Community Forums

angelbones · 07-03-2016, 07:01 AM

My first post on the Fleetwood forum as I've been looking at Thor Palazzo and Tuscany XTE, and some older Forest Rivers, so hoping for some advice from Fleetwood owners. Part of the reason is that in our price point, we've primarily only seen Excursion, and for whatever reason have not liked the layout or other minor points. Furthermore, they tended to be older.

Brief background about my wife and myself. We own a house that we are selling this month and we realized we can get a better rate if we buy an RV before selling. Our original plan was to wait about 6-12 months to start our journey to go full time RVers. It should also be mentioned that we have absolutely NO experience with this, but with that said we're ready to dive all the way in. Thus, our bit of haste in buying now.

Which leads me to a recent discovery this weekend. While looking at one dealer at a new 2016 Forest River Legacy for sale at $145,000, the dealer was just not friendly so we left despite the reasonable price. We then headed to another dealer where we wanted to drive a Palazzo. Of course, I'm aware of the reputation of Thor on one end and Forest River on the other. Fleetwoods, on the other hand, seem to be somewhere in between (but feel free to give your opinion). So, this dealer, who deals primarily in Thors showed us a 2013 Expedition that recently came in and has not been advertised yet. It had all our wants (except outside TV which is an easy fix) and even some interior upgrades. It was a 36M, and although I was really trying to stick to under 36', I was willing to make an exception for this. Only 17k miles.

On to the price. We left the dealer for time reasons, but they offered to sell for $145,000. We never countered. So, is that a good price for a 3+ year old Expedition? How does the Expedition compare in the Fleetwood lineup? For that matter, while this particular forum may be biased, how does Fleetwood compare to other manufacturers? Middle of the pack? Upper middle? Lower middle? Top end?

We greatly appreciate any thoughts on this and with short notice we need to make a decision soon. Just keep in mind we're new so anything we should be aware of or leery of, please let us know. Also, any thoughts on an appropriate price for this model is appreciated but not expected. Thanks so much for the great people on this forum. I've only been a member for a short time but I find more info here than at dealers.

jondrew55 · 07-03-2016, 07:08 AM

The Expedition is like the middle range with the Excursion below it and the Discovery above. We paid $189k for our used 2015 Discovery (which I think was a bit high, but we have no regrets).

$145k sounds a bit high , but it depends on the condition, mileage and extras this coach comes with.

RSchleder · 07-03-2016, 07:19 AM

Check the "book prices" in Kelly Blue Book and NADA. Both these services can be found online. Also, check with your bank or credit union to see what value they place on this MH. Keep in mind, dealers price their new and used RV's so there is room for negotiation so be prepared for that activity. Don't be afraid to low ball an offer, you can always come up to meet the dealer somewhere in the middle. Definitely don't pay anywhere near the "list price" being offered by the dealer!!!!!!

Check out this site that has several 2013 Expeditions:

http://www.rvtrader.com/New-and-Used...istance%3Aasc&

**TonyDi** · 07-03-2016, 07:29 AM

If this is the Coach you will be happy with, offer a lower price. The dealer may just want to get it off their lot quickly. Besides you can always raise your offer, you can't lower it. Good luck!!

BrewE2 · 07-03-2016, 07:56 AM

In addition to the NADA listings, you may want to compare any of the prices on used motorhomes to the "SOLD" listings provided at PPL. Although you may not find the exact rig you're looking at on PPL, you can do some comparison to the NADA MSRP, to the sold price to give you a ballpark loss percentage.

My recommendation, if you do not have a trade-in - avoid the dealers, most are a hinderance to your goals and in my experience are not to be trusted. Having been in your situation, visiting some dealers, we made a decision to seek out only private sellers. In the end we got a fantastic coach from the original owners & at a great price.

angelbones · 07-03-2016, 11:59 AM

I've only recently shopped on RV trader for this particular model as we were looking at a Thor 35.1 Palazzo which has the king bed and washer/dryer and the reason we went there to that dealer in the first place. Of course,that particular model was out of stock, although they had smaller ones. I'm really hoping they'll deal but we're trying to be realistic and appreciating all the comments so far, but will certainly take as many as we can get.

angelbones · 07-12-2016, 08:02 AM

I'll create a separate thread with more info and I'm sure questions I'll have, but for those looking on this thread in the future, we ended up getting it for $123k, if anyone wondered.