Community Forums

RoadsofLife · 07-21-2019, 01:18 PM

My wife and I are looking into buying a Class B and we've narrowed it down to three choices:
1. Winnebago Travato KL: Love the Pure3 system since we have a dog and expect she will be in the RV for extended periods (3 hrs?). We also live in a humid climate and expect that won't change, so need something that will allow a/c to last thru the night. Don't love the build quality or the actual layout.
2. Pleasure Way Lexor FL: Love the layout and the build quality. Not a fan of the battery system that limits a/c use. A generator would be noisy and not available at night, so that may be an issue.
3. Coachmen Beyond: Good qualit'y and a/c is estimated to last and be quiet, but it is a bit longer than we wanted (22'-2"), so won't be optimal for our kind of travel. We are more into towns/museums/history and less "out in the middle of nowhere" kind of people!

Our question, and it may be unanswerable or even foolish to ask, so I apologize in advance... what is a fair deal?

Dealerships seem to be all over the map when pricing these models and after much research, it seems final pricing can be difficult to pin down. It also makes it hard to find prices because few dealerships are specific regarding what options are actually included with the models (at least online). Dealerships for the RV's we are looking at never seem to have the models we want on site, or don't sell the brand at all.
1. Winnebago dealers usually offer 25% off MSRP, and it seems 28 to 32% off MSRP is considered a good deal.
2. Pleasure Way dealers usually offer 10% off MSRP, but I can't seem to find a general final offer price range anywhere.
3. Coachmen dealers have been hard to find (at least for the Beyond). The one I did find offers 28% off MSRP, but no idea what a final fair deal would be.

Any thoughts, suggestions, helpful hints, anecdotes, advice, dialogue,Â*words of encouragement?

Thanks for reading this far too long post from a dazed and confused couple!

hohenwald48 · 07-21-2019, 02:10 PM

Discussions regarding "normal" discount percentages are not particularly useful. Dealers are in the business to sell for as much as possible. Customers want to buy for as little as possible. Negotiation gets you to an agreeable compromise. Or not.

It all boils down to how much you want it and how much they want to get rid of it. I would concentrate more on that than on what others may say they got as a discount. I've heard folks claim to get 35-40% off MSRP. I just don't believe it and I chalk it up to fuzzy math.

Depending on your ability to do any needed repairs, you may need to spend a bit of time with the dealer after the sale. If you manage to really beat him up on the purchase you have to wonder how helpful he might be when you need assistance. Make you best deal. If you can live with it and the dealer can live with it then don't worry to much what others claim to have gotten.

Kodiakan · 07-21-2019, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoadsofLife

My wife and I are looking into buying a Class B and we've narrowed it down to three choices:
1. Winnebago Travato KL: Love the Pure3 system since we have a dog and expect she will be in the RV for extended periods (3 hrs?). We also live in a humid climate and expect that won't change, so need something that will allow a/c to last thru the night. Don't love the build quality or the actual layout.
2. Pleasure Way Lexor FL: Love the layout and the build quality. Not a fan of the battery system that limits a/c use. A generator would be noisy and not available at night, so that may be an issue.
3. Coachmen Beyond: Good qualit'y and a/c is estimated to last and be quiet, but it is a bit longer than we wanted (22'-2"), so won't be optimal for our kind of travel. We are more into towns/museums/history and less "out in the middle of nowhere" kind of people!

Our question, and it may be unanswerable or even foolish to ask, so I apologize in advance... what is a fair deal?

Dealerships seem to be all over the map when pricing these models and after much research, it seems final pricing can be difficult to pin down. It also makes it hard to find prices because few dealerships are specific regarding what options are actually included with the models (at least online). Dealerships for the RV's we are looking at never seem to have the models we want on site, or don't sell the brand at all.
1. Winnebago dealers usually offer 25% off MSRP, and it seems 28 to 32% off MSRP is considered a good deal.
2. Pleasure Way dealers usually offer 10% off MSRP, but I can't seem to find a general final offer price range anywhere.
3. Coachmen dealers have been hard to find (at least for the Beyond). The one I did find offers 28% off MSRP, but no idea what a final fair deal would be.

Any thoughts, suggestions, helpful hints, anecdotes, advice, dialogue,Â*words of encouragement?

Thanks for reading this far too long post from a dazed and confused couple!

Don’t overlook good service department. Price alone is not the only qualifier.

aknavy · 07-21-2019, 06:36 PM

In my shopping experience for new fifth wheels, you should be able to get around 30% off advertised MSRP, maybe a bit more. Look at them on RV Trader - the lowest price you see there is still marked up, so keep that in mind when shopping. Also - most manufacturers limit how low an advertised price can be.

Do your research, find a large volume/low margin dealer to get a price from, then work from there. Each brand seems to have a few. Either travel to get the coach, or use that price to negotiate with the local dealer.

arcaguy · 07-21-2019, 06:54 PM

What everyone else said plus a couple of things to think about. Can you finance the deal, even if you don't need to this will many times get you a better deal because the dealer makes some money on the financing, then pay it off quick but watch for any early payment penalties. I once saved $2,500 on a Ford pick up by financing it a FMCC for 90 days. The other thing to think abou is timing. If you want the coach this year buy between the 25th and the end of the month, the sales folks have quotas and bonus numbers to meet. If you can wait the winter will likely have better deals because things slow down. That said, right now may also be a good time because the new models are coming out. Whatever you do buy the coach you want even if it's not the best deal because you'll probably be happier in the long run. One more thing I used to do when I bought cars was after the deal was all but written up I would tell the salesman to throw in rustproofing (remember that stuff?) because I know they made a pretty good commission on it and they wouldn't hate me if I needed warranty work. Good luck.

schad · 07-22-2019, 06:49 AM

When I was in your boat, I assumed 30%. For the market I was in, (nearly) all the dealers were discounting RVs by at least 25%, with the average being right around 30%. I felt, therefore, that I should be able to get at least 30% no matter what RV I decided to get. This was how I built my list of what I can afford and what I shouldn't even bother looking at.

From the numbers you've given, you may want to assume 25%. You're in a relatively hot market right now ("van life") so dealers may be less willing to discount.

By the way, 40% definitely is possible, but you have to do things like buy a '19 when the '20s have been out for a few months, compromise on options or floorplans (or both), drive a long distance, etc. You definitely should not assume that you will be able to get that much of a discount.

MtCamper · 07-22-2019, 07:41 AM

Dealers sell based on supply and demand. If you want a really hot model you will have to pay more. Get what you want. If you don't you will want to change in a couple of years. Cheaper to get want you really want to start than to buy twice. That said, markets vary. you may find a dealer who has one on his lot for way too long and you may hit that magic 30-35% mark. Internet shop what you want hard. There is a lot of info out there.

Gary RVRoamer · 07-22-2019, 08:14 AM

I'm solidly with hohenwald48 on this topic. Getting hung up on percentages is not productive. Shop for the models you like and get real price quotes. If it's worth the price to you, buy it.

I also get the impression you are (so far) working from advertised prices and those don't mean a whole bunch unless maybe it is for the specific make & model you want. Even then, you need to get an actual "out-the-door" price quotes to be of much use. It's common for advertisements to feature big discounts but those get taken back with various dealer fees. Or the discount is from a fictitious list price the dealer generated by adding in low value stuff at high prices. The bottom line is discount percentages don't mean much until you have a real price quote and an actual manufacturer MSRP for that specific RV.

One ploy is to advertise steep discounts but then add a charge for dealer prep or a "dealer fee". The MSRP is supposed to cover all dealer prep and sales expenses except for delivery from the factory to the dealer.

Pleasureway vans are in limited supply and high demand, so of course the dealers discount less. Maybe not at all. Demand is pretty good for Winnebagos too, but there are a zillion Winnie dealers so much more price competition. And models from other manufacturers that compete as well.

Isaac-1 · 07-22-2019, 08:57 PM

Keep in mind with the amount of money you could save buying a 5 year old coach, you could retrofit a very impressive lithium battery bank and inverter system which could run an air conditioner over night.

MSHappyCampers · 07-23-2019, 10:25 AM

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Noticed that you are kinda new on IRV2 and wanted to say hello!

You might want to consider a gently used RV, maybe 3-5 years old. That way someone has already taken the "off the lot" depreciation hit and hopefully gotten all the bugs out!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!