Dealer negotiations

[Rspitler]

So we were looking at upper end Class C's and decided to compare with the Allegro 32 SA. After seeing the Tiffen, there was no way we could step down to the Yayco Grahawk 29MVP Prestige we were previously interested in!

So we start to move forward with pricing on the 32Sa. We offered 30% off MSRP. (new 2018 model) Dealer came back at abut 19-20% out the door! We actually countered with and additional $8k, against my better judgment. Salesman went to management, came back and said he was quoting manager as saying "not in this lifetime"! Really? So we reluctantly gave $2k deposit, because now my wife was "sold" on that unit! ugh.

We get home and I start searching for pricing and found another dealer by chance in another state that had the same model with $13k higher MSRP for a few hundred less! I emailed our sales person at original dealer and informed him about what we found. He said he would "look into it".

Meanwhile looking at the photos and options offered in the other state, my Wife decided she liked the Ocean Pier Floor, Oven and no bunk much better. By the way, why does the overhead bunk look so cheap? Not in line with the quality of every thing else "Tiffin" IMO.

But back to Wife, and she now wants the 2nd one, and does not want the one we originally put deposit on. I inform salesman, we talk on phone, and he is obviously furious! He said why are we buying and "having serviced" 400 miles away? He then said if we buy elsewhere and need service from them later, that we would not be high priority and be on the "bottom of the list" for repairs. Well, of course we are now very disheartened toward this local dealer! There are other options for service a little farther away, so will probably go elsewhere.

By the way, we had dealt with another salesman from same Dealer chain, several years ago with our previous Motor home. We sold that and moved south, which is closer to the location, mentioned above. Our previous salesman referred us to the new local store, so he was getting a piece of the sale commission. He subsequently texted me and asked how it was going? Well I told him the story, he said he would look into it. Guess what?

He called my the next day and offered me the same model I saw at our local store for $11k less!! WOW. I thought.. "is this another lifetime?" haha.

So now we feel like we were getting the shaft on our original deal. Do we want to buy from our "Old" Salesman and take the model with less options to save $11k? Or do we say "you had your chance and blew it!"

So we now have a deposit on the one out state and I got our original deposit refunded. During which time, of course the manager tried to discourage going out of sate and reiterated that if we have problems, "they would not make us a priority". Oh well...

So now we have plans to move forward with out of state purchase. That's when I find this forum, and see a thread on "ordering process". Looking more at that, I find that some people have received better pricing with custom order from dealers near the factory. I contact one of them and get a price to order the same exact coach and options for another $5900 less! Now what??

The BIG downside is the special order will take 16 weeks. Maybe more because they are really taking orders! So we can take the one of state for more money, or save $5900 and lose this summer use. Decision time!

So currently, I have shared the price sheet from the custom order with out of state dealer, who is working on seeing what if anything they can do to get close to custom order price. Will keep you posted!

Am I a typical Buyer or extreme shopper?? haha.

Anyway thought others may find thereselves in similar situation, after all this is a large purchase right?

What do you think about local dealer saying they would not make us a priority for service? After all we did buy from this dealer the first time at another location! Disappointed...

[CptCook]

Ray,
Not to add more confusion, but call King Campers in Wausua Wisconsin, 715-355-5556. They would be closer to you. They consistently get close to the 3 southern dealers in price (close to 28% off MSRP) As for service, Tiffin allows you to have warranty work done at a vast array of locations, not just at the dealer you purchased from. Many here have found that small, mobile repair shops are much more responsive than big dealerships. And we are not associated with King at all, We have purchased from the southern dealers because we live down here. Just thought you might like a closer option!

[luvlabs]

Relax. Tiffin usually quotes 8-12 weeks ARO and you are not going to lose the summer. I suggest you either deal with Kings Campers or send a RFQ to Davis Motorhome Mart (Memphis), Sherman RV (Sherman, MS) or Martin Ingram (Montgomery, AL). Those are the four dealers that Tiffin owners consistently rate the highest in terms of price and service.

Dealers can be a pain in the rear when it comes to service on units they didn't sell. However, they all seem to forget that nonsense if you are travelling through their area and have an emergency repair. Tiffin is very liberal about accepting other repair shops to do warranty repairs.

Good luck with your purchase.

[momdoc]

Other than the big 3 (or 4) mentioned you are probably close to your best buy.


As to service it is a fact through out the industry that "if you did not buy it here it will be a while till we can fit you into the schedule" I hope you will find things different with Tiffin.


We travel all the time and have no true home base so we are looking for a different experience with the new (on order through Sherman) coach.

[TXTiger]

You are not tied to the selling dealer for service. Tiffin will approve many repair only service centers. If something breaks it will most likely be while you are using the rig and out of your home area anyway. And most importantly after the first year most all repairs will be out of warranty or on the component manufacturers warranty and you can go anywhere.

As mentioned already Davis, Ingram and Sherman are top dealers. I found Kings in WI to be a little pricey. You can get the MSRP with the options you want from Tiffin and then you should get between 25% to 30% off MSRP with 28% average.

[Rspitler]

Negotiating with Dealer and the best price ends up being $5274 more than ordering new from Dealer near Red Bay. After taxes and everything.
Wife wants to get now and take a trip to CO this June. Should we bite the bullet? Happy Wife, happy life? I would rather save the $5k.

[garykk]

Personally I would not drive across country and spend 2 weeks on the road to save $5k.
You’re going to spend half of that on the trip and back anyways.

[vsheetz]

Don't worry about service. The dealer likely has crappy service and you won't be going there after the first or second bad experience. Find a service only facility - they don't care where you bought it and make their living from service.

[momdoc]

I agree a trip that long to save 5k is not worth the effort and time. True savings will a couple of thousand once you figure you travel costs.

[luvlabs]

it's less than 800 miles to Red Bay and all of the dealers mentioned are only a couple of hours from Red Bay - a three day trip at most. I'd drive it to save $5000. If you were coming from Seattle, then it might be worth discussing. Drive your toad down, and pull it home with the new motorhome. Seems like fun time

[Betr2Trvl]

Before you "re-commit" to anything, get a copy of the Tiffn build spec and weight sheet, so you know exactly what you are buying. The dealer should take pictures from the documents posted in the back closet, so you know they are coming from the actual coach you are considering and ensure you can read everything including the VIN. Even ask for the door jam weight / tire pressure stickers too, to ensure they all match.

One of the things that seems to have been cropping up, is that while it seemed that the 32SA was "standard" on the 24k chassis, it is also (now) available on the 22k. The brochures show 24k, so don't believe anything other than the actual sheets from the coach you are considering.......

Good luck

[Bob Hyatt]

We just bought a new 32SA. We had a similar experience. Got a quote that was the best dealer A could do (so they said). We visited another Tiffin dealer and found a better deal. Put down a deposit. Told dealer A we had found what we wanted. They said thanks for letting us know. Didn't even get the phone back in my pocket when it rang again. We can beat that deal by $2500. Called dealer B and told them we were changing our mind. When we got the deal from them, they had said "this is the best we can do".

I got to 30% off MSRP with our original dealer (both were 2018's, the original was built on the 24000 chassis, the other was on the standard 22000 chassis, original had about $2500 more options (basically every option I could find in the brochure). Bottom line is, who knows what they might offer. I gave up at this point and took the 30% deal as the phone calls were becoming comical.

Picking it up tomorrow morning after the lengthy "I am going to test every last switch and button" session...

Everything I had found suggested 30% was about the best one can do. But one has to be careful. A few years ago my wife picked out a new car she wanted. I did the online stuff to get the best price possible. Then took $2000 off of that for good luck and gave the local honda dealer a quick email telling them what we wanted and what we would pay for it, with no crap (nitrogen filled tires, $1000 spoilers, clear coat, undercoating, all the things they like to add on at extra profit for dealer). To my consternation, they accepted the offer. Which tells me that the best one was supposed to be able to do was a little off. I thought it was a heck of a deal for us until they accepted, then I was pretty sure that it was good, but not as good as we could have negotiated.

[Robin_M]

Originally Posted by momdoc

As to service it is a fact through out the industry that "if you did not buy it here it will be a while till we can fit you into the schedule"

You hear that all the time, but I've never been able to understand why that is. After all, all dealers make money on servicing coaches, and you'd think common sense would dictate that they would invite local customers regardless of where the coach was purchased. Most car dealers do. I wonder if, at many dealers, this is simply a "salesman tactic", rather than a service department policy.

[glarnold]

I have found that dealers who have people standing in line for repair work (very busy) tend to put "unimportant" service (to them) down the line.