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Vectraguy · 06-17-2015, 05:38 PM

I can assure you that any dealer of significance used the thick NADA guide. The nada website deals in retails and is not always the best resource to establish values on units over 15 years old or so...

Sorry if anyone was offended, but throwing in a trade after working a straight deal is not something I would recommend.

DJBSDB · 06-30-2015, 04:02 PM

Barbara as mentioned earlier the dollars different on a trade is what matters. To get an idea go to NADA for RVs. A dealer at best will give you only wholesale or trade in value for your unit. You can also use NADA to check value of their RV which most likly be full retail starting point. Look at the difference between your wholesale and his retail. If not satisfactory look at the other options, selling yourself, keeping your rig and making changes. I have owned seven motorhomes and several other rvs, never was able to trade with dealer, sold all on my own. Good luck

JMonroe · 06-30-2015, 04:20 PM

When we were shopping for our current coach I insisted on two numbers - the sale price of the new coach and the actual wholesale value that they were giving my on the trade. No "blending" of the numbers. This is the ONLY way you can really know what is going on.

Car dealers, boat and RV dealers, they all will do the same thing, tell you they're giving you, just to throw out some hypothetical numbers, 15 - 20% off the MSRP of the new RV and full retail for your trade in. What they're actually doing is giving you 20 - 25% off the MSRP and adding the extra 5 - 10% to what they're showing you as the trade in value of your old unit which relative to it's value might be as high as 25 to 40% above it's actual wholesale value.

A couple of the dealers I contacted just couldn't get with the program in spite of telling me they fully understood. They were showing me numbers I knew to be much too high on the trade and less discount than I knew was fairly common on the new. A couple of dealers played it straight and I concentrated my efforts with them. In the end there was less than a 1% difference in their quotes, the difference being one dealer allowed a bit more on the trade.

All that said, it's really as simple as others have already suggested, are the numbers something you're comfortable with? I'm also thinking a bit of paint might be the way to go given your needs.

SarahW · 07-02-2015, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMonroe

When we were shopping for our current coach I insisted on two numbers - the sale price of the new coach and the actual wholesale value that they were giving my on the trade. No "blending" of the numbers. This is the ONLY way you can really know what is going on.

Car dealers, boat and RV dealers, they all will do the same thing, tell you they're giving you, just to throw out some hypothetical numbers, 15 - 20% off the MSRP of the new RV and full retail for your trade in. What they're actually doing is giving you 20 - 25% off the MSRP and adding the extra 5 - 10% to what they're showing you as the trade in value of your old unit which relative to it's value might be as high as 25 to 40% above it's actual wholesale value.

A couple of the dealers I contacted just couldn't get with the program in spite of telling me they fully understood. They were showing me numbers I knew to be much too high on the trade and less discount than I knew was fairly common on the new. A couple of dealers played it straight and I concentrated my efforts with them. In the end there was less than a 1% difference in their quotes, the difference being one dealer allowed a bit more on the trade.

All that said, it's really as simple as others have already suggested, are the numbers something you're comfortable with? I'm also thinking a bit of paint might be the way to go given your needs.

I'm thinking that in Texas (and probably many other states), having the trade in value inflated would work to the buyer's advantage. We are taxed on the difference of the purchase price minus trade.

KT4Wextra · 07-02-2015, 08:41 PM

I sat down and talked to a salesperson taking a break at a VERY large MH dealership in Florida, she was working on a quote for a customer that had a trade in. She said she can only allow 80% of low retail for any trade in because they have to run every trade in through their service shop before it goes back on the lot. Like most everyone else it is the bottom line that you want to look at. They could inflate the trade in and give a lesser discount on the RV you are looking to purchase. I always laugh at stores that say "everything is on sale", of course it is what else are they going to do with it. Or 50% off, off of what, an inflated sticker price?

Mr_D · 07-02-2015, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarahW

I'm thinking that in Texas (and probably many other states), having the trade in value inflated would work to the buyer's advantage. We are taxed on the difference of the purchase price minus trade.

Here in WA we pay close to 10% in sales/use tax but ONLY on the difference, but on $300,000+ that's quite a chunk. Paperwork can show $350,000 price and $80,000 trade or $330,000 and $60,000 trade, still comes out the same.
Luckily we have no income tax (YET!).

JMonroe · 07-03-2015, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarahW

I'm thinking that in Texas (and probably many other states), having the trade in value inflated would work to the buyer's advantage. We are taxed on the difference of the purchase price minus trade.

Ultimately it all comes out in the wash and my "method" won't affect your tax exposure.

I suspect most of us have heard someone say "they gave me more than I paid for it!". They get so excited about the supposed trade allowance they forget about or ignore the discount, and that's the point, from the dealers prospective.

In a past life I was a car salesman (that life didn't last long). I lost a sale even though my bottom line was a bit less because "yea, but the other dealer offered me more for my trade". They decided that I was trying to cheat them. Even with it being pointed out to them they couldn't see that it was the bottom line that counted, the rest is all smoke and mirrors.

I like to remove the smoke, mirrors and any doubt. By insisting that I know exactly what they are actually allowing for my trade and exactly what the discount on the new rig is I feel I can make a better informed decision. It also gave me some leverage when we were shopping. When one dealer's numbers were a bit higher than another I knew exactly where the difference was and could work that side of the deal. In our case the discount between the two dealers was the same, but the wholesale allowance was different. I was able to get the dealer to adjust his wholesale allowance based on this. They're not used to having customers really know what is going on.

Gerryl · 07-03-2015, 08:47 AM

Jay, you are totally right.

There is only one number that is relevant. That is the difference $$$.

All I ever want to know is: WHAT DO I HAVE TO WRITE THE CHECK FOR??????

Please don't try to confuse the issue by telling me how much yours costs, or what you are giving me for mine.

HOW MUCH DO I HAVE TO WRITE THE CHECK FOR??????

Speedjester · 07-03-2015, 12:52 PM

My first class A.. I purchased 9 month ago.. I was a cash buyer... I brought it 20k below NADA...This last ( 2 weeks ago)upgrade they offered me almost 20k more than what I paid for the unit but they refused to move on there unit... I basically offered them 20k below NADA on there rig... They immediately came back "CAN'T DO THAT".. I then told The salesman I only deal in Cash.. He left came back with a manager... He asked me what I meant by Cash..I elaborated ..No check..No wire ..Just a stack of money....They took it.... Seems for some reason Cash is king in this business.....