Been looking at a particular fifth wheel that can't be found close to me . I've been on many RV dealer's websites and contacted a few. Of the few I contacted a couple have responded back with some crazy price and the same game they play with my trade. Three times so far I've listened to them inflate my trade big time and not come off the msrp. I get it, they have to assume I'll just hey that's great let's do it. Well after they finish with their little sales pitch I tell them nice try and ask them to talk real numbers. Here is what my trade is really worth ( like 8,0000 under what he said ) and this is what the new ones are selling for...... Salesman says that's great were both on the same page now, I'll get with the boss and get back with you. No response back.... I understand it's better to be there in person and that's how I've always bought campers but if your gonna have the website and call me back let's take it to the end and see what happens.

Unless buying on line I like to visit RV dealer. I don't start talking price. You can waste hours listening to razzle dazzle. If the dealer appears to be one you can work with do the math at home. Call them back with an offer. If they don't call back move on. Some dealers won't budge on price, others will. If you have it down to one RV get on line. Have them email equipment sheet of items installed.

Play the game and see where it ends up.Even though you are playing with inflated numbers, it is the bottom line that actually matters.If after all their inflated values and discounts you end up where you want to be, make the deal.

NJRVer wrote:Play the game and see where it ends up.Even though you are playing with inflated numbers, it is the bottom line that actually matters.If after all their inflated values and discounts you end up where you want to be, make the deal.That's the key. Play the game and see where it goes. See if their final number matches yours. Negotiate from that point.

You probably won't hear back. The salesman is off to the next person,looking for an buyer who is NOT informed.You know too much.

Who cares if they are giving you $8,000.00 for your trade, it's the Out The Door price that really matters... To win the game , you have to play the game ...

RV Salesman | Good Sam Community

x96mnn
Explorer
Sep 23, 2014
abc40kids wrote:
x96mnn wrote:
Personally I think most get caught up in their own perception of the numbers game. I do not care if the msrp of a rig is 60k and they are willing to give me 40k for mine or, cut me a super deal on the msrp of 40k but really my rig is only worth 20k. I do my negotiation on the back end after the price is on the table. I set a price that the new rig is worth over my trade in, if based on what I see online the new rig is selling for and what mine is selling for and negotiate from there. I do not care what they show on paper, if for me to be happy and them to be happy they need to show 60k and my trade of 42k for me to be happy at 18k so be it, why should I care?

I'm with you.... They can give me whatever they want for my trade as long as the final number is where I want it to be. This last guy that I emailed and he called back was definitely playing the let's make your trade look good game!! I told him what I thought my 5er was worth (trade in value) and also told him what I wanted to give him for his new 5er. His answer was ok, let's see what the boss says...

I'll move on to the next dealer, this last guy must be too busy or the boss said no and he just said the heck with it.

I do not get the sales guys these days, I am not sure if the industry is up so much they do not need to hustle, or they place a read on things based on their experiance and do not bother with the ones they think are low chance sales. When I worked sales selling satellite dishs back in the 90s you worked every lead to the bitter end.
abc40kids
Explorer
Sep 20, 2014
x96mnn wrote:
Personally I think most get caught up in their own perception of the numbers game. I do not care if the msrp of a rig is 60k and they are willing to give me 40k for mine or, cut me a super deal on the msrp of 40k but really my rig is only worth 20k. I do my negotiation on the back end after the price is on the table. I set a price that the new rig is worth over my trade in, if based on what I see online the new rig is selling for and what mine is selling for and negotiate from there. I do not care what they show on paper, if for me to be happy and them to be happy they need to show 60k and my trade of 42k for me to be happy at 18k so be it, why should I care?

I'm with you.... They can give me whatever they want for my trade as long as the final number is where I want it to be. This last guy that I emailed and he called back was definitely playing the let's make your trade look good game!! I told him what I thought my 5er was worth (trade in value) and also told him what I wanted to give him for his new 5er. His answer was ok, let's see what the boss says...

I'll move on to the next dealer, this last guy must be too busy or the boss said no and he just said the heck with it.
x96mnn
Explorer
Sep 20, 2014
Personally I think most get caught up in their own perception of the numbers game. I do not care if the msrp of a rig is 60k and they are willing to give me 40k for mine or, cut me a super deal on the msrp of 40k but really my rig is only worth 20k. I do my negotiation on the back end after the price is on the table. I set a price that the new rig is worth over my trade in, if based on what I see online the new rig is selling for and what mine is selling for and negotiate from there. I do not care what they show on paper, if for me to be happy and them to be happy they need to show 60k and my trade of 42k for me to be happy at 18k so be it, why should I care?
laknox
Nomad
Sep 20, 2014
B.O. Plenty wrote:
You will never get the upper hand when negotiating. You will never beat the salesperson at their own game. They have heard it all and seen it all. Be honest and do the best you can. The salesperson has negotiated hundreds maybe thousands of deals...How many new vehicles/RVs have you bought? Maybe 10?? Who do you think has the "home field advantage"?...They have to make a profit to stay in business. If you don't get the best deal you think you can get move on and try the next place. Maybe you can do better, maybe not. Salespeople don't always bend over backwards if they don't think you're a serious buyer..

B.O.

The problem is that the new RV business is simply dishonest from the get-go because the manufacturers allow it to be so. How can you say =any= dealer is honest when 2 identical RVs can have an "MSRP" thousands of $ apart? I'm not talking about the add-on b.s., but the base "MSRP". Hell, I've priced out a FW on a manufacturer's site, got an "MSRP", then looked around and found the "MSRP" for the identical rig at 8 or 10 dealers around the country and only 3 or 4 of them agreed with the "build your RV" price at the manufacturer's site.

Lyle
laknox
Nomad
Sep 20, 2014
FrankShore wrote:
Put all the dealers on the cc: line (Make sure they all know that they're all receiving the same email) and ask them point blank, I'm ready to buy - which one of you can give me the best price?

Be nice to do, provided you can get the names of dealers > 250 miles from your location without having to spend several days going through every damn zip code in the country to ferret them out from the mfrs's web sites.

Lyle
laknox
Nomad
Sep 20, 2014
abc40kids wrote:
ford truck guy wrote:
Who cares if they are giving you $8,000.00 for your trade, it's the Out The Door price that really matters... To win the game , you have to play the game ...

I don't care if they want to give me $8000.00 over what mines really worth and make it up on the other end. My point was call me back. I simply told the salesman what I wanted for my trade and what I thought his unit should sell for. You can't play the game if they won't play! Like already said this and most salesman would prefer to move on to the next guy that will fall for the "he have me more than my camper was worth" only to get hammered anyway.

Why not sell your current rig yourself and go in with an all-cash deal? Now, a game a guy at church got into was that the all-cash price was about $20k =more= than a financed price (no trade) with ZERO interest for 1 year. What the hell, he financed it. Then the dealer, Camping World, pissed him off after about 3 months, so he just sent them a check and paid it off with no penalty. Add on top of this, a huge list of small warranty issues, and it's been sitting =inside= Camping World's shop for 9-10 months of the almost year he's owned it, except when he calls them and tells them to finish up whatever they're currently fixing as he's going camping in a week. Free indoor storage for almost a whole year! :-)

Lyle
B_O__Plenty
Explorer II
Sep 20, 2014
You will never get the upper hand when negotiating. You will never beat the salesperson at their own game. They have heard it all and seen it all. Be honest and do the best you can. The salesperson has negotiated hundreds maybe thousands of deals...How many new vehicles/RVs have you bought? Maybe 10?? Who do you think has the "home field advantage"?...They have to make a profit to stay in business. If you don't get the best deal you think you can get move on and try the next place. Maybe you can do better, maybe not. Salespeople don't always bend over backwards if they don't think you're a serious buyer..

B.O.
guidry
Explorer
Sep 20, 2014
My 2nd call would be to the sales manager. You show interest and his employee doesn't call you, he needs to know and get you started with a different salesman who does what he says.
kcmoedoe
Explorer
Sep 20, 2014
Robin1953 wrote:
camp-n-family wrote:
Work the deal and settle on a price first, then introduce the trade. Never start with all your cards on the table.
Every time I tried that one they always say...Oh that is a whole new ball game. Where do you find a dealer that will do this?
Agree 100%. That's because it is a whole new ballgame. What are you going to do when the dealer says: "Hey, we negotiated a fair deal on the new rig and you agreed to it. Let's get that deal, that you agreed to, signed, sealed and delivered and then we will be more than willing to make you an offer on the other vehicle you own." Seems like you choices would be to finish that deal with no trade (unlikely) or fess up that you are a liar, and there really is a trade that has to be taken into consideration before you can buy. Everyone claims the dealership personnel are nothing but a lot of liars, but apparently it is OK for the buyer to be deceptive if it serves their purposes. That's why buying a vehicle is always a negotiation between two parties who distrust one another. Both sides tend to lie, even when the truth is easier.
Robin1953
Explorer
Sep 19, 2014
camp-n-family wrote:
Work the deal and settle on a price first, then introduce the trade. Never start with all your cards on the table.
Every time I tried that one they always say...Oh that is a whole new ball game. Where do you find a dealer that will do this?

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