Newbie. RV prices

[pacousarules]

Hi. Looking to buy a first RV. Looking at Jayco Comet. On RVtrader, dealer prices are around $98k. MSRP seems to be $130-140k. What's a reasonable estimate if someone comes with a low hassle cash deal? Are those prices typically firm or is below 90k possible? Thanks in advance

 

[Onyrlef]

Hi. Looking to buy a first RV. Looking at Jayco Comet. On RVtrader, dealer prices are around $98k. MSRP seems to be $130-140k. What's a reasonable estimate if someone comes with a low hassle cash deal? Are those prices typically firm or is below 90k possible? Thanks in advance

MSRP is the price the manufacturer suggests so you’ll think you got a deal if you didn’t pay more than it was worth. Dealer’s aren’t exactly experiencing overwhelming demand right now so make an offer but don’t fall in love with it and if you aren’t prepared to walk away they’ll pick up on it and you’re likely going to get hosed. Meantime cash is meaningless, the dealer is going to get cash regardless and in many cases will make more if he is in on the financing. One other trick he’ll try is to agree to accept your offer if you agree to what are called back of the deal options, extended warranty, paint protection, and other rip offs.

 

[Laura & Charles]

Welcome to the forums! Lots of friendly and knowledgeable folks here!

If you describe what your desires and intended use for an RV are, we’ll be able to give better focused answers. Are you looking for a motorized RV? Or a trailered RV? That kind of info will get you better answers.

It sounds like you’re looking at new RVs. Most folks here would advise buying used…especially a first ever RV. Don’t get me wrong; there’s plenty of folks here who are strong proponents of buying new. But a new rig is going to lose a lot more value in less time than a used one. And your first ever RV is going to teach you a LOT about what you do and don’t like about particular floor plans and features.

We’re on our second coach. We knew going in that our first rig was either our starter coach OR that we would learn the lifestyle wasn’t for us. 3.5 years later we traded for the current coach.

Oh… and MSRP is pretty meaningless when it comes to RVs. If you’re looking at motorized RVs, forget your car-buying mentality. First and foremost, you’re buying a house. It just happens to be on wheels.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Hi. Looking to buy a first RV. Looking at Jayco Comet. On RVtrader, dealer prices are around $98k. MSRP seems to be $130-140k. What's a reasonable estimate if someone comes with a low hassle cash deal? Are those prices typically firm or is below 90k possible? Thanks in advance

The dealer always gets cash anyway, either from you or the bank. And in fact a good chunk of his profit on the deal often comes from financing & insurance rather than the sale itself.

MSRP on an RV is a joke - no dealer is selling for MSRP today. Also, beware of dealer-provided "list price" or similar - they are pure fiction rather than the manufacturer suggested price. It's easy to advertise a big discount if you inflated the "list price" to begin with.

Used to be that a discount from an RV MSRP was usually in the 15-25% range but Covid shortages did away with that. Now it's coming back as the market gets more normal. However, ultra-steep discounts usually come with extra transaction fees that are supposed to be included in the MSRP, so the discounts aren't very real either. The only price that is meaningful is the "out-the-door" price, so you will have to get some real quotes to get the facts.

I'll go out on a limb and suggest that if you can get an honest 20%-25% discount after the dealer upcharges are added back in, you are doing well. That's excluding taxed and tags, which aren't subject to discounting anyway/

 

[Excalibur]

I bought a new travel trailer last year. Its msrp was 23,000 and I got it for 15,000 after walking away twice. That's just to give you an idea what kind of a deal you can get if you use smart negotiating tactics. As Onyreif says above, be prepared to walk away if you don't get the deal you want. Dealers have a glut of units and are desperate to get rid of them, especially if its a leftover model from last year.

 

[Onyrlef]

I'll go out on a limb and suggest that if you can get an honest 20%-25% discount after the dealer upcharges are added back in, you are doing well. That's excluding taxed and tags, which aren't subject to discounting anyway/

That would be fair. Keeping in mind the dealer, unless he’s not very bright, will likely take a fair deal over no deal. But he’s not going to give it away.