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!

[dougrainer]

One last comment. You buy Out Of State and you have a Lemon, the odds are your States Lemon Laws WILL NOT help you. Most states Lemon Laws affect only Dealers in the state sold in. So, if you live in Nevada and buy in New York and have a lemon, you will have to go back to New York to start a Lemon Law process. Very few RV's are lemon's, but if you happen to get one and purchased out of State, that can be a hassle for you. Doug

[wildmanbaker]

Thanks for the info JS. I guess it depends on how good of a deal you can get at any point in time. Walking away appears to be the best thing you can do.

[jsmart]

The dealership we went to was Fife Rv Center in Fife, WA. They also had two other 2014 Coachman 35LS models advertised on their web site for $92,000 and $94,000, (They were asking $137,000 for the one at their Fife store). When we pointed that out to them, they said the internet pricing was a "mistake". We walked away.

There's more of 'em out there.

[dougrainer]

Mike & Fran wrote:
Why pay for pdi because most of the time on new motorhomes when you take delivery, a lot of things don't work anyway!!!

A GOOD Dealership, there are no malfunctions at delivery, only minor cosmetic items. ALL pay for a PDI. It is either IN the price or they list it separately. The LOW BALL dealer that responds to you will probably be out of state and will never see you again. THAT is why they can beat most prices. The do NOT do or have to have staff to do the quality things that good dealerships have to have. One thing, about buying out of your area and you will not be going back to the selling dealer who gave you that good price. There are a LOT of items that are part of the PDI/Delivery that dealers have to pay for. If they do NOT do a good job and you take your "new" RV to your local dealer, ANY item that is not warranty (paint damage/interior damage/missing parts/broken parts/etc), will NOT be paid for by the OEM and certainly not the local dealer that did not make a dime from you. AND, that local dealer may remember you if you availed yourself of test driving and WASTING his time specking out the unit when you had no interest in buying from him. How would you feel if you owned a business and had a customer do that to you? We get people all the time, buy out of state and then bring the RV directly in with a large laundry list of items to be fixed. Guess what, That unit sits for weeks before we look at it and then once looked at, we inform the customer of ALL the items warranty will not pay for and he has to fight with the selling dealer and the OEM to get authorization to pay US as we will not use OUR money to pay for items that the OEM will not pay for. We sell it, we EAT any unreimbursed warranty costs. Doug

[Effy]

Maybe this is a good topic for a another thread. PDI by definition is the pre delivery inspection. THere are 2 sides, the due diligence the dealer should be doing as part of being a dealer. This is not a perk, it's part of selling motorhomes. If you are not doing PDI before letting it drive off the lot you shouldn't be in business. If you charge for what you should be doing as part of being a dealer you obvioulsy struggle with your monthly books and shouldn't be selling RV's, or simply taking advantage of buyers for doing what you should be doing in the first place. The buyer's side of PDI is really a lot of check everything CYA and due diligence to get a good product. But this should all be business as usual. No dealer - IMHO - should be charging for PDI. It's your job as a dealer to make sure the product you sell is safe, functional and free of defects. Anything otherwise to me is knowingly selling a bad product. I can't think of any other product, car, house, anything that the seller actually charges you to make sure the product is and performs to the claims of the seller. "I am going to sell you this $100-$300k motorhome, but if you want to make sure it's ok, and everything works, well that's another $4k" How is that logical? Apparently it costs extra to make sure it works and it's safe??? And lets not forget this astronimical figure. $2-4k really? Are these guys nuclear engineers? What sort of hourly rate is the PDI guy charging? Is there a PHD in PDI? Come on. Does he come in with a lab coat and an RV MRI? And they must be operating under the same premise as metoeroligist cuz the only job I know you get paid for doing it wrong. Nope, no PDI for me.

[Mike___Fran]

Why pay for pdi because most of the time on new motorhomes when you take delivery, a lot of things don't work anyway!!!

[Effy]

WayneSC wrote:
That would be a good new thread
Have you ever paid for a PDI

Good question, I think you pay for it whether you know it or not. Some dealers have it as a line item, some bake it into the number. Some obviously make it part of their operating budget.

[WayneSC]

That would be a good new thread
Have you ever paid for a PDI

[Effy]

jsmart wrote:
My wife and I were also negotiating with a dealer on a new 2014 Coachman 35LS, salesman slid a laminated page across the desk at us and told us the PDI would cost $3995.00. I told him he was crazy and we left the dealership. Has anyone ever paid this ridiculous price for a PDI?

I walked from a deal when they wanted $2k for PDI. Depsite the fact I told him 3 others places matched the same price without it. (meaning the bottom line was $2k less) They just shrugged their shoulders. They told me they couldn't do a better deal. I am sure they got the next guy. Huge dealership, they obviously didn't need my sale. Dude was shady anyway. He kept playing games, Calling me from his boat etc. poser. Whether or not PDI is actually included or not in the funny money game, Get the out the door price. Ask about PDI, dealer "fees" and all the other craziness they try and sneak in on the deal.

[wildmanbaker]

jsmart:
Would you mind telling me just which Washington dealer tried that on you? And why did you allow him to live? But then, maybe that was with a life time supply of fuel.

[jsmart]

My wife and I were also negotiating with a dealer on a new 2014 Coachman 35LS, salesman slid a laminated page across the desk at us and told us the PDI would cost $3995.00. I told him he was crazy and we left the dealership. Has anyone ever paid this ridiculous price for a PDI?

[BigRabbitMan]

JALLEN4 wrote:

A dealership can always hang up the phone or quit emailing back when they become uncomfortable. On the other hand, letting a customer pick up real cash and walk out the door is a mortal sin!

This the the true situation! I was a farm equipment saleman for 20 years and very successful with many long time, repeat customers. It is all talk, until the checkbook or pen is brought out. Before that point, I have walked and prospective customers have walked.

One illustration of the above quote that I remember to this day was when I was negotiating with a prospective customer over a piece of equipment. We had a spread between his offer and my negotiated bottom price. We both stopped talking and stood there awhile. He then pulled out his checkbook, wrote a check and put it on the hood of my pickup. He said that is what he was willing to pay. It was somewhere between our previous numbers. I looked at it, thought a little bit, picked up check and told him "Check is mine, that is yours."

We were both satisfied and had a long tern relationship.

[JALLEN4]

cKarlGo wrote:

JALLEN4 wrote:
I must admit, I never get tired of this topic. Internet experts who read an article written by a failed car salesman are totally convinced they can walk into a dealership and leave them quaking in their shoes. Guys whose lifetime experience of buying vehicles equals the dealers last week of sales, just know they are going to win the game.

They are trying to buy one of what the dealer has figured out how to own dozens of and has a multi-million dollar facility to keep them in. From experience, I can assure you these guys are thinking while your sleeping of new ways to sell you. Any ideas you read here, they have already seen twice...yesterday!

As opposed to internet experts who belittle those who practice due diligence in order to get the best value for their money?

The buyer practicing "due dilligence" is highly recommended. Shopping is standard and looking for a unit that meets your needs is usually only acheived by looking at numerous options in person.

Setting up convuluted bidding wars on the internet involving multiple dealers will usually result in a mediocre price and send most sales people scurrying off in search of a real live buyer who is much easier to deal with. With much more actual experience in these things than normal, I can assure you that sitting across a desk with real money on the table will acheive the lowest possible price if that is all you are seeking.

A dealership can always hang up the phone or quit emailing back when they become uncomfortable. On the other hand, letting a customer pick up real cash and walk out the door is a mortal sin!

[cKarlGo]

JALLEN4 wrote:
I must admit, I never get tired of this topic. Internet experts who read an article written by a failed car salesman are totally convinced they can walk into a dealership and leave them quaking in their shoes. Guys whose lifetime experience of buying vehicles equals the dealers last week of sales, just know they are going to win the game.

They are trying to buy one of what the dealer has figured out how to own dozens of and has a multi-million dollar facility to keep them in. From experience, I can assure you these guys are thinking while your sleeping of new ways to sell you. Any ideas you read here, they have already seen twice...yesterday!

As opposed to internet experts who belittle those who practice due diligence in order to get the best value for their money?