state sales tax.  I smiled while he gave me the sob story about needing to feed his kids, He came back $2000 higher.  I came up $500, he accepted and I wrote a check.  Deal done.  I did not care what the contract purchase price was.  I did not care about trade in value, dealer prep fees, title transfer fees, or anything else!  If the bottom line was what we agreed to, the rest did not matter!  If he can not do my price, I get up and leave!
 
1) be ready to walk, there are plenty to choose from elsewhere
2)
3)
4)
10) be ready to walk, there are plenty to choose from elsewhere
 
Buy gently used from a private party seller.  :)

I do that with almost everything I buy in life, cars and RV's included. I detest setting foot on dealership property for all the reasons mentioned. If you think they rip you off on the item purchase, just wait until it comes to service! That's where dealers make most of their money.
 
Sun2Retire summarizes our approach, kevin does lots of research when we buy something big, both for features and price. When we bought our Jeep a few months ago, he searched multiple dealers and found a unit with the amenities and price we liked. We went in, did a test drive, then sat down with the sales guy. He wrote the list price on a piece of paper, took barely 3% off the list, and said that was the price. Kevin pulled out their internet ad with a MUCH lower price. The sales started saying something like ?that price is with restrictions X, Y, and Z.? I looked at him, said we don?t play games, and stood up. We were completely ready to walk, and he knew it. BTW, I have an absolutely wonderful ?resting bitch face? that definitely says we take no prisoners. You have never seen so much back peddling in your life. It was actually rather funny, though tedious. We got the Jeep at a good price set up exactly the way we wanted. The key to that kind of negotiation is that it has to be real. If they don?t budge, you have to walk. A good sales person can tell if you are posturing.
 
Like Rene T advised you have to be thoroughly prepared. Do lots of research and know what is a realistic price. Have your search narrowed down to no more than 2 RVs. You also have to be willing to walk away up to the  time you have to actually pay. 

In our case our unit and a 2nd that was almost identical were on the lot for about 8 months. This was in mid-October 2015. We went to Lazy Days and compared both and drove one. Sales guy told us their price and we walked away. We waited 2 days and called the sales guy and gave him $xxxxx price over the phone out the door. Also told him finance terms  we would agree to. We told him to put the offer in his drawer and pull it out at month end. We told him if deal wasn't accepted by 11/1/15 then we wouldn't buy and would see him at the Florida Super Show in January 2016. 3 days later sales manager called and wanted to know if we could come up about $5000. We told him no, that our offer was our only offer. We told him we had some personal things to take care of and the holidays are coming, so we really didn't have time for an RV and we were perfectly fine with buying a 2016 in January. Manager stated he would have to get permission from Forest River. We told him to take all the time he needed as he had until 11/1/15 when our offer expires. He further stated that he can't make a deal on terms as that was finance department. We told him terms were part of the deal.  Manager called back in 2 more days and said that they accept, but that we had to pay and accept delivery prior to 10/31/15. We replied that only day available was Sunday, 10/24/15. They said they don't do the walk through on Subdays. So we told them nevermind. Manager said they would have a guy come in on overtime. So we went on 10/24/15 and met with finance guy. He ran credit and we got the terms we requested. Tech did our walk through and we are "Happy Campers".

So as you can see we stuck to our price and terms and we would have walked away if it came to that. Also we think it worked out as October is a slow selling month due to end of summer and holidays coming.  We don't know if it is a line, but sales guy and manager both said sales guy is paid a flat fer, not a percentage of sales price.

For regular car sales, we tell the sales guy when he leaves the table to talk to manager, he needs to bring the manager to the table when he returns. Er do not let the sales guy go back and forth. We like to negotiate directly with manager. Only once did a sales guy come back without the manager.  We left immediately telling the guy that he needs tomlisten to his customers.

Lastly, enjoy the shopping.
 
Wow-- some great advice! I'm going to print this as a reminder.

Obviously it pays to be patient. As much as you might want to drive away with your RV TODAY, making it clear that you're in no hurry at all and sticking to your guns-- as long as the requirements are reasonable-- can pay off big in the end.

I bet sales people hate to see you coming.  :))


Dream Chasers said:
Like Rene T advised you have to be thoroughly prepared. Do lots of research and know what is a realistic price. Have your search narrowed down to no more than 2 RVs. You also have to be willing to walk away up to the  time you have to actually pay. 

In our case our unit and a 2nd that was almost identical were on the lot for about 8 months. This was in mid-October 2015. We went to Lazy Days and compared both and drove one. Sales guy told us their price and we walked away. We waited 2 days and called the sales guy and gave him $xxxxx price over the phone out the door. Also told him finance terms  we would agree to. We told him to put the offer in his drawer and pull it out at month end. We told him if deal wasn't accepted by 11/1/15 then we wouldn't buy and would see him at the Florida Super Show in January 2016. 3 days later sales manager called and wanted to know if we could come up about $5000. We told him no, that our offer was our only offer. We told him we had some personal things to take care of and the holidays are coming, so we really didn't have time for an RV and we were perfectly fine with buying a 2016 in January. Manager stated he would have to get permission from Forest River. We told him to take all the time he needed as he had until 11/1/15 when our offer expires. He further stated that he can't make a deal on terms as that was finance department. We told him terms were part of the deal.  Manager called back in 2 more days and said that they accept, but that we had to pay and accept delivery prior to 10/31/15. We replied that only day available was Sunday, 10/24/15. They said they don't do the walk through on Subdays. So we told them nevermind. Manager said they would have a guy come in on overtime. So we went on 10/24/15 and met with finance guy. He ran credit and we got the terms we requested. Tech did our walk through and we are "Happy Campers".

So as you can see we stuck to our price and terms and we would have walked away if it came to that. Also we think it worked out as October is a slow selling month due to end of summer and holidays coming.  We don't know if it is a line, but sales guy and manager both said sales guy is paid a flat fer, not a percentage of sales price.

For regular car sales, we tell the sales guy when he leaves the table to talk to manager, he needs to bring the manager to the table when he returns. Er do not let the sales guy go back and forth. We like to negotiate directly with manager. Only once did a sales guy come back without the manager.  We left immediately telling the guy that he needs tomlisten to his customers.

Lastly, enjoy the shopping.
Click to expand...
 
Walk X3...really gets their attention.  And, even if they don't follow you to your vehicle, they'll call you.  In all my years of buying vehicles, I've only had one salesman not call me back.  He had someone else on the string and they were willing to pay more.  So be it.

 
You are in charge. Don't ever forget that!
I was a corporate sales guy for 25 years. As others have said, if you don't get what you want...walk.
Keep your emotions in check, take your time. The right deal is out there.
Also, don't always blame the sales guy. Trust me, most will do everything they can to make you happy. They must report to a higher power who are the ones focused on the bottom line!
 
I'm pretty much with the others, though I don't think getting the absolute last dollar out of a deal to be a big priority.  Do your home work and be prepared to state your "out-the-door" price. You should be able to get the sales guy to the point where you can say "I will buy TODAY at this price, out-the-door". Be serious and mean it.  If he comes back with a counter-offer, just say "Sorry" and walk. If he comes back with an OK, write the check.  That of course assumes that you really did your homework and your offer wasn't outlandish. If it was an adequate offer, they will chase you down or call. If not,...

Sales people are accustomed to tire kickers and bargain hunters and the closing process is designed to filter those out. It's a pain as well as condescending for serious buyers who actually know the values, but that's life.
 
....I rarely if ever buy the same day. always sleep on it and I tell them if it is as good a deal as you say then I will be back tomorrow. When they tell me they have others in line looking at it the reply is to go ahead and sell it to them. If their response is the deal is for today only then my reply is I will be back tomorrow or are you telling me not to come back.

I know many salesmen think I am just a tire kicker but some have been pleasantly surprised when they see me the next day ready to buy. No buyers remorse for having not thought it thru....I also never buy major purchases at night. If you think about it all you mistakes have been made at night, for example, my first marriage...thats where I learned that lesson.
 
grashley said:
When I bought my truck used at a new car dealer, I started with an offer of out the door for $XXXXX, which includes the truck to me, my trade in, and understood I will pay out of state sales tax.  I smiled while he gave me the sob story about needing to feed his kids, He came back $2000 higher.  I came up $500, he accepted and I wrote a check.  Deal done.  I did not care what the contract purchase price was.  I did not care about trade in value, dealer prep fees, title transfer fees, or anything else!  If the bottom line was what we agreed to, the rest did not matter!  If he can not do my price, I get up and leave!
Click to expand...
Exactly what I do.  I have a price and they can do what they want with all the numbers within that price.  I tell them I don't haggle and I am not in a hurry to buy and can shop around if they can't come to the price.  I've had them call me back on my cell phone after I've left the lot.  But it does take walking away sometimes to get them to understand that I don't haggle.
 
Another good tactic is to not be really anxious when you go to purchase it. We had a
smaller 18ft TT and were looking for a upgrade in 3-4 years. We had done the research
and knew exactly what we wanted but in no hurry to pull the trigger. Then a dealer came
up with the exact thing we wanted but it was half way across the country. Told him that
we weren't interested because I didn't want to pay the shipping costs. He called back
2 days later and offered to pay the shipping plus he agreed the the price we offered. Saved
the shipping and paid about 20% less then the best price that we had found from anyplace else.
Needless to say we took him up on it and saved a bunch. Unit arrived in great shape. We
signed the papers and closed the deal. Knock on wood we have only had a few minor problems
with it.
 
And if you DO happen to consider buying from a private seller, all those same tactics apply. Keep your emotions at home, do all your research in advance, ask lots of questions so you can determine if they know what they're talking about, prove to the seller (if needed) how much you DO know about RV's and their particular model, and be prepared to walk away. All that same techniques work great with people selling something, whether it's on a company lot or in their driveway.
 
catblaster said:
If their response is the deal is for today only then my reply is I will be back tomorrow or are you telling me not to come back.
Click to expand...
One thing I learned early owning a business was if the other person was trying to force you into a quick response such as the deal was only good for the next hour, or till you walk out the door or till the end of the day, it was rarely ever a good deal for me.
 
Dragginourbedaround said:
One thing I learned early owning a business was if the other person was trying to force you into a quick response such as the deal was only good for the next hour, or till you walk out the door or till the end of the day, it was rarely ever a good deal for me.
Click to expand...

Exactly! So many of the tired, lame sales person lines such as "What do I have to do today..." and so forth are a real turnoff.

Also, I don't take to RV salesmen who wear suits-- perhaps due to distant childhood memories when sales guys would come around to the farm we lived on wearing a suit. They just looked so out of place and seemed to be talking a different language altogether. You're selling recreational vehicles-- wear recreational attire!  You're trying to sell me a line of BS, then your suit is fine. ;D
 
Regardless of the item being sold, when a salesman asked what he has to do to make the sale today, I offer about 50% of a fair price.  They scream!  I say you asked a fair question, I gave you an honest answer!  You meet MY price, I will buy it today.  That usually shuts them up.
 
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