Purchasing an RV - negotiating a sale price

bobndot wrote:
I think it would depend on the dealer and how its doing. Some dealers have an inventory that's financed . Those units need to be sold to make loan payments . I would think they will do a deal to make a sale but buying from inventory will probably get you a better deal.

Not necessarily true. A dealer gets his trailer allotment from the manufacturer and has to sell that unit for as much money as he can to stay in business. He'll special order one for you and YOU get to wait out the 8 weeks to take delivery. Your unit doesn't affect his allotment.
If he sells you the unit sitting on the lot at a bare-bones price, HE has to wait for his turn to get another trailer to sell while you're out camping.

Factory orders are still negotiable. Factory orders are nice because the dealer still gets to make money, but doesn't have to worry about any of the carrying cost for the unit to sit on the lot. They might be more motivated to negotiate on inventory they have on hand though. Find the used price for the trailer first. That will be how much your trailer is worth once you drive it off of the lot. Use that as your target price. There's a good chance you won't hit that price. There's shipping costs and whatnot plus the dealer has to make some money for making it available to you, but it will give you an idea of what you should be shooting for.

dadmomh wrote:
No, you should still be able to negotiate a price. CA tends to be higher priced than most places. The general rule of thumb is around 30%+ off MSRP, which by the way, is a mostly fictional number. Not like the MSRP when buying a car. But, doubt that you're going to be that lucky in CA. A friend on both RVNet and Hybrid Explorer drove from northern CA to Chi to get their hybrid and after trip expenses were about $4000 ahead. We did the same from West TN to RVWholesalers in OH. On our hybrid we were about $4000 ahead and more on our TT. The one thing you can do to possibly help is to gather info and pricing from places like RVW or RVDirect, assuming they sell the model you are interested in, and use it as a bargaining tool. You might decide to turn delivery into a little vacation....or not....but your local dealer doesn't need to know that. Shoot for 30%. Good luck, it's a frustrating experience. And remember DO NOT believe everything a salesman tells you.....often they have no clue and the rest of the time it's for THEIR benefit.

I did the same thing in 2012. Made an offer on Black Friday, and drove from L.A. to Chi in 3 days... $1200 in fuel and rooms later, I was about $5000 ahead on my travel trailer, less the 1200 in expenses/which for me, I turned it into a road trip vacation. Davenport IA was 11F the morning I left my first overnighter at WalMart, rough on a guy who has lived his whole life frost free in So CA.

I was in the market for a new travel trailer. I wanted a specific model Jayco Eagle with specific option. I went online to RV Direct and picked out the model with desired options.

When I received the quote via email, I went to a Jayco dealer near me with the quote. The dealer met the price right to the penny.

IF you order an RV, and get special options. I'm betting you agreed on the price BEFORE the RV was ordered. So, You will have to pay the already agreed upon price when it arrives. They will not order you a customized RV and then negotiate a price when it comes.

Decide how much you want to spend on a rv including wanted options and make an offer.


Too many potential rv buyers are overly concerned about how much the dealer is willing to reduce his price. After researching the value of the rv you want, control the deal by make a "fair" offer and if dealer agrees, go with it.

I think it would depend on the dealer and how its doing .
Some dealers have an inventory that's financed . Those units need to be sold to make loan payments . I would think they will do a deal to make a sale but buying from inventory will probably get you a better deal . I think the term is floor planning .

this is taken from a finance thread:

What is floor plan financing?

Answer:

Floor plan financing is a revolving line of credit that allows the borrower to obtain financing for retail goods. These loans are made against a specific piece of collateral (i.e. an auto, RV, manufactured home, etc.). When each piece of collateral is sold by the dealer, the loan advance against that piece of collateral is repaid.

In short, Dealer Floor Plan financing allows dealers to borrow against retail inventory. The dealer then repays that debt as they sell their inventory and borrows against the line of credit to add new inventory.

No, you should still be able to negotiate a price. CA tends to be higher priced than most places. The general rule of thumb is around 30%+ off MSRP, which by the way, is a mostly fictional number. Not like the MSRP when buying a car. But, doubt that you're going to be that lucky in CA. A friend on both RVNet and Hybrid Explorer drove from northern CA to Chi to get their hybrid and after trip expenses were about $4000 ahead. We did the same from West TN to RVWholesalers in OH. On our hybrid we were about $4000 ahead and more on our TT. The one thing you can do to possibly help is to gather info and pricing from places like RVW or RVDirect, assuming they sell the model you are interested in, and use it as a bargaining tool. You might decide to turn delivery into a little vacation....or not....but your local dealer doesn't need to know that. Shoot for 30%. Good luck, it's a frustrating experience. And remember DO NOT believe everything a salesman tells you.....often they have no clue and the rest of the time it's for THEIR benefit.