Forum Discussion

Mike_E_'s avatar
Mike_E_
Explorer II
Feb 11, 2016

MSRP question....

OK....I think it's a pretty well know fact that MSRP's for RV's are pretty much up to the dealer to dream up.....correct me if I'm wrong here.

Question is, when looking to buy a trailer do you use the dealer MSRP as a starting point or use the number that all dealers post as their "sale" price.

I've researched a certain model and even though each MSRP is different, the posted price seems to average out the same.

The 'sale' price is what I applied my 35% off offer to a dealer, and my goodness it was like I had kicked him square in the butt, with him saying, "You're asking for over $20K off our sale price when it's already 20% off MSRP"

I explained that even though my offer was aggressive I was basing it on what the average posted price for the unit is.....no response as of yet from him :)

Anyway, some clarification would be appreciated.

Thanks

14 Replies

  • Like me you have another consideration, the exchange rate. We got a great deal a couple of months ago. I think the reason we got a good deal was timing. We purchased when the dealer was slow. We purchased a unit they had in inventory. Maybe they bought it when our dollar was higher. They also gave us a good trade value because of our weak currency at the time. We shopped around and found quite a difference between dealers. Based on the currency exchange at the time and US list price we realized a discount of more than 30%
    Good luck.
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    I use the MSRP that the manufacturer publishes as a guide but then I research dealers prices on the same or similar units to get a scope of what they are selling for. If I find a unit that I am actually wanting to buy, I will make an offer to my dealer of choice and take it from there.

    Fortunately I have many RVing friends who I can also bounce costs off of relative to their units.

    Essentially I learned over my many years of buying 'stuff' that the lowest price is not ncessarily the best overall value. Things like after-sales service and accessories often come into play.
  • I would average all the MSRP's you see for the model with the options you want. You can't average an MSRP for a base trailer with the MSRP's of fully loaded optioned out trailer. Once you get an average and they should all be within a few thousand of each other start at 35% off this number and go from there.
  • I used this as a starting point then shopped other dealers, internet dealers, etc. until I came to a price that I thought was fair for both of us.