Buying used from a rental company-process ?s

Well my Grandfather always had a saying that applies even today... Cash is king... If you want to negotiate price bring cash... If not then you can always try and haggle... Being informed and having comparisons would be my next best piece of free advice.... Be willing to walk away if you think they are stonewalling you or playing hard ball... Be Polite be professional and tell the salesman thank you for his time, but if I don't buy from you I will buy from the next guy... Don't be afraid to walk away and come back at a later date..... Worse case telling him you have a fixed amount you can spend and you are ready to buy but you need to shop around and he was the first guy on your list... Believe me they do not want you to go to the next dealer... Thats what knowing what you want and how much it should really costs comes into play... Just my 2 cents I hope this helps .... Good luck and I hope you find the one... And please get an inspection done if your buying a used unit... I would recommend a third party... Sometimes being a little paranoid can be a good thing...

Mike C.

I have a former Cruise America rental. The price is usually established by the corporate office so the salesperson does not have any leeway. However, you can probably get them to throw in an awning or maybe an extended warranty. Be sure to inspect the rig carefully before buying. Mine was is pretty good shape. However, two areas that I did not check were the roof and the inner rear and spare tires. The tires were in bad shape and I had to replace them. As for the roof, there were some patches that I had to touch up with Eternabond and a special type of caulk whose name escapes me. Other than that, I'm coming up on a year with no major problems. And I have taken this rig out at least one weekend a month and have enjoyed it very much.

mikebreeze wrote:
I have a former Cruise America rental. The price is usually established by the corporate office so the salesperson does not have any leeway.

I suspected as much, but thanks for confirming. Off to see what I can do...

haggle till the cows come home , for every buck you save ,IS YOUR BUCK. daddy haggled over a 1963 rambler one time, got what he wanted, said first time in his life he ever made $100. an hour for talking.

In my negotiations with El Monte I told them what I wanted as a out the door price and went from there, and we came to a price that was about 15% below what they were asking.

I also paid cash and there was no up grades to be had on the RV it was all there. As you may have read on my post.:)

Anything else just PM me.

All the retired rentals at a given company are generally the same. In other words, there isn't much variety in terms of equipment, etc. The only variable, typically, is with mileage, and that will be what drives the differences in price.

Pricing usually has very little, if any wiggle room. Rental companies are selling the retired units for their residual value just to clear them off the books. If you are buying at a certain price point, they will show you units that match that price point and it is generally a take-it-or-leave-it type scenario. You may be able to negotiate a few hundred dollars off here and there, but don't go in to the process expecting to play stump the dummy with the rental company. They know to the penny what they will sell their units for and if not to you, to the next guy that walks in the door looking for a great deal.

Mocoondo wrote:
They know to the penny what they will sell their units for and if not to you, to the next guy that walks in the door looking for a great deal.

I guess we have greatly differing definitions of what a "great deal" is. Have rented a class C from them in the past, anything above scrap price for a Cruise America rig, IMHO, would not be a great deal.

soren wrote:


I guess we have greatly differing definitions of what a "great deal" is. Have rented a class C from them in the past, anything above scrap price for a Cruise America rig, IMHO, would not be a great deal.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion.

I have to disagree that cash is king. If you have good/decent credit in most cases they want you to finance it. They get kick backs from the loan people and besides as soon as the contract is delivered to the bank the dealership gets their money. Just as fast as if you write them a check which has to go to the bank and be cashed and then they have to wait the 5 to 7 days to make sure that it is good before they get the money released into their account.

Deal on price before you ever discuss how you well finance it.

soren wrote:

I guess we have greatly differing definitions of what a "great deal" is. Have rented a class C from them in the past, anything above scrap price for a Cruise America rig, IMHO, would not be a great deal.

There were three 28R models on the Cruise America lot when I bought mine in 2011. I chose what I felt was the best of the 3 and have been very pleased with it ever since. Just because you had rented what may have been a poorly maintained RV does not mean that all former rental RVs are beat-up wrecks.

This coming October will be the start of my 3rd winter FTing in it here in the Pacific Northwest. I have no slide toppers to deal with, no slide motors to fail, no stabilizers to jam or fail, no external stairs to get stuck or buckle under my fat backside. There's a difference between well appointed and well built. Mine is not well appointed. It is well built AND designed for ease of maintenance - a feature that I like. Every RV tech that has worked on my MH has been amazed that a rental MH would have a slide-out generator. Mine does. My 'basic' RV with no artic package holds its own with every other RV here in western WA. The only thing I needed to do was buy a good pair of warm slippers for the winter. For some people, less is more.

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