Best way to negotiate for lower price ( I am in Utah and General RV is the dealer)

[Gotime4]

I would love to hear opinions on how some of you negotiated the price on your RV? I am going to be buying a reflection 150 series (probably the 290bh) and am in Utah so the only close Grand design dealer is General RV. Has anyone had experience with them?

Thanks for your input in advance

 

[livinthelife]

I would love to hear opinions on how some of you negotiated the price on your RV? I am going to be buying a reflection 150 series (probably the 290bh) and am in Utah so the only close Grand design dealer is General RV. Has anyone had experience with them?

Thanks for your input in advance

What we did was get an online quote from a dealer (known for low quotes) and use that at the dealer we were negotiating with. We got about 23% reduction.

The dealer we got the quote from was about 100 miles further away, but we were willing to drive that far, if the dealer closer (the one we were working with) didn't meet it.

 

[MountainFolk]

I got quotes on paper from dealers all over the country, then took them with me and let them beat the prices of other dealers. Don't let them tell you that you will get better service if you buy the trailer from them. It pretty much like buying a car, you can take it to any dealer. Good luck

 

[wstcoaster07]

I purchased mine from General in Utah as well. I just shopped different dealers over the phone for a week or so until nobody would go any lower. I think I could have sat on it a week and maybe they would have gone lower but I ended up just at 25% off MSRP on a unit on the lot. (not including tax, which they do not control)
I agree with MountainFolk in that I ignored the "we have the best service" or "this is a family owned and operated..." and I was just after the lowest price. However, I operated that way just because I am military and move a lot so I knew from day 1 that I would not be getting my trailer serviced where I bought it. On that note though, I can say it is not as easy as "take it to any dealer", at least not in San Diego. I had a few down right tell me no to servicing anything they didn't sell. I finally got one to take it in but I have to wait 3 months for my scheduled appointment. I do most of the minor work myself with youtube and this forum, which saves me the hassle. GD also offers to let you use mobile repair places but you have to cover the cost of the trip charge and then they will authorize the labor/materials if you coordinate it with them.

 

[tjeeper]

I just purchased a 2600RB from them. We looked up their inventory, noticed they had several trailers of the same model, and made an offer of what we thought it was worth. We went back and forth for a week or so until we settled on a price. Don't be afraid to take your business elsewhere. At one point when we thought we had settled on the price they said they "had to add something else." We said we were going to walk at that point. They then dropped it.

There are dealers in St. George, Grand Junction and Vernal. Check their inventory before you start negotiating. Don't get so hung up on a particular trailer if price is important (unless it is the perfect trailer and you are willing to pay more to get that one).

Patrick

 

[sbarlag]

It's been my experience that when people start talking percentages it's like an episode of Charlie Brown an all you hear from the teacher is WHA WHA, WHA WHA WHA, WHA WHA. Unless you're comparing EXACTLY THE SAME unit with EXACTLY THE SAME OPTIONS, percentages won't mean a hill of beans. Be prepared to provide a dealer with the Retail Price Sheet which shows the options on the unit. Percentages don't take into account dealer stock, expected stock, what's hot-what's not, etc. Percentages -shermentages...

 

[wstcoaster07]

I would ordinarily agree that blanket % talk is not helpful, but the problem is pricing is allllll over the place. Using percentages at least gets you in a ballpark of reasonable pricing when they are so inflated. If I didnt at least think about a %off MSRP when i started I may have walked out thinking paying 30k for a 34k trailer was a great deal... when in actuality most people who list what they paid were another couple grand short of that. The apples to apples thing is tough too because some dealers are super shady with what is different between units. I dealt with one that said, "well, are you really comparing apples to apples.... ours has LED lights, a 20' awning... etc" I told him after he stopped talking that he was listing "options" that both he and I knew were standard on the unit we were discussing. Needless to say I did not do business with them.
In the end I treated the % thing as a starting point and then accepted pricing differences based on things you mention like current market, dealer stock, proximity, etc.

 

[usroamer]

I got quotes on paper from dealers all over the country, then took them with me and let them beat the prices of other dealers. Don't let them tell you that you will get better service if you buy the trailer from them. It pretty much like buying a car, you can take it to any dealer. Good luck

Yes you can take it to any dealer and most won't have a problem. And I fall into that category as I purchased my coach from a dealer that I will rarely be close to. However I have experienced dealers that will give preference for scheduling an appointment to a customer over someone who bought elsewhere. I travel 100 miles to a dealer for service that treats all the same.

 

[nwminnesota]

I sent you a PM. I drove 5.5hrs to get my 5th wheel from General RV my sales lady hooked me up. I would use the GDRV website to find the true MSRP to use for the % off rule. I did have a good experience there.

 

[colo native]

I bought my TT 315 from General RV internet sales( I got the best price from them) Did try local but General saved me about 3K I am driving from Denver to Utah on Monday to pick it up on Tues. Oh I did get 28% off MSRP.

 

[Gotime4]

So I just went to general rv and they offered me $39k not including TTL for a 290bh, and I told them I would do it for 35k out the door (like $32k +TTL) and they came back with $35600 out the door. They claimed MSRP was $51311 but I think it was more like $46k. I feel I got a good deal. I just played hard ball and it worked

 

[colo native]

So I just went to general rv and they offered me $39k not including TTL for a 290bh, and I told them I would do it for 35k out the door (like $32k +TTL) and they came back with $35600 out the door. They claimed MSRP was $51311 but I think it was more like $46k. I feel I got a good deal. I just played hard ball and it worked

Go on Grand Design's website and build it and you will know the MSRP. Try this to see invoice:


http://www.seedealercost.com/products/category-models/index/id/342/productCategorySlug/recv

 

[wstcoaster07]

So I just went to general rv and they offered me $39k not including TTL for a 290bh, and I told them I would do it for 35k out the door (like $32k +TTL) and they came back with $35600 out the door. They claimed MSRP was $51311 but I think it was more like $46k. I feel I got a good deal. I just played hard ball and it worked

Nice. Yeah, GD website agrees with you that msrp is about 45 assuming you went dual ac and theater seats.
I bet you'll love it.

 

[geekgurl64]

We just purchased the 290BH this week from General RV in Michigan. The discount was 24% below MSRP. We pick it up this coming Friday.

 

[geekgurl64]

Yes, MSRP was just shy of $46,000.

 

[Gotime4]

We are picking ours up on Friday too, congrats

 

[Pat&Renee]

WOW....you fellas need to come on down here and buy in TEXAS..... I got 33% off on first try...... The difference in what you save would pay for your trip.... and you could try it out at the beach...lol... I just got my 375RES-R with king bed, heat pump, full LP generator package and W&D installed for $72K.....MSRP without W&D was $104K....W7D was almost 3k.. contact Levi at Crestview RV in Budda Texas.... they beat all the other dealers by 9k..... I have a dealer 10 miles from my house...... they would not even come close to that.... their basic 375 is around 64k.... good luck.

 

[jneubig]

I got quotes on paper from dealers all over the country, then took them with me and let them beat the prices of other dealers. Don't let them tell you that you will get better service if you buy the trailer from them. It pretty much like buying a car, you can take it to any dealer. Good luck

I did pretty much the same. I got quotes from several dealers including my local and preferred dealer. My local was initially $4500 higher than the best quote I had gotten on the same apples to apples unit. Ask for build sheets on all you are getting quoted on so you know they are the same unit. When we went to the local dealer, I told them I would prefer to keep business local, but would drive the 10 hours to the other dealer for $4500. I then told the sales manager I would do business locally if within $500.00 of the other. They actually came in at the same money and threw in the Furrion wireless backup camera and after a little more prodding a Camping World $200 gift card. The discount from MSRP was right at 30% not including the freebies. For full disclosure, the unit we were looking at was the last 2017 they had on the lot and they were motivated to move it.