Paying a Prep Fee for a used Class C.

TH

Thechap1

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Feb 6, 2014
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I'm in the process of purchasing a used 2022 Thor Quantum from a RV Dealership. In the fees they have a Prep Fee in the amount of $995.00 I asked what the fee was for and they said things like cleaning, checking everything out and so on. I don't think we should be charged this because this should have been done prior to listing the RV for sell. What's everyone opinion on this?
 
It's just a way to quote you a low-ball price on the RV and then pad the sale price with extra fees that you thought were included. The dealer can afford to sell you the RV at or near wholesale price if he pads the bottom line with fees that cover all his sales costs, e.g. "prep", paperwork processing, etc. Chances are the "prep" will actually cost the dealer only $100-$200, i.e. an hour or two of somebody's time. The rest becomes profit. Ditto for attempts to induce you to buy a service contract, surface "protection" (wax), tire insurance, etc. All high profit items, usually priced well above the going rate if you bought the same thing elsewhere, and often of limited value. :sneaky:

The caveat to the buyer is to avoid getting sucked-in by the advertised asking price by asking to see the bottom line or "out the door" price. It's the only one that matters.:cautious:
 
Your bottom line is just that, bottom line. Don't get worked up how you get there. Focus on quality and potential issues, as those will be a nightmare to get corrected after a sale. Always make them correct any issues, with a minimal refundable down payment, prior to inking the deal. Very often used rv salespeople are very smoooooothe, be on guard and good luck!
 
Thechap1 said:
I'm in the process of purchasing a used 2022 Thor Quantum from a RV Dealership. In the fees they have a Prep Fee in the amount of $995.00 I asked what the fee was for and they said things like cleaning, checking everything out and so on. I don't think we should be charged this because this should have been done prior to listing the RV for sell. What's everyone opinion on this?
Click to expand...
Im the last person to ask and get a ladylike response because of my eternal disdain for camping world. You might not be dealing with camping world, but they give a nice long ever lasting bad taste....

In the plague, the checkout team from most OEMs was got rid of and this magical $995 (c'mon, just make it a grand....) was mandatory to make camping world (et al) do the work and in the case of camping world, they dont.

Its a used machine. just tell em, they are going to s-can a (how many thou?) sale over a g-note to do work they had better done before they took the unit in on a trade? But thats me and Im grumpy and I dont like paying the hundreds of dollars of 'paperwork' (title and reg) fees they ask.

ps: I just looked, there are hundreds of these for sale at present across the U S of A. same year, different sizes. Beat em up over it. In fact, tell em you want another couple grand off the coach.
 
Sadly this low-ball pricing scheme has become the norm in RV salesmanship. Dealers know that the vast majority of buyers are swayed by the advertised or asking price and frequently miss the add-ons in the excitement of the purchase. Or maybe they assume those are "normal" and would have to be paid for any RV purchase. Such extra are indeed almost ubiquitous these days, but that just makes it even more necessary to ask to see the bottom line before making a buy decision.
It wouldn't be so bad if they actually did a thorough prep and made sure everything work properly, but it's become near universal at RV sales outlets to only fix what the customer notices (and documents) BEFORE they sign the purchase agreement. And if the purchase is for a used RV, they will be quick to point out that you bought it "As-Is" once the ink is dry on the purchase agreement.
 
When I bought a new car for the first time last year (OK, second time - I bought a new 1971 VW Bug when I was 18 ) I found the one I wanted on the web, called the dealer and asked for the "out the door" price over the phone. The salesman consulted with his manager and gave me a figure that was about 10% less than the manufacturer's MSRP. I confirmed this was the "out the door" final price and since the dealer was in another city they emailed me the paperwork on the deal and I gave them a $500 refundable deposit on a credit card. The next day I arrived at the dealer, inspected the car and then handed them the PDF printout and a cashier's check for the remaining balance. The closer laughed and said "I guess you're not interested in our extended warranty or other stuff." I signed the final documents and was out of there 20 minutes after I arrived.
 
Thechap1 said:
I'm in the process of purchasing a used 2022 Thor Quantum from a RV Dealership. In the fees they have a Prep Fee in the amount of $995.00 I asked what the fee was for and they said things like cleaning, checking everything out and so on. I don't think we should be charged this because this should have been done prior to listing the RV for sell. What's everyone opinion on this?
Click to expand...
We bought a new 2023 Thor quantum kw29 in 2023. It has been a nightmare. The problems and lack of quality. For example, we had the blackwater tank fall off. The generator failed so did the leveling system. You can search our history on this forum because they’ve helped with everything. Any Thor coach, especially used, I would have inspected. The prep fee is BS as others have explained. Tell them you want to have it inspected, you might get some interesting reactions. Tell them you heard about quality problems in 2023 models. 2022 and 2023 were crafted during the COVID greed fest. But most importantly, get it inspected!
 
As Gary said, the adding on of excessive fees has become quite common in the RV industry. The only fees that are genuine as an add-on should be sales tax, which you can easily figure out and the license/registration fees. I have been known to refuse those as well and pay them myself but doing that means that you won't be able to roll the sales tax into the financing. Much to my surprise, the dealership that we bought our last new RV from does quote an "out the door" price that includes tax, title, and license, otherwise known as TTL.
 
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