Negotiation Process

[Pinikki36]

My husband and I are new to the RV buying process, but we do know "Do not buy sticker price!". If a 2014 Class A Motor Home is priced at $119,955, what could we expect to walk away with actually paying? What is the mark up on these things? We appreciate any advice on the negotiation process. TIA!

[Mr_Mark1]

Passin Thru wrote:
We chose 3 dealers. We went online and got offers. Over a period of 3 weeks we got them all down about avg 30% with 1 coming out on the bottom. WE then walked in and made an offer, going in at 530 in the evening and taking our To-Go meal with us. We ate a leisurely meal and kept looking at the vehicles. Then we found a sales manager and said we wanted to deal with him. It was 11PM when we left the dealer but we had them pulling their hair out and taking their ties off, mopping their faces. It was funny because I'd say "Let's just go and they would Cow-Tow to us. We had them wash-wax it for free in 6 mo and deliver it to our house. We did this the last day of Feb and they wanted that sale for a slow month. You can scare them if you are solid and don't let them fool you.

Dealers are very good at making you think what you said above is true. It's not their first time at the rodeo with you on the horse. It all worked out for everybody.

MM.

[Passin_Thru]

Funny, we have one!
http://www.nadaguides.com/RVs
Who says you can't get a good discount on Mercedes. They are just another car dealer and you probably went there and said, just like my Uncle, "I'll just write a check for whtever it is!" What you don't get at Mercedes is good service and any better vehicle than a Toyota.

[Passin_Thru]

We chose 3 dealers. We went online and got offers. Over a period of 3 weeks we got them all down about avg 30% with 1 coming out on the bottom. WE then walked in and made an offer, going in at 530 in the evening and taking our To-Go meal with us. We ate a leisurely meal and kept looking at the vehicles. Then we found a sales manager and said we wanted to deal with him. It was 11PM when we left the dealer but we had them pulling their hair out and taking their ties off, mopping their faces. It was funny because I'd say "Let's just go and they would Cow-Tow to us. We had them wash-wax it for free in 6 mo and deliver it to our house. We did this the last day of Feb and they wanted that sale for a slow month. You can scare them if you are solid and don't let them fool you.

[nbargolf]

We need a truecar, Bluebook, Edmunds type web site for RV's. That would be nice.

[nbargolf]

I walked away from a car dealer for $150 difference. Got the price at another dealer. Never fall in love with a unit there are lots of the same model out there.

[nbargolf]

Nomadac wrote:

cochise49 wrote:
List/factory invoice prices are very inflated. 25 to 35% off is common.

I am curious where those that post so called percentages, get their information. I have never met a Dealer of RV's that will disclose what the Invoice price is or the % from List. The best guesstimate is what the list price was for a particular compared to the selling price the individual paid for the unit out the door.

I doubt that someone can buy a very high $ class A and expect a large discount. For ex. try walking into a Mercedes/BMW/Lexus Dealer and offer him 25-30% off list. Good Luck

Apples and oranges. average MB sticker compared to a DP would be hundreds of thousand difference. The more it cost the more the markup to play with.

[gat75]

cKarlGo wrote:

bigdogger wrote:

cKarlGo wrote:
I am also currently in the same process. I did not choose a dealer and a coach. I chose 7 dealers and 7 coaches. They have been sent a list of specific requirements and conditions in order to participate in the bidding process for my business. They are also required to respond in a specific format. This allows me to compare apples to apples.

If you are interested in the bare bones requirements letter that I've written, private message me your email address and I will send it to you.

I would wager you are going to go into an 0 for 7 slump.

I would normally not respond to such an obvious troll, but sometimes they warrant it, if for no other reason than to further the discussion.

Dealers who are afraid of or offended by informed customers who ask probing questions are not looking for customers. They are looking for victims.

Most normal, sensible people will want to know what they are getting into and would rather walk away if they are uniformed or if a deal has signs of being a bad one. Nobody ever died from being unable to complete the deal on purchasing a motorhome and this approach has held me in good stead over the years personally and in a long career of dealing with vendors professionally. I'll chance it.

YMMV.

Bigdogger, In all seriousness from a fellow Texan, pay close attention to CKarlgo's technique. It works.

If I have time, I do somewhat the same thing on just about anything that cost more than several hundred dollars. I paid a 1000.00 less on an american-made Kellar brand dining table with 6 chairs.

First, found all dealers that sold this exact table that was in a 150 mile radius; (got this from Kellar's home page). Then gave each dealer a call, told them I had cash in hand to pick up this table unit. My only question to them is "what is my drive-out price." THEIR QUESTION TO ME WAS WHAT IS THE LOWEST PRICE YOU GOT SO FAR. I just laughed & told them I would give them that info after they gave me their price.

Took about 2 days for DW to get her beloved table; (had about 10 dealers that responded). Not one dealer told me to get lost, after all, they want to move their stock.

Shucks, they love the fact that they did not have to convince us on what to buy, just crunched the numbers & enjoyed bantering with them.

[cKarlGo]

bigdogger wrote:

cKarlGo wrote:
I am also currently in the same process. I did not choose a dealer and a coach. I chose 7 dealers and 7 coaches. They have been sent a list of specific requirements and conditions in order to participate in the bidding process for my business. They are also required to respond in a specific format. This allows me to compare apples to apples.

If you are interested in the bare bones requirements letter that I've written, private message me your email address and I will send it to you.

I would wager you are going to go into an 0 for 7 slump.

I would normally not respond to such an obvious troll, but sometimes they warrant it, if for no other reason than to further the discussion.

Dealers who are afraid of or offended by informed customers who ask probing questions are not looking for customers. They are looking for victims.

Most normal, sensible people will want to know what they are getting into and would rather walk away if they are uniformed or if a deal has signs of being a bad one. Nobody ever died from being unable to complete the deal on purchasing a motorhome and this approach has held me in good stead over the years personally and in a long career of dealing with vendors professionally. I'll chance it.

YMMV.

[bigdogger]

cKarlGo wrote:
I am also currently in the same process. I did not choose a dealer and a coach. I chose 7 dealers and 7 coaches. They have been sent a list of specific requirements and conditions in order to participate in the bidding process for my business. They are also required to respond in a specific format. This allows me to compare apples to apples.

If you are interested in the bare bones requirements letter that I've written, private message me your email address and I will send it to you.

I would wager you are going to go into an 0 for 7 slump.

[Effy]

Nomadac wrote:

cochise49 wrote:
List/factory invoice prices are very inflated. 25 to 35% off is common.

I am curious where those that post so called percentages, get their information. I have never met a Dealer of RV's that will disclose what the Invoice price is or the % from List. The best guesstimate is what the list price was for a particular compared to the selling price the individual paid for the unit out the door.

I doubt that someone can buy a very high $ class A and expect a large discount. For ex. try walking into a Mercedes/BMW/Lexus Dealer and offer him 25-30% off list. Good Luck

Well you're sort of wrong. Yes you can expect to buy a very high $ MH with a large discount. The number however is off MSRP not list. I would say 25-30% is VERY common. Often more. But let's be frank, MSRP is kind of a joke. It's a made up number to make it look like you get a screaming deal when you drive away. They already have their bottom number and it's pretty far south of MSRP. Then there is MAP which is the lowest price a manufacturer will allow a dealer to advertise. Again higher than you can negotiate. Ever see the price "too low to show" on a site? That's because they are selling below MAP. If you sniff around enough you can get a handle on what the average low price is. I have found most dealers will have their bottom number within a few grand from each other and usually they'll match a competitor.

[Nomadac]

cochise49 wrote:
List/factory invoice prices are very inflated. 25 to 35% off is common.

I am curious where those that post so called percentages, get their information. I have never met a Dealer of RV's that will disclose what the Invoice price is or the % from List. The best guesstimate is what the list price was for a particular compared to the selling price the individual paid for the unit out the door.

I doubt that someone can buy a very high $ class A and expect a large discount. For ex. try walking into a Mercedes/BMW/Lexus Dealer and offer him 25-30% off list. Good Luck

[randallb]

Depending on what you are after and your credit rating determine price. We purchased our 08 HR, factory MSRP $157,000, for $103,000 out the door. The deal was done entirely by e-mail and phone. I spent $400 for the airplane ticket plus the fuel to drive it 1700 miles home. Great deals are out there. You just have to look hard, be patient and be ready to move when the deal comes together. Dealers can tell tell good buyers from shoppers with a credit check and their offered price will always reflect this.
Randy

[I_am_still_wayn]

Pinikki36 wrote:

Love the 'Out the Door price' tip. Very good tip because we can see tons of stuff being tacked on later.

I totally disagree with negotiating an "out the door" price. It gives the dealer room to pad the final price. Better ask the salesperson what are the dealer fees that are in addition to the sales price. Write down the fee amount and what they are called. Be sure there are no other fees.

Then negotiate the final sales price. If the dealer fees are too high, and often they are, then ask the fee be reduced or eliminated or the sales price lowered to compensate for the fee you are not willing to pay. This will save you many hundreds if not thousands of dollars over the "out the door" price.

[Pinikki36]

You all are so helpful! Thank you! Thank you!

Love the 'keep the emotions out of it'. Got that one covered. We love Dave Ramsey and learned that one from him. We really liked a Discovery this past weekend, talked numbers, but easily walked out when it wasn't what we wanted to pay. Easy peasy because we know there are so many out there.

Love the 'Out the Door price' tip. Very good tip because we can see tons of stuff being tacked on later.

Love the having all the dealerships work for us idea too. cKarlGo...I'll be sending you a pm.

Thanks so much...great info. We can walk into a dealership full of your knowledge now and feel more comfortable and confident.

[vic46]

cKarlGo wrote:
I am also currently in the same process. I did not choose a dealer and a coach. I chose 7 dealers and 7 coaches. They have been sent a list of specific requirements and conditions in order to participate in the bidding process for my business. They are also required to respond in a specific format. This allows me to compare apples to apples.

If you are interested in the bare bones requirements letter that I've written, private message me your email address and I will send it to you.

I would be curious to see/hear how that process worked for you.