Best place and time of year to get deals on new RV

When we bought our Hybrid TT, we bought it at a show. The dealer was selling it at wholesale pricing. The MSRP of the trailer was a little over $21k and got the trailer for $15k. After getting the price at the show, we went home and compared that to RV Wholesalers online and found the show dealer's price to be within $500 of the RV Wholesalers' price. So we bought it at the show. The dealer told us they only sale at Wholesale price at shows.

We went to the Tampa RV show this past January and did not see the same steep discounts. We looked at a lot of RVs and we were not impressed with the discounts. For example, we looked at the current version of our Greyhawk 31FS. Ours is a 2009 and bought it new in 2009 off a dealer's lot. The MSRP was just over $91k, we paid just under $68k. On the 2014 Greyhawk 31FS, MSRP was about $115k and the show price was $102k. Not much of a discount and there wasn't even that much upgrades in 5 years to warrant the $24k increase in price.

-Michael

I got 33% off MSRP on my custom order TT in peak season. When I visit RV shows, I do not think the listed sales prices are better than any other time of the year. People at RV shows buy on emotion and generally pay a little more than those carefully planning and researching. Visit RV shows to learn about floorplans and what brands offer the quality and features you want. Once you narrow it down to a floorplan or two, you'll find about 10 brands offering a similar one with varied quality, materials, and features. Get quote from the so called wholesale RV dealers in the mid west and compare to your local dealers. Very few people beat the prices at a handful of dealers in the nation. Those wholesale dealers sell more custom orders than dealer lot RVs and people pay the least. Win Win, if you re close.

You can get 2014's cheaper when the 2015's start shipping. Just like with cars, manufacturers offer dealers rebates to get rid of their old stock. For example, Fleetwood is now shipping 2015s and so they are closing out the 2014s. We got an amazing deal on our 2014 Bounder recently. A few years ago, we got a great deal on a Jayco tt (More than 35% off MSRP on both).

Buy used between Halloween and the end of January.

Dealers claim they get "Specials" from the manufacturers for RV shows but my experience is that you always get a better deal away from the shows. There are a lot of folks buying at the show and the dealer is less willing to make a deal work than when you are the only one on their lot on a rainy Wednesday at the end of the month.

In reality, the best time to buy is when you find the rig that you want. Most dealers will work with you to get to where you need to go. Emailing them ahead of time working one dealer against another generally gets you a good deal but you need to know where to start. 25-35% off MSRP is a good place to begin from but often the MSRP is a bogus number. Some online sleuthing may help you get a good MSRP from the manufacturer. Of course all this advice is good for new RVs. On used, it is tough to start but after lots of comparison shopping and using the NADA pricing as a guide you won't come out too badly.

There are lots of forces at work as to when to buy. Fall is when you might get a good price but inventory is down so it may be hard to find the one that you want. In Spring the inventory is up but so are prices. For these reasons I think the best time to buy is when you find the one you want.

Usually when buying new, get bids on a specific unit with specific options and styles of interiors from multiple sellers by e mailing them. They should respond to you from all over the country with prices reflective of there desire to sell at low prices depending on sales and inventory. Explain to them your financial arrangements like trade ins and your prequalified credit worthiness and or cash down. Most places will have transporters that will deliver. As to time, end of month, and at springtime in south and fall in north.