Tried to buy a trailer yesterday but.....

[exit_295]

Hi all, as the title states, we found a 5th wheel we liked and sat down to make a deal with the sales manager who of course took over from our original salesman. After taking all of the information about our trade in, out came "the book" to look up it's value. After looking up our trade, he stated a value that he would give us as a trade in on our new purchase.

Fine, then came the offer which was full MSRP minus trade in plus some BS charges. When I countered by taking out my calculator and lowering the MSRP by 30% and deducting the trade value he had just given me, suddenly my trade became zero! He said that the trade included a discount and that the bottom line was all that mattered.

So I came back and asked what the price would be without a trade. He went back into his office and returned with a number written in black felt pen with a big circle around it. He stood over me and slapped the paper down in front of me saying that was what I had to pay.

My wife and I immediately stood up and said we might check back later in the year when they were more hungry to sell us a trailer at a more reasonable price and walked out. We sat in the car for a minute but nobody came out to beg us back in so we left feeling good about our decision.

What really got me though was the email I got this morning from our salesperson thanking us for allowing him to show us the trailer yesterday and that he would be in contact and continue to help us make a deal.

Ha Ha. What really got under my skin was the fact that we were potential repeat customers at this dealership, having bought our last trailer there six years ago. The sales manager never acknowledged this fact and when he stood over me in a domineering posture, I had to leave before I would have had to get into a confrontation with him.

I know that this is not the typical sales tactic but felt I had to share it.

[sgfrye]

SoundGuy wrote:

2edgesword wrote:
Regarding the OP, I’ve learned to detach myself emotionally from the transaction. I don’t take a dealers offer in a trade or their unwillingness to accept an offer personally. Do your homework, establish in your own mind the value of what you want and what you’re willing to offer and be prepared to walk away if the dealer won’t meet your expectations.

The most balanced response yet. 🙂 Reading these posts it's amazing how so many seem to be offended when they're not offered the discounts or value for their trade in they believe they're entitled to when the reality is it's the salesperson's JOB to negotiate as much for any sale that they can. As far as one dealer appearing to be more willing to deal than another, why would one expect anything else? Each business is an independent operation with it's own business plan as set out by the owner(s) - if you don't like what you're offered go to another until you do find what you want at a price you're willing to pay. I agree, there's no need for any salesperson to be rude but be realistic, these people aren't selling RVs because they have a degree in rocket science and could otherwise be working for NASA. :R

Well said.... on both posts here. if you aren't happy with how a dealership is negotiating. move on to another.

[sgfrye]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

garyemunson wrote:
Be sure to bring the new one by your dealer to buy a bottle of black tank treatment.....

May make you feel better or something, the dealer isnt going to care a rats ass lol. They'll probably get a good laugh out of it. The day you walked on them, some sucker probably came along an hour later and paid more than the price they had quoted you for the same rig.

X2 on this.
large corporate dealerships operate this way everyday in the auto industry.

good friend of mine was a mom and pop ford dealership salesman for 25 years that cared about their customers. they wanted to sell everyone in your family cars or trucks as well as your friends. (word of mouth advertising)

that dealership was bought out by a large ford dealership corp that owned several dealerships. he worked 1 year for them then resigned because he couldnt handle the way the management treated the customers.

he said the bottom line was the dealership could care less if you bought a vehicle from them because if you weren't willing to buy at their asking price because someone later in the day or the next day would come in and buy it.

Welcome to corporate america.

[troubledwaters]

wa8yxm wrote:
Remember to a comissioned salesman there is one and only one problem:

Buyer's Signature:______________________.

I'd say you gave him a problem.. If he has your number he may decide to cave.. or not. but do not forget the thing that scares him the most is you.. Walking out the door.. While the above line is BLANK.

No Signature on the line is not a problem if there is no profit or commission $'s in the "supposed" deal. A deal is a two way street. Both buyer and seller have to like it. Would you sell your motor home to a buyer at a loss cause you were "scared" of a blank line?

Second half of the equation is, he may have plenty of traffic that will pay $5,000 more than you were willing to pay. Lots of variables here. I'll wait a week for and extra $5K, how about you?

[Grit_dog]

And fwiw, I’m not dogging people with 2wd gassers, it’s just Economics, but some feel the need to defend their choices emotionally.
I’d buy one too if that’s what fit my needs and budget the best. I’d also buy the used, cheap because it’s not a popular option, truck and laugh all the way to the bank.
I would also expect the next resale value to reflect what it’s really worth.

[Grit_dog]

valhalla360 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
Silly but so true. 4x4 cost more up front, but you get some of it back when sold. Of course no one thinks about the loss of fuel economy and the dreaded death wobble on Dodge 4x4s that the 4x2 never had to bother with. Oh well, some one will realize the gem some day.

If that's what kept you from getting a 4wd, was the 1mpg and the virtually zero chance you'd get Death wobble on a stock truck that only gets used 4000 miles a year then I'd call that paranoia. You did save $26 a year in fuel though......

I don't know about a death wobble but...

14 to 15 mpg on a truck that does 15,000miles per year with $3/gal gas, thats $213/yr and over 10yrs of ownership, will cost you $2130.

Of course at the same time the extra 4wd system is depreticating similar to the rest of the truck, so if it's $3k for 4x4, you might get $1k back out of it....a loss of $2k.

That's a bit over $4k loss. If you use 4x4 regularly, you might argue it's worth it but for someone asking the question, they likely don't use it and are unlikely to benefit.

If you read it, donno put only like 4kmiles a year on the truck he was talking about.
So maybe it would cost him 50bucks a year in additional fuel with your math...
And no, the 4wd system doesn’t depreciate markedly, compared to an apples to apples 2wd. If anything it’s one of the few features that doesn’t. Sure the whole truck pdepreciates, but show me apples to apples nice used trucks that 4wd only cost $1k Pmore than 2wd. It doesn’t happen, except maybe in rare circumstances.
If my 4wd diesel mega cab was a 2wd, reg cab, Hemi, it would be worth mayyybe $10k, not the $25k easy I could sell it for today. But the reg cab gasser cost more than 30- 40% of the diesel 4x4 when new = better resale for options that are popular.

[Grit_dog]

ppine wrote:
I like to shop for vehicles and RVs when it is snowing.

^This

[wa8yxm]

Remember to a comissioned salesman there is one and only one problem:

Buyer's Signature:______________________.

I'd say you gave him a problem.. If he has your number he may decide to cave.. or not. but do not forget the thing that scares him the most is you.. Walking out the door.. While the above line is BLANK.

[ppine]

I like to shop for vehicles and RVs when it is snowing.

[SoundGuy]

SoundGuy wrote:
A naive assessment and not how any well run dealership works....

valhalla360 wrote:
I do agree it's a naive assessment to think a dealer is happy they didn't make the sale because they will get another customer. If they sell all the on site stock, they will order more and the manufacturer will likely give them kickbacks for moving a lot of product.

Of course there is a bottom line they need to make a profit but no dealer wants customers walking away if they can make a profit that's naive thinking.

The point is no one at any dealership will be anguishing just because you didn't get the offer you wanted and walked away. Just because that unit you walked away from is still there sitting on the lot weeks later means little as eventually it will sell and it will sell for whatever the dealer needs to get out of it to fit his own particular business plan. To believe otherwise is what is naive - count on it, dealers aren't shaking in their boots because some here can't help but whine about how hard done by they've been when trying to negotiate a deal. It's business according to tried & true practices, that's all - no more, no less - and no amount of whining here on the forums is going to change it. :R

[valhalla360]

SoundGuy wrote:

A naive assessment and not how any well run dealership works....

I do agree it's a naive assessment to think a dealer is happy they didn't make the sale because they will get another customer. If they sell all the on site stock, they will order more and the manufacturer will likely give them kickbacks for moving a lot of product.

Of course there is a bottom line they need to make a profit but no dealer wants customers walking away if they can make a profit that's naive thinking.

[Bobbo]

SoundGuy wrote:
A naive assessment and not how any well run dealership works, rather they buy in bulk at specific times of the year and will only order individual units if it has proven an exceptionally popular model and they've run out. A manufacturer will also offer periodic incentives to encourage dealers to order but no dealer will order what he thinks he can't sell within a reasonably short period of time, ergo the reason some models must be custom ordered if you want one. Gotta remember - most dealerships have been at this a l-o-n-g time, far longer than any of us, and know all the tricks so if they decline you're offer it isn't by accident, it's by design. Those who become offended and walk out may think they've "taught the dealer a lesson" but believe it - there always will be another customer after you. 😉

Total agreement here. I had "issues" with the first salesman at Ford when shopping for my current truck (I actually had to threaten to forget Ford and just pick between Chevrolet and RAM to get him to work with me), so the dealership had me working with the fleet manager after that very first visit. The fleet manager knew what he was doing. We went through all of their trucks and the trucks the computer said were available elsewhere with nothing that would do. Finally, I just ordered exactly what I wanted. After settling on the truck order, the fleet manager said there was no way in hades that he would have EVER ordered a truck like that for the lot. I got a SuperCab instead of a SuperCrew. He said the people buying SuperCabs were usually trying to save money, but I put every option I could on it, except Ford Navigation. He said when he orders SuperCabs, he gets pretty basic trucks to make them cheaper.

[jdb7566]

exit 295 wrote:
Hi all, as the title states, we found a 5th wheel we liked and sat down to make a deal with the sales manager who of course took over from our original salesman. After taking all of the information about our trade in, out came "the book" to look up it's value. After looking up our trade, he stated a value that he would give us as a trade in on our new purchase.

Fine, then came the offer which was full MSRP minus trade in plus some BS charges. When I countered by taking out my calculator and lowering the MSRP by 30% and deducting the trade value he had just given me, suddenly my trade became zero! He said that the trade included a discount and that the bottom line was all that mattered.

So I came back and asked what the price would be without a trade. He went back into his office and returned with a number written in black felt pen with a big circle around it. He stood over me and slapped the paper down in front of me saying that was what I had to pay.

My wife and I immediately stood up and said we might check back later in the year when they were more hungry to sell us a trailer at a more reasonable price and walked out. We sat in the car for a minute but nobody came out to beg us back in so we left feeling good about our decision.

What really got me though was the email I got this morning from our salesperson thanking us for allowing him to show us the trailer yesterday and that he would be in contact and continue to help us make a deal.

Ha Ha. What really got under my skin was the fact that we were potential repeat customers at this dealership, having bought our last trailer there six years ago. The sales manager never acknowledged this fact and when he stood over me in a domineering posture, I had to leave before I would have had to get into a confrontation with him.

I know that this is not the typical sales tactic but felt I had to share it.

We had a similar situation about 6 weeks ago, we had an agreed upon price on what they were selling, then came the trade. The offer was so low it pissed me off, so I asked if that was their best offer, the sales manager said "yes" and DW and I got up to walk out and the manager said, "wait, what do you want?", I said "nothing, you already gave me your best offer." We were disappointed as we really liked the new trailer, but, business is business, so they say. As of today, that same trailer is still in their inventory at a cheaper price. I will not go back.

[SoundGuy]

valhalla360 wrote:
Unlikely the dealer will put 2+2 together and realize they lost the sale but unless the dealer is only allowed X units per year, they still lost money because they would have ordered in another unit for the next sucker to buy.

A naive assessment and not how any well run dealership works, rather they buy in bulk at specific times of the year and will only order individual units if it has proven an exceptionally popular model and they've run out. A manufacturer will also offer periodic incentives to encourage dealers to order but no dealer will order what he thinks he can't sell within a reasonably short period of time, ergo the reason some models must be custom ordered if you want one. Gotta remember - most dealerships have been at this a l-o-n-g time, far longer than any of us, and know all the tricks so if they decline you're offer it isn't by accident, it's by design. Those who become offended and walk out may think they've "taught the dealer a lesson" but believe it - there always will be another customer after you. 😉

[valhalla360]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

garyemunson wrote:
Be sure to bring the new one by your dealer to buy a bottle of black tank treatment.....

May make you feel better or something, the dealer isnt going to care a rats ass lol. They'll probably get a good laugh out of it. The day you walked on them, some sucker probably came along an hour later and paid more than the price they had quoted you for the same rig.

Unlikely the dealer will put 2+2 together and realize they lost the sale but unless the dealer is only allowed X units per year, they still lost money because they would have ordered in another unit for the next sucker to buy.