First Time Buyer...Updated 03/06/2006
This post is intended to be helpful to the first time buyer of a motor home. For those of you who don't fall into that category or believe this post is incomplete or off the mark, do us all a favor, a...
Forum Discussion
Very well written post, JohnnyT.
We just purchased our first Class A today! We had done MONTHS of research, been inside at least 200 RVs (no exaggeration!) Been to at least 20 dealerships, countless websites, pretty much all the things you mentioned. We had a top and bottom price decided. As many have suggested, even though we knew exactly what we wanted (and had found it) we were willing to WALK AWAY if the dealer wouldn't meet our price. (Save the jumping up and down for joy until after you've signed the paperwork!) We had previously owned 2 trailers, so we did have some idea of the features we wanted, but I also agree that thinking things through, going through the motions of preparing a meal, where will both of you stand/be when dressing in the morning, can we watch TV comfortably, etc is great advice.
Must say I am surprised to hear of (and had never before) a charge for PDI. Had that in both of the previous campers and a charge was never even brought up... Also, those that think your list is too long or unrealistic- it all depends on how important these things are to you. We did not purchase what most would consider a luxury$$$ model, but I will (quite happily) say that we got EVERYTHING on our list in this unit! We are going to fulltime in about 6 weeks, so our list was very important to us. Had this been a 'weekender' purchase, I wouldn't have done nearly as much planning, plotting, searching, sweating, worrying, etc!
I'd also like to say thank you for the posts about price and negotiation. I know we paid less than we would have if we hadn't had this forum as a resource. It's great! Thanks!
We just purchased our first Class A today! We had done MONTHS of research, been inside at least 200 RVs (no exaggeration!) Been to at least 20 dealerships, countless websites, pretty much all the things you mentioned. We had a top and bottom price decided. As many have suggested, even though we knew exactly what we wanted (and had found it) we were willing to WALK AWAY if the dealer wouldn't meet our price. (Save the jumping up and down for joy until after you've signed the paperwork!) We had previously owned 2 trailers, so we did have some idea of the features we wanted, but I also agree that thinking things through, going through the motions of preparing a meal, where will both of you stand/be when dressing in the morning, can we watch TV comfortably, etc is great advice.
Must say I am surprised to hear of (and had never before) a charge for PDI. Had that in both of the previous campers and a charge was never even brought up... Also, those that think your list is too long or unrealistic- it all depends on how important these things are to you. We did not purchase what most would consider a luxury$$$ model, but I will (quite happily) say that we got EVERYTHING on our list in this unit! We are going to fulltime in about 6 weeks, so our list was very important to us. Had this been a 'weekender' purchase, I wouldn't have done nearly as much planning, plotting, searching, sweating, worrying, etc!
I'd also like to say thank you for the posts about price and negotiation. I know we paid less than we would have if we hadn't had this forum as a resource. It's great! Thanks!
