Travel trailer

[The Double D]

Okay, it ain't a cast bullet, but it will let me go places to shoot my Cast Bullets.

Any body got any idea what kind of margain the Travel Trailers folks work on. I am gonna buy one this week and want to know what I can expect when negotiating.

[dmftoy1]

They're pretty high . . . .and they're pretty desparate to sell right now. FWIW I'd look at the used market pretty hard as well. If I remember right it was nothing to get 25-30% off of the "list" price for the last two we bought and I think in the right scenario 35-40% might be possible. There's higher margins in the more expensive trailers.

From what I'm seeing here locally people are not going out anymore because of fuel prices so you can find almost new trailers for about 50% of list. FWIW

[Junior1942]

Buying a travel trailer at the beginning of camping season is like buying a shotgun at the beginning of hunting season. You won't get the best deal during peak demand.

[rockrat]

I am not sure there is going to be much of a camping season, with gas prices the way the are, and are predicted to go. Usually we have quite a bit of traffic through here by now, in the way of campers, but have seen very few so far.
You might want to think about one of the Hi-Lo trailers. Its what I have. Alot less wind resistance going down the road with them. Every bit you save on gas can help. When I bought mine, it was only a few years old, and got a pretty good deal from the dealer.

[jackley]

Try craigslist. Just bought one off there for a very good deal!

Jerry

[DLCTEX]

Used RV's really take a hit on resale value. I would look at used ones first. Many are lightly used, and in very nice condition. DALE

[woody1]

Used RV's really take a hit on resale value. I would look at used ones first. Many are lightly used, and in very nice condition. DALE

What Dale said. I would NOT (and didn't) buy new. Many are several years old and have mebe been out once a year for the number of years they are old. Ours still had the plastic rug savers on the floor, was 5-6 years old and looked new. FWIW
Regards, Woody

[MT Gianni]

Quite a few friends have bought used RV's and Trailers in AZ from folks who thought they wanted to live in them and found out 1 season was all they could stand. It was enough of a savings to fly to Pheonix from MT and drive it back. Gianni

[Ifishsum]

You can't necessarily tell a good deal from how much discount you're getting - many of the manufacturers do not have a published "MSRP" so one dealer's 20% off may be a better deal than a different dealer's 30% discount. 50% is unheard of unless the dealer has the retail price grossly exaggerated - regardless of gas prices the dealer is not going to lose money on a sale.

I'm in the travel trailer business - the best advice I can give you is to call a few dealers within driving distance and get their price on the model you're looking at. That should at least keep your local dealer honest. Smaller town dealers have to make a bit more profit so survive because of lower volume, as long as it's within reason I think that is fair. You'll usually get the best service from your local dealer, so that's worth something IMO. And don't pay too much attention to the dealers who advertise really cheap prices on the internet and offer to ship it to you - because of fuel prices it probably won't save a lot, and your local dealer will not be inclined to help you when you have a problem.

So far it has been a slow year in this business, so you should be able to get a good deal. If you'd like any further advice please feel free to PM me. I'm going camping myself but will be back Sunday afternoon. Good luck with your search!

[jcwit]

I live in no. Indiana in the middle of the RV Ind, and with the gas the way it is they are pulling out all the stops to sell RV's. If you can't get a good deal now you're not trying. Just remember you have to buy the gas to haul this thing around, they said on the news today to expect gas to go to $5 to $6 in the near future.

[The Double D]

I got the trailer. I looked around a bunch and did a lot of research. Found the trailer I wanted and used the pointer you guys and some others gavem and made a low ball offer. They came back at me right at where I wanted to be.Almost choked, so i hesitated and they tossed in the trailer brake installed and the load leveler hitch and I let them.

Thanks guys for the advice.

[Ifishsum]

Good for you. Have fun with it!