purchasing decision

I guess this may be where to post this.

We have friends that are starting there pain staking process of looking for a new RV. They are new to RVing and I don't wanna see them get taken from a smooth talking salesman that's only looking to make a fast buck. I seen on this forum where people have said that a good rule of thumb is to knock a certain percentage off the MSRP and I can't remember what that percentage figure is. Can anyone give me that figure ?? I thought it was 30 some percent but can remember exactly, so I wanna arm my friends with all the ammo so they will be happy with the sale price. I have already told them of the Manufacture that's the best (Heartland of course) so they are going out this weekend to look.

Thanks everyone,
Bobby A

Bobby A said:

I guess this may be where to post this.

We have friends that are starting there pain staking process of looking for a new RV. They are new to RVing and I don't wanna see them get taken from a smooth talking salesman that's only looking to make a fast buck. I seen on this forum where people have said that a good rule of thumb is to knock a certain percentage off the MSRP and I can't remember what that percentage figure is. Can anyone give me that figure ?? I thought it was 30 some percent but can remember exactly, so I wanna arm my friends with all the ammo so they will be happy with the sale price. I have already told them of the Manufacture that's the best (Heartland of course) so they are going out this weekend to look.

Thanks everyone,
Bobby A

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There is no magic formula or number . . .

And one thing to remember . . . the best price is not always (matter of fact, very rarely) the best deal.

JohnD said:

There is no magic formula or number . . .

And one thing to remember . . . the best price is not always (matter of fact, very rarely) the best deal.

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I agree with John D. You would have to evaluate the overall picture and look all over the place to see the type of camper they are looking at and then look at what the advertised prices are. I understand that there are some build sheets available on here that could help too and to make sure they go to the Hershey show. I see a lot of good pricing there and some not so good. It will be a give and take. What can they live without and add later type of questions. Here is the best piece of advice I can give. "If you don't ask you will never know" Meaning don't be afraid to ask for a low price. The worst they can say is no.

And also ask for upgrades or add-ons like replacement of tires if they're Towmax, tire and trailer covers, a grill, outside rug - whatever they know they will be buying to make their camping more fun.

Bobby, the HL MSRP's...not the dealers, are on the forum. With that MSRP sheet the can build a coach...then take 25-30% off that price and then go shopping. Most dealers make up their own prices and can be as much as $20K higher than they should be. Your friends need to start looking and find a coach they like and then go from there.

Bob&Patty said:

Bobby, the HL MSRP's...not the dealers, are on the forum. With that MSRP sheet the can build a coach...then take 25-30% off that price and then go shopping. Most dealers make up their own prices and can be as much as $20K higher than they should be. Your friends need to start looking and find a coach they like and then go from there.

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Thanks everyone for your help, Bob, you have always been a great help throughout the years, glad your still on the forum giving sound advise.

Bobby A

Bones said:

I agree with John D. You would have to evaluate the overall picture and look all over the place to see the type of camper they are looking at and then look at what the advertised prices are. I understand that there are some build sheets available on here that could help too and to make sure they go to the Hershey show. I see a lot of good pricing there and some not so good. It will be a give and take. What can they live without and add later type of questions. Here is the best piece of advice I can give. "If you don't ask you will never know" Meaning don't be afraid to ask for a low price. The worst they can say is no.

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When we decided on the trailer we wanted (Prowler P292), we then did an online search to see who had them.

Low and behold, a dealership about 40 miles from here had two of them . . . the next closest one was 1500 miles away!

And it was a couple of thousand dollars cheaper . . .

By the time I went up to look at them a couple days later . . . one of them had already been sold!

Sure, we could have saved a little money going halfway across the country . . . but in the end buying locally was a much better deal!

For us . . . for our dealer . . . and for our own local economy!

I would base a good part of my decision on dealer and locution. A good dealer close to home make life a lot easier when your trying to get all of the bugs out of it the first few months. Also asking questions to experienced RV'er's can go a long way, there is so much you don't think about when your walking trough 2 or 3 dozen RV's until you bought it and are using it. None are perfect, but there is a lot to pick from to find the one they will love.
(our LM365 Ashland is as close to perfect as they get) that's my recommendation !!!!

Yes, dealerships make a BIG difference, and I agree with John I do whenever possible to support local economy. In my friends quest, the first dealership only a few miles away wanted him to darn near give his first born up to get a price, another dealership about 2 1/2 hours away (Lakeshore in Muskegon) had no problem giving a price no questions asked. When you get the run around just to get a price it doesn't give you a warm fuzzy feeling about the dealerships. I wish Heartland would go Factory direct to avoid this unnecessary cr*p these dealerships pose on people. Our friends work like 70 hours a week and don't have time for the B** S***. But I guess that's what dealerships want a quick sale. JMHO

I wanted a Bighorn - nearest dealer's (Connecticut-1hr 40 Min) and then ( Maine - 4hr). Ct. dealer a family owned operation been around for years and Maine, family owned not around as long. Went to the Ct. dealer salesperson showed us around and spent an hour with us, once I wanted to deal never returned our emails or phone calls. Maine dealer had the trailer on the lot always called me back the same day or within an hour, ended up striking a deal (30% of MSRP) we had used the Heartland Forum MSRP sheet to figure the price and I confirmed that with both dealers and he added a 2nd AC and Washer Dryer before striking the deal. We were very pleased and he made it effortless, no BS. But again I was working with the owner not and salesperson who is a customer babysitter.
The only time the trailer would go back for service was if I had a serious problem I couldn't fix myself, no way would I travel either distance twice and wait weeks to get it repaired. I just tackled the problems myself a resolved them and most have occurred while we were snowbirding in Florida and I got a mobile repair to handle the problem. Heartland makes that easy if the unit is in warranty. Advise - go slow, figure out the one you will get the most enjoyment out of, stay as close to budget so you have the $$ to enjoy it and once you find it get a good dealer to work with, remember the warranty is only for 12 months on most models.

I bought from a dealer with a not great reputation for service. BUT I had a backup plan. The dealer I bought my previous RV from was not a Heartland dealer but is a Heartland approved service center for warranty work. About 15 mi apart...

When we purchased our BH 3760 we contacted local dealers (CampingWorld) to support local businesses. We wanted upgrades, so we needed to order. CW salesmen were less than helpful. We contact Lakeshore RV - Muskegon, Mi and they were very helpful. CW took more than a week to provide us with a price, but only after we called them back. Lakeshore provided us a price during a 20 min phone conversation. Lakeshore was $4000 cheaper than CW. Lakeshore was easy to deal with, and the sale was pretty simple. However, after taking possession of the RV, Lakeshore has not been very helpful. I contacted our salmon several times, but he has not returned a single call. But, given the opportunity to redo my purchase, I would purchase from Lakeshore. But, I would go there for PDI rather than have them deliver to me.

BighornELK said:

When we purchased our BH 3760 we contacted local dealers (CampingWorld) to support local businesses. We wanted upgrades, so we needed to order. CW salesmen were less than helpful. We contact Lakeshore RV - Muskegon, Mi and they were very helpful. CW took more than a week to provide us with a price, but only after we called them back. Lakeshore provided us a price during a 20 min phone conversation. Lakeshore was $4000 cheaper than CW. Lakeshore was easy to deal with, and the sale was pretty simple. However, after taking possession of the RV, Lakeshore has not been very helpful. I contacted our salmon several times, but he has not returned a single call. But, given the opportunity to redo my purchase, I would purchase from Lakeshore. But, I would go there for PDI rather than have them deliver to me.

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I have heard on this forum that Lakeshore customers were very happy with the purchase price but haven't heard anything about service work after the sale, and that's as important as the sale it self.