Negotiating tips
Well, we've got the bug for a new or lightly used class A, but one thing that is holding me back (other than the financial aspects) is the negotiation process with a dealer. I absolutely dread it. I...
Forum Discussion
Since we are sharing stories...
I negotiated a purchase on line with a dealer 500 miles away. The offer was subject to our approving each others coaches, but we arrived at a decent trade price. Do your research so you know both figures and above all DON'T LIE to YOURSELF. Be brutally honest as to what your coach is worth. That said, we flew to AZ and inspected their coach. It was not exactly as he had described...pictures do lie!, so we passed on the deal. While we were there, though, DW saw this beautiful Executive on his lot. "Let's go look at that one, honey" she says...Uh oh! says I. The Dynasty as a 42', 400 Cummins...the Exec 45' with 525 Cummins. "We can't afford that one" I countered. "We're here", she said simply. You know how this ends....right?...so I get the salesman and we look at the coach. It's everything we wanted, so I made him the same offer as the Dynasty. He scoffed and said "We can't sell it for that!" I thanked him, told him he had my number if anything else came up, and we left.
A month later, he calls and asked if we were still interested in a coach. The conversation went something like this:
Me: What have you got?
He: I still have that Exec, make me an offer.
Me: I already made you an offer.
He: I can't sell it for that.
Me: Then why are you calling.
He: I thought you might come up in your price.
Me: Oh! well I'll tell you what I can do...I'll up my offer by $5k but you throw in an extended warranty because I haven't driven the coach.
He: I don't know, I'll have to talk to some people about that.
Me: Talk to the Pope if you like, just don't call me unless we have a deal. Call ended.
A week later I get a call back...."How soon can you get here with your coach".
Me: Not so fast, Keemosabe...I've upped the ante a bit. I want you to put EVERYTHING into a contract offer and have it SIGNED then email it to me. If everything is as agreed, I'll sign it, send you a small deposit and drive out next weekend. Received everything the next morning and drove out that Friday after work.
My advice: Do your homework/research beforehand. If you see a coach that interests you, and you have not done your research, DO NOT NEGOTIATE. Either low ball them and walk when they refuse or simply tell them you like the coach but will get back to them. Either way, do not negotiate until you've done your research!..In my case, I called Monaco from the dealer's lot and had them email me the build sheet on the Exec before I negotiated with the salesman. MSRP on our coach was $585,735. It was a little over a year old and a repo., so I knew the dealer had gotten a pretty good deal. My offer was a third of that, cash, so I really didn't care that I hadn't researched it much. If he sold it to me for that I was still far ahead.
Do your research and ALWAYS remember, YOU are in the cat bird's seat. YOU don't have to BUY, HE doesn't get paid until the coach is SOLD.....good luck...Dennis
I negotiated a purchase on line with a dealer 500 miles away. The offer was subject to our approving each others coaches, but we arrived at a decent trade price. Do your research so you know both figures and above all DON'T LIE to YOURSELF. Be brutally honest as to what your coach is worth. That said, we flew to AZ and inspected their coach. It was not exactly as he had described...pictures do lie!, so we passed on the deal. While we were there, though, DW saw this beautiful Executive on his lot. "Let's go look at that one, honey" she says...Uh oh! says I. The Dynasty as a 42', 400 Cummins...the Exec 45' with 525 Cummins. "We can't afford that one" I countered. "We're here", she said simply. You know how this ends....right?...so I get the salesman and we look at the coach. It's everything we wanted, so I made him the same offer as the Dynasty. He scoffed and said "We can't sell it for that!" I thanked him, told him he had my number if anything else came up, and we left.
A month later, he calls and asked if we were still interested in a coach. The conversation went something like this:
Me: What have you got?
He: I still have that Exec, make me an offer.
Me: I already made you an offer.
He: I can't sell it for that.
Me: Then why are you calling.
He: I thought you might come up in your price.
Me: Oh! well I'll tell you what I can do...I'll up my offer by $5k but you throw in an extended warranty because I haven't driven the coach.
He: I don't know, I'll have to talk to some people about that.
Me: Talk to the Pope if you like, just don't call me unless we have a deal. Call ended.
A week later I get a call back...."How soon can you get here with your coach".
Me: Not so fast, Keemosabe...I've upped the ante a bit. I want you to put EVERYTHING into a contract offer and have it SIGNED then email it to me. If everything is as agreed, I'll sign it, send you a small deposit and drive out next weekend. Received everything the next morning and drove out that Friday after work.
My advice: Do your homework/research beforehand. If you see a coach that interests you, and you have not done your research, DO NOT NEGOTIATE. Either low ball them and walk when they refuse or simply tell them you like the coach but will get back to them. Either way, do not negotiate until you've done your research!..In my case, I called Monaco from the dealer's lot and had them email me the build sheet on the Exec before I negotiated with the salesman. MSRP on our coach was $585,735. It was a little over a year old and a repo., so I knew the dealer had gotten a pretty good deal. My offer was a third of that, cash, so I really didn't care that I hadn't researched it much. If he sold it to me for that I was still far ahead.
Do your research and ALWAYS remember, YOU are in the cat bird's seat. YOU don't have to BUY, HE doesn't get paid until the coach is SOLD.....good luck...Dennis
