Bad experience at dealer.

[Gsragtop]

My wife and I went to place a down payment on a TT today.. The price on the trailer was $9999, we wanted to add, WD hitch and brake controller, rv cover, and full screen room for the awning. Want to take a guess how much the total price quoted was after transport, dealer fees, etc... $15,200!!!!!

$2600 of it was dealer prep and transport and there was another $300 doc fee on top of that !!!

A lot of back and forth with what I thought was not a great manager and we but it down to $13500 OTD, still a good $1500-$2000 higher then we planed for..so we walked.. I just felt like they were taking advantage of me, they keep saying how they are not making any money on this deal, and that the $9999 was a loss leader and msrp was really $15,695. They even showed me the invoice, but I know that in the car biz (which I was in for 15 years) that at I voice there was still a good deal of money to make on the car (holdback, advertising, dealer cash etc).. BTW invoice was $11,000 something. I don't know but I just felt I was being lied to..

Do you think the fees were excessive ?? I have never purchased an rv before was I wrong about the invoice ??

Thanks

[BurbMan]

For those who missed it, the OP bought the TT from the dealer.

[Bumpyroad]

spoon059 wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
we wanted to add, WD hitch and brake controller, rv cover, and full screen room for the awning.

were you expecting those to be free? but the dealer prep and processing is theft.
bumpy

He wasn't expecting it to be free... he was complaining about thousands of dollars of dealer prep fees. Did you read his complaint?

of course I read his complaint. didn't I say that the dealer prep and processing is theft? it sounded to me like he also wanted the hitch, et.al. thrown in.
bumpy

[rbpru]

Well you have had a ton of advice and suggestions.

As I said before if it was a sweet deal, do not be afraid to go back and take it.

I would have no problems telling the dealer that you thought about it, did some quick price checking and decided it was the unit you wanted.

Thinking about and understanding the deal is time well spent and prevents a lot of buyer remorse.

I will bet that the next time you shop for an RV you will remember to ask a few more question at the beginning.

[Francesca_Knowl]

dewey02 wrote:

A "lost leader" is a term that applies to politicians.

Around here, it's a term that comes out of my Husband's mouth when he comes home from a two day buddy-based fishing trip without any fish.

[dewey02]

StirCrazy wrote:


also if they said it was a lost leader that is usually a model they blow out at a low price...

Steve

Just to clear things up, it is a loss leader.
A "lost leader" is a term that applies to politicians.

[CampingN_C_]

I always like playing two dealers against each other, apple for apple. When one Jayco dealer told me to go buy it at the other, I knew I had a good deal.
I try to do that with autos too.
They make HUDE margins on add-ons. Work the deal with the camper only!

[Mr_Beebo]

A couple things to consider-
*You stated you have searched and cannot find that model or another brand with the same/similar floorplan. So if this is something that has to happen now, it may boil down to settling on that price or another model.
*A brand new hard sided camper at 10K isn't easy to find. I have seen units at RV shows listed at $9999 and they were usually bare bones entry models.
I'm not saying to buy or not to buy, I'm not you. You have to decide if all the bean counting and pounding the pavement will pay off, or if when all is said and done, the camper on their lot is worth it.
If you decide you have to have that one, I'd probably get my financing lined up, go back in a week with a check for 12K and explain, this is what I have to spend. Either they will sell me a unit at that price or someone else will. Just depends on who wants the check bad enough.

[travelnutz]

Yes, the $9999 price was solely to get you in the door and it worked, didn't it? It's called a lost leader and they tagged the dollar price, not you! Hoping to make a profit with added accessories and addons. However, the $15,200 final price was an real insult and you should be really ticked. MSRP price has nothing to do with it as NOBODY in their right mind would ever pay MSRP.

$2900 added on for mostly BS is totally wrong and good for you for not allowing it. Yes there are some shipping costs and reasonable prep costs but a $300 document fee is a pure joke. Bet you wouldn't have even gotten a tiny kiss with that ________.

$13,500 OTD makes a lot more sense with everything as you stated but I'd sure tell them in no kind words but diplomatically that they had not given you a warm and fuzzy feeling with their games and that buying from them again will be predicated on watching what kind of service etc you get on the trailer if needed. Also give them the clear verbal hint that "word of mouth" is very powerful and you want to have a good relationship with them, so their dealing's reaction going forward is in their court! So let's make it a 2 way happy relationship now!

[BurbMan]

Exactly...and bottom line I don't think the deal is bad at all, especially if he has that exact unit you are looking for exactly as you want it equipped. I'm not a big fan of these sales tactics where they lowball the vehicle and then try to make some money in the manager's office....but at the end of the day the bottom line is fair, and as you say is the only number that matters.

I wouldn't say that the dealer is to be avoided either, you just need to understand the deal and what game they are playing.

Hard to say if $850 on the hitch is expensive, depends on whether your truck has a hitch and wiring, or they are running fresh 7-way wiring all the way to the back. I'll bet if you offered $12,000 for what you;re looking for they would take it.

People like to compare buying an RV to buying a car, and part of that is true. BUT, the RV business is a LOT more cyclical than the auto business. People may nurse their old cars longer during tough times, but when it's time to buy you can't be without a car.

When times are tough the first things to go are the toys, boat, RV, bike, ATV, etc. We bought our current TT in the Fall of 2007, and the RV business had been booming for several years. We looked at one dealer that had opened a huge new facility with flat screen TVs in the waiting room, playground outside for the kids, state of the art security so he could leave his giant inventory unlocked for browsers.

The dealer where we had bought our previous TT operated out of what could generously be called a shack, but he was the oldest RV dealer on LI, and sold a lot of high end DPs, 5ers, etc. I asked the owner why he didn't spend some cash on his facility, and his answer was simple: In good times the cash goes in the bank, so in lean times I have a cushion to pay the staff and keep the business open until the next boom comes around.

2 years later in 2009, Sunnybrook closes, Fleetwood closes, etc. The dealer with the fancy building is taken away in cuffs by the local sheriff for using the proceeds from RV sales to pay overhead instead of paying off the floor plan financing. Defrauded the finance comapny to the tune of $2mm. My dealer in the little shack is still humming along in his little shack.

[Gsragtop]

Burb,

I think you hit the nail on the head. Your almost dead on with the costs of the items I added ($850 for the hitch and controller installed, $599 on the screen room, $350 on the cover).. Taking out the screen room and cover and Im at $12500 with the hitch and controller (which I need).. So it seems that the deal I walked on was not as bad I suspected and that the "profit" was in the dealer fees. Like I said to the sales mananger the only number I care about is the one on the very bottom. So I guess I need to take my own advice.

[BurbMan]

If the Internet prices are higher than the $9999 that the dealer wants, that tells me that he is low-balling the price to get you in and putting the profit in the bogus $2600 dealer prep fee.

Look at the accessories: Screen room $500, WD hitch $500, brake controller $150, Cover $500, so he is charging you $3500 for $1750 in accessories.

When you complained about the prep fee and he waived that, basically just put the profit in the accessories. Betcha he won't sell that TT at $9999 with no prep fee.

Honestly the $13500 for the TT and accessories doesn't sound too bad. If you back out the $1750 cost on the accessories, that's $11,750 on the TT, probably what you found it online for.

No kidding he was overpriced on the first pass, but I think he was right where he should have been when you walked out. Will be telling to see if he stands firm when you go back or if he puts more on the table.

Makes me laugh that everybody wants to buy at cost, the dealer isn't allowed to make any money, or maybe a small amount, but comes time for service these same folks are complaining that it's a 3 week wait to get an appt. because the dealer doesn't have enough techs....cause he can't afford to hire another one.

[Gsragtop]

proxim2020 wrote:

Gsragtop wrote:
Plus the internet prices were all much higher. Then what I'm paying for this one.

I wouldn't get discouraged too quickly. Those prices can be negotiated down as well, quite easily actually. You'll be amazed how far the price will fall just after the first contact. The price you see online is normally their moonshot price. There's some units that are priced fairly online, but those are hard to find and don't stay unsold for very long. Even the ones that say "firm" or "no haggle" still can be negotiated down. I say contact a few of those online dealers and try to negotiate the price down. It might be a more pleasurable experience since you can do it at home at your own pace. Who knows, you might find a dealer in a small town motivated to move units. If you find one lower, bring it back to your original dealer to match or beat. If he still doesn't budge, buy elsewhere and save the money.

I understand that, and know you are 100% correct. My main issue at this point is I cant find this unit (or a simular unit with these exact features) anywhere else. This one has everything we were looking for and is the exact setup/floorplan we need for our family. Thats the main sticking point.

I guess that alone (not setiling for a lesser unit) is worth some extra $$ right?

[StirCrazy]

you can always go back and deal some more to get it closer. when I bought my tt, they had a invoice for 28K I got it for 12K plus a 10K trade in and they were screaming how little they were making. after I got it home I discovered they screwed up and left the customs form in the trailer with a declared value of 14K. so the mark up here is 100%

also if they said it was a lost leader that is usually a model they blow out at a low price but they hope you'll see something different you want instead of it, that doesn't mean you can't get it at the price it is advertised for other wise it is false advertising.

Steve

[Community Alumni]

Gsragtop wrote:
Plus the internet prices were all much higher. Then what I'm paying for this one.

I wouldn't get discouraged too quickly. Those prices can be negotiated down as well, quite easily actually. You'll be amazed how far the price will fall just after the first contact. The price you see online is normally their moonshot price. There's some units that are priced fairly online, but those are hard to find and don't stay unsold for very long. Even the ones that say "firm" or "no haggle" still can be negotiated down. I say contact a few of those online dealers and try to negotiate the price down. It might be a more pleasurable experience since you can do it at home at your own pace. Who knows, you might find a dealer in a small town motivated to move units. If you find one lower, bring it back to your original dealer to match or beat. If he still doesn't budge, buy elsewhere and save the money.