Contemplating a 5th Wheel
Hello all,
I am considering buying a 5th wheel sometime in the next year or two and was hoping I could get some advice on how to determine the right price.
I went to a local dealer (La Mesa RV) recently and asked about price and the salesman told me that they are primarily a high volume dealer, so they intentionally price the RV's low and there isn't a lot of room for negotiation. I've read from several sources that you should automatically take off a minimum of 20-25% from the price, but what I'm wondering is if this is the invoice price, or MSRP?
For instance, I was looking at a Heatland Sundance that had a declared MSRP of $57,300 and a list price of $39, 998, which is a discount of ~29% off MSRP, if I did my math right. Is it feasible to ask for another 20-25% off of $40,000?
Also, I'm sure you've all been asked this a thousand times, but I am looking at tow vehicles and have a couple questions about towing capacity.
The trailers I've been looking at are all under 15,000 gvwr, if not under 14k. and a dry hitch weight of around 2-3k lbs. Based on this info, I've been looking at GMC/Chevrolet 3500 HD 4x4 with a standard 6.5' bed in a SRW configuration. The questions I have are:
Does the hitch weight factor into the maximum payload weight? I assume so, but want to be sure.
Is there a way to calculate how much the hitch weight increases as you add cargo/fluids?
How much propane do people take and how much does it weigh when full?
How much weight should I expect in cargo for 1 week trips? I realize this varies greatly, but I'm thinking kitchen essentials, food, clothing, toiletries, etc. All the things we would need to vacation for a week.
The truck I'm looking at has the following specs:
GM 3500 4x4:
GCWR - 24500
GVWR - 11500
Payload - 4264
Max tow - 17100
I should be able to stay within these limits, but curious what other people think of these tow ratings? We won't be spending more than a week or two at a time in the trailer on our longest trips, so I can't imagine we'll be adding a significant amount of weight, but I'm really not sure. After adding water and propane, is it pretty easy to rack up 2,000 lbs of weight (assuming water/propane take up 1k which is conservative).
I am sure these questions have been asked, but I didn't have a lot of luck searching. Any advise you all can provide would be extremely appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian
I am considering buying a 5th wheel sometime in the next year or two and was hoping I could get some advice on how to determine the right price.
I went to a local dealer (La Mesa RV) recently and asked about price and the salesman told me that they are primarily a high volume dealer, so they intentionally price the RV's low and there isn't a lot of room for negotiation. I've read from several sources that you should automatically take off a minimum of 20-25% from the price, but what I'm wondering is if this is the invoice price, or MSRP?
For instance, I was looking at a Heatland Sundance that had a declared MSRP of $57,300 and a list price of $39, 998, which is a discount of ~29% off MSRP, if I did my math right. Is it feasible to ask for another 20-25% off of $40,000?
Also, I'm sure you've all been asked this a thousand times, but I am looking at tow vehicles and have a couple questions about towing capacity.
The trailers I've been looking at are all under 15,000 gvwr, if not under 14k. and a dry hitch weight of around 2-3k lbs. Based on this info, I've been looking at GMC/Chevrolet 3500 HD 4x4 with a standard 6.5' bed in a SRW configuration. The questions I have are:
Does the hitch weight factor into the maximum payload weight? I assume so, but want to be sure.
Is there a way to calculate how much the hitch weight increases as you add cargo/fluids?
How much propane do people take and how much does it weigh when full?
How much weight should I expect in cargo for 1 week trips? I realize this varies greatly, but I'm thinking kitchen essentials, food, clothing, toiletries, etc. All the things we would need to vacation for a week.
The truck I'm looking at has the following specs:
GM 3500 4x4:
GCWR - 24500
GVWR - 11500
Payload - 4264
Max tow - 17100
I should be able to stay within these limits, but curious what other people think of these tow ratings? We won't be spending more than a week or two at a time in the trailer on our longest trips, so I can't imagine we'll be adding a significant amount of weight, but I'm really not sure. After adding water and propane, is it pretty easy to rack up 2,000 lbs of weight (assuming water/propane take up 1k which is conservative).
I am sure these questions have been asked, but I didn't have a lot of luck searching. Any advise you all can provide would be extremely appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian
