Realistic?

Hi there. New here, and hoping for some insight into a process that is new to me - purchasing a travel trailer. This may be long, so hopefully you can forgive me.

I like to think I'm pretty capable of researching with the best of them, negotiating, and closing a deal, but this purchase process for a travel trailer is an ongoing nightmare.

I performed an incredible amount of research prior to my wife and I hitting the local dealers. Unfortunately, local means no less than an hour away, but we've been to 3 lots and browsed just about every online dealer we come across in our searches. Some of these dealers have high MSRP prices, some not so much. Some have sale prices with the MSRP crossed out. Some have the bottom dollar price listed. They are all different. This was expected, based on what most folks in my position have faced in the past, present, and future.

First things first, we found a floorplan we love. We've learned that there are only about 2,000 brands that carry that floorplan. But then we found the trailer we consider a great fit for us. And even better, our local dealer has it. In fact, the dealer in question has 2 lots in the area, and they have 4 of this model - three 2015s and one 2016. At the lot we prefer (closer to us and near where we would store it), the dealer has 2 - one 2015 and one 2016.

So we started the negotiations. Using information we'd found online, and the lowest "sale" price as a start, we kicked an offer to the dealer via email - straight to a salesman we had brief discussion with on the lot. We asked for this to be out the door, but excluding a hitch and brake controller. Considering this further, this first offer was probably low, but not overly so.

They contacted us pretty quickly, and came back with an out the door offer that basically matched their sticker price (sale price), and added on all the extras - taxes, tags, prep, processing. Then they added on the additional cost of the hitch and brake controller. This was about 5k more than our offer. We were taken aback, and already disheartened. We turned back to our research and reminded ourselves that this part wasn't supposed to be fun.

We touched base after seeing the numbers, and they noted they could come down, but only by swapping to a lower quality hitch (from Blue Ox down to Pro Series) and dropping the brake controller. But they stuck to the same trailer price based on our calculations.

The next day, we shot them a note, and they called to discuss. We let them know where we stood, and what we hoped for. The salesman had to check with his sales manager each time, so there were periods of waiting. They finally came back with an offer with a lower trailer cost, but the overall cost is still higher than we are hoping.

We bumped up yet again, and we are now at our calculated limit. We let them know that we had to have an out the door with everything "except" the brake controller under our limit.

They came back with a price about $439 over this limit.

This is for a 2015 Hideout 27DBS. Our desired cost is $19,000 out the door with a Pro Series 1200 hitch with friction sway control. It was originally 18k, but we reconsidered based on further thought.

Sticker "sale" price is 18,900. Their original OTD offer was 20,910. There latest offer is 19,439. The breakdown puts them at:
17.5k = trailer
599 = hitch and install
750ish = taxes
110 = tags
The rest of it is fees - processing, dealer business license, online filing fee, etc.

So you can see, the fees are the deal breaker at this point.

I feel as if we've come up quite a bit, with very little adjustment on their end. So I sort of want to take a hard stand at 19,000.

Which brings me to the end... Am I being unrealistic? Did I go into this thinking we could get this trailer at such a price, since it is a 2015? What would you do?

We could probably get it cheaper by heading a bit west, such as Ohio, but the local relationship would be nice. But I also don't want to have a sour taste in my mouth due to the negotiations. Some of the sticker prices we've run across are in the 16.9 range, so we had hope. Should we still?

Should we drop them off radar and just hit the Hershey RV Show a few hours away?

Is 19 not reasonable for this trailer and a hitch OTD?

What say you?!

Look forward to getting our home away from home soon, so I can become an active member here!

Edit: Forgot to note that this is an all cash offer we are making. No trades or anything.

roypd
Explorer
Oct 03, 2015
Gdetrailer wrote:
I will warn you though, there is a good chance that you will NEED some warranty "touch ups" on your new rig..

You are now going to be dependent in most cases on your LOCAL dealer for warranty work..

Don't be surprised if your local dealer "remembers you" and gives you the cold shoulder treatment by giving the folks that bought from that dealer preferential treatment.. :S

Thanks! We understand there will be some warranty requirements at some point. And we read plenty of the stories of dealers slipping in false delays with regard to service. Good news is that we are willing to head the 3 hours north or to their other location about 1.5 hours west of us. And we talked to a dealer about 30 miles south of us during our shopping that made it clear that even if we didn't buy from him, their service door is always open. We were surprised to hear that from a dealer, but happy to have a potential backup.
Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Oct 02, 2015
roypd wrote:
Sorry for the lack of updates. Just wanted to thank everyone for their insight into this matter. We ended up taking much of the advice we received here. We laid out what we wanted to see from the local dealer. "Here's your number, and here's mine. You need to come closer. Otherwise, call us when you change your mind." Well, while we let that linger, and knowing we were pretty much fed up with them, we got up early, and headed to the Hershey RV Show. Wow, is that show amazing. It's overwhelming. Especially for someone new to the RV world.

Well, we walked around, knowing which floor plan we liked, but staying open to other ideas. We saw a few that sparked our interest, but none of them lit us up as much as the 27DBS. We landed on one that was newer, had more features, and even had a newer paint job (yeah, yeah, it's the simple things). We worked with the dealer, got them to come down in price (using the "this dealer offered this price" runaround), got them to throw in a nice 4 point hitch and the P3, and had a done deal. I will say we didn't really save money compared to the local dealer, but felt we were treated better, plus got newer in the process anyway.

One thing we learned at this show is that you don't just hook your new trailer up to the back of your truck and head home with it. You schedule to pick it up later. In our case, it was the following week, and we'd need to pick it up about 10 miles away from Hershey. We made the 3 hour drive home excited, and then headed back up the next week. All went well. We took it camping for the weekend around that area (btw, Lake in Wood Camping Resort in Narvon, PA is great), found a few little issues, and swung back by the dealer to get those issues addressed. Now our trailer is home and ready for our next trip.

As for the local dealer, we haven't heard from them, but they still have all 4 of their 27DBS units. We tried. But no worries now!

In regard to warranties, we read much of the yay and nay discussion on them. Of course, we've been through it with regard to cars too. I'm pretty handy, and can research with the best of them, so we did turn down the extended warranty and coverage. We still have the rest of the manufacturer warranty to change our mind, but I don't see us doing so - knock on wood.

Thanks again!

Congratulations!

I will warn you though, there is a good chance that you will NEED some warranty "touch ups" on your new rig..

You are now going to be dependent in most cases on your LOCAL dealer for warranty work..

Don't be surprised if your local dealer "remembers you" and gives you the cold shoulder treatment by giving the folks that bought from that dealer preferential treatment.. :S
hawkeye-08
Explorer III
Oct 02, 2015
Great job! That is how it goes, the local dealer had a chance to make the sale, they made the choice not to. Enjoy your new trailer..
toedtoes
Explorer III
Oct 02, 2015
Congratulation! It's great when things work out well and it sounds like it did for you. Happy camping!
roypd
Explorer
Oct 02, 2015
Sorry for the lack of updates. Just wanted to thank everyone for their insight into this matter. We ended up taking much of the advice we received here. We laid out what we wanted to see from the local dealer. "Here's your number, and here's mine. You need to come closer. Otherwise, call us when you change your mind." Well, while we let that linger, and knowing we were pretty much fed up with them, we got up early, and headed to the Hershey RV Show. Wow, is that show amazing. It's overwhelming. Especially for someone new to the RV world.

Well, we walked around, knowing which floor plan we liked, but staying open to other ideas. We saw a few that sparked our interest, but none of them lit us up as much as the 27DBS. We landed on one that was newer, had more features, and even had a newer paint job (yeah, yeah, it's the simple things). We worked with the dealer, got them to come down in price (using the "this dealer offered this price" runaround), got them to throw in a nice 4 point hitch and the P3, and had a done deal. I will say we didn't really save money compared to the local dealer, but felt we were treated better, plus got newer in the process anyway.

One thing we learned at this show is that you don't just hook your new trailer up to the back of your truck and head home with it. You schedule to pick it up later. In our case, it was the following week, and we'd need to pick it up about 10 miles away from Hershey. We made the 3 hour drive home excited, and then headed back up the next week. All went well. We took it camping for the weekend around that area (btw, Lake in Wood Camping Resort in Narvon, PA is great), found a few little issues, and swung back by the dealer to get those issues addressed. Now our trailer is home and ready for our next trip.

As for the local dealer, we haven't heard from them, but they still have all 4 of their 27DBS units. We tried. But no worries now!

In regard to warranties, we read much of the yay and nay discussion on them. Of course, we've been through it with regard to cars too. I'm pretty handy, and can research with the best of them, so we did turn down the extended warranty and coverage. We still have the rest of the manufacturer warranty to change our mind, but I don't see us doing so - knock on wood.

Thanks again!
deltabravo
Nomad
Sep 18, 2015
You've started right by doing some of the negotiating vie email.
When doing that in person, emotions can get high, salespeople get pushy, and I sure get annoyed at the back and forth to the sales managers office, with them bringing out numbers scrawled on paper with a black magic marker.

Go to the Hershey RV show. Let the local dealer you've worked with cool off, like others have said.

All the dealers pay the same price for the unit. The only variable is transportation costs - but with the dealers on the east coast being so far away from the factory, the transport cost differences among the dealers in your regional area will be minimally different.

Another idea is play several dealers against each other. If your preferred dealer still won't budge, tell them DEALER X has agreed on this price.
gmw_photos
Explorer
Sep 18, 2015
rbpru wrote:
.....snip....

Buying a TT is not a race. It is an expensive item that depreciates rapidly.

Good luck

This is good advice.

And a little further thought on that is that since they do depreciate rapidly, it's to your advantage to try to get the trailer you want to keep for a while, rather than fall victim to the idea of buying 2 or 3 trailers in sucession over the next 5 or 6 years. Shop carefully think about what your needs and wants may be in the next several years.
Also, it's been my observation that if the dealer is willing to throw in a whole lot of extras for what you're paying, you probably paid too much. After all, if he can afford to throw in extra junk, that indicates he had a very, very healthy profit indeed on the sale. I bought my trailer for bottom line price first of all, and then sourced my BlueOx hitch after I got home from somewhere else. Same with all my accessories.

EDIT: JUST MY OPINION, but "for me" their warranty didn't mean squat. I fix my own stuff, because I want it done right, and I want it done right away. These trailers are not rocket science....they are pretty easy for a handy person to work on.
SprinklerMan
Explorer
Sep 18, 2015
Its midway thru September , the camping season is coming to an end , the dealers will super slow in the upcoming months . Wait , time is your friend .The dealer will call you , when he does come to your price , tell him you are going to Hershey .
Terryallan
Explorer II
Sep 18, 2015
roypd wrote:
Terryallan wrote:
Honestly. I would shop elsewhere. I have NEVER had a dealer that did not throw in the hitch with the trailer. IF they want to make the sale. the hitch, and many other things will be included in the sticker price.

TT I have now. I made the deal. Then told them I wanted a new hitch. I got one, as well as 2 camp chairs, and a awning matt.

I'm certainly not getting treated this way. Maybe that has to do with price range of the TT, but I'm having to haggle everything. Heck, they took out a relatively cheap brake controller from the deal to lower the price. Our local options are limited, so that's the only thing keeping us from moving on.

westend wrote:
Remove the brake controller and WDH from the deal. The dealer will outfit you with the cheapest stuff to get the deal done. After the sale, buy a Prodigy controller and an Equal-I-zer brand hitch. If you can't install them yourself, hire a mobile RV tech do so.

I gave them two options on my final price. One figure with a specific hitch that I know they carry, and one without the hitch. Neither includes the brake controller, which I've been checking out the Tundra forums on that. Considering the P2 or P3. Thanks for the input.

TT price has nothing to do with it. They want to sell the less expensive ones just as much as the real expensive ones. I have bought 3 new trailers. Hitches were included in all. Brakes controller in one. Chairs in 2, grill in one. It is up to you to find a good dealer. current TT was bought in South Carolina 2 1/2 hours away. Why. First, they had what I wanted, Second, They made me the best deal, and to seal the deal. the owners showed up on a Sunday, My only day I could go, and installed my new WDH that was thrown into the deal, While our salesman carried free stuff to the TT. Awing matt, and 2 camp chairs. won't hurt you to look around.

Check out the dealers in a 2 or 4 hour circle. find the best one. You won't have make but 2 or three visits to them. One to pick it out and makes the deal, one to pick it up, and do the walk thru, and one to have the little things you find wrong fixed. This TT has been back one time, for loose cushion threads, and to tighten the AC bolts. All it has ever needed.
GMandJM
Explorer
Sep 17, 2015
Bumpyroad wrote:
the only units I would buy at a RV show would be on the first day or so. I don't want one that has had 5,000 people traipsing thru it, doors/drawers slammed, carpet worn, kids playing trampoline on the bed, etc.
bumpy

But at Hershey they can talk with factory reps and get a price on one built just for them.
The don't have to take the one that's been tromped through - unless it's at an astoundingly good price.

Agree that buying a show model isn't for the faint of heart and/or germaphobes. Nightmares after seeing a 10-year-old girl jumping out of the closet of our show-model MH still haunt me.

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