RV Shipping Fees

West Coast RV dealers generally pad the shipping costs.
it's a way for them to lower the price but get it back by claiming inflated shipping costs.

big reason why we drove from NorCal to Chicago to get our HTT. saved a bunch of money and made a camping trip out of the return trip.

companies like RVW will meet you anywhere inbetween if you want to save on the shipping costs. if we had bought from them, we would have cut the shipping costs in half, if we had met them halfway in Wyoming.

OK my friends. I appreciate all of the responses. Very prompt forum.

I am now very educated on RV shipping costs. Thanks for all.

Oldred75 in Oregon....Have a great week.

Yes, the dealer does pay the shipping cost (not the mfg) and for us on the West Coast, we pay more since the majority of rigs are made in Indiana and brought to the west coast literally one at a time, so there's a lot of gas to buy for the more than 2,000 mile haul. When I was shopping for my new trailer, I got quotes from RVwholsalers.com and RVdirect.com and both had shipping prices of $2,500 to $3,000 to my door. They're both back east and the trip was about 2,000 miles or more to the west coast. Even with the shipping cost, both of them had the best prices by far. Long story short, I got a local dealer to match their deal and I ordered the rig.

So you're not necessarily getting ripped off by the dealer when they add shipping just be carefull that they don't pad it too much and look at the overal "package deal" as noted by others above.

Carriers I have spoken with use $1.50 per mile keeping in mind they get paid one way only. Sometimes the carrier will make arrangements to tow something back to the area they started from and may adjust the fees for towing the original unit somewhat.

Our local dealer was 1266 miles away from the factory when we ordered our unit. The dealer quoted us $1900 for transportation costs. If I had picked the unit up from the factory, the following would have been my estimated costs:

Fuel both directions, 100 gallons x $4.25 = $425
Two nights in motel x $90 per night = $180
Tolls both ways = $ 40
Meals for five days = (usually eat any way) $000
Vehicle depreciation, .25 per mile x 1266 = $317
Five days vacation time used up = $1620

Estimate total for me to do delivery = $2157

It was a bargain for me to have the local dealer arrange for our RV delivery to the dealership for $1900.

Your estimated delivery costs may be more or less depending on distance, fuel consumption, motel fees, tolls, vehicles depreciation / ware & tear rate, whether or not you are still employed or retired and how you value your free time. Put the numbers together and decide for yourself what is the best for you. Enjoy your new RV.

Lakeside

Halmfamily wrote:
Get the "out the door" price from a couple of dealers. This should include everything from taxes, shiiping fees, dealer prep fees, etc. Much easier to compare this way. Good luck

X2
Don

On RVs the shiping fee is usually on the dealer's invoice rather than the manufacturer's MSRP label, because the cost varies with distance and weight. This is a departure from the auto industry practice of averaging shipping cost over the entire model production regardless of distance, and including it in the manufacturer's sticker.

Thus if you buy a car from a plant in Flint or Acapulco, you see the same shipping cost whether you are in Los Angeles, NYC, or Detroit, but if you buy a RV you should see the actual cost of moving it from the factory to the dealer. $3000 sounds way out of line, however, unless the thing was made in Europe or Asia and shipped to N. America.

The carriers are getting something around, usually less than $1 a mile currently.

Sounds like the best deal would be to pick it up. It is unlikely the manufacturer pays the freight, and usually, especially with a special order the rig would be brought out by a drive-away service. Ask the dealer what the best price would be if you picked it up and what if they brought it to you. The three grand would pay for a lot of fuel on your leisure trip back.

Shipping/freight charges are part of the DEALERS BOTTOM FIGURE. a FEW YEARS AGO i WAS MAKING A DEAL ON A NEW FIVER IN mESA az - ON A UNIT TO BE BUILT TO MY SPECS. aS WE WERE ABOUT TO SIGN i ASKED THE SALES GAL - "wHAT CAN i SAVE IF i DRIVE TO iNDIANA WHEN IT IS READY"? sHE LOOKED IT UP AND TOOK $3500 OFF THE PRICE. % WEEKS LATE WE HAD A GREAT VACATION TO PICK UP OUR NEW RIG. gOT TO VISIT A COUSIN IN in THAT i HAD NOT SEEN IN ABOUT 35 YEARS!!
Ooops - please excuse the caps. Thick fingers accidently hit the caps key!

Shipping / freight will usually be added at the end to the price. Different makes will cost more depending how far the dealer is from the RVs factory. Just like buying a car there is a shipping/ freight fee. The buyer usually pays the cost. Ours ran about $1300 we are about 500 miles from the factory. (Basically there is a per mile fee charged by the shipping company to the dealer). Having said that we knew the fee up front while making the "deal" on the trailer.

There should not be a dealer prep fee, but I am sure a few dealer charge one.

Sounds to me like the 3 grand is a nice way to pad up the sale price. Shop around and get the total price you need to write the check for. That will give you the best answer...

B.O.