will internet dealers deal?

For some of the trailers I am considering there are dealers in the Dallas/Ft Worth area ,about 180+ mi. from me and a few in Shreveport about 70 mi. So far in phone calls and one visit to Shreveport no one wants to deal. Sure they will come off MSRP but only about 10% ,that's not good enough. Right here in Texarkana the dealers don't carry much I am interested in and they are notorious for not bargaining. As far as service unless it is something serious I will do it myself or carry it to the Dallas area after the camping season. I know it is always a possibility (you hear horror stories)that something serious could come up ,I believe that is the exception , not the rule. As long as I do a thorough PDI and spend a day or two camping and checking things out before I come home I think I will be OK.

If you have a local dealer I would take the offer to them and see what they say. Our 2012 fiver, my local dealer came within $1000 of the internet offer. On our 2015 I drove to Atlanta and the dealer there matched my best internet offer and was only 140 miles away.

Do your due diligence in researching "local" dealers and it may pay off. Best of luck.

MM49 wrote:

Bobj616 wrote:
I am considering driving up North ,(Indiana,Ohio,Michigan) to purchase a trailer. Please understand ,if local dealers would match a price ,with transportation added I would consider local. Even then I would have a 200 mi. drive to get to most of them.
My question is , will the dealers on line that advertise the low prices deal down even more , maybe a second battery or cost on a new WD hitch(I already own one but may let it go with my old trailer). Anyone had any experience with buying at a distance . The prices on line are $4000 to $8000 cheaper than local so its worth the trip . Thanks for any help.

Yes they will.

You must let them know you are serious. I used written quote from a dealer, blacked out the name and address, and faxed it to a salesman. Make sure that you talk to the salesmen first. Let them know you are willing to travel.
Note: the salesman like to be treated poorly.
MM49

Note: the salesman like to be treated poorly.

What a stupid comment...why would you say that?

I suggest trying Cheyenne Camping Center in Walcott, IA. Found them on Ebay and ended up driving there from Kansas in 2007 and bought a nice new Puma TT for 100 under invoice.

They are on the internet.

Call Deb at Tiara RV in Elkhart, we got a good deal and drove from CA to pick it up all done online.

Thanks for the responses .

You can talk to them and make a offer. I only see two issues.
* It is a long way so it is best to have positive responce before you come North.
* Where are you going to get the TT serviced if something goes wrong. Does the manufacturer have a dealership in you area or state?

Our dealer sweetened the deal with a WD hitch.

It doesn't hurt to make an offer. Saving that much money sure makes it worthwhile to travel. Luckily I have a relatively local dealer (90 minutes away) that came pretty close to the best offer I found from an online dealer. The online dealer required a 6 hour drive, which I was willing to make part of a trip. I figured for a couple hundred bucks I would stay local though.

Good luck. Some dealers are stubborn and won't budge. Seems to me that I would rather make an easy sale and only make a couple hundred dollars profit rather than NO SALE and NO PROFIT.

magicmantx wrote:
When we bought our TH from Holemans they had it listed online as a end of year closeout at a price that was several thousand below anything I could find in this part of the country. I showed this to a couple local dealers and they were unwilling to even lower their best offer which was a lot higher already. I called Holemans up and offered 5K less than they had it online fully expecting them to decline which they nicely did. They offered 1k less than advertised but I declined and told them I would think about it. The next day they called back and said if my offer was still good they would accept it. I agreed and we bought it . Its always worth a try and be patient. sometimes what many consider an unreasonable offer may be accepted. Worst than can happen is a No.

I just went to the Indy RV show and looked at a dealers "SALE PRICE" on a trailer that Holman had the exact same thing sitting on their lot for 9K less.

When we bought our TH from Holemans they had it listed online as a end of year closeout at a price that was several thousand below anything I could find in this part of the country. I showed this to a couple local dealers and they were unwilling to even lower their best offer which was a lot higher already. I called Holemans up and offered 5K less than they had it online fully expecting them to decline which they nicely did. They offered 1k less than advertised but I declined and told them I would think about it. The next day they called back and said if my offer was still good they would accept it. I agreed and we bought it . Its always worth a try and be patient. sometimes what many consider an unreasonable offer may be accepted. Worst than can happen is a No.