I'm retiring, have my Bigfoot 10.4 on order for late May (pick up in Portland, OR), and getting rid of junk around the house. I need to order a 2019 Ram 3500 diesel dually long bed crew cab 4x4 soon to have for that camper! I live/work in northern CA, bay area. Is it worth checking out other dealers or is the Idaho dealer just going to blow them away? I'll try 1 or 2 Oregon dealers, but have no idea who has a good reputation up there. My mother lives in OR currently, so trying to work out how to have the truck registered there and not pay sales tax. I WILL be using OR as my home base, plan to get a drivers license, etc. I don't think I need dual alternators, do I? My style of camping is anticipated to be staying in one place for a week or two, so not sure how much charging from the vehicle buys me.I do want the factory air, looking for softer ride when camper dismounted, and Hellwig does offer their sway bar now for Rams with factory air! If I don't like the way the rig drives, now there is the option for the Hellwig. Thanks for the help and advice! DaveP.S. Oh, to save money, guess I'll go for single tone paint, no pink rally stripes, I'll have to pass on having my rig look like Grit Dog's!

That is a long way to go to buy a truck, I can't see saving enough to jusify the cost and time.

I bought my Ford at Modesto Ford when I used to live in Bay Area. They offer me $8000 off MSRP on spot and than Ford discounts applied. No clue about Dodge, but emails and phone calls are cheap.From what I remember from shopping around, WA dealers had the biggest discount on trucks sitting on the lots. But those trucks had like $30,000 of options I have no use for, what made me custom building.

I did Dave Smith from Seattle, 1 day drive over.I felt it was a good deal and worth it..You can fly up and they have a shuttle to pick if I remember correctly..They are a high volume dealer, fixed pricing and don't expect much follow up or help once you get the keys. They're off on another deal... but for me, I felt it was worth it.Might check with them to see what the pricing of buying your truck from them would be an then check the other dealers... If not doing a trade in, don't expect much, then check out airfare to there and drive back of course...Also, just an idea, getting a Cab Chassis and then putting a flatbed on it, will add storage along the sides which is really nice...Hope that helps...

Thanks everyone, I'll be checking prices then and seeing where to go from there. Also will have a couple calls with camper dealer so we are good with me basically driving truck straight to them to mount camper (they said they can do, supply tie downs at cost, etc). The flat bed is SO tempting! I can have a conversation with myself, how much storage do I need? Answer, no idea! Darn, so if truck not on lot don't expect much, okay. BTW, not wedded to RAM, but as I need truck in May I kind of like their 2019 better than competition. By end of year that could change, oh well, will be enjoying my truck camper by then! Thanks,Dave

I would be very careful about camper dealer promising tie-downs on new truck. Unless the truck has the same frame for last few years, there is big margin for not fitting. Thinking about flatbed, first consider additional height of the combo, then check resale value of flatbeds in Bay Area. In the past (shopping for 5-6 yo truck) I could buy flatbed or UB for 1/2 what standard bed would sell for.

Where to buy new Diesel, Dave Smith in Idaho? | Good Sam Community

21 Replies

billsnp5
Explorer
Feb 17, 2019
Grit dog wrote:
Dillon has all their prices posted online. Of course 19s aren't on the lot yet, but order now, I think first deliveries start in March for the Gen 4.5s.

Dillion is where I found the best price on 2 of my last three trucks. When I tried Dave Smith was 1.5k to 2K higher but that was a few years ago. Bought my last truck from a Litiha dealer they were the only ones with a truck I was looking for. But price was ok.
jmtandem
Explorer II
Feb 17, 2019
I think you mean 85%.

Yes, you are correct. Good eye.
deltabravo
Nomad
Feb 17, 2019
romore wrote:
That is a long way to go to buy a truck, I can't see saving enough to jusify the cost and time.

People fly in to Spokane daily to buy a truck at Dave Smith. There's so many people flying in, Dave Smith has a shuttle van the pick people up at the airport with.

A good majority of their business is from all over the country, not from locals.
finsruskw
Explorer
Feb 16, 2019
I bought mine from Bonham Ram, jeep, Chrysler in Bonham TX after chasing it on E-bay till the 2015 spring rebates kicked in
Saved a bundle.
EfonFred
Explorer
Feb 16, 2019
Very pleased with our dealings with D Smith in Kellog. We bought a hard to find used model, they had the lowest mileage one with the most goodies for the lowest price, by a thousand. No haggle, did most of it over the phone, salesman even sent us away with some fresh venison and bear meat! Seriously, I hate buying vehicles because of the usual shenanigans the sales staff run you through.
Camp_woof
Explorer
Feb 16, 2019
Thanks, I have some feelers out now with local (Oregon) and Dave Smith, will try Dillon. Local has at least 3 locations in southern Oregon, so they have in blanketed! I'll really try local to support local biz, if they can get close enough, I'm good.

It does take time, ordering these are new to everyone and hard to figure out package vs. a la carte right now.

Sure will be a cool truck, all 3 brands of duallies seem to be beasts!
Dave
ralphnjoann
Explorer
Feb 16, 2019
2oldman wrote:
jmtandem wrote:
.. look for paying about 0.85 percent of factory MSRP sticker.
I think you mean 85%.
He does. He's just giving you a quick way to calculate the actual selling price. For example, MSRP = $1000 X .85 = $850, which is 85% of the MSRP.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Feb 16, 2019
Dillon has all their prices posted online. Of course 19s aren't on the lot yet, but order now, I think first deliveries start in March for the Gen 4.5s.
2oldman
Explorer II
Feb 16, 2019
jmtandem wrote:
.. look for paying about 0.85 percent of factory MSRP sticker.
I think you mean 85%.
ppine
Explorer II
Feb 16, 2019
YOu are looking in the right place. You can have a vehicle shipped or go up and get it. Texas has some large high volume dealerships also. There is a national market now. No reason to pay local prices.

I see Dave Smith license plate frames all the time here in Nevada.

Forum Discussion

Where to buy new Diesel, Dave Smith in Idaho?

21 Replies

About Travel Trailer Group

Related Content

Idaho Campgrounds

Idaho fires

Route to McCall Idaho

Idaho Route

Utah to Idaho