RV Pricing?

[JRMora]

The wife and I have started looking at buying a new fifth wheel trailer. I went to the RV show a couple of weeks ago and both my wife and I fell in love with a bunkhouse 5'ver from Wildcat (Forest River). We have done a lot of camping and RV'ing with friends, though we've never owned a trailer ourselves. We have three boys and think a bunkhouse model would be fun.



My question is this - as we are starting to look at different models, we are seeing prices all over the map. When I bought my truck (3rd diesel), I could find all sorts of information on pricing (MSRP and Invoice) through sites like kbb.com, nada online, edmunds, etc. Are there similar sites for trailers and fifth wheels? I found one, but it was for motorhomes (Cl A/C). I'm looking for trailers.



We don't want to pay too much, but it's hard to know what the dealer's true cost is.



Any ideas?

 

[Fireman]

JR

The dealers don't want you to know what invoice is, and I have never seen those figures published anywhere. Here is what I heard. Invoice is somewhere in the neighborhood of 70% of MSRP, but there are no holdbacks or incentives to dealers so they can't sell a trailer that cheap. In order to pay the overhead they probably would have to get at least 80% of MSRP, that would be a fair deal. However, they usually make more than that on most of the units they sell because most people don't have a clue about the markup and are only interested in what the monthly payments will be. I know a couple of people that have gone to dealers and offered what would be 75% of MSRP, insisted that that was all they would pay and got the trailer they wanted. Eventhough that was below the profit that the dealer need he had made more than enough off of others to make up for it. Shop around, visit several dealers and find one that will be willing to deal, make an offer, and be prepared to leave if they are unwilling to deal. You can get a good deal, but it's alot of work. It's worth it.

To the best of my knowlege this is close to the way it works. If anyone knows something I don't please let us know.

Fireman

 

[esibcy]

Fireman seems to be close to what I've always heard,which is 20% off MSRP. The main thing is not to get caught up in all the excitement of RV shopping,which is easier said than done! Good Luck! Eric

 

[RobertBolinger]

No holdback is correct-sometimes they will show you the invoice if you are persistent. If you know exactly which brand/model you want go to multiple dealers-even driving several hundred miles, or calling may save you $$$



The best time to buy is in the winter-some dealerships have cashflow problems through the winter, and are willing to sell at rock bottom prices just to get "float" money. If their units are on floorplan (financed) and they sell one for cost (say $30K) they immediately get the $30K (whether you pay cash, finance with them , or bring your own financing), and then they have 30 days (hence the 30 day temp tag) to pay off the floorplan, get the certificate of origin, and get your permanent tag.



Bottom line, they had $30K to use for a month, and the interest was paid by you. Even though they did not make any money on that unit, they will make it up during the spring and summer

 

[Azhuskcarr]

Just remember, cheaper isn't always better. My dad and I just looked at a bunch of fifth wheels from different manufacturers. Alot of them have sub par quality. I did a whole lot of research and he ended up buying a new Alfa. If you have an rv park nearby, drive thru and talk to the people who have them. Most of them have already owned different brands and they could tell you the good and the bad. We started off looking at used one's, but could not find one that didn't need a little tlc and the money was still pretty high. The Alfa he bought new was not to much more than a used one. They took almost 20K off the retail price. Just do a little research. The more info you get, the better off you will be when you buy, just my 2 cents.

 

[jandtjil]

Time of year seems to have a great deal to do with the dealers negotiations.

Spring & summer = little negotiation



JJ

 

[JRMora]

Thanks to all for your replies.



We went out again yesterday to look at a couple of different coaches, and it amazes me how many dealers, when asked "how much", seem to ramble on for 30 or 45 seconds before they finally say "oh, about $xx". How do you even find out what msrp is? It's not like a car with a clearly posted sticker (at least not in the units we looked at). When you ask them what the msrp is, they just say "oh, you won't have to pay that", but then never tell you what it was!!



We're still looking and starting to figure out what options we want. I'll keep you all posted when we pick something up!



Juan

 

[The patriot]

The full retail on my 2002 wilderness was I believe between 22K and 23K.

We got it for under 17K, which was still over 2K off the "special show price" sticker in it when we were looking at it.

We bought it in November which helped I'm sure,and it was the end of the model year, the 03's were already out.

HTH

Eric

 

[lschultz]

Sounds like some pretty good info. Keep it coming cause we will be looking at getting one shortly. I think the wife is gonna retire in Jan. but she is keeping me working. We haven't looked at any yet just been getting all the brochure's on them and listening.

 

[BCook1]

The best source for RV Information.

Go to RV Consumer Group www.rv.org They rate RVs and trailers. You can buy their complete rating on CD. It is with out a doubt the best money you will ever spend related to RVing. 80% of MSRP is about the best you can hope for. They make money and you get a good deal. Just remember MSRP!!! not any of the similar sounding figures made up by the dealer. On high end units, the dealer might not sell for that. When I compared dealer to dealer prices on my Arctic Fox, one dealer would not sell for less than 90% MSRP. Why? Because they are great units and they sell - just wait for the next customer. Buy a good unit. Cheap sucks. For a rule of thumb - The MSRP should be about $1000 for each foot of trailer if you want a good one. If you want a great small travel trailer, my 22GQ is in the classifieds.

 

[dvaughan]

RV PRICING

We were looking for a Bigfoot Trailer in 2000 and found 1999 model 24' which was being discontinued. We had seen it at a dealers lot about 7 months earlier and the MSP was $39,900 Canadian. I waited till October 2000 and got it for $ 28,000 Canadian. I would have being ****** if I had paid the msp price. I asked them for a copy of the trailer specifications with the price and at each dealer they would give us one and then you can get the msp.

 

[bodacious]

when i bought my teton the mark up was 50% or you could take off 33% off of msrp which come out to be the same. that was invoice price bodacious

 

[corprimo]

Check with Russ Anderson at AmericanaRV.com. He sells Forest River Cardinals factory direct at very good prices. We got our '00 28RK Cardinal with two slides and a bunch of options for around 24k. You do have to pick it up in Indiana however. I don't know if he has the model you want, but I would think he can get it if he tries.

 

[Big MAK]

I'm picking up my new 5th Wheel Friday -- a Cruiser mfg'd by Crossroads. Model 285BH. All the reviews I've read on it were pretty good; although they're a new company in the "Low End" market. Which seems to be working in the buyers favor; the unit has a-lot of high-end features that you don't pay for! Prices ranged quite dramatically; I think between dealers knowing what the retail value was vs. dealers who add a reasonable markup then sell them. The dealers who were charging comparable units retail were pushing $30K for the one I bought; dealers adding a reasonable margin were in the the low $20s. I paid barely over $20k!!!! A Cougar or Wildcat with not even as many options lowest price I could find was $24k.



Who knows, I don't have any experience with the Cruiser by Crossroads yet so I can't give an all-out endorsement but it looks really well built. Fully enclosed; all high gloss fiberglass exterior; all aluminum construction; 3/8ths real plywood tongue-and-groove flooring; ...



I told the dealer I was willing to drive to Texas or Arizona to pick one up unless he could get within a grand of the Texas or Arizona price; and he agreed. Figure out what you want; get an internet quote; ask your local dealer to match it adding a little extra for the local service.

 

[RustyJC]

With Jayco, you can request brochures or download them as pdf's and even use the "contact us" feature to get an MSRP for the RV of your choice equipped as you spec it out. Other manufacturers may offer this same service.



For low-end (vacation) 5vers, 20% off MSRP may be an OK number. As prices go up, discounts should go up as well. 25% to 30% or higher discounts on mid-line (snowbird) to top line (full-timer) 5th wheels are not unreasonable, although you may have to shop dealer against dealer to get them.



Rusty

 

[Turbo Thom]

The price on ours after all the upgrades/options the wife wanted was up to $83K. We ended up pricing it at $71K. Still a lot of money but to well worth the cost. The Teton is a very class coach and is as comfortable as they come. We owned a Wanderer for 3 years and enjoyed it. I wanted to step up a little but didn't expect to take this large a step. Still we shopped for a year before we decided on this one. Looked at the Alfa, Teton, King Of The Road, and two or three more. Even a few diesel pushers. I like the decision we made cause I still have my truck to work with. I just can't leave my truck sitting at home.



Good luck with your choice.



. . Preston. .

 

[DaleStevenson]

Before we bought out 04. 5 3500 I got a printout from Consumer Report. It was 13 pages and cost $12. It told the MSRP as well as actual cost, etc. I think that can also be done for RV's. We plan to sell our Gulf Stream a little later on and look at a larger unit of a different manufacturer. I plan to contact Consumer Report at that time. Hope this helps.



Dale... .