Recreational Vehicle Sales - What You Need to Know
Buying a recreational vehicle is a little different than buy a car or truck.
With cars and trucks you can look up dealer cost and hold back on many websites.
The RV dealer involved in recreational vehicle sales work much closer with the manufacturer than the car dealers and basically the manufacturers are the bosses.
The most important thing you need to know is to rent an RV before you buy.
As glamorous as the RV lifestyle seems, you really need to try it before you buy it, and I am not talking about the RV, I am talking about the lifestyle.
Get out on the road, visit campsites, talk to other RV people and even ask them what they know about recreational vehicle sales, you will be surprised at how much information you will receive Much of the profit for recreational vehicle sales comes from the dealer selling you an inflated long term extended warranty.
Do not fall for this trick.
Do not buy it.
Most recreational vehicles come with a 3 to 5 year warranty, why would you want to give a dealer thousands of dollars when you already have a warranty? And on top of that, they will throw the cost of the warranty into the financing making the sale even more lucrative for the dealer.
When your warranty runs out, just by an extended warranty from a reputable company like Good Sam.
It still will cost plenty, but probably 1/4 of the price a dealer will charge you, and believe me warranty's on RV's are worth it as they are more problematic than cars or trucks.
Don't let them sell you insurance either, you will be overcharged and they will make even more money.
Another trap is the extras and add-ons.
Most dealers involved in recreational vehicle sales try to give you all the basic equipment you need to get on the road, even a little starter kit for the small essentials like toilet paper, holding tank cleaner, dump hoses and a few other things.
The kicker is that there are so many ad-ons and options they can make you dizzy.
Want satellite TV? Your local installer can do it much cheaper, but if you are buying an expensive RV and you are going to have a full blown automatic roof system where there will be cutting into your roof then it's best to have the dealer do it.
But you can negotiate.
If the dealer really want to sell the unit, he will bend.
You can add hydraulics to raise and lower your trailer.
They will try to charge you for the hitch setup and brake controller.
Don't go for it.
I have never purchased an RV where the recreational vehicle sales dealer did not throw these in.
The best advise is to brochure shop first learn what options are available an then when you are ready to visit a recreational vehicle sales dealer you will be armed to negotiate.
Many of the options you want may be had for free.
With cars and trucks you can look up dealer cost and hold back on many websites.
The RV dealer involved in recreational vehicle sales work much closer with the manufacturer than the car dealers and basically the manufacturers are the bosses.
The most important thing you need to know is to rent an RV before you buy.
As glamorous as the RV lifestyle seems, you really need to try it before you buy it, and I am not talking about the RV, I am talking about the lifestyle.
Get out on the road, visit campsites, talk to other RV people and even ask them what they know about recreational vehicle sales, you will be surprised at how much information you will receive Much of the profit for recreational vehicle sales comes from the dealer selling you an inflated long term extended warranty.
Do not fall for this trick.
Do not buy it.
Most recreational vehicles come with a 3 to 5 year warranty, why would you want to give a dealer thousands of dollars when you already have a warranty? And on top of that, they will throw the cost of the warranty into the financing making the sale even more lucrative for the dealer.
When your warranty runs out, just by an extended warranty from a reputable company like Good Sam.
It still will cost plenty, but probably 1/4 of the price a dealer will charge you, and believe me warranty's on RV's are worth it as they are more problematic than cars or trucks.
Don't let them sell you insurance either, you will be overcharged and they will make even more money.
Another trap is the extras and add-ons.
Most dealers involved in recreational vehicle sales try to give you all the basic equipment you need to get on the road, even a little starter kit for the small essentials like toilet paper, holding tank cleaner, dump hoses and a few other things.
The kicker is that there are so many ad-ons and options they can make you dizzy.
Want satellite TV? Your local installer can do it much cheaper, but if you are buying an expensive RV and you are going to have a full blown automatic roof system where there will be cutting into your roof then it's best to have the dealer do it.
But you can negotiate.
If the dealer really want to sell the unit, he will bend.
You can add hydraulics to raise and lower your trailer.
They will try to charge you for the hitch setup and brake controller.
Don't go for it.
I have never purchased an RV where the recreational vehicle sales dealer did not throw these in.
The best advise is to brochure shop first learn what options are available an then when you are ready to visit a recreational vehicle sales dealer you will be armed to negotiate.
Many of the options you want may be had for free.
