Dealers are NUTS!!!

boatdoc

Well-known member
Hi All, We had looked into the Bighorn 2 years ago and seeing how we're out on the edge of the world we HAD no dealer within 6 hours of us. There was one brand newdealer way away and couldn't tell us a thing about them that we already didn't know. To make a long story short we wound up with a very nice 06 Open Road 357 RLDS-5. Now two years later we find ourselves drooling over the new 08 3370RL, enclosed bath and all. Low and behold we NOW have two dealers within 3 hours and this weekend talked with both about ordering. Now, one dealer is our "normal" dealer we have bought several RVs from and are on first name bases with, the other, couldn't pick em out of a crowd.
My 1st question is, Where is the gold hidden in these rigs???? 2nd question is, What makes my 06 Open Road, that's in like new condition, worth 20K less than we bought it for according to one of them. Between his unit and ours he said we were 47K apart. The other was 22K apart.
I know anybody and everybody takes a big hit but, sheesh I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. As I was getting up to make a mad dash to the door today at the 47K dealer he asked if 30k was more to my liking, I didn't even bother turning around to smile:D .
Has anyone figured a fair price, for dealer and customer,for these things? Anybody know how to unlock the dealer cost on a unit? Please don't start the MSRP thing as that can be anything the DEALER wants it to be since they are not posted by the factory for each and every unit.
Please help, We realy want to join the bighorn family.

Jim, I hope including the figures above doesn't get me in trouble.
Thanks, Gary
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Hi Gary,

I think you're close to the line on posting but I'll let this ride here so long as we don't start seeing actual prices and quotes.

Like any item that depreciates (cars, boats, RVs), the 1st owner will take a hit as soon as he titles it. Is your Open Roads depreciation about the norm? I don't know. But you can look up the values on the NADA site.

Best of luck to you.

Jim
 

boatdoc

Well-known member
Thanks Jim, Appreciate you hanging with me on this one!!!!

If anybody has any true-life figures on what the dealers pay so I can give a fair counter to the low, but high, dealer please email me. Out of all the folks that have bought the Bighorns someone must have found the key to unlock the dealer cost on them. This is not to say I want to pay his cost but to pay a fair price. I have 5 quotes of the MSRP on the same optioned 3370RL and none of them are the same, so that's out.

Thanks
 

caddojay

Tired and Retired member
We have just finished an exhausting and frustrating search with 11 dealers from internet dealers to local dealers. You are very correct that every dealer has a different MSRP and different option price. I went to a dealer about and hour away and they even pulled the "how much are willing to pay per month" garbage with us. When I compared all of the "best price" that they were willing to give us, and the "extras" that they would include at no cost, we chose to go with a next to lowest cost. That was with Explore USA RV in Kyle, Texas. Even though they are 300 miles away from us, we felt that they offered the best deal. They have 9 other dealer locations across Texas and what sold us was the willingness to allow us to put our '04 Doubletree on consignment for almost no commission in an Explore USA dealer's lot in Mesquite (Dallas) Texas. Another issue, if you look around , is the prep and make ready charge. We found that a few of the internet dealers were less, but when adding in an off-site prep charge, they were higher, and one was unwilling to special order. I would have had to take what they had available on their lot.
I will also say that we were very pleased that Heartland was willing to make some minor modifications for us. Some other unit manufacturers would not make these changes. They said it would hold up the line too much to make these changes.
That's a long answer to the fact that you'll probably never know the true dealer price. What mattered to us was the comfort we had with the company and their dealer. Good luck!
 

billd

Well-known member
boatdoc,

I reccomend that you sell your current 5th wheel on your own. Dealer trade in is based on low blue book values, not what you paid for yours unfortuneately. You will get a better price on selling it that way.

Then go to your dealers and ask for the lowest out the door price including everything. If they dont give you a price you are willing to pay, walk.

If you need to finance try to be preapproved, the dealer gets a commission on finance contracts, ( all cars, boats, RV's get this).

Bill
 

creeper

Well-known member
Why no posting pricing on forum? Seems like it would be a big help to people to see what they are paying.
 

boatdoc

Well-known member
Bill,
I would try and sell on my own BUT, as I mentioned before, we live in the sticks, a town of 2300 people and the town nearest us with more than 20,000 people is 3 hours away so my buying people are few and far away. Another thing is, I can't offer financing like the dealer can and with all the creative loans they do now people look to the dealerships for their used rigs.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
creeper,

I have posted a thread in the Forum Rules section that speaks to your great question of why there is no posting of trailer pricing on the forum.

Here's the link to it.

Thanks,

Jimn
 

creeper

Well-known member
boatdoc said:
Bill,
I would try and sell on my own BUT, as I mentioned before, we live in the sticks, a town of 2300 people and the town nearest us with more than 20,000 people is 3 hours away so my buying people are few and far away. Another thing is, I can't offer financing like the dealer can and with all the creative loans they do now people look to the dealerships for their used rigs.
Sell it on ebay. I got a trade in value of my RV it was FAR below wholesale. Sold it on ebay in one week for 6k more then the trade in offer. The people who bought were from New Brunswick , Canada and drove 1500 miles to pick it up.

I've sold 3 vehicles on ebay, all within a week or less. Not one of them in my local area. Hmm, the word "N one" shows up as this> None

edited by moderator:
 
Last edited by a moderator:

slmayor

Founding California Northern Chapter Leader
Boatdoc,
If you do come to the Redding area, you are more than welcome to come by and look at our 3370. Finally got the last of the stuff moved in it this weekend so you can even see how the cupboards hold all the "stuff".
The Redding area dealer has only had the Big Horn for a couple months, so I don't think they're very familiar with them. I know some have had good luck with our local dealer, but we will never buy anything from them.
Sorry I wasn't of more help with pricing for you, but we were in a somewhat unique situation. The bottom line is we are very happy with the trailer, the dealer and Heartland right now.
 

Garry & Bev

travel bug
Ebay is a good place to advertise RV's, autos etc. right now while the Canadian dollar is at an all time high. I know of alot of Canadians looking south for big ticket items right now.
 
Boatdoc
Creeper mentioned selling your unit on E-Bay. While you are there look up 3370RL on the search and you can find a couple of ads (you can search without being a member). The "Buy-it-how" price can give you an idea what a good price might be. I don't know where you live but there probably will be some traveling involved so that will add to the cost. Using a local dealer may have a higher purchase price but the expense and time of traveling may equal out. The dealers that run auctions on E-Bay usually mention taking trade-ins so that might interest you.

The ads usually have a ton of great pictures of the coach and you get an idea what the different interior colors are. I looked at the info on the 3370RL and I really like it. The dinette area really has some room.
Question for the 3370 owners: With the slides in, can you get to the dinette table for that mid-day roadside snack?

Jim - I hope the mentioning of E-Bay auctions don't offend the "no dollarsand quotes" policy.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Hi Jim,

Nope - you are good-to-go mentioning eBay. The only trouble would have been mentioning actual prices.

By the way, I plan to put my 2005 Landmark Mt. Rushmore on eBay this weekend. For $80, it's good exposure!

Jim
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
Another good source to sell used RV's is PPL in Houston. It is the largest consignment RV sales lot in the country. They sold my last fifth wheel for me and it was painless, and got a better price than I expected to get. They charge a commission but handle everything. Heres the link
 

creeper

Well-known member
Okay, let's try this again since I was severely censored by the moderator and didn't even mention a Heartland price.

Look for about 28-30 percent off MSRP for ANY BRAND.

Seems like the knocks on this forum are supported by it's actions. Many people knock this forum as being extremely censored and too cheerleading. It seems so.

To claim it's a "private" forum is not true, if Heartland asked you to set it up and maintain it. You are just an agent of Heartland. To further that, they dictate what can be posted.

I might have to start my own Heartland Forum where people can air their gripes or whatever without being censored.

I have NEVER seen another forum censor out buying information on percentages. This forum stands alone in that field.
 

slmayor

Founding California Northern Chapter Leader
"Question for the 3370 owners: With the slides in, can you get to the dinette table for that mid-day roadside snack?"

Yes, but you have to squeeze by the kitchen counter end. Kinda sideways. Not a ton of room but you can sit at the table or the couch. The kitchen and bath remains wide open for sandwiches and those pit stops.
 

happyrover

Active Member
Creeper problems

None Hi Jim,
WOW, seems like "creeper" has a number of issues that he is not happy about. I wonder why he is hanging around? He doesn't appear to be a Heartland owner either. I think he would be better served on the Fleetwood forums. Anyway, am headed for Davis-Monthan AFB tomorrow to spend the winter there. Still LOVE the Landmark and BIG DODGE. No problems with pulling the biggest grades in the west and the PAC brake downhill is GREAT. Have covered 22 states and 19,000 miles since picking it up in May. A couple small problem, but really nothing worth mentioning. Hopefully will see you at the next rally in Goshen. Regards to all the Heartland owners. Incidently, has the owners club come into being yet. Really want to be a part of that.
Mel & Nina (Happy Rovers)
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Hi Mel and Nina,

Sent you an email reply.

Thanks for checking in and travel safe you happy rovers!

Jim
 

creeper

Well-known member
happyrover said:
None Hi Jim,
WOW, seems like "creeper" has a number of issues that he is not happy about. I wonder why he is hanging around? He doesn't appear to be a Heartland owner either. I think he would be better served on the Fleetwood forums. Anyway, am headed for Davis-Monthan AFB tomorrow to spend the winter there. Still LOVE the Landmark and BIG DODGE. No problems with pulling the biggest grades in the west and the PAC brake downhill is GREAT. Have covered 22 states and 19,000 miles since picking it up in May. A couple small problem, but really nothing worth mentioning. Hopefully will see you at the next rally in Goshen. Regards to all the Heartland owners. Incidently, has the owners club come into being yet. Really want to be a part of that.
Mel & Nina (Happy Rovers)


As a prospective buyer is the reason I'm hanging around and the reason I hang around other forums also. I might be better served on the Fleetwood forums, oh wait I'm there and have never gotten censored or told to go elsewhere.

I'm merely pointing out an observation. The rules say no Heartland pricing information , fine. Yet, pricing structures of brands other then Heartland were censored.

It's an age old question on RV boards, PRICING... How much percentage off. Posting that information is not against the rules, but got censored.

Censoring only raises the suspicion of hiding something, again this was the general knock on this forum and this is FROM Heartland owners past and present.

I'm not knocking the Heartland product at all, from what I can see they make a fine product and are going through some growing pains. No reason to hide those or censor those who question those things.

Dealerships are ruthless, if you can't get help from the owners forum on pricing to combat these dealers where should one turn for help?
 
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