Roadtrek Pricing

[jonhunt]

My brother is in the market for a Roadtrek. Looking for any general guidance on what amount of a discount he might be able to get off MSRP. Also if there are any particular things he needs to know before making an offer.

[jonhunt]

I've read elsewhere that you might get between 12 and 18 percent off MSRP. Also if you sign up for Roadtrek's emai list you qualify for a $1,000 rebate if you purchase a new model.

[PSW]

Mumkin's experience is the same as mine in re the MB service. When looking at a Winnebago product, the dealer had to make two calls to find out where the chassis he was trying to sell me was serviced. This was NOT a small dealer, either. For factory service when I checked, I was told Freightliner in Oklahoma City would service them, the local MB car guy said "never". Going west, the next stop for service was Albuquerque, but gee that is only 570 miles. From ABQ, nothing north until you get to Denver and that's only 450 miles from ABQ. That cooked my goose on Sprinter based RVs. Now, if you live in and travel only on the coasts, that is probably no problem.

We are thinking about rejoining the B World and would love to consider a couple of the Sprinter based units but we decline. So we are looking at another Roadtrek on the Chevy chassis. Had two of them and two other Bs over the years.

I would really like to return to the OP's original post/question: how much off the MSRP on a new Roadtrek should I expect to be able to negotiate?

AND: what do folks think about RT quality of build now compared to units built three or four years ago? Any quality differences, good or bad?

Paul

[mumkin]

jrobe wrote:
There are about 700 Freightliner dealers across the country that are owned and operated by the Mercedes that are happy to work on them.

Unfortunately that is not really true. When I was deciding on platform, there was only one Mercedes dealer who would work on Sprinters in ND (nearly 300 miles away)... one in MN... and none in Montana or SD. So I started calling the Freightliner service facilities. All of them within 100 miles said that they wouldn't and didn't plan to ever work on them. I pointed out that Mercedes owns them both... and has sold Sprinters... and the managers still said no.

One's final comment was... 'you wouldn't want my crew working on your pretty motorhome anyway.' :E

[jrobe]

There is a reason that the largest percentage of Class B's are on the Mercedes Sprinter. It has been a fairly easy platform to build on and has the longest track record of the modern style vans. Most of the Rv manufacturers won't even build on the Ford Transit. Roadtrek refuses to build on a Transit and uses the Promaster for their low cost models. Advanced RV refuses to build on a Transit or Promaster. Companies like Sportsmobile will build on any platform and the majority of their customers choose the Sprinter. Personally, I can't sit on the Promaster seats for more than about an hour. I wouldn't mind owning a Transit although the high roof model looks like it was a complete afterthought.

There are about 700 Freightliner dealers across the country that are owned and operated by the Mercedes that are happy to work on them.

There are other significant advantages to a diesel RV. The Sprinter is designed to accept a second alternator which eliminates the need for a gas generator (and all the hassles of a generator). It is also fairly inexpensive to add an Espar heater to use diesel fuel for heating the RV to eliminate or reduce the need for propane.

If one eliminates the Sprinter, you have eliminated a large percentage of the Class B choices and probably most of the best and highest quality choices.

[mkguitar]

Jon,

your Brother may want to look at other brands too.

on some Rt models they have a drop floor which adds alot of the MSRP cost- for me when shopping I kept tripping on the transitions

RT's often are set up for 3 pass ( popular) or 4 ( versatile)- this mean the cabinetry has to run floor to ceiling- I find claustro
sideways sleeper models may not work if he is tall

I liked the way the sprinter drove ( and rented a citroen based RV in Ireland- this is same chassis as promaster, diesel 6 speed...rt hand drive) but the diesel cost to buy in and the decreasing cost per mile benefit send me to a Chev 3500 6.0 gas. anyone anywhere can fix with parts from autozone...

mine is a 2006 pleasure-way Lexor TD- only 2 seats, which suits us. the quality of the build is excellent and the chev chassis is great.
and this cost us less than 1/2 what we budgeted.

there are some other great brands out there...



the future is diesel is cloudy- parent companies are in the EU where diesel is being slapped down due to VW and individual DEF cheats, and some areas are not allowing diesels to park, transit etc.
the death of diesel is coming.

Running the van motor for electrical power ( dual alt as described below) will get you a fine in many US cities for idling- you just can;t do that. and it is wear on your van motor. false economy. most diesels will have to hgh idle to keep the oil pressure up.

just a short while ago I was aware of the loud campground host vs high idling diesel owner arguing about noise and 10 pm genny limitation and etc etc.
the camper left

Mike

[Bumpyroad]

when I was in the market for a B van, didn't look at anything on a MB chassis.
bumpy

[mumkin]

The price difference between the diesel Sprinter and the gas Chevy or Promaster models will buy years worth of gas for most. This naturally depends on how much one drives it. Also there seems to be more (and much more expensive) issues with the new diesel systems. There is also the detail that Sprinter service centers are often far away... and rare in the middle of the country.

The Promaster platform seems to be liked (even loved) by the vast majority of those who are getting them. Seems true since we all know that the majority of posters on the net are the ones with issues to report. Most of the complaints online have related to the Roadtrek conversion rather than the van. But, that is true of all of their models. The new high-tech stuff is still pretty glitchy... seems to be a continuing learning curve with lots of user confusion and error added to the usual problems that come with new technology.

As to discounts off MSRP, that depends on the models, how long it has been on the lot, one's negotiating ability, etc. Somewhere between 15-18% seems to be the average... the more options added, the higher the discount. RT's options are hugely over-priced.

[jonhunt]

Thanks...I think he is torn between wanting a diesel and the lower price of a gas model, plus the lower fuel costs.

[overbrook]

jonhunt wrote:
Also if there are any particular things he needs to know before making an offer.

If you follow the Roadtrek owners group on Facebook, you'll see that the new high-tech Roadtreks with the advanced electronics and lithium batteries have a lot of technical issues. Especially those on the Mercedes chassis.

If your brother wants to save money and have a more reliable coach, advise him to look at the Roadtreks on the Chevy chassis.

To save money, advise him to look for a two or three year old Roadtrek Ranger.

The Ranger is the same as the Roadtrek 190 Popular on the Chevy chassis, without some of the high-end appointments inside. Same chassis, same floorplan, same appliances (except no automatic couch), as the 190, but $40,000 less in price.

See example at https://www.rvtrader.com/dealers/Manteca-Trailer-%26-Motorhome-735336/listing/2013-Roadtrek-Roadtrek...

I enjoyed my Roadtrek Popular for two years, but eventually sold it (for a profit), to get a slightly larger CoachHouse Platinum B+.

Bill