How can we get the best deal on a new TT

CliffP

Well-known member

My wife and I (+2) are ready to replace our starter camper (2001 22cb Taho Lite by Thor) with a Rockwood 32BUDS. We're sold on the Caliber Edition so know we'll probably have to order it. Have friends (purchased last fall) who paid $**K for puma 30kfb closeout and friends who paid $**K for North Trail 32BUDS ordered from factory but they drove from WI to IN to pick up ($500 fuel +time). Both have similar floorplans but puma is stick and tin so heavy. Is there a good way to figure what a good deal is? Any advice or tips are appreciated!
 
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cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Hello CliffP and welcome to the forum. It would be nice to see you in a new North Trail. Who sells NT in your area, Scenic?
As far as getting the best price, we all want to do that so it is good you are asking questions.
I would, and have, checked around at all of the local dealers as well as the big online sellers. Then taking my best price to the dealer I worked with him. I was satisfied with our final price.
In my opinion there is more to buying a trailer than just price. If you buy in another state you may have some problems getting any warranty work done in a timely manor. I have had a couple of dealers tell me that they would fix anything I bought, but their customers will always come first. So I would be at the end of the list. I cannot tell you how many times I have read on this forum about people that bought out of state and now their local dealer would not take care of them.
So buying local is worth a little extra on the pricing, in my opinion.
One other thing worth mentioning is that if you buy your rig now in fall and don't plan to use it till next spring, do not sign the final acceptance till spring. Your warranty will start when you sign for it. If you sign for it now you will loose about 6 months of warranty time while it is sitting over winter. Just a thought.
Do your homework and cut a deal that best suits you.
Oh, and pricing is not allowed on this forum.

Peace
Dave
 

RollingHome

Well-known member
Cliff, I can't add anything to Dave's response to your question - his sage advice is good advice. Except to say AGAIN I learned something. Dave's idea about signing the acceptance in spring is something I never heard of or thought of... Thanks Dave :) Wish I knew that when I picked up my Horn up in November and did not use until May...
 

Invizatu

Senior Road Warriors
CliffP.... If you can make it to an RV Show, you can compare floor plans and get a feel for "Show" Prices. You might just find what you want at a show and buy it there, usually good prices. We took our time makeing up our minds about buying and I found the trailer we wanted on the lot at our local dealer (12 miles from our house). We did the deal and my wife and I were very happy with the outcome ( we have seen used models selling for more than we paid). It really comes down to doing your homework and making the deal that makes you happy. As a side note, our dealer moved shortly after our purchase ( from 12 miles away to 65 miles away) and I wasn't looking forward to dragging the trailer that far for any service issues, but lucky for us it was never an issue. You will hear (and it's important) on this forum about doing a very thourough "PDI" upon receiving your trailer. You can also do an advanced search in the upper right hand corner of this page to read more about PDIs. Good Luck!
 

2psnapod1

Texas-South Chapter Leader-Retired
We went to an RV show with quotes from 3 different dealers (3 different states) and worked with the dealer at the show and got an excellent dealer. Milwaukee and Madison both have good shows in early spring (been to both & purchased in the past). Scenic RV has two locations (Slinger & Baraboo) - we worked with the people in Baraboo and they were great. Give 'em a try! Good luck to you.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
I would look on EBay motors just to get an idea what they are going for, and to get the names of some of the big discount dealers (for you to get a quote from to present to your local dealer, if you like).
My wife and I REALLY wanted to buy used, with the idea all of the PDI flaws and other items on the beginning of the reliability curve would be taken care of. At that time we couldn't find any used Bighorn 3670's online. I know I have put a bunch of time and bucks into mine improving/repairing things. You MAY come out ahead if you can buy used. With the state of the economy there may be some distressed owner deals.
 

pegmikef

Well-known member
I like to get prices from the on line wholesalers because they are really retailers too so they are making a profit. Many of them offer delivery to any destination so get a price on that too, because local dealers will have to pay delivery costs as well. Once you get those prices, then you have a place to start when looking and comparing similar models remembering that local dealers likely have more overhead and costs than the on line sites. I take the purported MSRP (mythical suggested retail price) with a grain of salt because it is so far fetched. Just take a look at some of the dealer's web sites and many of them routinely advertise "save over 20k" and then they present their price and the purported MSRP. Good luck in your search. I am doing the same thing right now looking to move to a small Big Horn or Big Country.
 

branson4020

Icantre Member
I like to get prices from the on line wholesalers because they are really retailers too so they are making a profit. Many of them offer delivery to any destination so get a price on that too, because local dealers will have to pay delivery costs as well. Once you get those prices, then you have a place to start when looking and comparing similar models remembering that local dealers likely have more overhead and costs than the on line sites. I take the purported MSRP (mythical suggested retail price) with a grain of salt because it is so far fetched. Just take a look at some of the dealer's web sites and many of them routinely advertise "save over 20k" and then they present their price and the purported MSRP. Good luck in your search. I am doing the same thing right now looking to move to a small Big Horn or Big Country.

I do the same thing, but I'm not so generous as Mike about believing the local dealer has higher costs. Big on-line sellers like Great Lakes RV, Lakeshore RV and RVs For Less all have very large brick and mortar dealerships.
 

APT

Well-known member
I got quotes from two "Wholesalers" and one regular dealer. All three quotes were within $100 of each other for my custom ordered NT. Check with some of them for comparative prices with your local NT dealers and evaluate the cost of transporting or driving. RV Capital Wholesaler is within 5 minutes of the factory for example.
 

dalspot

Well-known member
When we first started looking for a FW, I called one of the wholesale dealers, got a price on the model we wanted with the options we wanted, added the shipping cost to it (to be fair) and emailed my local dealer. Told them if they would match the price, they had our business. They proceeded to beat the price and when it came down to signing on the dotted line a year later, we got the same % discount and even talked them down a couple hundred more. We are first-time owners, so buying local was a must for us. Glad we did! The dealer saw a couple items on the PDI we missed and contacted Heartland about it and got it taken care of.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
If you plan to have your selling dealer do your Warranty service, I would search their name on this forum for comments, and check RVServicereviews.com for postings about them.
 

54Vermont

Member
Go in the fall (late Sept.) when dealers are looking to unload that year's trailer to make room for newest next year models. Check around online for the best price you can find... then hit up your dealer with that price. Chances are they will match it. Got a Heartland Caliber 265 rbs which retails for around $** grand for $** grand.
 
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