Deposit on MH purchase?

msmith1199 wrote:

Rwake901 wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

Rwake901 wrote:
We had to leave $2000.00 on our first motorhome and $3000.00 on our current one. I was told that the money was non-refundable on both Motorhomes. If we canceled the order/deal for any reason our deposit would be lost.

I would have walked out the door and said no thanks. Even if they are ordering the motorhome for me I want the ability to walk away from the deal if something comes up that I don't like.

But can you really expect a dealer to order a new motorhome for you decked out the way you want it, without putting a deposit down? It would be to easy for anyone to back out. Then when it comes in the dealer is stuck with it. Dealers would end up with so many units they couldn't sell, all by customers ordering and then backing out...

Yup, that's what I would expect if they want my sale. Otherwise I wouldn't buy it. Now if I'm buying completely custom with custom paint and monogramed leather and that type of thing, then yeah I would expect to put up a non-refundable deposit.

So there is something special about your "maybe" sale that allows you to spend the dealers $100,000, or so, to order something to see if you like it and may purchase? Obviously, never been in business. You may find a dealer to do that when he needs to order a unit anyway and it might as well be the way a possible customer likes it. Otherwise, you better buy it in a hurry because he is not going to be in business long.

Rwake901 wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

Rwake901 wrote:
We had to leave $2000.00 on our first motorhome and $3000.00 on our current one. I was told that the money was non-refundable on both Motorhomes. If we canceled the order/deal for any reason our deposit would be lost.

I would have walked out the door and said no thanks. Even if they are ordering the motorhome for me I want the ability to walk away from the deal if something comes up that I don't like.

But can you really expect a dealer to order a new motorhome for you decked out the way you want it, without putting a deposit down? It would be to easy for anyone to back out. Then when it comes in the dealer is stuck with it. Dealers would end up with so many units they couldn't sell, all by customers ordering and then backing out...

Yup, that's what I would expect if they want my sale. Otherwise I wouldn't buy it. Now if I'm buying completely custom with custom paint and monogramed leather and that type of thing, then yeah I would expect to put up a non-refundable deposit.

We put $500.00 down on each unit we bought from the Hybrid to the TT to the Class C to the Class A we just bought this month. I think of the deposit as an acto of goodwill. If you are wanting the GM to sharpen his/her pencil and try and chisel them down on the price, at least be willing to cough up a small deposit to let them know they are not wasting their time with you. I was asked by the salesperson for a deposit and told explicitly it is just to show we are serious about buying and that if it didn't ultimately work out to our satisfaction we got our money back. Of course, ours was an in-stock unit.

The last one we special ordered and after filling all the forms out the salesman as for a $5K deposit and we told him no but would give a $1K deposit on our credit card. He came back after a few minutes shaking his head and told us a deposit was not needed as the manager told him - if we said we were going to buy we would and all they needed was a signature on the special order form.

derouen6 wrote:
What is "average or normal " deposit when purchasing a new MH?
Are most deposits refundable ?
I realize they will vary from dealer to dealer.

msmith1199 wrote:

Rwake901 wrote:
We had to leave $2000.00 on our first motorhome and $3000.00 on our current one. I was told that the money was non-refundable on both Motorhomes. If we canceled the order/deal for any reason our deposit would be lost.

I would have walked out the door and said no thanks. Even if they are ordering the motorhome for me I want the ability to walk away from the deal if something comes up that I don't like.

But can you really expect a dealer to order a new motorhome for you decked out the way you want it, without putting a deposit down? It would be to easy for anyone to back out. Then when it comes in the dealer is stuck with it. Dealers would end up with so many units they couldn't sell, all by customers ordering and then backing out...

Yes it works both way Jallen, but the correct thing to do is not put down a deposit until you're ready to buy the unit you're putting the deposit on. When you buy a motorhome do you go to all the dealers and pick your favorite unit and put a deposit on your favorite at every dealer? I don't think it works that way. The deposit is usually done once you've picked the unit you want and while they process the paperwork and set up financing etc. I think I put my deposit down and then completed the paperwork and had the financing in place two days later. Or if you are at a show and you find a unit you want, you would put a deposit on it to hold it until after the show when you can purchase it.

So, you walk into a RV store and find a unit you really like. You offer them the normal RV Net 50% discount and they accept it. You give them a $500 refundable credit card deposit and leave so you can shop to find a better price.

An hour later, someone else finds the unit you are looking at and having not read RV Net, thinks a 10% discount is just peachy. They are willing to close the deal on the spot and take it home.

Now, does the dealer take the second guy's money or tell him sorry I have a refundable deposit from another person who is trying to decide whether he wants to buy or not? If the deposit is 100% refundable for any reason, does that work both ways...dealer and customer?

My second MH we went to an RV show in Port Huron, MI with no intention of buying anything. DW found one she loved. They gladly accepted the $20. I had in my pocket. My next MH was from a different dealer (General RV), same salesman and we didn't need a deposit. He even sent a van across the Detroit area to pick us up so we could ride home together.

I have never given a deposit on any rv I have bought. I had one give me the "what happens if someone else makes an offer on it" bit and I told him that I was looking for a trailer when I found this one and could still keep looking if someone else wanted it. On the next one we bought, they asked for a deposit to hold it when they had three of the same model on the lot. Nope, that wasn't gonna happen either.

Something to add to the above, if you give a company money and they have not delivered the product to you yet, and they go bankrupt, they legally cannot give you your money back even if they have it. Once they file the bankruptcy you become a creditor and you're only going to get paid back through the approval of the bankruptcy court. And you'll get put in line based on the type of creditor you are. Having a deposit on merchandise not delivered actually puts you high on the list. You are above any of the companies non-secured debt like their own credit cards. But other things are ahead of you. Like employees salary is ahead of you, all the tax agencies are ahead of you, and secured debt is ahead of you like mortgages on the buildings. So once all those people get paid with the remaining assets of the company, then you get yours. So that means, you won't get yours because if the company had money to pay all those debts they probably wouldn't be bankrupt to begin with.