trooper51
Tacoma, WA
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Joined: 01/24/2004
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I think this an excellent article. We knew going in what price was our maximum and we understood we would make some sacrifices for that price. But we have a son in college headed to grad school and we want to help him. I have a few more years until I retire so we can not go on the road for longer than 3-4 weeks right now. Hopefully, son will be through school when I retire and we will be able to move up. I love being able to go to new places and see the sites and be able to afford to participate in events that these areas may have going on. Unfortunately, the lotto hasn't come through for us yet so we decided to be realistic. We bought the best new motorhome we felt we could afford. I confess, though, I was sorely tempted to go beyond my limit a time or two. The only thing that saved me was a salesman that treated me like "the little woman" who should just worry about the color of the couch. Divine intervention made him a jerk and probably saved me from not sticking to my plan. More articles like this help us all have a plan.
Elmer, Debbie, and Cheech
06 Alfa See Ya
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Sadieandme
Lynden Washington
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Joined: 01/31/2004
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Wonderful! You put it all into prospective and gave it a lot of fore thought. I hope any "Newbie" will read before going shopping. The biggest concern for us other than all those you mentioned was my hubby is a big man. He drove motorhomes to RV shows for a company for a couple years before we bought our present rig. He said to be sure and sit in the drivers seat like you would going down the road and if the rig has a slideout behind the seat, see if there is enough room to be able to slide the seat where you need it and be comfortable driving. Some units are not designed with the big man in mind as a driver.
Judy and Sadie( four legged roommate
1998 21 ft Tioga
Full tank, Full coffee cup, Open Road... Let's go!!">
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Old Tractor-MedFire
Southern AL USA
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Joined: 02/23/2004
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:B:C:W
Johnny,
thank you so much!! even though we are not nearly ready to take the financial plunge yet due to (d/t) the research & other items you mentioned, plus the getting our financial ducks in a row, this is really helpful info, as are the posts from the more experienced people. that is exactly why i joined the RV.NET/Open Roads forum, to get as much helpful info so when we ever get into a position to get a motorhome, we don't really screw things up, & wind up hating the motorhome, the lifestyle, and each other. NOTE: how many know couples who have had a new house built, and the next thing you know, soon after they get the new house [done], they wind up going through a divorce?????!!!!!
Thanks to everybody who gives good constructive advice on this forum, and also thanks to two-stepper that invited us to the 2004 L.A. (Lower Alabama) Rally, even though we don't have a rig! we do appreciate all the efforts & advice from the forums! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK EVERY ONE!!!!!
Note: Due to invalid formatting, all formatting has been ignored.
Linda M.
(also Ed and "the fur-kids") ">
A hopeful future RV'er">">
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Itchn2go
Seaford,Va USA
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Joined: 07/11/2003
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Johnny,, Great post. Well thought out and written. Each of us should memorize the title and when the question comes up refer them to this post.
Seriously Johnny, send it to MotorHome, FMCA, GoodSam etc. ,put a price on it and see if there are any takers..
Happy Trails.
Good Used Newmar
ITCHN2GO,
1 Beautiful Wife, 3 Beautiful Dogs
It all depends on who you talk to.
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Dickvette
Little Rock, AR., USA
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Joined: 07/11/2004
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Johnny,
I think this is wonderful advice. I wonder though how many dealers are going to tolerate customers coming in and giving the extensive open/close examination you suggest or, even worse, a test drive by someone who has never driven a coach before. I know there has to be a first time, but how many dealers will turn loose a beginner in a $200,000 coach? How did you get them to let you drive their coach, especially the one you were going to buy? I have had a dealer offer to take me out with a "cheaper"version so I could "ride" in it to see how it drove, but not turn me loose.
Keep up the good work as moderator.
Dick - Pilot
Mary - Copilot
Hannah and Sam (two very spoiled dogs)
2008 Fleetwood Discovery 40X
2010 Cadillac SRX
GOD is our pilot...we are just along for the ride!
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Wingnut96
Layton, UT
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Joined: 07/22/2004
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Lots of great ideas. While I don't have the kind of cash to buy a new coach, when and if I do, I'll refer to this post. I converted it back to a word doc for saving for future reference.
A future employment possibility (just "retired" from the Navy)will take me away from home and if it works out I'll move my wife over with me when our current home sells. In the mean time I am checking on a 1985 Beaver 36' Caribbean as my home away from home. The price and level of workmanship seem to coincide... at this point in time. This is probably the wrong place to ask for info on issues concerning this particular make and model but if anyone has info on this coach, please let me know.
Thanks again Johnny and I'll weight these factors in evaluating this and future RV purchases or if constructing my "dream" bus conversion.
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JohnnyT
On The Road
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Joined: 07/15/2003
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Dickvette
Being able to test drive a coach is essential in the decision process.. What most dealers will do is they will take the first turn at the wheel and then turn it over to you to test drive... They are right there with you and will be helpful giving you pointers along the way.. I have not ever experienced the situation as you describe.. With an attentive and experienced driver with you should have no difficulties driving the motorhome.
When you are driving you will need to use your mirrors so make sure they are properly adjusted before you begin to drive..Each mirror will actually have two mirrors one that give you visibility down the road behind you and the other will give you visibility down the side of the coach.. Ask the salesman what you are suppose to be seeing in the mirrors and make sure they are properly adjusted after you adjust the seat to fit your needs.
There are generally two issues that you need to be aware of if this is your first venture driving a motorhome.. The first is that depending on the length the back end will not follow the same track as the front wheels.. They will actually be on a track inside the path of the front wheels so you will need to concern yourself with making wide turns to accommodate the off tracking. The second issue is that many when they first drive a motor home will weave back and forth in the lane. This is generally caused by looking at the side of the road to close in. You will need to discipline your self to look down the road the same as you do driving any other vehicle...Once you do you will find that the motor home will behave itself..
The last issue to consider is that the motor home will be much slower to accelerate and that you will need to allow for additional room to slow down or stop...
One last thought .....If you can not drive the coach you are interested in then perhaps you need to shop for another dealer...
JohnnyT
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B's Bunch
Shelbyville, TN. USA Why live any where else?
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Joined: 10/31/2003
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Here Here on driving the coach. The first place we went to look at coaches the salesman would not let me drive. I have driven tractor trailers and operated several truck/trailer combinations in my past.I was comfortable with my skills. My wife and two youngins The bunch was scared to death this guy scared me. He tried to squeel the tires every time he took off just to prove power and damn near ran thru two cars in front of us proving the stopping power. What a nut case.I would suggest that you ask if you could drive the motorhome with a competent salesperson that will take the time to educate you on what to do before you do it. Mirrors, brakes drive line up road ect.He did prove to me at least that these new motor homes will fly and if you really had to STOP. my first experience. yall be safe out there. Larry PS Johnny T leave this post at the top. You've done a great job
Larry,Brenda,Travis,Jarred & MEME the Boston Terror"> TheBunch 2011 American Coach Revolution 42T"> The Double Wide
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red-d-2-roll
San Antonio, TX
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Joined: 07/17/2004
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Jonny T,
I havent made any mistakes yet, (still shopping), but how do you know what to pay?
I am looking for a used unit, 98 to 2000 model, class A 28-34 foot.
I was told early in my shopping that I should offer 80% of the asking price, I see one thread from Raleman that says he would not deal for less than 25% reduction off the retail price......Is this accurate, if so, I am about to spend an extra $7000. I have compared several Class A RV to the NADA book, and they are all well within the "retail" price.
What is the deal???
Red
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DannyLeininger
TX USA
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Joined: 06/16/2003
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Red-d-2-Roll
Negotiations are the toughest issue we face after selecting a MH to potentially purchase. The following is how I "got" most of what I wanted!
Once I had decided to buy a new MH I began reading every Forum and every post that I could find on pricing and negotiations. In my case, deciding on a Newmar. There were Newmar specific Forums that I could read...VERY HELPFUL! Read, read, read!
My second source of information was from other dealers "Advertised Prices". Due to the purchase of a used MH 18 months earlier, I had subscribed to and joined several "clubs" such as FMCA, Good Sams, and the Newmar Kountry Klub. All of which have their own magazine. Once I had decided on a specific model, in my case a DS 4010 on a Spartan Chassis, I was able to find several dealers advertised prices. There were several dealers that had their inventory online, also. I called several dealers and narrowed my search down to two. One in Montana who advertised 27% off List Price of any unit ordered through them and my local dealership in Boerne, TX outside of San Antonio. I was prepared to order a unit, getting the "exact" options I wanted when I found a 4010 that had 98% of what I was looking for.
The negotiation process took 2 days and 2 salesmen. The first salesman was not well informed (this I knew because of all the information I had learned from the various forums) so I asked the Manager to assign me a different salesman, which she did without hesitation. This event also established good communication between the Manager and myself, as she believed I knew my "stuff" (some fact to this but some bluffing also.)
On day one I established that I was willing to walk away from the unit and was willing to Order one from the Montana dealer (at 27% off List Price; the Montana Dealer had mailed me the Factory Order sheet showing factory prices - this matched her numbers also.) I believe that the most critical issue in Negotiations is establishing the concept that you WILL WALK AWAY! If you appear too anxious they will never give you their best price. To that end on Day 2 I left my wife at home. ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/wink.gif "wink") We finished the day at 25% off list, $1000 for the PDI and financing at her cost with no markups! There were many discussions on the Forums about the $1000 PDI issue that evening, with many people saying NO to the PDI expense.
On Day 2, as mentioned earlier, I left my wife at home. My goal was 27% off list with a full PDI (Pre-delivery Inspection...this is very critical.) at no cost. We ended up at 26% plus the $1000 PDI and financing at 5.25%. This I thought was a good number for both of us.
I caved on the PDI issue as it seemed very important to the manager (why I didn't understand). I was happy with the "drive out" number and I have had good service from this dealer to date.
In my case my goal was to get near the 27% number I had seen from another dealer. I did that! I wasn't obsessed with fighting over little things. I looked at the PDI expense as a profit issue the dealer needed. At the end of the day I was happy with the deal!
However, let me stress, I was willing to WALK AWAY and buy from an out of state dealer if I didn't get close to my goal.
I hope this helps!
Danny Leininger
2013 Newmar Essex 4547
500 HP Cummins ISX on a Spartan K2 Chassis
2010 Explorer Eddie Bauer 4x4, nice
Good Sams, FMCA, Newmar Kountry Klub, AARP....
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