Dealing with RV dealers in the time of Covid.

[SRGuy]

I am getting to the point of simply giving up on my search for a new TT. I blame my frustrations on the whole Covid scene: Lots of new RV owners/RV buyers means that RV dealers are far from being hungry, and they apparently are getting away with treating potential customers like garbage!

I cannot get a single dealer to call me back, even when I send them the three models I'm interested in, even when I let them know that I'm a cash buyer.

Trips to the dealers are bad experiences, as well. I walked around a well-known dealer's lot, just outside of Austin. I passed lots of employees. Not one asked if they could help me and one, when I approached her, told me she'd be right back, and never returned!

OK, I get it. The models I'm interested in have gone up about $15-20K in the last six months. The dealers are fat with cash. They can't keep inventory. Why should they hustle?

I can sell my 2018 TT for more than I paid for it, it seems. Insane!

I guess I'll be hitting the online RV sites that sell units from all over the US. The thought of driving a thousand miles to pick up a unit I've never seen, previously, is not something I am nuts about, but I don't think I'll get what I want, staying around Austin.

Have any of you bought a new RV, lately?

 

[SeilerBird]

Do not tell them you are paying cash. Dealers make more money off of the financing.

 

[donn]

Like everything else now days RVs are in short supply. People can get the extra 800 a month so why work? Its a sad state of affairs.

 

[steveblonde]

We bought a new 5er in April and i have nothing but good to say about my experience. Funny thing is i didnt want to deal with them because a had a bad experience with them before a couple years ago. But they were the only one within 1000 miles with the model i wanted. We even sat with the owner in the business office and had a 20 min conversation. We got a good deal and service has been awesome.

 

[Kirk]

I cannot get a single dealer to call me back, even when I send them the three models I'm interested in, even when I let them know that I'm a cash buyer.

As others have said, telling them that you will pay cash makes you a less attractive customer to most dealerships because the lender who carries the financing returns a portion of the interest to the dealership who writes the loan.

I was recently talking with the owner of the dealership that we do business with and he told me that he has sold most of his new RVs before they actually arrive on the lot. He has orders that are waiting for long periods to be built and shipped. He figures he could sell nearly twice as many RVs if he could only get them. Until that changes, we wont see much change in sales people attitudes.

 

[jackiemac]

We haven't bought anything recently but we had a good experience with Johnnie Walker RV in Vegas. Still a family owned business.