Almost there - kinda long

[dmc]

We have been preparing to fulltime for several years now. My wife retired last June nad the House and "stuff" has been gone since August. We sold our old rig and I've only got 9 more days to work. We decided on an Excel a long time ago and now that it's time to go shopping I need some advice. The nearest dealer is close to 200 miles from us and since we aren't going to have a home base here anyway I was planning on dealer shopping. I was going to start by emailing a few dealers, let them know the model & options we are interested in, time frame for purchase, etc. Should I ask for bottom dollar price up front or MRSP and negotiate from there? Thoughts?

[tncruiser]

ask for there bottom price it is good place to start the price "haggling"
the dealers knows his cost and factory promos and its his decision how much profit he wants.you dont go to a dealer to find dinner guests you go for the best deal
what ever price he accepts will work for him hes the pro.that being said some dealers will work on a smaller margin for lots of reasons like time for payroll,floorplan payment is due or just time to move a unit. dont forget you only buy once he sells every day. good kuck i retired in 2001 and never regretted it for a minute
brianj tncruiser

[BookIIRoadtrash]

Congratulation on you’re decision. Myself I would order a new one from the factory instead of searching for a dealer that has the model you want. They might have it, but it might not have all the options you want. Nothing worse than purchasing something and then always wishing you would have had something on it that you didn’t get. I myself like the personal touch that a dealer can give you and wouldn’t buy because of lowest dollar. I have been there, needed warranty work and they will do it but to there convince since you didn’t purchase from them. You might be running to the factory a lot to get you’re work done. One night I called my dealer at home after 10 pm his time and he called the factory at that time of night to help me solve my problem so I could get on the road . So for me I deal with a good dealer.

[dmc]

Didn't mention that we planned to order new. Not much inventory out there.

[MonacoMama]

dmc...Congrats on your decision!!
I do have a question...are you asking the folks here to tell you of their experience or recommendation of the dealers that they dealt with??

[dmc]

I'm not asking for dealer recommendations yet. Just looking for thoughts on best way to approach a dealer long distance and where to start the negotiations.

[Rich_in_Tampa]

I recently got a new RV and travelled 1200 miles one way to pick it up. The model was exactly what we were looking for, new, and tens and tens of thousands less than what we found locally, so it was worth the trip.

Downside is feeling kind of orphaned from your selling dealer in the event of a service need, but we have local service for that situation. Also, if you go that route, be prepared to camp locally for a few days to a week in the area of the dealer so you can get servicing if you need it. We did a hit-and-run and discovered a bad window en route home, now arranging service locally for it. Also, the registration process was a pain, and make sure your home state has an arrangement on sales tax with the selling state -- you don't want to pay that one twice. We got a temporary plate, Fla recognized the sales tax, and we registered in Fla a couple of weeks later.

For our deal, the price difference was just too great to ignore in the interest of supporting our local dealer.